Friday, December 31, 2010

Not Enough Rabbling

Despite 115 posts for the year, and I only started this thing in March, so I suppose that's a pretty good start but no excuse, there has not been enough rabbling this year.  My New Years (and I can't say I encourage New Years resolutions as they are silly attmepts at self improvement so people can feel better about their pathetic lives and and then not actually follow through on) resolution is MORE RABBLING!  So get ready for an onslaught of rabbliness people.  Maybe I could get a smart phone so I can unpdate on the go. Or, maybe not.  Of course I could just not follow through on my resolution like everyone else I just complained about but I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out.  Have fun, be safe.  Rabble-B

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Quote of the Week

"Look at all the pink.  Pink daddy!"  The desperate appeal of a 3 year old girl while pulling on the door of Victoria Secret with a giant, pink lingerie display in the window.  Meanwhile her embarrassed father is trying to quiet her down and move along.  Amazing.  Rabble-B

Friday, December 24, 2010

Also,

Have a good Christmas tomorrow.

2010 A Trash Oddessy

Because polluting Earth to the point of biological collapse isn't enough, space the final frontier... to pollute.  Now there's so much shit up there you stand a good chance of something taking down your Millenium Falcon.  Maybe they are intentionally filling up Earth's orbit to block out the rays of the sun to curb global warming.  Rabble-B

From MSNBC.com

Orbiting junk rivals weapons as major threat to space use

Debris could damage other crafts, people and Earth-based property
Trackable objects in orbit around Earth. By Jeremy Hsu

updated 12/23/2010 5:45:24 PM ET

What began as a minor trash problem in space has now developed into a full-blown threat. A recent space security report put the problem of debris on equal footing with weapons as a threat to the future use of space.

Hundreds of thousands of pieces of space junk — including broken satellites, discarded rocket stages and lost spacewalker tools — now crowd the corridors of Earth orbit.

These objects could do serious damage to working spacecraft if they were to hit them, and might even pose a risk to people and property on the ground if they fall back to Earth and are large enough to survive re-entering the atmosphere.

The new Space Security 2010 report released by the Space Security Index, an international research consortium, represented space debris as a primary issue. Similar recognition of the orbital trash threat also emerged in the U.S. national space policy unveiled by President Obama in June 2010.

Such growing awareness of the space debris problem builds on stark warnings issued in past years by scientists and military commanders, experts said. It could also pave the way for U.S. agencies and others to better figure out how to clean up Earth orbit.

Consideration of space debris as a major threat may cause the United States to take a more global view on the threat of space weapons, said Brian Weeden, a former U.S. Air Force orbital analyst and now technical adviser for the Secure World Foundation, an organization dedicated to the sustainable use of space.

"This is an important realization, because before that much of the security focus was on threats from hostile actors in space," Weeden explained. "This is the first [national policy] recognition that threats can come from the space environment and nonhostile events."

All those bits of garbage in space could eventually create a floating artificial barrier that endangers spaceflight for any nation, experts said.

Even fictional space navigator Han Solo might prefer to risk turbolaser blasts from Imperial starships rather than hazard Earth's growing cloud of space debris, where objects whiz by at up to 4.8 miles per second (7.8 km/s).

The possibility of a damaging collision between spacecraft and orbital junk only continues to grow with more functional and nonfunctional hardware flying above Earth. Both the International Space Station and space shuttle missions have been forced to dodge space debris in the past.

More than 21,000 objects larger than 4 inches (10 centimeters) in diameter are being tracked by the Department of Defense's U.S. Space Surveillance Network. Estimates suggest there are more than 300,000 objects larger than 0.4 inches (1 cm), not including several million smaller pieces.
"The shuttle was more likely to be wiped out by something you didn't see than something you were dodging," said Donald Kessler, a former NASA researcher and now an orbital debris and meteoroid consultant in Asheville, N.C.

But the problem has become much worse since Kessler began studying the issue decades ago with Burton Cour-Palais, a fellow NASA researcher. Their 1978 research described how the debris cloud might continue expanding on its own because of an ever-higher probability of collisions that built upon each past collision.

The Kessler Syndrome
That prediction, known as the Kessler Syndrome, may have already been realized.

China's intentional destruction of an aging weather satellite during a 2007 anti-satellite test created about 2,500 pieces of new debris in Earth orbit.
More recently, a U.S. Iridium communications satellite and a defunct Soviet Cosmos spacecraft were destroyed in an unintended head-on collision in 2009. That incident added more than 1,000 pieces of trackable debris to the mess, adding to the number of possible targets and therefore upping the chances of future collisions.

The overall trackable amount of space debris grew by about 15.6 percent, according to the Space Security 2010 report.
NASA and other U.S. agencies could use national space policy as a chance to aggressively pursue solutions, such as using spacecraft propelled by solar radiation ( solar sails ) or other objects to take down a few select pieces of debris, experts said.

"If we only bring down four objects per year, we can stabilize [the debris field] if we carefully select those most likely to contribute to debris," Kessler told SPACE.com.

