Stockpiling of Food Banned in Venezuela, Fingerprint Scanners Appear in Stores

Chris Carrington

News reports indicate that Venezuela is starting to install fingerprint scanners in supermarkets as a way of preventing ‘food hoarding’. Venezuela is experiencing widespread shortages of most foodstuffs including the most basic such as bread, flour and grains as well as an acute shortage of medicines.

Unable to buy imported food due to a plummeting currency and falling oil prices resulting in a lack of revenue, Venezuelans are becoming increasingly desperate.

President Maduro has accused Colombian food smugglers of buying up massive amounts of staples to sell back to people at vastly marked up prices.

The scanners that are being installed in stores are to prevent people buying more than their allotted quota as the implementation of rationing begins.

Former Marine and Guantanamo Guard Claims the CIA Murdered Detainees

Chris Carrington

Army Staff Sergeant Joseph Hickman joined the Marines in 1985, and was on duty when three detainees held at a black site in Guantanamo Bay supposedly committed suicide. He insists the official version of events is impossible.

At the time of their deaths, Salah Ahmed Al-Salami, 37, from Yemen, Mani Shaman Al-Utaybi, 30, from Saudi Arabia, and Yasser Talal Al-Zahrani, 22, also from Saudi Arabia, had not been charged with any crimes.

In an interview with Vice News Hickman explained why he thinks the suicide version of events is impossible:

Beemageddon: Syngenta Wants Increase in Pesticide Levels

Chris Carrington

Syngenta is asking federal regulators to increase the allowable levels of some pesticides, even though experts have linked the chemicals to massive bee die offs.

The company wants the Environmental Protection Agency to pass an increase of 4.9 parts per million of thiamethoxan. The current allowable level is 0.1ppm, Syngenta wants it increased to 5.0ppm. You can read the details on the regulations.gov website which published the request on September 5th. The request itself was filed on August 22nd.

Tiffany Stacker of E&E reports:

Latest Study into the Possibility of Megadroughts Ignores Much of the Real Science of Climate Change

Chris Carrington

A new study in the Journal of Climate Science warns that decades-long drought may become the norm for the Southwestern United States.

“A drier Southwest is also a Southwest at risk of a megadrought,” said study author Toby Ault, a climate scientist at Cornell University.

Of course, the study implicates global warming as the cause of these future droughts; it does not take into account the planet hasn’t actually warmed at all since 1998.

17 Fake Cell Phone Towers Discovered Across U.S.

Chris Carrington

Now why would someone want to erect fake cell phone towers across the United States? Who would have the money and the manpower to do so? Who owns them? Who is using them to track your calls?

These are just a few of the questions Les Goldsmith, Chief Executive of the security company ESD America, wants answered.

Talking to Popular Science magazine Mr Goldsmith said:

California Drought Spreading

Chris Carrington

The US Drought Monitor is reporting that 58% of California is now affected by a crippling drought, and that it is spreading at an unprecedented rate.

The agency has five levels of alert with ‘exceptional drought,’ the current level in California, listed as the most serious.

The LA Times reports:

Pandemic Potential Increases as H7N9 Spreads to Hong Kong at the Start of Regular Flu Season

Chris Carrington

An Indonesian resident in Hong Kong has become the island's first H7N9 bird flu victim. The woman who is 36 years old is in isolation and is in a critical condition.

She recently traveled to Shenzhen on the mainland and had contact with live poultry.

The World Health Organization has said that although:

There is no evidence of sustained human to human transmission, H7N9 is an unusually dangerous virus.

Hong Kong's food and health secretary Dr. KO Wing-man said the woman

…has a history of travelling to Shenzhen, buying a chicken, slaughtering and eating the chicken. 

She is now in critical condition at Queen Mary Hospital, four people in close contact with her were showing signs of flu-like symptoms.

H7N9 was first identified in April and has sickened 139 people since then, killing 45 of them. Scientists fear that the virus will have much more effect this winter when influenza outbreaks are far more common.

Watch Out Alternative Media: LAX Shooter Paul Ciancia Branded a Conspiracy Theorist

ANYONE Not Believing the Government is About to be Demonized 

Paul Anthony Ciancia

Chris Carrington

The demonization of free thinking individuals is about to begin. By branding Paul Ciancia a conspiracy theorist, all of us will come under scrutiny.

Anyone who does not believe wholeheartedly in the crap the government tries to feed them on a daily basis will become a danger to society.

