"There are no solutions in the realm of the politically possible.

FVZA_Colonel

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:11 PM
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"There are no solutions in the realm of the politically possible.

So why throw trillions of dollars into "remedies" that even their proponents concede won't solve the problem?"

This was the ending paragraph of the latest column of one Jonah Goldberg, on the subject of Global Warming. In essence, he argues that no solution is practical, and any that would be attempted would be just too costly. I'm sorry, but when exactly have proponents of "remedies" said that the problem is fundamentally unsolvable? All I have heard is that these solutions would take many decades to work, but would have an appreciable effect against Global Warming.

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Deep13

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:14 PM
Response to Original message

1. Raise your hand if you know how to get drinking water from urine.

Anyone? Better learn.

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redqueen

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:22 PM
Response to Reply #1

3. ...

:scared:

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LongTomH

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:35 PM
Response to Reply #1

7. NASA managed to get drinkable water from urine

The process, designed for long-term space missions, used a combination of charcoal filtering and distillation. I remember an account of a "cocktail party," where NASA people and science journalists sampled the result.

The point is, yeah, you can do it. Scaling it up to industrial levels is a challenge; but, we're going to have to learn to do things like that in the coming years.

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Deep13

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:55 PM
Response to Reply #7

9. With everything global warming predicts...

...I don't see anyway to support the Earth's gigantic human population. When I posed the question, I was assuming that it might be a useful trick for an individual. I don't see the power generation being available for water purification on a large scale.

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boobooday

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:19 PM
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2. "in the realm of the politically possible"

politically possible

Mr. Goldberg needs to expand his realm. But then we already knew that.

It's an interesting qualification. It seems to me he has got it ass-backwards. Perhaps global warming is a call for a new political realm, where such action is possible.

But no, they say, "we will confront global warming with the poiltical realm we have, not the political realm that could actually get things done."

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patrice

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:22 PM
Response to Reply #2

4. Yeah, the solutions aren't "politically possible" so some people

Edited on Mon Feb-12-07 01:23 PM by patrice

are buying up property in places such as remote Paraguay. Though that does supprise me a bit, because I'd buy in Canada if I could afford it, but then maybe Canada wouldn't let the Bushes buy a big chunck of it.

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Deep13

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:28 PM
Response to Reply #4

5. Canada has an extradition treaty.

My recollection is that Paraguay does not.

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patrice

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:34 PM
Response to Reply #5

6. And if the Bush Family doesn't have legal trouble now . . .

Seems that lots of it is extremely likely later.

Is it possible for a bunch of soldiers' families to sue?

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Deep13

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:51 PM
Response to Reply #6

8. Probably not.

There's that whole soveign immunity thing. Get a legal opinion if you are contemplating it.

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Phredicles

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Mon Feb-12-07 01:59 PM
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10. Now judging from the thread title I'd've guessed this was about

Mr. Goldberg's beloved war in Iraq. And regarding Iraq the question, 'So why throw trillions of dollars into "remedies" that even their proponents concede won't solve the problem?' is all the more valid. Just funny that he's taking this line of argument here.

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