The numbers are staggering, but then, so is the imagery. Overall, WTC estimates that the damage would be $2 trillion. To put that in context, 9/11's physical damage cost $55 billion, with a further economic impact of $123 billion. In terms of the strictly physical damage done to the city, the initial estimate is $700 billion. The impact, WTC writes, "seemed to be similar to an air burst from a 20kt nuclear explosion in terms of shock effects, but without the radiation or thermal effects." WTC estimates that, in the days after the attack, the known damage would already be stunning: 129,000 known killed, over 250,000 missing (most of whom would have also died), and nearly a million injured. They ran analyses of the World Engine ground zero in Central Manhattan and central Chicago, finding that the major damage would be a mile in diameter. In a study done exclusively for BuzzFeed, scientist and longtime disaster expert Charles Watson worked with his team at Watson Technical Consulting to model and anticipate the damage done to Metropolis, both in the form of human casualties and monetary cost. When Superman (Henry Cavill) and his nemesis General Zod (Michael Shannon) duke it out for almost the entire third act of the movie, their incredible speed and power are largely on display in Metropolis, the fictional city that is largely based on New York. Along with a big dose of sci-fi detail and an angst-filled origin story (and maybe some religious allegory), moviegoers were treated to a cataclysmic display of carnage and destruction. Hero (dare we say, superhero) at the cost of a multi-million dollar drone was simply absurd.Around $200 million worth of tickets have been sold to screenings of Man of Steel thus far, with fans around the world eager to behold Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan's serious new take on the world's most famous superhero. The amateurish attempt to follow our new found
The question of how our "intelligence" community with their multi-billion dollar budgets and intrusive, probably unconstitutional monitoring could fail to note an alien living among us when a single reporter, our own award winning Lois Lane, was able to find him using little more than hard work and a notepad is an embarrassment to those agencies, one that cries out for a Congressional Inquiry. And what of the so-called "Superman"? First, our government cowardly turned him over to the enemy, then worked with him to repel the forces of General Zod from his adoptive yet ungrateful home. Again, we do not fault the courageous airmen and soldiers who valiantly fought alien invaders possessed of superhuman strength and vastly superior technology, but our leaders showed failures of judgment and management that will require serious review. Edward Johnson of the University of Metropolis has shown that fully 87% of the damage to Smallville was caused by friendly fire, with billions of dollars of aircraft, satellites, and other hardware lost during the ensuing conflict. An assessment of the Battle of Smallville by Dr.
Hardy in destroying the World Engine, we would be remiss if we did not point out that our military was initially not only ineffective, but the source of considerable unnecessary damage. Finally, while we honor the bravery and dedication of our Armed Forces, especially the sacrifice of Col.