That one HAS to take the cake. I am assuming everybody has heard of this, but in case you were asleep or out of the country, here is the story. A few days ago, this BRILLIANT idea came from the folks at the Pentagon:
Let’s set up a website where people can speculate and place bets on where, when and how terrorists are going to strike next; whoever guesses right wins money, and since we can’t figure out anything on our own, we can use those guesses as investigative material.
After a unanimous (for once) hostile reaction, the Pentagon withdrew this project today.
Personally, I think we don’t pay these people enough. We should give them a bonus for sheer entertainment value.
Oh, yes… I almost forgot. The one behind this brilliant stroke of genious is none other than Rear Admiral John Poindexter, of Iran Contra fame. The one who made the phrase “I don’t recall” classic. A man who, let’s face it, should by all rights be serving time, but is working for our government instead. And if that, ladies and gentlemen, is not an insult to American taxpayers, I don’t know what is.
I hate to be in a position to defend the Imperial Armed Forces (IAF), but i think this was mostly a case of bad PR. This is an idea out of DARPA (the same people who created the Internet for Al Gore), and they’re supposed to think creative things. The idea was to set up a restricted forum where Middle East specialists could speculate on the probability of things like terrorist attacks and the behaviour of several organizations (like Hamas). Unfortunately it came out like the Pentagon was trying to find a creative way to make money. Hey, Poindexter deserves the ridicule he’s getting, but this idea would probably have worked, if they had kept it low key. This kind of “futures market” is remarkably good at predicting short term events, and allowing these specialists to make limited profits (e.g. as in research grants) would be a way to reward them for their work and an incentive for them to work harder.
Also, i think far more important is that the Senate (this keeps sounding more and more like the Roman Empire ) is trying to limit funding to the Total Information Initiative (or Terrorist Information, or whatever the Big Brother project is being called now). I still hope one day i’ll be able to use public libraries again without automatically giving a list of my interests to the Man.
What was this movie again, where Mr Prez gets trapped in a sex affair with some teen-age (or typist, I don’t remember exactly…) and an emergency PR wiz (R. De Niro) is hired and he suggests invading Albany?
War against terrorism IS a market.
By the time some dwarf plane-making “conglomerate” scattered around Europe sells orders for 12 Airbuses, 6 of which are cancelled in the same year, how many hundreds cruise missiles are burnt AND spent–pshoow…—each at the price of a medium-range jet, thanks to them terrorists?
Russians gave up communism, so one had to reinvent some makeshift commies to keep the machine running…
I’m not suggesting here someone actually funded terrorists groups in order to crank up the machine again, but it would have been quite a smart move. Of course, we’re in a way to honest, earnest and loving world to make such scenarii credible, aren’t we?
Albania. But Albany would have been even funnier! They hire Dustin Hoffman, who plays a marketing genius, to manage the war.
That’s one of those movies where you laugh until you cry. I wouldn’t recommend it to any of my friends, except that Willie Nelson (as himself) is so good in it.
Please don’t keep bashing the US, Weekenders. It’s not as bad here as you think. Especially not by comparison:
Dog Gives Flasher His Come-Uppance
Fri Aug 1, 8:25 AM ET
ZAGREB (Reuters) - A drunken Croat flasher got more excitement than he bargained for when he pushed his penis through a woman’s fence and her dog bit it, local newspapers said on Friday.
The visibly drunk man was walking down the street and started swearing and shouting at the woman for no reason. He then shoved his penis through her fence, unaware her dog was on the other side, police said.
The bitten man himself reported the incident to the police.
The 36-year-old was taken to hospital with light injuries but later sent home. He will be charged with “insulting the moral feelings of citizens” and “violation of public order.”
Hey, Poindexter deserves the ridicule he’s getting, but this idea would probably have worked, if they had kept it low key. This kind of “futures market” is remarkably good at predicting short term events, and allowing these specialists to make limited profits (e.g. as in research grants) would be a way to reward them for their work and an incentive for them to work harder.