Trashed

Knowing this is the state of our existence on Earth's surface...

...does it come as some kind of news that we'd have similar problems in our planetary neighborhood?

Is it really necessary to point out that we're headed for a bad end if we don't stop fouling the nest?

The Kessler Syndrome:

The Kessler syndrome is troublesome because of the domino effect and feedback runaway wherein impacts between objects of sizable mass spall off debris from the force of collision. The shrapnel can then hit other objects, producing even more space debris: if a large enough collision or explosion were to occur, such as between a space station and a defunct satellite, or as the result of hostile actions in space, then the resulting debris cascade could make prospects for long-term viability of satellites in low earth orbit extremely low.[6][7] However, even a catastrophic Kessler scenario at LEO would pose minimal risk for launches continuing past LEO, or satellites traveling at medium Earth orbit (MEO) or geosynchronous orbit (GEO)...
And if we're really serious about wanting to explore beyond our little cluster of cosmic dust particles, here's the kicker:

.. The catastrophic scenarios predict an increase in the number of collisions per year, as opposed to a physically impassable barrier to space exploration that occurs in higher orbits.

So, lemme see - if there's no chain reaction that kills all the tech shit that we have to have just to stay alive - much less go rocketing off into deep space - then the continued accumulation of space junk around the planet will constitute a barrier that we can't navigate thru as we try to rocket off into deep space.

For the one species with a big brain and all the smarts to rise above the other critters, we sure are pretty fuckin' stoopid sometimes.

Space Force Theme

Songify - Schmoyoho

hat tip = Bob Cesca Podcast 08-09-18

Today's Today

Happy National S'mores Day, everybody.

This is a really weird fuckin' country sometimes.

Today's Tweet

More than that I cannot add.

First they came for Chris Collins and I did nothing because fuck that guy. Then they came for Devin Nunes and I did nothing because fuck Devin Nunes. And then no one came for me because I did not attempt to obstruct justice or interfere with the Mueller probe on behalf of Trump.

— Jaleesa Johnson (@tweetjaleesa) August 8, 2018

Jesus Fuck

Meet Joe Manchik, Green Party "candidate" for OH12

1,127 people voted for this idiot, in a race where the margin in favor of the Republican is about 1,750. 

And please - spare me the bullshit about "how bad the Dems must be to make people think they should vote Green..."

What I hear you saying is, "how fucking stoopid does a voter have to be to think Joe Manchik is a good choice?"

Your little protest votes for these idiotic boutique candidates running their idiotic vanity project campaigns are costing us dearly.

You're an adult. You can see the difference. You don't need spoon feeding. You can do some of the fucking work for yourself.

Today's Pix

A Reminder

(versions of this have been floating around for quite a while)

I'm not mad that Hillary lost.
I'm really not concerned that we have differing political preferences.

I don't think less of you because you vote a certain way.

-- I think less of you because you watched an adult mock a disabled person in front of a crowd and you still supported him.
-- I think less of you because you heard him spouting clearly racist language, and you stood with him.
-- I think less of you because you listened to him speak in favor of committing war crimes, and you still wanted him to lead our government.
-- I think less of you because you watched as he reduced a woman's worth to nothing but her appearance, and you got on board with him.
-- I think less of you because your loyalties lie with your political tribe instead of our national family.

It isn't your politics that I find repulsive. It's your willingness to side with a traitorous Daddy State bully - to indulge his bigotry, his misogyny, his cruelty, and his treachery; which leaves me only to surmise that you embrace those characteristics as your own.

So no - we will not be coming together to move forward, or whatever.

Trump disgusts me, but the simple fact that he doesn't disgust you is why these particular bygones will never be bygones. ever.

Today's Quote

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

--Charles Darwin

Today's Tweet

No one is obliged to accommodate bigotry, or to give ignorance an equal voice.

If college geology depts can refuse 2 hire flat-earthers or idiots who think the world is 6000 yrs old & history depts arent obligated 2 hire Holocaust deniers in name of 'balance,' why can't the school ITSELF say no 2 bigoted/ignorant guest speakers who violate school missions?

— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) August 6, 2018

 

Andy Borowitz

The New Yorker:

MINNEAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report) -- Many Americans are tired of explaining things to idiots, particularly when the things in question are so painfully obvious, a new poll indicates.

According to the poll, conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, while millions have been vexed for some time by their failure to explain incredibly basic information to dolts, that frustration has now reached a breaking point.

Of the many obvious things that people are sick and tired of trying to get through the skulls of stupid people, the fact that climate change will cause catastrophic habitat destruction and devastating extinctions tops the list, with a majority saying that they will no longer bother trying to explain this to cretins.

Coming in a close second, statistical proof that gun control has reduced gun deaths in countries around the world is something that a significant number of those polled have given up attempting to break down for morons.

Finally, a majority said that trying to make idiots understand why a flag that symbolizes bigotry and hatred has no business flying over a state capitol only makes the person attempting to explain this want to put his or her fist through a wall.

In a result that suggests a dismal future for the practice of explaining things to idiots, an overwhelming number of those polled said that they were considering abandoning such attempts altogether, with a broad majority agreeing with the statement, “This country is exhausting.”