These Pretzels are Making Me Thirsty!

Like a lot of people (though I have probably been a whole lot sexier while doing it than the rest, just like when I AM "doing it"....heh heh heh), I've been bitching for years that global warming can not only destroy the planet, but can be used as an opportunity to create an entire new economy for ourselves. Make some lemonade out of some extemely hot lemons, in other words.

And the same can be applied to saving the planet from an asteroid hit (though not to the same degree economically, but still), as Gregg Easterbrook mentions HERE:

Pan-STARRS began operation in May, and required only to September to discover a scary nearby space rock. As recently as 20 years ago, astronomers believed the odds of a scary space rock near Earth were infinitesimal. Pan-STARRS may instead discover hundreds of dangerous, relatively nearby space objects.

During the Cold War, the United States spent more than $2 trillion building nuclear-tipped missiles in the hope that none would ever be used. Why won't we spend 1 percent of that amount building an anti-asteroid rocket in the hope it will never be used?

But, alas, as I wrote:

Which means of course it's gonna take a Republican either figuring this out, or having one of his kids hit by a fucking asteroid eaten by a polar bear who's wandered into Kansas for everybody to agree to do something about it as a collective force.