Skip's Stuff...

What were the Wise Men following?

Skip — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 18:35:41 +0000

One of the best known stories from the Bible is the Wise Men from the East coming to worship Jesus at his birth. Three of the common questions about this are: Who were they? What was the star they saw? And how did they know what it meant when they saw it?

Matthew 2:1-2…
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Note that different from the common interpretation, rather than following a star to Jerusalem, they saw a star in the East and traveled West to Jerusalem. Also understand that while the Jews were under the capitivity in Babylon, several hundered years earlier, the prophet Daniel was highly respected by king Nebuchadnezzar. After Daniel not only recounted but explained a dream that Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t even remember, the book of Daniel 2:46-48 tells us…

Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

So Daniel was given a high place among the wise men of Babylon, this would include the Babylonian astrologers. During this period in Babylon Daniel was also given his prophecy regarding the 69 weeks, which better than 450 years ahead of time, pinpointed when the Messiah would be crucified. That prophecy made it into the Jewish scriptures as a warning to the religious powers of the day. They ignored it. Yet there is no reason to believe that he wasn’t given other prophetic insights that he may have given to the Babylonian astrologers regarding the birth of the Messiah. I think they saw what they were told to look for, and didn’t ignore it. So what might they have been watching for, and when did they see it? I think it was the Scepter of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah rising with the Sun, and I think they saw it in August of 2BC.

At that time there was an amazing conjunction of four planets in the constellation of Leo. Jupiter, Mars and Mercury aligned precisely, with Venus set off a little distance. Here’s an animation that shows how the planets converged over a one week period, between August 19th and 25th.

So what does this figurative scepter signify? Jupiter is the brightest planet in the night sky. The Romans called it Zeus and it is generally seen as being supreme among the planets. Mars signifies strength in battle. Mercury is known for it’s speed. And Venus, the Bright, Morning Star is at the handle of the scepter.

Here’s what it looked like rising with the sun on August 25th of 2BC. The planets are a bit out of scale and It probably doesn’t really look like much to you. But it almost certainly looked amazing to an ancient astronomer, especially if someone told them it was going to happen more than 450 years ahead of time.

A predicted sign such as that would certainly be enough to cause the Magi to saddle up and go to Jerusalem. They didn’t need a star to point the way. They knew where Jerusalem was, and they went to the king of Jerusalem because they thought that’s where they would find the young prince. Yet news of this child surprised King Herod, and he had to look to the scripture to figure out where the prophetic King would be born. The Wise Men were told to look for Jesus in Bethlehem, and were sent on their way.

Matthew 2:9-10 says…
When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

A few things to note here. In all of these verses the word ‘star’ is translated from the Greek word ‘aster’ and can be understood as being either literal or figurative. Where the verse says ‘the star which they saw in the East went before them,’ I tend to believe this is speaking figuratively, especially since they ‘rejoiced with exceeding great joy’ at seeing it. Folks don’t usually get worked up like that for what they’ve seen before. This was a different sort of star. The Moon is the closest heavenly body to the Earth and if it ‘stood over where the young child was’ it would be standing over every kid for ten thousand square miles. This second star was something supernatural. It was close to the Earth and able to lead someone on a local basis. Though it would also have to be figuratively similar to the planetary conjunction they saw earlier in the East. This second star would have to figuratively embody the scepter with three lights signifying strength, speed and supremecy with the Bright and Morning Star at the handle. As near as I can figure, it would’ve looked something like this.

If you can understand what God’s doing, you realize he does it exactly as it should be done. If he wants to capture the attention of astrologers, he’ll move stuff around in the sky. Once he’s got their attention he’ll lead them to where he needs them to be. And in the end they will know, he alone is God.

At least that’s what I think!

All graphics created with free open-source programs.
Available for all platforms.
Stellarium planetarium @ stellarium.org
The GIMP image manipulation @ gimp.org
Inkscape vector graphics editor @ inkscape.org
Used one free stock image from Stock.xchng here.

I’m sick of hearing “Obama killed Osama”

Skip — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 00:36:20 +0000

Yesterday (8-18-2012)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen(D) said
“And let’s not forget that this is the commander in chief who finally led the mission that brought Osama bin Laden to justice,” emphasis mine (link)

May 2, 2012
President Barack Obama said
Bin Laden raid is ‘most important single day of my presidency’ (link)

Before bin Laden raid.
Administration drafted memo to shield Obama if OBL raid failed. (link)

June 6, 1944
Dwight D Eisenhower prepared letter for possiblity of D-Day failure.
“Our landings have failed and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.” (link)

Eisenhower took responsibility for about 75,000 US troops. Obama set up a patsy to shield himself from blame for a few dozen.

