posted October 11, 2009 09:32 PM         

exactly.

I have been realistic. I knew that change wasn't going to happen over night. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day. Also, Obama can't really do anything without Congress' approval. The way that people vote also factor into what he can or cannot do.

I think that also Obama was maybe a bit idealistic, and now he's become more pragmatic and is like "damn..it's a lot harder than I thought". There is major political party division in our country,and that can interfere with any type of plans that he might have.

Not everybody wants the same things either.

not everybody wants gay marriage legalized not everybody wants socialized health care. not everybody wants gays in the military. not everybody wants a non-white president. not anybody wants a president that apologizes for the mistakes that USA made in regards to the Middle East. so many things that not everybody wants.

it's always been a nation of discord. almost exact Right Ascension Sun-Eris opposition in USA's chart

maybe I am cynical. I was surprised that he got elected even though I donated to him and votoed for him, but I was very happy.

I couldn't see McCain and Palin running our nation just like people can't see Obama and Biden running our nation.

Raymond

------------------
"Nothing matters absolutely;
the truth is it only matters relatively"

posted October 11, 2009 10:19 PM         

quote:

---

they mostly just swing back and forth and back and forth endlessly, landing occasionally on the mid-point through sheer exhaustion

---

posted October 11, 2009 10:38 PM         

Raymond, I've secretly been thinking you're swell for a while now.

quote:

---

it's always been a nation of discord. almost exact Right Ascension Sun-Eris opposition in USA's chart

---

posted October 11, 2009 11:27 PM         

and is that how you spell "buffoon"? I'm actually not sure. Come to think of it, I don't believe I've ever written the word "buffoon" before. I'm sure I've said it though.

Speaking of which, I've been perusing this fine establishment we call Global Unity and I'm greatly disappointed. Where's Jwhop? Where's the gentlemanly Ag? Where's the mudpit? I see kat is doing a respectable job of harassing jwhop, but she's far too polite for the hardcore stuff. Occasionally, on boring nights such as this, I still dream of Big Daddy and the God-Like One all sweaty and muddy in the pit. I'm married, but I can still dream.

I'd really like to know what 'right ascension' means, but I'm afraid to go into astro and find out. Come back Raymond!

posted October 12, 2009 12:27 PM         

Quick someone, how do you say "Don't shoot; I'm a friend" in Russian?

posted October 12, 2009 12:50 PM         

All CAPS to all uncapitalized, huh? I should have changed my name when I had the chance. I guess I'm too into continuity.

Happy Columbus Day. (Yay! Bank holiday. It's a little gloomy outside, but I think I'll go for a swim anyway...just because I can. )

posted October 12, 2009 01:57 PM         

quote:

---

Big Daddy and the Godlike One?

---

posted October 12, 2009 04:07 PM         

Right Ascension is the equatorial longitude coordinate. Astronomers use that along with Declinations (equatorial latitude coordinate) to locate celestial objects.

Raymond

------------------
"Nothing matters absolutely;
the truth is it only matters relatively"

posted October 12, 2009 04:12 PM         

A swim? In October? How fortunate. I'll stick with the mudpit daydreams though, if it's all the same to you. Coldish water and all that.

quote:

---

(I have no idea what right ascension means either.)

---

Thank you, kind sir, that makes me feel less of a buffoon. (that is the correct spelling btw. I checked)

I'm sorry, kat. I meant polite in good way. Honest.

Eleanore, as a matter of fact, I was looking for shoes last night. Either these http://www.zappos.com/gabriella-rocha-karissa-black-suede or these http://www.zappos.com/mia-gelato-black-suede. Too much of that slouchy thing in the second. Not sure. It occured to me this morning that I've never owned a pair of Wellingtons - which are so much fun, don't you think? A serious lapse in judgement I should probably rectify. Last night my little guy and I played with a toy ship in the bath. He has two, but one of them seems to have disappeared. I think he might have thrown it out. He's taken to throwing things out lately. Last week I just happened to find my copies of Meditative Gregorian Chants and JA's Nothing's Shocking in the trash. Is this normal??!! Little guy's lucky I didn't put him up for adoption right then and there. I really don't know what ceiling wax is.

posted October 12, 2009 04:16 PM         

quote:

---

Right Ascension is the equatorial longitude coordinate. Astronomers use that along with Declinations (equatorial latitude coordinate) to locate celestial objects.

---

posted October 12, 2009 05:22 PM         

Right ascension (abbrev. RA; symbol α is the astronomical term for one of the two coordinates of a point on the celestial sphere when using the equatorial coordinate system. The other coordinate is the declination.

Explanation

RA is the celestial equivalent of terrestrial longitude. Both RA and longitude measure an east-west angle along the equator; and both measure from a zero point on the equator. For longitude, the zero point is the Prime Meridian; for RA, the zero point is known as the First Point of Aries, which is the place in the sky where the Sun crosses the celestial equator at the March equinox. RA is always zero on the equinoctial colure, the meridian of the celestial sphere which passes through the celestial poles and first point of Aries.

RA is measured eastward from the March equinox. Any units of angular measure can be used for RA, but it is customarily measured in hours, minutes, and seconds, with 24 hours being equivalent to a full circle. The reason for this choice is that the earth rotates at an approximately constant rate (see sidereal time). Since a complete circle has 360 degrees, an hour of right ascension is equal to 1/24 of this, or 15 degrees of arc, a single minute of right ascension equal to 15 minutes of arc, and a second of right ascension equal to 15 seconds of arc. Sidereal Hour Angle, used in celestial navigation, is similar to RA, but increases westward rather than eastward. It is important not to confuse SHA with the concept of hour angle as it is usually used in astronomy, which is how far west an object is from one's local meridian.

