Pentagon scraps terror betting plans
By Mark Tran
July 29— The Pentagon today said it would
abandon plans to create a futures trading market to help predict terrorist
attacks and assassinations in the Middle East, after fierce criticism
by politicians.
The initiative, called the Policy Analysis Market (Pam), was to allow
traders to place money on an online market to back their hunches on,
for example, a coup in Jordan or a biological attack on Israel.
After details of the plan were disclosed July 28, Senate Democratic
Leader Thomas Daschle condemned the scheme as “an incentive actually
to commit acts of terrorism.”
Today, the chairman of the Senate armed services committee, Republican
Senator John Warner, said he spoke by phone with the program’s
director, “and we mutually agreed that this thing should be stopped.”
Warner said he also consulted with Senate intelligence committee chairman
Pat Roberts and appropriations committee chairman Senator Ted Stevens,
both Republicans, and they agreed “that this should be immediately
disestablished.”
They said they would recommend that the Pentagon freeze spending on
the program and would officially pull the plug on it during government
budget negotiations later this year.
Pam was a joint project of the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) and two private companies: Net Exchange, a market
technologies company, and the Economist Intelligence Unit, part of the
Economist magazine. It was widely condemned after it was revealed yesterday
by two Democrat senators.
One of them, Byron Dorgan, a Democratic senator from North Dakota, called
the concept a “sick idea.”
“I think this is unbelievably stupid,” he told reporters.
“It combines the worst of all our instincts. It is a tragic waste
of taxpayers’ money, it will be offensive to almost everyone. Can
you imagine if another country set up a betting parlor so that people
could go in ... and bet on the assassination of an American political
figure, or the overthrow of this institution or that institution?”
The Pentagon had argued that analysts often use prices from various
markets as indicators of potential events. A website promoting the plan
said: “Pam refines this approach by trading futures contracts that
deal with underlying fundamentals of relevance to the Middle East initially.”
In the section about becoming a Pam trader, the web site said: “Whatever
a prospective trader’s interest in Pam, involvement in this group
prediction process should prove engaging and may prove profitable.”
More generally, the Pentagon said Pam formed part of its search for
the broadest possible set of new ways to prevent terrorist attacks.
“Research indicates that markets are extremely efficient, effective
and timely aggregators of dispersed and even hidden information,”
the defense department said. “Futures markets have proved themselves
to be good at predicting such things as elections results; they are
often better than expert opinions.”
Live trading was scheduled to start in October, with registration limited
initially to 1,000 traders, rising to at least 10,000 by January next
year. Traders would have been asked to deposit money into an account
and win or lose money depending on how well they predicted events.
The Pam trading system would ensure that the prices for a futures contract
on a particular issue — such as the fall of the Jordan monarchy
during the Iraq war — added up to $1. Thus the price for a contract
would also be a prediction, with 35 cents equaling a 35 percent prediction
of the monarchy’s downfall. If that occurred, the person who has
paid 35 cents would have made 65 cents profit.
Critics of the idea pointed out the scope for abuse as terrorists could
take part because the traders’ identities would have been unknown.
“This appears to encourage terrorists to participate, either to
profit from their terrorist activities or to bet against them in order
to mislead US intelligence authorities,” said Dorgan and a fellow
critic, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).
So far $750,000 has been spent on the project and the Pentagon wanted
another $8 million for the internet program.
Pam originated from the same Pentagon office that proposed spying electronically
on Americans as an anti-terrorist measure, the terrorism information
awareness office, led by Admiral John Poindexter.
The national security adviser under President Ronald Reagan, Poindexter
resigned over the Iran-Contra scandal, when he and Oliver North, a marine
colonel, set up a plan to sell arms secretly to Iran and funnel the
receipts to Nicaraguan rebels.
Source: Guardian (UK)
Bush admin. shuts down nuclear weapons
watchdog
By Julian Borger
July 31— A US department of energy panel of
experts which provided independent oversight of the development of the
US nuclear arsenal has been quietly disbanded by the Bush administration,
it emerged yesterday.