Leadership? Gutsy call? My ass!

Mayhem Prophecy: Friday the 13th baktun

Skip — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:45:15 +0000

Aztec ‘Stone of the Sun’ (not the Mayan calendar)

If you haven’t heard of the fear regarding the Mayan Calendar and Dec 21, 2012 you’ve been living under a rock. If it makes you fearful, you’re living under the covers. I wish I could call the hype disinformation, but disinformation supposes some kind of real information is being hidden. The Mayhem Prophecy fear-mongers have created this hoax out of whole cloth.

Here’s how the Mayan calendar works…
kin = 1 day
uinal = 20 kin
tun = 18 uinal = about 1 year
katun = 20 tun = about 20 years
baktun = 20 katun = about 394 years
pictun = 20 baktun = 7,885 years

The baktun was called the long count because it was the smallest unit that actually separated calendar dates to different lifetimes. Within your life you would never see the same date in two separate baktun. The date notation is dotted such as: baktun.katun.tun.uinal.kin today(Jul. 18, 2012) is 12.19.19.10.4 on the Mayan calendar. On Dec. 21st the number will roll over to 13.0.0.0.0. Again, in case you missed it… the calendar rolls over to a new baktun every 394 years! Here are some recent “new baktuns”. While some may be able to connect them to world changing events, I don’t believe they record a cycle of wholesale destruction…

10 baktun: Mar. 13, 830
11 baktun: Jun. 15, 1224
12 baktun: Sep. 18, 1618
13 baktun: Dec. 21, 2012
…
20 baktun: Oct. 13, 4772

Now the one possible horror I do see is that Dec. 21, 2012 happens to fall on a Friday, which would make that day Friday the 13th baktun. I can’t find any evidence that mankind has ever survived such an ominous thing as that. A portent such as this is known by the latin ‘demens apparere’ which literally means “Crazy Appearance.” You’ll often see it abbreviated in technical discussions, simply as CrAp.

WordPress: wp.me shortlinks in tweets using Jetpack 1.6.1

Skip — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 04:19:24 +0000

If you’re using WordPress and Twitter you probably understand the magic of wp.me shortlinks within tweets. For those who don’t know, the links are parsed by Twitter and a preview of your post is shown inline. It’s a good thing. My question was how do I get the Jetpack Twitter sharing button to natively use the wp.me shortlink rather than the standard permalink. It was actually pretty easy.

From the Dashboard, go to Installed Plugins and choose to Edit Jetpack.
Choose the Plugin File ‘jetpack/modules/sharedaddy.php’
Then ‘jetpack/modules/sharedaddy/sharing-sources.php’
Search for the text ‘twitter_button’ and that should find this point in the file, but it won’t be formatted as well…

    public function get_display( $post ) {
        $via = $this->sharing_twitter_via( $post );
 
        if ( $via ) {
            $via = sprintf( '&via=%1$s', rawurlencode( $via ) );
        } else {
            $via = '';
        }
        if ( $this->smart ) {
            return ' . esc_url( 'http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.html?url=' . rawurlencode( apply_filters( 'sharing_permalink', get_permalink( $post->ID ), $post->ID, $this->id ) ) . '&counturl=' . rawurlencode( str_replace( 'https://', 'http://', get_permalink( $post->ID ) ) ) . '&count=horizontal&text=' . rawurlencode( $post->post_title . ':' ) . $via ) . '" style="width:101px; height:20px;">
';
        } else {
            if ( 'icon-text' == $this->button_style || 'text' == $this->button_style )
                sharing_register_post_for_share_counts( $post->ID );
            return $this->get_link( get_permalink( $post->ID ), _x( 'Twitter', 'share to', 'jetpack' ), __( 'Click to share on Twitter', 'jetpack' ), 'share=twitter', 'sharing-twitter-' . $post->ID );
        }
    }

	public function get_display( $post ) {
		$via = $this->sharing_twitter_via( $post );

		if ( $via ) {
			$via = sprintf( '&via=%1$s', rawurlencode( $via ) );
		} else {
			$via = '';
		}
		if ( $this->smart ) {
			return 'ID ), $post->ID, $this->id ) ) . '&counturl=' . rawurlencode( str_replace( 'https://', 'http://', get_permalink( $post->ID ) ) ) . '&count=horizontal&text=' . rawurlencode( $post->post_title . ':' ) . $via ) . '" style="width:101px; height:20px;">';
		} else {
			if ( 'icon-text' == $this->button_style || 'text' == $this->button_style )
				sharing_register_post_for_share_counts( $post->ID );
			return $this->get_link( get_permalink( $post->ID ), _x( 'Twitter', 'share to', 'jetpack' ), __( 'Click to share on Twitter', 'jetpack' ), 'share=twitter', 'sharing-twitter-' . $post->ID );
		}
	}

