Pentagon Plans Futures Market for Events in Mideast

[kayell]

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aFteJq2TUQoM&refer=us

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military plans a worldwide on-line futures market to help it predict events in the Middle East. Traders could bet on the likelihood of events ranging from the overthrow of a government to the collapse of an economy or the assassination of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Traders can register starting August 1; on-line trading would begin a month later, according to the program's Web site. Two Democratic U.S. senators say the market is a terrible idea and must be stopped.

``Clearly, this is morally wrong,'' Oregon Senator Ron Wyden said. Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota called it ``the most Byzantine thing I have ever seen proposed by a federal agency.''

The Pentagon requested $3 million for the project in its fiscal 2004 budget. The Senate said no; the House said yes. The budget is now before a conference committee of both chambers. If the Pentagon doesn't shut it down, ``we have to find a way in conference,'' Dorgan said. ``This is a hare-brained scheme.''

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[Chico Man]

1. Can I please invest in the worldwide peace futures market?

This is insane.

[Rick Myers]

2. Exactly when did the State Department go out of business?

Was there a sale?

WTF is the PENTAGON doing in international finance???

[DemoTex]

19. "Exactly when did the State Department go out of business?"

January 18, 2001. Bu$h and the Chickenhawks took power.

[shrike]

3. This is the sickest thing I've ever heard

If it weren't from Bloomberg I'd say it had to be a joke.

[webDude]

4. !?? But I thought the govt. was already involved in this, who else did ..

all those "puts" a few days before 9-11 on American Airlines? What a windfall!

[DuctapeFatwa]

5. Will investors be able to bet on date of the next "Unity Operation?"

Maybe it's compassionate conservatism at work, give non-CIA wealthy people a chance to clean up on the next one.

[Eloriel]

6. There is just no end to the atrocities with this crew

An endless stream. Every time I think it can't get any worse, it does.

Eloriel

[Maeve]

7. My first thought was "Did they move April 1st?"

But maybe the silly season hit the Pentagon early this year....
here's the Policy Analysis Market home page--http://www.policyanalysismarket.org/pam_home.htm

If it's a gag, it's an elaborate one! (If it's not a gag, someone need serious reality assistance!)

[truth2power]

38. So DARPA is mixd up in this, too?

Click on "the organizations behind PAM"

http://www.policyanalysismarket.org/pam_home.htm

[Emillereid]

8. The Pentagon meets Las Vegas or Wall Street?

Can someone explain the point of this ...Is it to elicit information or make money? Is it like betting on what new countries we're going to invade or regimes we're going to overthrow -- couldn't the Pentagon just skewer the results depending on the odds? The is one malevolent scheme --EVIL. I'm started to believe the website that claims Bush is the antichrist.
There's no doubt in my mind now that we have definitely had a military coup -- the State department and the rest of the executive branch have been allowed to stay as window dressing.

[WHAT]

39. Maybe that's really why...

Cheney was in Las Vegas this past weekend?! :D :tinfoilhat:

[LizW]

9. This is deranged

I was certain this was a joke, but the punch line never came.

We are officially the Roman Empire now. This is our Colluseum, where betting on blood sport is encouraged by the government.

[aquart]

10. So if the betting, excuse me, buying is on ten soldiers getting killed

We shoot an extra two and make a profit?

How is this supposed to work?

[seemslikeadream]

11. Dorgen was speaking about this on the floor of the Senate today

He told Adm. Pointdexter to knock it off and that he would make sure it did not get funding.

[ninkasi]

12. They weren't raking in enough money already?

Just when I think this administration has hit bottom in the hideous, inhuman things they do, they dig down to a new low. They gave the rich tax breaks on the back of the poor and middle class, and are destroying our national parks, and allowing Halliburton to have what is in essence the key to Fort Knox.

It wasn't enough? Isn't anything enough for them? Well, I've had enough...of THEM!

[Rex]

13. WHAT THE FUCK?

This must be a joke.

[0007]

14. Betting deadline is nearing for the next day

Over and Under (2) U.S. deaths = Six to Five odds

Over and Under (6) Iraqis deaths = Three to Two odds

*All ties go to the house.

[htuttle]

16. Do you think they will take MasterCard?

What's the maximum bet -- uh, I mean -- what is the maximum size of an 'option'?

Hey, somebody better keep Bennett away from this thing!

[0007]

21. They'll be bankrolled by Vegas

er, I mean the mob.

They'll take all credit cards and counterfeit Chinese money.

Diebold makes special slots for William Bennett.

[Guaranteed]

30. I got a C-spot on

....two more dead American soldiers dead tomorrow in combat.