It stands to reason that after a major public incidence of violence such as mass shootings or bombings, people want answers. It’s right and proper that these cases are investigated and as many answers as possible are provided to the citizens of this country.

Having said that, an alarming pattern is emerging.

Animal And Marine Life Die-Offs Around The Globe Baffling Scientists

Chris Carrington

Starfish, salamanders, antelopes, elk and dogs are all experiencing large die-offs that have scientists baffled.

Ohio State Veterinarian, Dr. Tony Forshey, said the following about the death of the dogs:

Our results indicate that circovirus, alone or in co-infection with other pathogens, might contribute to illness and death in dogs. 

Not all infected dogs died, and the virus has been seen in dogs that appear healthy, indicating that some dogs may have an immunity to the virus. 

Viruses and bacteria that commonly infect just one animal species can evolve and “jump” from that species to another; this process is known as zoonosis. 

Let’s Start A War – An Alternative View

Chris Carrington

Today, September 9th 2013, is the day Congress will debate the prospect of war. Then, when the debating is done, they will vote on President Obama’s recommendation that the United States bomb Syria back to the Stone Age.

These well-heeled politicians will meet in the comfort and safety of Washington to decide the fate of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Syrians. Most of them couldn’t point out Syria on a map, let alone comment on the complex and tribal issues that beset the country.

Obama will preen and primp himself ready to appear on the television. He is due to appear on several networks today. Then tomorrow he will deliver his speech to the nation. In that speech he will lay out why the United States needs to bomb a foreign land.

First Case of H7N9 Human To Human Transmission Reported; Scientists Warn Of Pandemic Potential

Chris Carrington

The British Medical Journal is reporting today that a 32-year-old woman became infected with H7N9, while caring for her father. Both have since died. This is the first confirmed case of human to human transmission of the disease.

Prior to this case, there was no evidence to confirm contact spread, and it was thought to be caught only from contact with diseased birds. So far there have been 133 cases of H7N9 and 43 deaths, all of them in Eastern China.

Tests have shown that the strain of virus taken from the father and daughter were genetically almost identical, and the family has confirmed that the woman had no contact with poultry at all in the six weeks before she fell ill.

An EMP Missing By TWO WEEKS Is NOT a Near Miss

Chris Carrington

As some of you will know I report on the space weather regularly when there is something going on…or somethingmight be going on in the hours following the article.

I was shocked yesterday to see reports of a ‘Carrington-class event’ that occurred two weeks ago. I trawled the NASA and NOAA sites looking for what I had missed. I had missed nothing, there was no such event. A report on spaceweather.com this morning says:

NSA’s XKeyscore: One-Click Realtime Access to Whatever You’re Doing on the Internet

Map of XKeyscore servers
from a 2008 presentation
image credit: The Guardian

Chris Carrington

More details of NSA spying have appeared in the Guardian this morning, presumably from paperwork/details supplied by Edward Snowden.

A huge program called XKeyscore, which in 2008 was on 750 servers on 150 sites around the globe, served as the point of entry for most of the information that was collected by the NSA.

The information is not just metadata – depersonalized analytical usage statistics that allow spies to spot patterns – but includes almost all types of personal information. Using any piece of personal data on a subject – an email address, or the IP address of a computer – an agent could look up all online user activities, such as Google map searches, website visits, documents sent through the internet or online conversations. The service operates both, in real time, and using a database of recently stored information.All that appears to have been necessary to log into the system is to fill in a compulsory line on a form that gave a reason for why a certain person needed to be investigated. The form was not automatically scanned by the system or a supervisor, and did not require a US legal warrant, as long as the person whose name was typed in was a foreigner (even if his interactions were with a US citizen). 

Car Key Immobilizer Hack Revelations Blocked By UK Court

Chris Carrington

The German car maker Volkswagen and the French group Thales have blocked a move by researchers at Birmingham University (UK) to show how car immobilizers can be hacked. They argue that the technology could be used by criminals…which seems to confirm that the researchers are right that the technology can be hacked.

“The University of Birmingham is disappointed with the judgement which did not uphold the defence of academic freedom and public interest, but respects the decision,” said a spokeswoman. 

“It has decided to defer publication of the academic paper in any form while additional technical and legal advice is obtained given the continuing litigation. The university is therefore unable to comment further at this stage.” (source)

Barnaby Jack, World’s Most Elite Computer Hacker, Dead At 35

Chris Carrington

Barnaby Jack, reputed to be one of the best computer hackers on the planet and head of embedded devices at security firm IOActive, is dead.

