alienation news

Senators say Pentagon plan allows betting on terrorism, assassinations

A Pentagon plan to allow people to bet on the likelihood of terrorist attacks and political assassinations has been described as ridiculous and grotesque.
Traders could bet on the chances that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will be assassinated, whether North Korea will launch a missile attack and other events. The market is intended to help the Pentagon examine the likelihood of these events.
Democratic Senators Byron Dorgan and Ron Wyden say the program needs to be shut down.
Wyden says the idea "of a federal betting parlor on atrocities and terrorism is ridiculous and it's grotesque." Dorgan calls the proposal unbelievably stupid.
The program would be a joint effort by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and two private companies.
That agency has come under fire for its Terrorism Information Awareness program, a computerized surveillance project that has raised privacy concerns.
Wyden says the Policy Analysis Market is under retired Admiral John Poindexter, the head of the Terrorism Information Awareness program and a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal.