Octopodial Chrome

We lost power here at work for a good bit this morning. I hope it wasn't some attempt to send it over to New England. I'd hate to think that my job was turned upside down just to send electricity over to a bunch of Yankees.

Maher Hawash plead guilty to conspiring to provide services to the Taliban. He and six other had travelled to China in order to cross the border into Afghanistan and fight the US. He's a US citizen, and thus is a traitor; he should be hanged for it, but instead gets a minimum seven year sentence.

I've just formatted an account of the Second Gulf War written by a chopper pilot in the Marines, Major Jamie Cox. Interesting read.

The National Review has a great article on the failed Policy Analysis Market proposal. It's much better written than my own screed. Well worth reading.

A promising intelligence-gathering method has been cancelled due to the simple-minded simpering of a gang of acephalic twits, according to the BBC. Am I too strong in my condemnation? I think not—and I daresay you'll agree, after hearing the story.

So what was this idea? Simply put, to establish a literal market for ideas. Traders could purchase shares of overthrow of Jordan or assassination of the Queen; whatever idea-stock they might care to issue. The public, governments and intelligence agencies in general would be able to derive benefit by observing the workings of this market.

Why was this a good idea? We all know how effective markets are in the financial realm: while they do have their weaknesses, they are incredibly accurate and good at what they do. The great mass of the marketplace behaves as analysts expect; what is more, even the common man can make fairly informed decisions, simply my observing the market. Imagine trying to buy 1/1,754,293 of Apple Computer without a market. One would have no idea—or an idea so primitive as not to deserve the name—what that would be worth; one would have no idea where to purchase it; no idea if it's wise to buy Apple Computer instead of General Electric; no idea, really, about anything. Enter the market: a device honed to near-perfection to answer exactly those questions. Looking at today's stock chart, that share of Apple is valued by the market at $4,315.13. You don't need to know who owns it to buy; you just ask your broker to place an order for you. You can look at Apple's information, and see that right now it is valued more highly than it was a time ago, while GE has stayed relatively even.

Imagine the power of this idea applied to ideas: being able to draw on the collective thoughts of thousands of analysts, being able to instantly respond to changing conditions—and being able to make a packet off of it. It was a tremendous opportunity. One under-brained and overfed senator—our very own Daschle—argued that it might encourage folks to commit acts of terrorism. What he didn't note is that they'd be caught: the trades would be public and could be traced. Having made a fortune in Indonesian insurrections would be of little use while rotting in a cell.

Perhaps in a century folks will be bright enough to cotton onto the potential of such a scheme; perhaps they'll apply it to any idea; perhaps our rulers then won't be the morons our rulers now are. I see no reason to expect it, though.

CNN reports that another purported tape of Hussein has been released, this one commenting on the loss of his sons and grand-son. I find it amusing how loony-islamist the guy gets over time. For someone who started out as a great secularist, the armed might of the United States and her allies sure has put the fear of God back into him.