The decision to close down the national nuclear security administration
advisory committee — required by law to hold public hearings and
issue public reports on nuclear weapons issues — has come just
days before a closed-door meeting at a US air force base in Nebraska
to discuss the development of a new generation of tactical “mini
nukes” and “bunker buster” bombs, as well as an eventual
resumption of nuclear testing.
Ed Markey, a Democratic congressman and co-chairman of a congressional
taskforce on non-proliferation, said: “Instead of seeking balanced
expert advice and analysis about this important topic, the department
of energy has disbanded the one forum for honest, unbiased external
review of its nuclear weapons policies.”
An NNSA spokesman, Bryan Wilkes said: “The advisory committee was
created to assist the NNSA administrator during the creation of the
NNSA, and it was not intended to go on beyond two years. Clearly the
NNSA is up and running and it is not needed any more.”
The typical lifetime of such federal advisory committees is two years.
However the NNSA committee’s charter stipulates “The Committee
is expected to be needed on a continuing basis.”
Former members of the advisory committee said they had the impression
that the new administrator, Linton Brooks, appointed last year, was
not interested in its work, and decided not to renew its charter.
Sidney Drell, a leading American physicist and a former committee member
said: “It was not renewed. I presume they did not value us or found
us a nuisance. An independent, tough advisory board is very important
in having a strong (nuclear) stockpile program.”
The committee’s charter said that it’s meetings “will
be held approximately four times each year.” In fact, it was not
summoned at all in the last year of its existence.
“They just didn’t call us. We didn’t hear from them,”
Prof. Drell said.
Prof. Drell and Raymond Jeanloz, a planetary science professor at the
University of California at Berkely, co-authored an article earlier
this year that was highly critical of the plans for new weapons.
“Rather than moving to develop new nuclear weapons, the United
States should push to strengthen the nonproliferation regime through
example and through stronger compliance measures directed at those who
flout its basic purposes,” they wrote in the March 2003 edition
of Arms Control Today, a few months before the panel was disbanded.
The statute establishing federal advisory committees requires their
dissolution to be officially gazetted in the federal register but in
the end, the NNSA panel was abandoned quietly, by a simple email to
its members.
Daryl Kimball, the head of the independent, Washington-based Arms Control
Association, said: “This will make the department of energy and
the NNSA even more opaque. It will be all the more difficult to understand
what they are planning to do.”
Hawks in the Pentagon and the energy department are pushing for the
development of tactical nuclear weapons with yields of less than 5 kilotons
and hardened “bunker buster” nuclear bombs, designed to penetrate
deeply buried targets, where enemy leaders or weapons may be hidden.
According to the leaked agenda for the Omaha meeting in early August,
Pentagon and energy department officials will discuss how to test small
numbers of these new weapons, and whether this will require a break
from the moratorium on nuclear tests.
Critics argue that the new weapons will blur the distinction between
conventional and nuclear arms, and trigger a new arms race.
“The Bush administration is considering policy changes that will
alter the role of nuclear weapons in national defence,” Markey
said. “Given the importance and sheer complexity of the issues
raised ... why was the only independent contemplative body studying
nuclear weapons disbanded — and disbanded in such a surreptitious
fashion?”
Source: Guardian (UK)
US anti-war activists hit by secret airport
ban
By Andrew Gumbel
Aug. 3— After more than a year of complaints
by some US anti-war activists that they were being unfairly targeted
by airport security, Washington has admitted the existence of a list,
possibly hundreds or even thousands of names long, of people it deems
worthy of special scrutiny at airports.
The list had been kept secret until its disclosure last week by the
new US agency in charge of aviation safety, the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA). And it is entirely separate from the relatively
well-publicized “no-fly” list, which covers about 1,000 people
believed to have criminal or terrorist ties that could endanger the
safety of their fellow passengers.
