Terrorists: friend of Hollywood writers, and now small jet manufacturers
In the movie, Die Hard with a vengeance, Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson have to find a “binary bomb” set by Jeremy Irons before it can dramatically mix the two liquids and blow up with catastrophic force. Why, just a drop of each chemical on the end of a toothpick is enough to blow a hole in the floor and bring a whole police precinct to its feet with guns drawn. Moviegoers credulously believed there really are transportable liquids you could just mix together and ten seconds later… Ka-WHOOOOOOM! a giant hole in the ground.
Or in the sky, with pieces of aluminum raining down on the ground. Only thing is, the binary bomb is pretty much Hollywood nonsense. This hasn’t stopped the tough-guy Blair/Bush/FoxNews administration from crowing about how we just narrowly dodged another 9/11, thanks to them having the courage to shred Democrats and their annoying “Constitution”.
As if. But the “averted terror plot” does have an upside, if you make expensive executive jets. See, as security measures become more onorous (though not necessarily any more secure), it just takes too long for executives to get in the air. Thus is hatched a business opportunity:
Analysts say a suspected plot to blow up transatlantic airliners flying from Britain to the United States which sparked travel chaos on Thursday underscored the appeal of such jets, which typically seat fewer than 20 passengers.
Executive jets offer an alternative for busy executives or wealthy travelers who want to bypass crowded airport terminals by using quiet, smaller airports.
- CNN: Exec jet appeal grows in wake of plot
In the last 40 years, lightning has killed about as many people in the US as terrorism, but executives are still out there swinging their golf clubs. And schmoozing about their new executive jets! Can we get it in silver? With the company logo on the side.
Next up: action movies about executives piling into their jet and being flown off to who-knows-where by their kidnapper/terrorist pilot. The real pilot is stashed in a closet back in the hangar, but he wriggles out of his ropes in time to be accused of plotting the whole thing. He escapes, knowing the only way to clear his name is to rescue his passengers single-handedly…
What we will see in Congress soon is a groundswell for tax relief to encourage construction of small private jets and companion legislation to encourage the purchase of these jets with favored depreciation and outright federal subsidy.
There’s an opportunity in every potential tragedy. This whole war/terrorism/Bush/Blair lark is intricately wound up in the usual greed, economics and powermongering. Never mind lives, focus on profit – and fear is a great way of buildling marketshare.
Well, Consider that for this idea to work, the bomb needs to the two liquids throughly, without setting it off halfway (a weak “pony” explosion). I would guess this at least as difficult as mixing up nitroglycerine, and that’s a regular contender for Darwin Awards.