So… that supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy? It’s inactive, and has been for a long time. Scientists wondered just how long it’s been inactive, and now they have an idea…
It ate it’s last meal about 6 million years ago.
And here’s the image (as usual, click on the image for the hi-res tif file):
Quasar’s Light Yields Clues to Outflow
More infuriating shit from, of all places, Bloomberg…
President Donald Trump is set to sign a sweeping directive to dramatically shrink the role climate change plays in decisions across the government, ranging from appliance standards to pipeline approvals, according to a person familiar with the administration’s plan.
The order, which could be signed this week, goes far beyond a targeted assault on Obama-era measures blocking coal leasing and throttling greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that has been discussed for weeks. Some of the changes could happen immediately; others could take years to implement.
I’m sharing a recipe today. No, it’s not my own.
I honestly love raw fish. Always have. Sushi, sashimi, tartare, poke… something about it is really good to me. This is one of my favorite poke recipes…
Ahi Limu Poke Bowl
In a desire to have a discussion that isn’t about infuriating current events, I decided to resurrect this post from my old blog. I hope you’ll join the discussion.
So I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I wanted to put it to all of you, awesome readers, to discuss.
Is “selfish” really an objective measure, or is it, as I believe, “in the eye of the beholder”?
Consider the following fictional scenario:
No, this is not about something he said or did in the last day or two. Actually, it’s a blast from the past. And… I’m kinda late to blogging about it, too… but so what?
I’m watching the episode of TWiBPrime from February 22nd(?), and they talked about Bill Maher taking credit for Milo Fuckface-opoulos’s downfall after that clip of him defending pedophilia came out.
I love how Bill Maher felt very comfortable doing that, when he’s defended pedophilia in that past, as well…
Maher appears to see nothing wrong with a 14-year-old student’s love affair with a teacher 20 years older that produced two children.
“Basically, they’re having a family and they’re keeping the mother in jail because she won’t conform to the perfect American family,” Maher said to groans from the guests and audience.
“How can a woman rape a man?” Maher asked.
Most of y’all probably already know about his low-key White-Supremacist tweet in support of racist, right-wing politician Geert Wilders.
Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies. https://t.co/4nxLipafWO
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) March 12, 2017
Not to say that previous administrations didn’t do their damndest to find ways to murder civilians, but this takes it to a level that (and I’m sure this will surprise y’all, as it certainly surprised me) hasn’t been seen since Bush II at the latest…
From the New York Times…
The Trump administration is exploring how to dismantle or bypass Obama-era constraints intended to prevent civilian deaths from drone attacks, commando raids and other counterterrorism missions outside conventional war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations.
Already, President Trump has granted a Pentagon request to declare parts of three provinces of Yemen to be an “area of active hostilities” where looser battlefield rules apply. That opened the door to a Special Operations raid in late January in which several civilians were killed, as well as to the largest-ever series of American airstrikes targeting Yemen-based Qaeda militants, starting nearly two weeks ago, the officials said.
Mr. Trump is also expected to sign off soon on a similar Pentagon proposal to designate parts of Somalia to be another such battlefield-style zone for 180 days, removing constraints on airstrikes and raids targeting people suspected of being militants with the Qaeda-linked group the Shabab, they said.
As I mentioned when I shared some Orianthi, I’m not anti-shredding. When it works, it works incredibly well. And this is yet another example of it working extremely well…
Tosin Abasi is absolutely incredible. His playing is definitely powerful, and he does something some of those shredders I don’t like don’t do… he injects quite a bit of emotion into his near-perfect playing. He’s not afraid of effects or space, and it shows.
I’m not going to put a time stamp on the guitar solo, because this song is an instrumental. So it’s the whole song.
From the Washington Post…
President Trump’s budget proposal this week would shake the federal government to its core if enacted, culling back numerous programs and expediting a historic contraction of the federal workforce.
This would be the first time the government has executed cuts of this magnitude — and all at once — since the drawdown following World War II, economists and budget analysts said.
The spending budget Trump is set to release Thursday will offer the clearest snapshot of his vision for the size and role of government. Aides say that the president sees a new Washington emerging from the budget process, one that prioritizes the military and homeland security while slashing many other areas, including housing, foreign assistance, environmental programs, public broadcasting and research. Simply put, government would be smaller and less involved in regulating life in America, with private companies and states playing a much bigger role.
From the New York Times…
At the State Department, the normally pulsating hub of executive offices is hushed and virtually empty. At the Pentagon, military missions in some of the world’s most troubled places are being run by a defense secretary who has none of his top team in place. And at departments like Treasury, Commerce and Health and Human Services, many senior posts remain vacant even as the agencies have been handed enormous tasks like remaking the nation’s health insurance system.
From the moment he was sworn in, President Trump faced a personnel crisis, starting virtually from scratch in lining up senior leaders for his administration. Seven weeks into the job, he is still hobbled by the slow start, months behind where experts in both parties, even some inside his administration, say he should be.