The strong suspicion of such groups as the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU), which is suing the government to try to learn more, is
that the second list has been used to target political activists who
challenge the government in entirely legal ways. The TSA acknowledged
the existence of the list in response to a Freedom of Information Act
request concerning two anti-war activists from San Francisco who were
stopped and briefly detained at the airport last autumn and told they
were on an FBI no-fly list.
The activists, Rebecca Gordon and Jan Adams, work for a small pacifist
magazine called War Times and say they have never been arrested, let
alone have criminal records. Others who have filed complaints with the
ACLU include a left-wing constitutional lawyer who has been strip-searched
repeatedly when traveling through US airports, and a 71-year-old nun
from Milwaukee who was prevented from flying to Washington to join an
anti-government protest.
It is impossible to know for sure who might be on the list, or why.
The ACLU says a list kept by security personnel at Oakland airport ran
to 88 pages. More than 300 people have been subject to special questioning
at San Francisco airport, and another 24 at Oakland, according to police
records. In no case does it appear that a wanted criminal was apprehended.
The ACLU’s senior lawyer on the case, Jayashri Srikantiah, said
she is troubled by several answers that the TSA gave to her questions.
The agency, she said, had no way of making sure that people did not
end up on the list simply because of things they had said or organizations
they belonged to. Once people were on the list, there was no procedure
for trying to get off it. The TSA did not even think it was important
to keep track of people singled out in error for a security grilling.
According to documents the agency released, it saw “no pressing
need to do so”.
It is not just left-wingers who feel unfairly targeted. Right-wing civil
libertarians have spoken out against the secret list, and at least one
conservative organization, the Eagle Forum, says its members have been
interrogated by security staff.
The complaints by the ACLU form part of a pattern of protest since the
Sept. 11 attacks, with the Bush administration repeatedly under fire
for detaining people on the flimsiest of grounds in the name of the
“war on terror.” Many Muslims have had a hard time, especially
if they have a surname such as Hussein.
Source: Independent (UK)
US homelessness, poverty rates skyrocket
while billions are spent overseas on occupation
By Jay Shaft
July 30-- Nationwide, the level of homelessness
and poverty is growing alarmingly. From the last counts and estimates
nationwide, there has been at least a 35-45 percent increase in homelessness
and poverty over the last two years, with the biggest increases being
in 2002 and especially in the first six months of 2003.
Add to that the barely subsisting or borderline homeless/poor and we
start to see a very alarming trend that shows no sign of going
away. Over 30 percent of Americans are on the borderline of poverty.
Many do not make the cut to receive food stamps or some kind of benefits
and live on the razor’s edge of desperation and starvation.
Homelessness reaches new levels
Three and a half million people, 39 percent of them children, currently
experience homelessness every year. Sixty percent of all new homeless
cases are single mothers with children.
Recent studies suggest that the United States generates homelessness
at a much higher rate than previously thought. By its very nature, homelessness
is impossible to measure with 100 percent accuracy. More important than actually
knowing the precise number of people who experience homelessness
is how to go about ending it.
A growing number of cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle, and Atlanta,
are criminalizing activities of the homeless, according to the National
Coalition for the Homeless. More than 60 cities are introducing measures
to make it illegal to beg or sleep on the streets, to sit in a bus shelter
for more than an hour, or to walk across a parking lot if the person
doesn’t have a car parked there.
In 2002 the US Conference of Mayors reported a 19 percent increase in
shelter requests due to homelessness in 25 surveyed cities. Requests
for shelter by families increased by 20 percent.
On average 30 percent of all requests for shelter went unmet in 2002,
with 38 percent of requests by families going unmet. In 60 percent
of the reporting cities, emergency shelters had to turn away families
due to lack of resources, with 56 percent reporting they had to turn
away other homeless people.
People are remaining homeless for at least 6 months on average with
82 percent of cities reporting an increase in the length of time people
are homeless.