Path to cleaner space
The national space policy shift shows that policymakers have finally begun to take action based on the work of Kessler and other researchers, Weeden said.

"This policy basically sets the playing field for what is to come," Weeden said. "It's an enabler, not the actual solution itself."

The United States and other countries could begin discussing voluntary codes of conduct about how to minimize space debris from new missions, as well as how to clean up old space debris.

But legally binding agreements remain politically unlikely, Weeden cautioned. More plausible is an agreement on a strictly volunteer basis that would require spacefaring countries to put peer pressure on one another to comply.

Change of tune
The criticism of past space weapons tests that have created space debris has already changed how countries plan their actions, said Joan Johnson-Freese, a space policy analyst at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

"When the United States tested an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon in 1985 by destroying its Solwind satellite, and China tested its ASAT in 2007, neither broke any 'rules,'" Johnson-Freese said in an e-mail. "But each created a substantial amount of space debris potentially dangerous to other spacecraft."

Both countries have since changed their policies, and said future tests will be characterized as "missile defense," aimed only at destroying targets that won't leave lingering debris, Johnson-Freese pointed out. "In terms of space debris, it is simply not in U.S. interests to pursue paths that encourage actions that result in debris creation."

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Ford Probe

Worst car name ever...  Rabble-B

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Best Hat Ever

On a lighter note, you should swing by the Patagonia website and pick up a Rabble Beanie (No, I am not making this up, it's a dream come true) and support your local rabbler. 

Go here now:  http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/patagonia-rabble-beanie?p=28926-0-602

Unrabble (Beanie)-B

Don't be an Asshole

So we have yet another instance of totally needless and senseless assholing by some dickhead preacher from Florida (of course it's Florida, the only other place it could be is Germany.  Why do you think they play the game "Germany or Florida" on Loveline) who thinks he's doing the work of God by protesting at funerals.  And, he even protests military funerals of soldiers that were killed in action defending his unfortunate right of free speech.  Oh the irony.  Fuck, man!  What is wrong with you?  Sometimes I wish we lived in a totalitarian state (preferably run by me, but you know...)  so this dickwad's right to say and do utterly classless and heartless things could be snatched away at any moment.  Hey, moron, I'm pretty sure God doesn't want you picketing a cancer victim's funeral.  Just sayin'...  Rabble-B

Edwards funeral to be picketed by controversial church

Westboro Baptist, which is at center of Supreme Court case, also pickets military funerals


msnbc.com staff and news service reports msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 12/9/2010 11:10:36 AM ET 2010-12-09T16:10:36
A church that pickets funerals to protest what it calls American immorality says its members will be picketing the service this Saturday for Elizabeth Edwards, who died of breast cancer on Tuesday.
Based in Topeka, Kan., the Westboro Baptist Church said it would be outside the Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, N.C., during the funeral for the former wife of one-time vice presidential candidate John Edwards.
Westboro members, led by the Rev. Fred Phelps, have also picketed military funerals to make their point that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are punishment for Americans' immorality, including tolerance of homosexuality and abortion.
Signs like "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" have been raised at military funerals, and the church announced its latest action with a press release titled "God hates Elizabeth Edwards."
The church, founded in 1955, has about 70 members consisting mostly of Phelps' children, grandchildren or in-laws. Phelps, 80, and his followers have protested at more than 200 military funerals, according to court documents.
The church has gotten the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court, which last October heard arguments over whether it has a free speech right to picket funerals with its controversial signs.
The justices are expected to rule by mid-2011 in the case brought by the father of a Marine killed in Iraq. He wants a $5 million civil verdict reinstated against members of the church.An appeals court threw out the fine on the ground that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of free speech.
The Supreme Court justices heard arguments in the emotion-laden case of Albert Snyder. His son died in Iraq in 2006, and members of the church protested the funeral.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the question is whether the First Amendment must tolerate "exploiting this bereaved family."  There was no clear answer from the court during the questioning.
Snyder is asking the court to reinstate the lower-court verdict's fine against the Westboro members who held signs outside the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, including ones that read "Thank God for Dead Soldiers, "You're Going to Hell" and "God Hates the USA." The Marine was killed in a Humvee accident in 2006.
The church also posted a poem on its website that attacked Snyder and his ex-wife for the way they brought up Matthew.
The case pits the right of the father, Albert Snyder, to grieve privately against the church members' right to say what they want, no matter how offensive.

The members of the small church welcome the attention the protests have brought, mocking their critics and vowing not to change their ways whatever the outcome at the Supreme Court.
"No American should ever be required to apologize for following his or her conscience," said Margie Phelps, a daughter of Fred Phelps and the lawyer arguing the case for the church.
Snyder won an $11 million verdict against the church for intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other claims. A judge reduced the award to $5 million before the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., threw out the verdict altogether, citing the church's free speech rights under the First Amendment.
For Snyder, the case is not about free speech but harassment. "I had one chance to bury my son and it was taken from me," Snyder said.
Forty-eight states, 42 U.S. senators and veterans groups have sided with Snyder, asking the court to shield funerals from the church's "psychological terrorism."
While distancing themselves from the church's message, media organizations, including The Associated Press, have called on the court to side with church because of concerns that a victory for Snyder could erode free speech rights.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

You Suck Google

Yes, I realize that Google powers blogger.com but I don't really care, no one reads this anyway and I can always start a Wordpress account. 

