<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[shattersnipe: malcontent &amp; rainbows]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://fozmeadows.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[fozmeadows]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://fozmeadows.wordpress.com/author/fozmeadows/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Ivory Towers, And So&nbsp;Forth]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>The following is an abridged transcript of a conversation which took place earlier tonight in a dumpling house off Lonsdale Street, and is one consequence of drunken philosophers trying to discuss environmentalism. It went like this:</p>
<p>Toby: So, global warming. Why don&#8217;t we just move the planet? You know, figure the maths out &#8211;</p>
<p>Zach: I thought you hated metrics?</p>
<p>Toby: Shut up!</p>
<p>Dave: Move the planet! We could build rockets, push it along &#8211;</p>
<p>Ole: Yeah!</p>
<p>Me: But, I mean, isn&#8217;t Earth an M-type planet? Don&#8217;t we occupy &#8211;</p>
<p>Toby: &#8220;M-type&#8221; planet? What the hell? Isn&#8217;t that a Star Trek term?</p>
<p>Me: No, it&#8217;s a legitimate science term which just happens to get <em>used</em> in shows like Star Trek.</p>
<p>Toby: Right.</p>
<p>Me: Shut up! I&#8217;m serious. We occupy a small belt in space, right, because we&#8217;re just far enough away from the sun not to burn, but close enough not to freeze.</p>
<p>Ole: What, and what happens if we get too far away?</p>
<p>Me: We turn into Venus.</p>
<p>Dave: Venus is closer!</p>
<p>Me: Mars, then.</p>
<p>Zach: OK, fine, but we&#8217;re moving the planet. I mean, if we could make the year 500 days long, right, we could have ten day weeks, go decimal &#8211;</p>
<p>Toby: I thought you hated arithmetic?</p>
<p>Zach: Shut up! </p>
<p>Dave: So global warming is solved.</p>
<p>Ole: But, hang on, if we move the planet, won&#8217;t the moon crash into us?</p>
<p>Dave: No, no! The moon&#8217;ll come with, won&#8217;t it? Right?</p>
<p>Zach: Well, either way, it&#8217;s still coming <em>with</em> us. It might just, you know, be <em>part</em> of us.</p>
<p>Toby: If it explodes, we could have two.</p>
<p>Zach: Right! So we blow up the moon <em>first</em>.</p>
<p>Ole: So it can&#8217;t crash into us!</p>
<p>Dave: Yes! This is the new plan, then. Step one: blow up the moon. Step two: move the planet.</p>
<p>Me: Moving the planet. They did that on Futurama once, with robots.</p>
<p>Ole: And everything on Futurama is automatically brilliant.</p>
<p>Toby: Isn&#8217;t that a documentary? I&#8217;m pretty sure it is.</p>
<p>Dave: They didn&#8217;t blow up the moon, though.</p>
<p>Zach: You know, those damn Jehova&#8217;s Witnesses, they keep on saying how great it would be if the moon were invisible, how it would solve all their problems, and I&#8217;m like, &#8220;Dude. But it&#8217;d <em>still be there</em>.&#8221; Unfortunately, though, they&#8217;ve got a huge voting constituency. Bastards.</p>
<p>Me: I guess they took that song <em>It&#8217;s Only A Paper Moon</em> a bit too literally.</p>
<p>Zach: Yeah.</p>
<p>And thus, we saved the world.</p>
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