XPost: talk.atheism, alt.atheism, alt.agnosticism   
   From: prohumanist@gr8mail.com   
      
   Martin wrote in message   
    <466670cd$0$27852$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk>...   
   >   
   >ekrubmeg wrote:   
   >   
   >> A solar shield sounds wonderful just, who is going to pay for it,   
      
   The cost, quoted in the article, is a mere   
   100 million dollars, which, if  7 billion were   
   on the planet at the time the shield went   
   up, would only amount to 1/100th of 1 cent   
   per person.   
      
   I would imagine that paying for it would be   
   among the least of the concerns. Its impact,   
   both positive, and potentially negative, that   
   would be the preeminent concern.   
      
   >   
   >The entire GDP of the planet.   
   >>   
   >> who is going to put it up there and just how do you propose you keep it   
   >> stationary what with it being pelted with hundreds if not thousands of   
   >> rocks of all sizes.   
   >   
   >You put it in one of the Lagrange points   
      
   It would likely be an ongoing enterprise, with   
   maintenance a constant concern. If it's as   
   easy to establish as mentioned in the article,   
   maintenance should be a minor factor.   
      
   One consequence -- once humankind estab-   
   lished such a large degree of impact over the   
   weather, so to speak, it would be difficult to   
   avoid responsibility for all the weather down-   
   sides (droughts, floods, snowstorms, hurri-   
   canes, tornadoes, etc.).   
      
   The blame for such things, now attributed to   
   nature or Allah or God (or some other super-   
   natural entity) or human 'sin' supposedly   
   causing some supernatural entity to act in   
   an anti-human way, would then shift to whom-   
   ever was in charge of that global shield, in all   
   likelihood, whether justified or not.   
      
   >   
   >> Best have the theists pray for long snorkels & webbed feet.   
   >>   
      
   ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤   
      
   ~~~   
   Pro-Humanist FREELOVER   
     http://fire.prohosting.com/prohuman   
   Freethinking Realist Exploring   
   Expressive Liberty, Openness,   
   Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality   
   ~~~   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)