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Gamblers trying to win a bet on Polymarket are vowing to kill me if I don’t rewrite an Iran missile story
(www.timesofisrael.com)
Timing is everything
this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2026
520 points (98.7% liked)
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Holy shit.
Not only this is horrifying cause of the threats, it’s also very unsettling that something with such a recipe for disaster would attract so many rubes to be a working business model.
I feel like if I were trying to manipulate that market I'd be trying to bend reality in a better direction.
“If you decide to go with your ego and not with your head, you are leaving behind dozens of wealthy people from all over the world who will know that you performed market manipulation and stole from them. They know who you are, you don’t know who they are. It took them less than 5 minutes to find out exactly where you live … how often you see your lovely parents … and exactly who your … brothers and sisters are.”
So the guy threatening the journalist to change his story so the gambler can make money isn't market manipulation, but the journalist not changing his story is....
What scary about this, and it was mentioned in the article, is how future stories by less than ethical "journalist" can be purchased so that one side can become rich. Fuck accuracy it's all about the money.
Well it's not like that is already the case with social media, but I would like to think there is at least some aspect of reporting that is based in ethics and truth.
Polymarket is one of many direct evidence of the impending fall of society.
It's one of those things that would seem excessive in a story.
A place so decadent that everything was to bet for. Even as the world ended around them, they gambled on how.
Really seems like a future dystopian sci-fi, where the main character is going to bring the whole system down.
It's the real life version of the intro to Cyberpunk 2077, with the radio host talking about bets on the death toll in Night city.
Cyberpunk was supposed to be a dystopia, not a fucking instruction manual!
But seriously, I've lost about all enjoyment in cyber-dystopian stories because these days they cut depressingly close to home.
Oh yeah, it is messed up and doesnt even cover the section where apparently another journalist the writer knows was bribed to try and coerce the flow of information to get that win. It basically confirms that there is already a willing lack of integrity somewhere to think it would work here.
A few hours later, a colleague from another media outlet messaged me. He said that someone he knew asked him to ask me to change the report on the missile impact in Beit Shemesh, and that it would be “negligible” for me if I did make the change.
Going further, the acquaintance even offered the journalist compensation, from his winnings, if he managed to convince me to change my report.
Polymarket is one of the largest prediction markets in the world, where users can wager their money on the likelihood of future events, using cryptocurrency, debit or credit cards, and bank transfers.
So this is a market place where rich people can bet on how gruesome poor people can die in war zones and genocides. Is this any different from the rich hunting the poor for sport? Instead of a trigger, they click a button, but it's not that different.
Isn't humanity awesome? Can we please start jailing these (or at this point, all) psychopaths?
Seriously, 99% of the population consists of awesome people that take care of one another. The problem is that psychopaths, like the ones from the article, have the need to be on top and control everything and we let them.
Seriously, as far as I can tell, humanity could kill a few 10.000s psychopaths and all of the sudden, no more wars, no more hunger, no more conflicts, no more senseless pollution, the world could heal and humanity could enter a phase of sustainable awesomeness.
No. I am not suggesting we kill them, it was just to make the point. However, I do feel we need to start testing people for psychopathy (as far as possible and work in better screening) to ensure we keep these fuckers from positions of power and money. We need to stop psychopaths from gaining any real power.
Hell, if it were up to me, nobody would get great power or money. I'd have a world wide wealth cap, nobody can be worth over, say 1 or 10 million. Anything over that goes to taxes. THAT will stop people.frok amassing great wealth and power and just stop this shit
For the website: I wish people were still masquerading as Anonymous and would just continuously hack this site into the ground where it belongs, next to its disgusting creators.
Fuck I hate this world :(
More like 10 million psychopaths. 4% psychopathy rate.
No. I am not suggesting we kill them
Why not?
Because suggesting outright premeditated killing for people with a given trait, regardless of whether they have actually offended in any way or are an active threat or whether killing them is the only way to stop them being one, is kinda genocidal. We should never advocate killing people for things they cannot control.
Killing someone is, as our technology goes today, final. It robs them of all potential, all freedom, of the most basic human right: life. It is a heartless thing to do to someone, regardless of motivation. Yes, when you're under attack, killing your attacker is valid, but it should never be taken lightly and inherently devalues their life in favour of your own survival. It is a trade we should accept, but also be aware of.
But reflexively resorting to murder when there is no immediate need for it infringes on fundamental human rights. And doing so indiscriminately for a psychological condition is, quite frankly, no better than killing people for their ethnicity or religion.
Restrict them from seeking power for a fundamental incompatibility with the requirements for empathetic governance, but do not call for their death. Do not forsake your own empathy.
Right. Im also not suggesting to kill everyone with a net worth of 1bn+ regardless of their actions. But there are many people whose greed has killed thousands and keeps ruining the lives of millions, would you not call that "being under attack", which you brought up as a justification for homicide? Also the countless wars that are being fought for their pleasure where people are quite literally under attack.
But just to be clear, my first comment was meant as a joke.
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Most cyberpunk read today.
How that shit is not illegal is beyond me. Gambling is already predatory but outside of sports and in fucking armed conflicts is abhorrent.
We are in the crime is legal era
Time to boost this post. I have received death threats from Zionist, but I have a feeling these poly market people are scarier since they have money on the line
What a stupid world we've allowed to be concocted.
Past few years I've been reading a shitty sci-fi series. In this series there's a race of creatures whose entire society is founded on gambling. They bet on everything, and people frequently bankrupt themselves. The moment you look at that world-building with even a little bit of scrutiny it falls apart in its stupidity.
This is even dumber.
Yup.
So uh… what are the odds on polymarket for the guy getting killed?
Can you put out a contract on someone just by betting on polymarket that they won't die by a particular date?
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Gambling needs to simply be made illegal
I don’t care what your arguments are gambling needs to be made illegal
Making something illegal doesn't make it magically go away. Look at the war on drugs...
I think it's fair for it to be legal, but only in specific locations and contexts. I think small scale gambling between friends and coworkers is fine. I think well regulated casinos are bad but serve as a deterrent to underground criminal gambling. I think having legal gambling through the internet and on your phone, advertised everywhere is a serious problem.
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Prohibition on vices never works, it just sends the money to criminal organizations that kill people instead of capitalist companies that kill less people.
The solution is to have it be state run, remove the profit motive, and send any money gained from it to education and social services.
I don't care about the gambling, my issue is with the advertising. They are enticing people, mostly young men, with visions of excitement and LOTS of money. They don't show any ads of a guy losing the rent money, and having to break the news to his wife.
I don't mind vices being legal, but I strongly object to them being marketed. Cigarettes are banned in most media, and liquor is heavily controlled. I wouldn't mind if all marketing for all vices were prohibited.
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I really hope their money loss is huge and will bankrupt them, because I doubt they will otherwise let any consequences for their threats
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