Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Breaking News - "Debtman" sunk

The following extract has been taken from news agencies, though Internet reception is currently poor on account of flooding and there may have been some scrambling of information. For the full story, click here.

British 'Debtman' Gordon Brown ditches in Atlantic

Not Philippe Naughton

The British political adventurer Gordon Brown found himself in deep water today after a failed bid to make the first long-range economic flight using a debt-powered wing attached to his back.

Brown, 58, planned to fly 7 years from the 2008 Credit Crunch to the 2015 General Election, at a speed of almost £120 million per hour, a flight that should have taken about 80 months.

Only a year into the flight, however, the British "Debtman" disappeared from TV feeds. Live pictures shortly afterwards showed him up to his neck in it, swimming around beside his Parliamentary pension golden parachute, while the IMF prepared to winch him to safety.

The reason for his failure was not immediately apparent to anybody except the blogosphere, but the British premier seemed to be unhurt and waved at a passing TV crew.

9 comments:

Paddington said...

Nicely written, with your usual elegant style.

Perhaps the by-line should be 'Not for Naught(on)'?

Sackerson said...

Alas, only an adaptation, so few creds for the style. but your praise counts.

AntiCitizenOne said...

I call it the "Project Orion" economy.

Sackerson said...

Hi ACO. Why?

Good to hear from you - radio silence for so long.

AntiCitizenOne said...

Watch this and see if you can guess

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/933662/

Sackerson said...

Just seen that clip, thanks. But (is it Arthur C Clarke?) points out that nukes carry massively more energy per kg and so are the best way. Has your analogy shot itself in the foot?

AntiCitizenOne said...

I think we currently have a "nuclear debt" powered economy.

Sackerson said...

A series of explosions propelling us forward until we run out of "bombs" or stress fractures in the framework lead to disintegration. Yes, that seems to work...

Paddington said...

Sackerson - that was the spaceship principle in the end of Niven and Pournelle's 'Footfall'.