Take DARPA, for instance. That’s the acronym for the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. When we last wrote about them, it was to advise you of their wonderful LifeLog project, which would allow the government to follow the “threads” of a person’s life. This was supposed to all be in aid of catching terrorists and making solders’ lives less dangerous, though defense and civil liberties experts both wondered how long it would take before the technology was turned on civilians.
Now DARPA wants to open an online casino (they call it a “futures market”) where speculators can bet on future events in the Middle East. Will the Jordanian monarchy be overthrown? Will Yasser Arafat be assassinated? Put your money down, folks.
The official justification for this latest waste of taxpayer money begins: “Analysts often use prices from various markets as indicators of potential events.”
Translation: We don’t have a clue what’s going to happen over there. Maybe you can help us out.
I know this sounds like a joke, but I don’t think these guys ever joke about anything. If I were a terrorist, though, snapping up a few futures on my next operation might be one way of funding it.
Some members of Congress are not amused, and DARPA is already backpedaling.
Back to top