Common knowledge says that before Columbus, people thought the world was flat. I think that’s a bad generalization.
Consider what the Bible says in Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
I have heard that explained a number of times as a good description of an infinite distance – no matter how far east you go, you’ll never be west. Unlike north and south – if you head north, eventually you end up going south, and vice-versa.
And that all makes sense, we can picture that on a globe.
Of course, like all analogies there is a weakness. If your sins go west and you go east, you’ll end up meeting when you circle around. But as far as your direction goes, if you go east you’ll always go east.
But that description and that explanation means that people in the Bible (that Psalm was probably written around 1000 BC, so 2500 years before Columbus) knew the earth was a globe and that north and south were the poles.
I think we need to give people of the past more credit. And the Bible too.
As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12
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I had a slight mishap while working on one of our vehicles. I jammed a finger. I’ll give you two guesses as to which finger it was:
Guess 1:
Guess 2:
Spoiler alert if you haven’t already figured it out.
Since it was my ring finger, my ring was seeming to prevent the swelling from working its way into my hand. That was not so good, because it kept all the swelling in one place and my wife was concerned that it would get infected.
Apparently my brother has jammed his finger before, since his advice was to take the ring off immediately when you jam your finger. Which would be fine if I could get my ring off.
Even though my ring was stuck on, it never got tight enough that I couldn’t maneuver it to be able to see daylight between it and my finger. And the discoloration never made it all the way to the end of my finger.
My finger is back to normal now. My words of advice: keep your hands away from a tire that’s bouncing around.
The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to the people who spoke to you, saying, “Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us.” Thus you shall say to them, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!”
Luke 5:9
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Okay, okay, it is 2020 at this point, but the results are headlines as 2019 because they match with the 2019 predictions made in 2019 for the 2019 season. Also, the results are not all-haiku, just the predictions were. A more accurate title would be “Results for the All-Haiku Predictions made in 2019”.
Before the bowl games commenced for this past college football season, I made some predictions. Here, for your reading enjoyment, is the tally of those predictions. Note that the results are not in haiku form, in contrast to the predictions.
(more…)
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It is time once again to update Some Blog Site readers on the results of my Some Fun Site project to create a more accurate football prediction method.
The 2019 NFL season is over, and here are the most accurate methods for predicting regular-season game results (wins-losses):
- MPW: 66%
- YPP: 65%
- ITP: 62%
No new prediction methods this year – and the second time that MPWHFA was not in the top 3 methods.
If you think you have a formula that can predict the winner of an NFL game better than 63.2% of the time, let me know and I’ll add it to the list.
(For the ideas behind the methods, please visit the Some Fun Site page.)
Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed.
Proverbs 15:22
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Since today is New Year’s Day, I won’t take much of my time to write anything lengthy here.
I am posting this public service reminder that new decades start with years ending in 1, so the 203rd decade starts next year. 2020 is the last year of the 202nd decade.
But most people don’t want to think too much about what things should be and just go along with the crowds, because they also misunderstand the meaning of the phrase “wisdom of crowds”. But I already posted about that earlier, so you can go read about the wisdom of crowds if you want.
So most people just think that when the tens place changes in the year it must be a new decade. And if most people think that, then that becomes the new definition of the decade, just like if enough people use a word to mean something that it doesn’t mean, it magically gains that meaning and becomes correct, like “momentarily”. I think I’m done fighting the decade thing though. And “momentarily”. Not that I won’t bring it up occasionally, and especially if asked – but I’ll try not to make a big deal of it.
And while we’re dealing with word definitions, “ain’t” is the right word to use in certain places. It’s correct following “I” but not “it” or “they”. People just hear it used and try to use it without thinking about it or knowing what it means or how it got here. And no, I’m not telling you.
It came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
Joshua 24:29
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This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