Forty-one percent of all homeless are single males, 41 percent families,
13 percent single females, and 5 percent being unaccompanied minors.
The homeless population is estimated to be 50 percent African American,
35 percent white, 12 percent Hispanic, two percent Native American,
and one percent Asian.
An average of 23 percent suffer from mental illness, 38 percent
suffer from substance abuse, 10 percent are veterans, and 22 percent
are employed.
Over 40 percent of homeless persons are eligible for disability benefits,
but only 11 percent actually receive them. Most are eligible for food
stamps, but only 37 percent receive them. Most homeless families are
eligible for welfare benefits, but only 52 percent receive them.
Published reports suggest that most homeless families with children
are headed by single women between the ages of 26 and 30 who have never
been married and have two children. According to one study, homeless
women are significantly more likely to have low birth weight babies
than are similar poor women who have housing.
Lack of affordable housing leads the list of causes for homelessness,
with mental illness and lack of needed services, substance abuse, low-paying
jobs, domestic violence, unemployment, poverty, prison release,
downturn in economy, limited life skills and cuts in public assistance
being the other top reported causes.
The average wait for public housing was 19 months; the average wait
for Section 8 certificates and vouchers was 21-23 months. Forty-five
percent of cities have stopped taking public housing applications in
at least one assisted housing program due to extensive waiting lists.
President Bush claimed that his FY2004 budget “helps America meet
its goals both at home and overseas.” Yet, upon examination of
the budget numbers, the goals of many Americans appear not to have been
included.
At a time when unprecedented numbers of families and individuals are
homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, the president proposed no
new resources to meet their needs. His budget maintains funding levels
for most homeless assistance programs -- levels so woefully inadequate
that each year record numbers of people are turned away from life-sustaining
services.
In releasing his FY2004 budget, President Bush claimed “human compassion
cannot be summarized in dollars and cents.” Neither can the untold
suffering of the 1.35 million children whose lives will be disrupted
by loss of housing and health care this year, or the sorrow of their
parents, who struggle against the odds to provide stability and hope,
or the frustration and pain of those who work but cannot afford housing,
or the fear of those whose health conditions, coupled with lack of housing,
threaten their very survival.
In particular, the president’s Medicaid proposal threatens to leave
many more families and children uninsured, dramatically increasing their
risk of becoming homeless due to illness or injury. Children are especially
vulnerable to losing coverage under the proposed merging of Medicaid
and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Hunger and starvation increasing, especially for children
In 2001, the USDA reported that the number of Americans who were food
insecure or hungry or at risk of hunger was 33.6 million. In the last
year it is estimated that an additional 5-10 million people are now
in jeopardy of hunger and starvation. The government has a benign description
of this situation, calling the hungry and starving “Food Critical.”
The 2002 survey of 25 cities by the US Conference of Mayors
recorded a 19 percent increase in the requests for emergency food
has risen by 19 percent in 2002. All of the cities reported these
increases. Requests for food by families increased by 17 percent while
requests for food by the elderly increased by 19 percent.
Forty-eight percent of people requesting food were families with children.
Thirty-eight percent were currently employed at the time of the request.
In 2002, 16 percent of all food requests went unmet due to lack of resources. Fourteen
percent of families did not have their requests met adequately.
New York City’s soup kitchens and food pantries fed 45 percent
more people in 2002 than in 2000. In the one year following September
11, 73 percent of the agencies fed more children, with 39 percent saying
the number of children they fed increased “greatly.”
America’s Second Harvest’s “Hunger in America 2001”
report found that 23.3 million people sought and received emergency
hunger relief from the network of charities in 2001. 23 million
people receiving emergency food assistance is equivalent to the combined
populations of the 10 largest U.S. cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Houston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas, and
Detroit.
According to some surveys and partial reports for the first six months
of 2003, over 40 million people in America have to seek some form
of daily feeding or nutritional supplementation.