Within lines 344 & 348 are three instances of ‘get_permalink’, replace those with ‘wpme_get_shortlink’.
Choose ‘Update File’ and you should be good to go.

Now any use of the Twitter sharing button will default to the wp.me shortlinks.

This will also surely work with the other sharing services as well, but I haven’t seen the need to experiment in that direction. Also different versions of Jetpack should be the same, but line numbers and exact context will probably differ.

Hope that helps!

UPDATE: This was originally written for Jetpack 1.4.2 and with the release of 1.5 all steps including line numbers remained unchanged.

UPDATE: 08-03-2012 Jetpack 1.6.1 released. Instructions remain the same except line numbers have changed. Previous to 1.6.1 line numbers were 262 & 264. Now same changes are made in lines 344 & 348.

President Obama Guts TANF Welfare Reforms.

Skip — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:07:59 +0000

How can the President continue to unilaterally bypass the law and congress in his effort to bring about his vision of Utopia? Yesterday, by executive fiat, he gutted the welfare reforms of the Clinton administration, and his lapdog media won’t even mention it. Like his recent declaration of amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, this is another move that simply would not have held muster among the American People, so they weren’t consulted.

When TANF was passed into law it was shielded so that this exact sort of end-around wouldn’t be legal, but the legality doesn’t seem to concern Health and Human Services or the Administration.

Morning Bell: Obama's Imperial Presidency Dissolves Welfare Reform.

My challenge to President Obama: Tell us a story.

Whitehouse likens school records to birth certificate

Skip — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 19:58:31 +0000

I know it’s just me, but I get so upset when I hear this. Today, again, when the President’s press secretary Jay Carney is asked about the the Presidents school records, he likens it to the questions about his birth certificate. He maintains the administration is transparent , and calls it an “open book”, unfortunately it’s a book the American people don’t get to read. I see two possibilities: either Obama registered as a foreign student to cash in on financial aid or George Bush got better grades.

I know that’s simply speculation, yet they MUST know that by not releasing the documents they invite the speculation. Again I’m speculating, but it would seem they’ve concluded releasing the documents would damage their position worse than any amount of speculation.

Pelican International Airport

Skip — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 16:31:08 +0000

Source: commerce.state.ak.us via Pinterest

Roghudi, Calabria, Italy

Skip — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 03:45:09 +0000

Roghudi, a ghost town in Calabria, Italy.

Source: violiantonio.wordpress.com via Pinterest

Music’s Window

Skip — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 03:22:23 +0000

Music’s Window by Thalita Dol

Source: thalitadol.cgsociety.org via Pinterest

Rachel Maddow calls Fast and Furious a ‘Conspiracy Theory’

Skip — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 04:28:45 +0000

Maddow says: “This is what the Fast and Furious scandal is. This is it. It is a conspiracy theory on the right that President Obama is secretly trying to take away all your guns. That’s what it was.”

No, I’m sorry Rachel, Fast and Furious was a program where the US government allowed over 2,000 assault weapons to be walked into Mexico. To date over 300 people have been killed by those weapons, including a US Border Patrol agent. Attorney General Eric Holder has consistently stonewalled on the release of documents that would actually shine some light on what they were thinking when they set up this operation, and just who knew about it. If you want to quash the ‘Obama’s gun-grab’ theory, join those interested in the truth and demand that AG Holder release the documents he has. Honestly Ms. Maddow, if this was a ‘delusion’ why would the President exercise Executive Privilege in withholding the documents. Three hundred people are dead, and the administration is saying “nothing to see here, move along.” If you are in fact a journalist I think that is something you would want to investigate.

Also to note Ma’am, AG Holder has already walked back his statement that this program was started under the previous administration. That talking point is no longer valid.

Maddow Begs Media to Ignore Fast and Furious: Just Another Paranoid Delusion Like Sherrod Scandal | NewsBusters.org.