Anyway, Google entered China a while ago now but it's time for a rabble.  Google's motto is "Don't be evil".  Seriously, it is and honestly that's a pretty rad motto.  But when Google entered China and agreed to censor tons of stuff they made tons of money (billions I'm sure) and at the same time became "evil".  Your average Chinese dude cannot search Google for the Dalai Lama.  Nothing exists on him on the Chinese internet.  Nor can average Chinese brossif search Tiananmen Square massacre.  It never happened on Google China. 

Well fuck you Google, because by agreeing to supress the truth and history you are contributing to the Chinese government's stranglehold on information and the liberty of their people.  You're denying free thinking and individual independence in cooperation with an authoritarian regime in exchange for money.  That, Google, is by definition, EVIL!  Maybe you should change your motto to, "Hookers and blow, the way to go".  It even rhymes.  Rabble-B

Friday, December 3, 2010

Test Rabble

So I think I've figured out how to get this thing to email people when I post a rabble.  The problem is it limits me to 10 email addresses.  I think the whole world should be aware of the rabble but this is what I have to work with for now.  So if you get an email notification of a rabble then you are a loyal/original supporter of the rabbles.  If not then maybe you should email me and plead your case as to why you should be included in the top ten.

So this test rabble is actually an unrabble.  Check out the worlds hottest pepper.  Unrabble (unless you eat one, then I'm sure you'll be plenty rabbley)-B



World’s hottest pepper is ‘hot enough to strip paint’

By Brett Michael Dykes
Fiery food mavens seeking to one-up each other now have to gear up for a whole new test of culinary bravado: the world's hottest chili pepper.
Yes, the Naga Viper, the latest claimant to the world's-hottest-pepper crown, outdistances its predecessor, the Bhut Jolokia, or  "ghost chili," by more than 300,000 points on the famous Scoville scale of tongue-scorching chili hotness. Researchers at Warwick University testing the Naga Viper found that it measures 1,359,000 on the Scoville scale, which rates heat by tracking the presence of a chemical compound. In comparison, most varieties of jalapeƱo peppers measure in the 2,500 to 5,000 range -- milder than the Naga Viper by a factor of 270.
You might think the Naga Viper would hail from some part of the world with a strong demand for spicy food, such as India or Mexico. But the new pepper is actually the handiwork of Gerald Fowler, a British chili farmer and pub owner, who crossed three of the hottest peppers known to man -- including the Bhut Jolokia -- to create his Frankenstein-monster chili.
"It's painful to eat," Fowler told the Daily Mail. "It's hot enough to strip paint." Indeed, the Daily Mail reports that defense researchers are already investigating the pepper's potential uses as a weapon.
But Fowler -- who makes customers sign a waiver declaring that they're of sound mind and body before trying a Naga Viper-based curry -- insists that consuming the fiery chili does the body good.
"It numbs your tongue, then burns all the way down," he told the paper. "It can last an hour, and you just don't want to talk to anyone or do anything. But it's a marvelous endorphin rush. It makes you feel great."
A member of the Clifton Chili Club -- a group of Brits who travel around sampling chilis -- decided to try one of Fowler's Naga Vipers on camera. You can watch his less-than-pleasurable experience here.
(Photo of Bhut Jolokia, the previous holder of the hottest pepper in the world title: AP/New Mexico State University)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Double Rabble

So I just heard on NPR that Nigeria is planning on charging Dick Cheney with some sort of conspiracy and corruption charge for some bullshit with Halliburton when he was CEO, before he became the dark lord of the vice presidency.  Karma is a bitch Dick, suck on it.  Rabble-B

Trebek

Alex Trebek is a prick.  Watch Jeopardy, just watch and listen to the way he talks down to the contestants (though admittedly occasionally the contestants are idiots and deserve it) and how condescending his comments are, like he holds their entire life's goals in his hand and can crush them with one off handed comment.  And, it's even worse when he's wrong.

Contestant: "What was the OK Corral Shootout?"

Trebek: "Uhh, oookkkay, that's close enough, we'll accept that (now I'm thinking he's being pissy about her not saying, "the shootout at the ok corral" but no...), it was the gunfight at the OK Corral.

Really Alex?  Was it?  Because I've never heard it called that before it spilled from your lips like a dog vomiting after he ate too much grass in the backyard.  I've only ever heard it called, "The Shootout at the OK Corral" but you know, gunfight, shootout, whatever.  You're the boss.  Tell me what to think Alex.  This is just one instance, which is fresh in my memory, among countless others.  Just look on You Tube for Trebek moments, you'll be surprised how many retarded Jeopardy moments he creates with his comments.  I love every SNL Celebrity Jeopardy skit where Sean Connery crushes your spirit Alex.  Rabble-B