Air marshals pulled from key flights
Move seen as bid to cut costs
comes amid new
hijack warnings
Poindexter’s betting parlor on terror got shut down before it saw the light of day, but you can still short the stocks of major airlines. It’s not the pure play on terror that traders longed for, but it’s a decent proxy. The economics are simple. Precautions are relaxed just as cautions are expressed and my first thought is “I sure as hell ain’t gonna fly until this mess gets straightened out.” Odds are, lots of other people had the same thought.
On second thought, I seriously doubt anyone will cancel a vacation simply because of these embarrassingly headlines from two (obviously) uncoordinated government agencies. We’ve become accustomed to the ineptness of our government. We’ve tuned out orange alerts and inchoate official warnings as easily as we do the smoke alarm that tells us when the burgers are done cooking. Our deepest terror has been morphed into a reality TV show that is disconnected from our personal reality. When the tickers scream “Breaking News” we simply grab our inner remotes. People who die in war are “casualties” and those killed in acts of terror are “victims.” They don’t even have names until some stately figure reverently reads them in the predictable staged memorial litany that also only happens on TV.
Flying is real. You get out of the house, go to the airport, go through security, and get on the plane. Your flight will not be televised. Therefore, it is safe.
(I hate the editorial “we.” It gets preachy sounding. When I said “we” in that second paragraph, I was referring to Twyla and myself. She’s even more unconcerned about terrorists than I.)
3:21:53 AM 
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