[htuttle]

15. This is not The Onion? This is NOT The Onion! THIS IS REAL!

I used to think I had a pretty good imagination.

This administration has humbled me. Every time I think they've reached the utter bottom slime of greed and disdain, there they go again! Putting my tiny brain to shame, they come up with something I wouldn't have guessed they ACTUALLY DO in a million years.

At long last, it's clear they HAVE no decency...

[NashVegas]

17. That is Seriously Fucked Up

Man, you know your country has a $455,000,000,000 deficit when they need to have their own Dead Pool.

[htuttle]

18. How much is the option on 'Nuclear Apocalypse'?

How would they ever pay that one out?

[DemoTex]

20. Anyone out there still believe this war is not about money?

Hello? Anyone?

[htuttle]

22. For any doubters...

ABC just covered this story on World News Tonight.

It's true.


BTW, I've decided that maybe this isn't so bad.

After all, previously, making money on death and destruction was the purview of a few multinational corporations

Now, everyone can get into the death money game! It's sort of a small business initiative!

[I AM SPARTACUS]

23. another version of "the Market rules" - what happens when the Market

"decides" that Arafat is assasinated - but he hasn't been assasinated YET? Does the PENTAGON then assasinate him because "the Market rules"...???

[0007]

32. Have you ever heard of a 'boat race?"

It isn't what the market rules, it's the price that takes the course.

Arafat has a good tract record, so the odds will be high against assasination.

[Julien Sorel]

24. As insane as this thing is, it's bad business as well.

Futures markets exist so that business people can intelligently manage risk. As such, they work best when dealing with events outside of human control -- the ideal being agricultural commodities, the price of which depends on the vagaries of weather and similar factors that are extremely 'noisy,' if not downright random, from a predictive standpoint. With this proposal, on the other hand, people can control the events, which means you can incent, for example, someone to asassinate a world leader, or start a riot, or a war. It's not just insane; it's immoral. It has to be a joke.

[TacticalPeek]

25. You bet your life!

Say the secret word and win a free vacation at Gitmo.

George?

[bpilgrim]

26. ah... DARPA strikes again

those who brought us 'TOTAL INFORMATION AWARENESS"

shoot if that thang really worked we would even need the 'terror market', besides we ALREADY GOT ONE! :puke:

peace

[sandnsea]

27. When will our leaders admit these people are completely nuts????

When Bush is running naked through the Rose Garden? Wyden is my Senator and I'm trying to get some info on this. I keep thinking I've seen it all and then I wake up the next day and the next and the next... We should have a futures market on how crazy these bastards really are. DUers would get rich because we KNOW!!!

[TacticalPeek]

31. When aWol starts talking to the pictures on the wall,

and the JCS starts cancelling his launch orders.

And he starts asking Senator Stennis's ghost for help.

[Guaranteed]

28. Worst....Rummy decision....Ever.......

Absolutely DISGUSTING. I'm ASHAMED at the ridiculous lengths capilatism has gone to. May as well be throwing Christians to the lions. TOTALLY, completely out-of-line.

[htuttle]

29. I just realized that this is just a warmed over Enron market scheme

One of the dubious things Enron did was set up a market to bet on the weather, among other things.

The idea was that people in weather-dependent businesses, such as farmers and ski-hill operators, could bet on bad weather (for them), so that if it happened, they'd have hedged the damage with their winning bet.

Is betting on one of our military barracks getting blown up by September UnAmerican? What are the current odds on that?

(and sorry for so many posts in this one thread, but this whole idea just has me giddy. Giddy with what, I'm not sure, but I'm giddy about it. Maybe this was the last straw, and they've finally driven me mad...).

[berry]

34. Uh-huh. Enron-esque was my first thought.

Totally evil.

[Ozirus]

33. This is a Terrorist HONEY POT

This program is designed to attract greedy terrorist finaciers who wish to make some money on a terrorist operation they have intimate knowledge about.

If you want to catch Hackers, you create a Honey Pot. A honey pot is a computer system that appears to be unsecured, ripe for exploitation, but is actually monitored with an eagle's eye.

If you want to catch terrorists, you create an environment that would be too attractive for them to pass up.

But other than that, it is an extremely tasteless waste of taxpayers money.

- Ozirus -

[TacticalPeek]

37. They already have one of those honey pots:

Iraq.

[lfairban]

35. Remember the I Claudius episode . . .

. . . where Caligula thought he had become a god? Claudius said, "Everybody will see he is insane, we'll have the republic back."

That's not the way it worked out.

That's what this reminds me of.

[lfairban]

36. Mike Malloy is ranting on this now.

http://www.ieamericaradio.com

Archive copy will be here tomorrow:
http://www.whiterosesociety.org/