25 and still kickin'

Mad Monkey turns 25 today. I must have given my mother hell…I was born at 3:29 in the morning! No wonder I wake up earlier than I want to…

Also today, Mozart was born in 1756. Thomas Edison filed the patent for his electric incandescent lamp in 1880. The National Geographic Society was founded in 1888. John Logie Baird launched the television craze in 1926 when he publicly demonstrated the device in LondonIn 1945, Auschwitz was discovered by the Russian Army. The New York Giants beat the Buffalo Bills at Super Bowl XXV in 1991.

In 2006, Hamas gained an upset victory in Palestinian elections over the ruling Fatah party for seats in the Legislative Council. It's stirred up quite the hornets' nest over the globe, as the Fatah party was expected to win by a slim margin, according to earlier reports. Hamas has had an aggressive stance against Israel, refusing its existence and wanting it wiped off the map, basically. With Iran's president blasting Israel, Hamas gaining victory in Palestine and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon inactive, things don't look so good. The direction of the Middle East will basically be decided this year…here's hoping for the best.

More on this later…I'm off to eat cake!