The 35 year old was highly respected in computer security circles, often finding ‘back doors’ into systems that left them open to cyber attacks.

He found fame when he publicly hacked an ATM machine making it give out random amounts of money in a technique that became known as ‘jackpotting.’

His death, which is being described as ‘unexpected’ by friends, occurred on Thursday in San Francisco. The Medical Examiners Office has confirmed his death, but has given no other details so far.

Making Homelessness A Crime On Both Sides Of The Atlantic

Chris Carrington

Two items of news stood out this morning. They come from totally different sources in different countries. They are discussing proposals to make homelessness illegal. Coming from different sides of the Atlantic, their messages are remarkably similar and the proposals made by US and UK lawmakers could have come from the same speech writer.

In the US, Marc Sarnoff, City Commissioner of Miami, is trying to make it illegal to be homeless. He wants to ban sleeping on park benches, meeting friends, congregating in public spaces and even eating while walking along the street. (source)



In the UK, public space protection orders, part of the Anti-social Behavior Crime and Policing Bill (which was outlined in the Queens speech earlier in July), would effectively allow police to prevent groups meeting in parks and make illegal the utilization of a park bench as a bed for the night. You can read more here.

Texans Urged Not To Panic As Army Battles Radiation Leak

Chris Carrington

30 people are undergoing testing for radiation poisoning after a leak was discovered at Fort Bliss Texas. An above-ground bunker used to store weaponry has been found to contain both alpha and beta particles and there is concern that soldiers using the weapons may have been exposed to low-level radiation.

It has also emerged that when the area was controlled by the Air Force, contaminated material was buried around the site. A retired worker raised concerns that a new housing development currently under construction could unearth contaminated material.

The bunker in question was at one point coated in epoxy paint to contain the radiation, but it has been admitted that over the years the coating has chipped off the building and this has potentially allowed the radiation to seep through the brickwork. Contact with the epoxy chippings could also be dangerous according to experts at Fort Bliss.

Ed Snowden Stuck in Russia: Is This a Political Move by Obama?

Chris Carrington

Stranded at a hotel in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, Ed Snowden has been helped by Russian officials to apply for temporary asylum in the country.

He is effectively trapped in Russia because the US government has cancelled his passport. He has been offered asylum by a number of Latin American countries, but without papers further cross-border travel is impossible.

It’s strange that his documents weren’t cancelled immediately when the government found out he had taken flight. Could it be that his being on Russian soil when his documents were cancelled was a calculated move on the part of the government? Why were there ‘mistakes’ on the extradition paperwork that could have brought him back to the United States? Why not cancel his documentation before issuing extradition paperwork in order to prevent him leaving Hong Kong in the first place?

Sunspot AR1785 ‘grows’ 25,000 Miles In Size Over 24-Hour Period

Chris Carrington

Sunspot AR1785 has grown just under 25,000 miles in 24 hours. It has widened and lengthened, which could lead to instability in the magnetic field of the sunspot. When the magnetic field loops and swirls it can collapse back in on itself; it's this that produces strong flares.

The shape of this region is changing all the time to a much greater extent than is seen in most sunspots. AR1785 is now 11 times the size of the Earth and is still growing as it moves across the Sun.

Within the next day or two it will be at the center of the Sun disc and any flares at that point will hit Earth directly.

There is an excellent video showing the change in size and shape here.

Today's sunspot number is 115 and NOAA estimates the chance of an M-Class flare today at 55% and an X-Class at 10%, though this is apt to be revised in light of the dynamic nature of the spot.

Chris Carrington is a writer, researcher and lecturer with a background in science, technology and environmental studies. Chris is an editor for The Daily Sheeple, where this article first appeared. Wake the flock up!

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Largest Sunspot In Cycle 24 Emerges: Chance Of X-Class Flare Increases Dramatically

Chris Carrington

The southeastern section of the Sun is covered with a large dark blotch. Sunspot AR1787 is one of the biggest if not the biggest of the whole of cycle 24. The spot is massive; the dark cores of the spots alone are the size of the Earth and it has the energy to produce X-Class flares, though that magnetic field is still building and is nowhere near its full potential yet. The magnetic field will continue to build in strength and this dramatically increases the chance of a large X-class flare.

If an X-class was thrown off today, Earth would not be directly in the firing line. But over the next few days the sunspot will move across the solar disc putting us squarely in its sights.

AR1787 is close behind it, another very active region that already has the energy for M-Class flares, and NOAA predicts that the chance of an M-class within the next 24 hours is 40% and an X-Class 10% during the same period.