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Afternoon Inquisition
AI: Anniversay Discussion
I apologize if I seem a bit rushed today. See, I’ve been dodging wildfires for the past few days, and they are still raging nearby, so I can’t stay long. My state musta done some real sinnin’ to deserve the long drought this summer and now the fires! Anyway, I thought since the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on targets…
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Afternoon Inquisition
AI: When Ethics are at Steak
This recent article in The Atlantic takes a look at the mindset that enables farmers to raise and kill thousands of animals and still consider themselves happy. It outlines how ranchers raise thousands of head of cattle “in a way that typifies industrial animal agriculture. Cows are numbered, not named. Animals don’t eat food, they convert feed. The ultimate goal…
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Activism
AI: Space — It Sucks and Swallows
Can you identify the image at the top of the post? It’s actually an elusive cosmic event. And I had to post it, along the animation from NASA, because it is pretty cool. For the first time, a black hole has been caught in the act of tearing apart and swallowing a star that got too close. Do events like this…
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Afternoon Inquisition
AI: Floating Libertarian Countries
According to a profile in Details magazine, Pay Pal founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel has given $1.25 million to an initiative to create floating libertarian countries in international waters. Thiel has been a strong supporter of the Seasteading Institute, which is an organization looking to build sovereign nations on oil rig-like platforms to occupy waters beyond the reach of law-of-the-sea treaties. These…
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Afternoon Inquisition
AI: The Falcon HTV-2 and All That That Implies
Today the US military lost contact after 36 minutes with rocket-launched carbon fibre spaceplane designed to fly at 13,000mph. The Falcon HTV-2, launched aboard a rocket, is the fastest plane ever built, and it disappeared during a hypersonic test flight over the Pacific. After separating from the rocket at the edge of space and beginning its return to Earth, the…
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Afternoon Inquisition
AI: Deja New, Tighty Whities, and Granny Panties
Well, it’s Thursday afternoon, and you all know what that means. Yep, it’s the time of week when we all exchange underwear. So to the lucky person who drew my name, here are my boxer briefs. Don’t worry. They’re clean . . . . -ish. And while we’re sorting out the Thursday Afternoon FUNdergarment Swap, you all can show your…
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Afternoon Inquisition
AI: Let’s Talk About Ducks
Okay, so this post has nothing to do with ducks. I just typed that in as a placeholder until I could think of a better title, and then decided I really liked it as a title for some reason. I dunno. Anyway . . . There’s been a lot of talk on this blog and on other skeptical sites recently about the…
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Afternoon Inquisition
AI: Discussion Topics from the Gallery
I’m one of the organizers of the Houston Skeptic Society, the local critical thinking group in my town, and I have decided to put together a discussion roundtable for our members. The idea is, unlike the Skeptics in the Pub gatherings where the topic of discussion can change from minute to minute, the discussion group would focus on a single topic for the entire…
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