RA can be used to determine a star's location and to determine how long it will take for a star to reach a certain point in the sky. For example, if a star with RA = 01:30:00 is at a location's meridian, then a star with RA = 20:00:00 will be in the meridian 18.5 sidereal hours later.

Since the right ascension (and declination) of stars are constantly changing due to precession, astronomers always specify these with reference to a particular epoch. The currently used standard epoch is J2000.0, which is January 1, 2000 at 12:00 TT. The prefix "J" indicates that it is a Julian epoch. Prior to this astronomers used the successive Besselian Epochs B1875.0, B1900.0 and B1950.0.
[edit] History

The concept of right ascension has been known at least as far back as Hipparchus who measured stars in equatorial coordinates in the 2nd century BCE. But Hipparchus and his successors made their star catalogs in ecliptical coordinates, and the use of RA was limited to special cases.

With the invention of the telescope, it became possible for astronomers to observe celestial objects in greater detail, provided that the telescope could be kept pointed at the object for a period of time. The easiest way to do that is to use an equatorial mount for the telescope, which allows the telescope to rotate at the same rate as the earth. As the equatorial mount became widely adopted for observation, the equatorial coordinate system, which includes right ascension, was adopted at the same time for simplicity. Equatorial mounts could then be accurately pointed at objects with known right ascension and declination by the use of setting circles. The first star catalog to use right ascension and declination was John Flamsteed's Historia Coelestis Britannica (1712, 1725).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_ascension#See_also

Right ascension charts

There are 2 main systems of coordinates on the celestial sphere. One is based on the ecliptic, the other one is based on the celestial equator. One can therefore conceive 2 ways of drawing charts:

* The usual way is based on the ecliptic – not right ascension. As we saw when discussing celestial longitude and latitude, a 'normal' astrological chart is a graphic representation of planetary longitudes. The zodiac band which has the ecliptic as its middle) is drawn, and the planets are placed on it according to their longitude.
* In a right ascension chart, instead of using the zodiac/ecliptic, one uses the celestial equator. This is why on a right ascension chart, you will not see any zodiacal signs, just 12 sections which represent 12 divisions of the celestial equator. Along this circle, the planets are placed according to their right ascension.

To get a listing of right ascensions and declinations in Clairvision Virtual Astrologer, click on 'View', 'Listing', then 'Detailed'. You will notice that right ascensions are not expressed in degrees, but in hour angles.
Right ascension charts – what they mean

How does the meaning of a right ascension chart differ from a normal chart?

To answer this question, some say that the celestial equator is a more 'earthy' reference than the ecliptic. This makes sense, for the celestial equator is the projection of the earth's equator on the celestial sphere, while the ecliptic is the path of the Sun.

Consequently, they regard the right ascension chart as an indication of how a person manifests the potentialities of their 'normal' (longitude-based) chart into their life. From this perspective, the 'normal' chart shows potentialities; the right ascension chart shows how these potentialities are likely to manifest in real life. Hence the motto: right ascension chart – manifestation chart.

For instance, if an aspect or a cluster of planets is really critical in a person's chart, you may want to look at their right ascension chart to see if the aspect is also present, and if it is any different.

In astrological readings, it is not rare to see people who are not like their chart! For instance, one sees charts with beautiful potentialities which are not translated into the reality of the person's life. The right ascension chart may give clues as to why and how, and also clues as to how to manifest what is in the chart.

From these indications, you may also deduct that the right ascension charts of solar returns may be quite interesting, since when doing predictions you are precisely trying to determine how influences will manifest in real life.

To draw a right ascension chart in Clairvision Virtual Astrologer, click on 'View', 'Drawing', choose either 'PNG' or 'AVG', then 'Configure', and 'Right Ascension Chart'.
http://astrology.clairvision.org/static/astrologymanual/Right_ascension_and_declination.html

when objects are in conjunction in Right Ascension, they culminate,anti-culminate together. When objects are in opposition in Right Ascension, one culminates as the other anti-culminates and vice versa.
That's linked to the paran method.
http://www.astrosoftware.com/RotatedParans.htm

Raymond

------------------
"Nothing matters absolutely;
the truth is it only matters relatively"

posted October 12, 2009 07:48 PM         

lalalinda absolutely no connection whatsoever. just an affectionate nickname for the place I sometimes share with juni. blame her.

posted October 12, 2009 08:09 PM         

Raymond

------------------
"Nothing matters absolutely;
the truth is it only matters relatively"

posted October 12, 2009 09:01 PM         

You have been sorely missed, shura. And, btw, I think you're the only person who's caught onto ceiling wax. Like the following blogger, I too spent a long time wondering about the blessed ceiling wax as a child.

quote:

---

Ceiling Wax

Incidentally, the original quote that I maligned for the title of the previous post was from Lewis Carroll's 'The Walrus and the Carpenter':

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes, and ships, and sealing-wax
Of cabbages, and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings."

Anyhow. When I was far, far younger, I always used to think that the third line was:

"Of shoes, and ships, and ceiling-wax"

I spent an enormous amout of time and effort trying to find out what ceiling wax actually was, and how one would go about waxing a ceiling. And why one would want to, for that matter. The best solution that I came up with was that it would protect your ground floor from flooding when you filled the bath too high upstairs.

And amazingly, ceiling wax does actually exist. It's the wax you use to perform the magic trick where you throw a pack of cards into the air and the 'chosen' card sticks to the ceiling. But I don't think that's Mr Carroll meant.

---