The History Behind Leap Year

Leap years are years with 366 days, instead of the usual 365. Leap years are necessary because the actual length of a year is 365.242 days, not 365 days, as commonly stated. Basically, leap years occur every 4 years, and years that are evenly divisible by 4 (2004, for example) have 366 days. This extra day is added to the calendar on February 29th.

However, there is one exception to the leap year rule involving century years, like the year 1900. Since the year is slightly less than 365.25 days long, adding an extra day every 4 years results in about 3 extra days being added over a period of 400 years. For this reason, only 1 out of every 4 century years is considered as a leap year. Century years are only considered as leap years if they are evenly divisible by 400. Therefore, 1700, 1800, 1900 were not leap years, and 2100 will not be a leap year. But 1600 and 2000 were leap years, because those year numbers are evenly divisible by 400.

Julius Caesar, Father of Leap Year

Julius Caesar was behind the origin of leap year in 45 BC. The early Romans had a 355 day calendar and to keep festivals occurring around the same season each year a 22 or 23 day month was created every second year. Julius Caesar decided to simplify things and added days to different months of the year to create the 365 day calendar, the actual calculation were made by Caesar's astronomer, Sosigenes. Every fourth year following the 28th day of Februarius (February 29th) one day was to be added, making every fourth year a leap year.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII further refined the calendar with the rule that leap day would occur in any year divisible by 4 as described above

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"

 This is not my normal daily inspiration; however I wanted to share my
viewpoint relating to the above expression. I totally know what the
phrase means; hopefully you will get a better understanding at the end
of this message. Please read, provide your feedback, and be blessed.

Al Pacino, quoted that infamous slogan and effectively it became a

regular dialect for people who possibly imagined themselves to be as
notorious as he or just liked uttering the words. Nevertheless, I
would venture to say, most civilized people, who may frivolously utter
that catchphrase, really don't comprehend what that statement implies.
On the other hand, the con artists, from Vegas to Rochester, are aware
that anyone not knowing its proper meaning could result in a nice
screwing where the sun doesn’t shine……Catch my drift?

First of all, keeping your enemies close doesn't eliminate the problem

of having enemies; and if you're sitting there smiling like a clown,
thinking you don't have enemies, because you're such a sweet person;

I've got news for you -- if you don't have enemies, it's because no

one thinks you're significant. Any person with direction in their life
will have enemies, but keeping them close can prevent an unexpected
strike. It doesn't take Einstein to figure out the toughest and most
destructive blow comes when it's unexpected.

Who is your enemy? Try to figure out who qualifies to be on your

exclusive enemy list, before you start keeping close tabs on certain
people. If I were to sum it up for a moron, I'd tell them that an
enemy is anyone who doesn't support you.
An enemy may well be a friend, business partner or even family. An
enemy is anyone who will give you the evil eye or who has even
entertained ideas of how amusing it would be to hex a voodoo curse on
your head.
To your list of nemeses, the more powerful you are, you become a
bigger target or opponent to someone else; whether it's the suit in
the cubicle next to you or the person who lives next door. It's
a Catch-22 of success: The more successful you are, the more people
will be lining up with baseball bats earmarked for your head; and the
harder you'll fall if you don't keep track of what your enemies are up
to.
Take it from someone with experience: Just about everyone is a
potential enemy or backstabber. In fact, the guy with the biggest
smile or the one who gives you more political statements are usually
the one with the sharpest knife. Why keep them close? Now, let's be
realistic. We can't all keep our enemies close. I don't see President
Barrack Obama and Fidel Castrol having Sunday brunch together, no
matter how much Cuban food they may like.
But, most enemies (especially the ones that cause the most damage)
come from your inner circle, so you can easily keep your eye on these
people. It's important that you don't break the lines of communication
with them (Now, I guess I’m sounding like a marriage counselor).

To keep tabs on your enemies: try staying in touch, talking with them

(even briefly) and reading their body language. These are some of the
ways you can get a sense of the ‘cafones;' true intentions. Any
information is potential ammo for you.

Salute your enemies; meet your enemies, acknowledgment them and even

buy them drinks because it gives you a chance to look into their eyes
and see if they fear you or if they have the slightest smirk of
smugness; which is usually a sign that they're up to something, or
think they know something you don't. Their eyes will also reveal their
hatred, weaknesses, insecurities, and levels of respect -- so learn to
look carefully at the occhi.

Another way to stay close to your enemies is to befriend their closes

contacts. Sort of like a mole that is dumb enough to be manipulated,
and trusted enough by your enemy, to supply you with some good
ammunition. This could be as simple as knowing his mistress, his
associates, his schedule, etc. When you are dealing with your enemy,
valuable info can be easily used against him when the time is ripe.
What you will try to do is predict his next move. The more you know
about your enemies, the more you'll be able to distinguish their
strengths (even the level of connections or support they have) and
weaknesses. (Such as; do they love to eat and go to numerous
restaurants)?

More tricks of the trade: the ideal situation would be to turn your

enemy into a close associate. You don't have to make him part of your
crew, but just stay close enough to speak to them or people they
“know."
Outside of the normal, people quickly let their guards down. The
dumber your enemies think you are, the more off guard they become
because they assume you're too stupid to bring them harm.
It's at this point that your enemies will start telling untruths to
people they know, volunteering information that you'll be storing away
like an elephant. This false security will lead them to committing
mistakes that you can use to destroy them.
A worthy opponent: of course, we don't all have the luxury of
brainless opponents. You might have enemies who are smart, and will
wipe the floor with you, if you make any hint of a false move. These
guys aren't going to be fooled by your different routine. You'll have
to treat them with respect while still getting the valuable
information needed to build the little file you have stored in your
head.

The key to getting close to an enemy when bad blood exists, is by

offering a truce. You both might dislike the lack of respect, but
don't let that affect your judgment. Maintaining respect is the key to
solving future problems. It's hypocritical, because being social with
a guy that has betrayed you is extremely hard, but maintaining
discipline is about honor and self-respect.

So treat your enemies well. Send them messages that you are still a

caring, loving person, and would ungrudgingly help them out if
problems arise; but never let your guard down. It’s like a secret
mission. You need to keep as few barriers between you and your sworn
enemies, as possible. Understand that, and you will be prepared for
anything that comes your way.

So, I am not worried about my enemies; even to those who call me,

“their friend” and say they love me, “Even Jesus was betrayed,” but He
lived. I have been betrayed, bruised, abandoned and lied on; but I
too, shall live. The way to living is keeping the one true Friend close, Jesus Christ!
He will take care of those enemies. JC.