Poverty and unemployment growing at alarming rate
Between 2000 and 2001, poverty rose to 11.7 percent of the population,
or 32.9 million people, up from 11.3 percent and 31.6 million. The poverty
rate for 2002 was 13.9 percent equaling about 35.1 million Americans living
in poverty with over 14 million of those being children. In 2003 the
poverty rate is expected to average 14.2 percent or 35.8 million people.
Eighteen percent of American children, almost 15 million, live in poverty,
meaning their parents’ income is at or below the federal poverty
level. This is about the same number of children who lived in poverty
in 1980. Eight percent of America’s children, six million,
live in extreme poverty. This is a 19 percent increase from 2000. The
parents of these children make half the federal poverty level, or $8,980,
for a family of four. Thirty-nine percent of American children, 28 million,
live in low-income families. This is a three percent increase from 2000.
According to the newest figures released by the Labor Department on
July 3, 9.2 million people are now unemployed by adjusted figures,
and if you include the unemployed who are not receiving any assistance
like unemployment compensation or Workman’s Comp, the figure
is 13.9 million.
Average unemployment rates in the past two years have risen: in 2001,
the rate was 4.8 percent, but jumped to 5.7 percent in 2002, and to
6.5 percent in 2003.
Fifty-seven percent of African American children (down three percent
from 2000), 64 percent of Latino children (up seven percent), and 34
percent of white children (up three percent) are low-income.
As low-income families increase their earnings, they rapidly lose eligibility
for assistance such as childcare subsidies and health benefits. It is
not until a two-parent family of four reaches roughly $36,000 a year
in income that parents can provide the basic necessities for their children.
That’s double the federal poverty level.
Sixty-eight percent of all workers receiving help under the Temporary
Emergency Unemployment Compensation program have exhausted their unemployment
benefits before finding another job.
A survey by National Employment Law Project, “Unemployed in America,”
conducted Apr. 17-28, 2003 also found that more than half of all unemployed
workers had cut back on spending on food and more than half had also
postponed medical or dental care.
A January 2001 report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) found that 4.9 million low-income American households had worst
case housing needs, paying more than 50 percent of their income on rent,
while HUD estimates that this figure should be no more than 30 percent.
Following years of decline, participation in the food stamp program
has been on the rise over the past two years. In December 2002,
the last month for which data are available, 20.5 million people participated
in the food stamp program. October 2002 was the first month since March
1998 in which the number of food stamp participants exceeded 20 million.
Since its recent low point in July 2000, participation has increased
by 3.6 million people, or 22 percent.
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the current recession
began in March 2001. Between that date and December 2002, food stamp
participation increased by 3.3 million people, or 19 percent, nationally.
Participation increased between March 2001 and December 2002 in 47 states
and the District of Columbia.
$4 billion a month to occupy Iraq, $1.9
billion to occupy Afghanistan
America is bleeding money into foreign occupation, while cutting back
on the programs that provide a safety net for America’s poorest
citizens. The military budget is expected to top $450 billion for the
fiscal year 2004.
The costs of occupying and improving conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan
are not even factored into the latest military expenditure proposals.
The US is pledged to rebuilding Iraq’s electrical and water infrastructure
at estimated costs of $10 billion for the electrical grid and $500
million to rebuild the water system and supply clean water to the population
of Iraq.
While the US is committed to at least two years of occupation in Iraq
and possibly up to ten years, our own people slip into further poverty
and starvation.
If the US spent just three months’ worth of occupation costs, it
could wipe out hunger and homelessness completely for ten years.
If the US took just 25 percent of its annual military budget, it could
go a long way to wiping out hunger and homelessness around the world.
Just 10 percent of our military budget spent yearly on America could
give every high school graduate a college education for four years.
Increasingly in America, private foundations and organizations are stepping
in to take up the slack that the government fails to adjust for. Most
charities are reporting budget shortfalls due to the government cutting
their funding and resources.
Source: Coalition For Free
Thought In Media
