Journal of the Bizarre

The Utah Data Center, Operation Virtual Shield, and the Death of the 4th Amendment



In September of this year, construction on the largest top-secret government facility in America will be complete.  The National Security Agency's Utah Data Center (officially known as the Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative Data Center) is a $2 billion facility designed to store intelligence data on the scale of yottabytes (for the record, one yottabyte is equal to 100,000,000,000 gigabytes).

And just what type of "data" will be collected and stored at this 1.5 million square foot facility?  It has been alleged that this data center will have the capacity to store every private email, cellphone call, and Internet search ever made or written.  Experts predict that the electricity bill alone for the Utah Data Center will run about $40 million a year, since the annual power demand will be in the vicinity of 65 megawatts.



In spite of this readily-available i…

What do you get when you cross a jellyfish with a sheep?  Apparently, thanks to the marvels of modern science, you get a sheep that glows in the dark.

Scientists in Uruguay have modified the genes of sheep by using a fluorescent protein found in the Aequarea jelly fish.  The sheep, born last October at Uruguay's Animal Reproduction Institute, glow a green color when they are exposed to ultraviolet light.  The leader of the research team, Alejo Menchaca, states that these green mutant sheep and developing normally.

Fluorescent proteins from jellyfish have been used to create a variety of glow-in-the-dark animals in recent years.  Some of these genetically-modified creatures, such as scorpions and "GloFish", are sold in pet stores.  Worms that glow in the dark are also sold to fishermen in a variety of outdoors shops.  

Scientists, however, say that there's more to creating glow in the dark sheep than hust the "fun" factor.  Menchaca believes that this techniq…

With all of the conspiracy theories surrounding the Sandy Hook massacre and the Boston Marathon bombings, it should be of great interest to some to learn that FEMA, an agency under the control of the Department of Homeland Security, awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to first responders in Newtown and Watertown (where the Tsarnaev brothers were caught in a shootout), in order to effectively respond to "acts of terrorism".  As Journal of the Bizarre has uncovered, these cash handouts were awarded as early as 2010.

On Feb. 8, 2010, Connecticut's NewsTimes.com reported that the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire Department was awarded more than $143,000 by the Department of Homeland Security, as part of a FEMA initiative called the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.  Not a bad chunk of change, considering that Sandy Hook has a population just over 11,000.

Although the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program has awarded more than $4 billion to hundreds of fire departments…

Last month, we received an email from a reader in Michigan, in response to our article debunking the "black eyed children" phenomenon, which links these so-called "paranormal" entities to recreational drug use.  The reader, whom we will call Onizuka in order to protect his identity, claims that not only is he familiar with BEKs- but that he was one.  "Onizuka" agreed to speak with JOTB via Yahoo instant messenger.  Ironically, this conversation took place on 4/20, a date which is embraced by those who are part of the drug culture.


JOTB:Thanks for taking the time to speak with us.  In one of your previous emails, you stated that you were a "black eyed kid".  What did you mean by that?

Onizuka:  Last November I was driving late at night at turned on the radio and came across an episode of Coast to Coast AM and the topic of the show was black eyed children.  It convinced me to do some research on the topic, and that's how I found your article.  A…

Earlier today it was reported that alleged Boston bombing mastermind Tamerlan Tsarnaev may have played a part in gruesome triple homicide in 2011 which has remained unsolved.   The murders took place around the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, and one of the victims was a former roommate of Tsarnaev, Brendan Mess.

According to police, the three men were found in an apartment in Waltham with their heads nearly decapitated.  A large amount of marijuana had been sprinkled over the bodies and thousands of dollars in cash were also found at the scene.  "We are looking at a possible connection with the suspect in the marathon atrocity and this active and open homicide in Waltham,'' said Stephanie Guyotte, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex County District Attorney, to ABC News.

Although the investigation has been active for more than a year, authorities admitted they have had few leads.
Which leads us to wonder, just how in the hell did Middlesex County authorities over…

From the Brown Lady who famously haunts England's Raynham Hall to the Red Lady of Huntingdon College, ghosts appear in a wide variety of colors.  Two famous old homes, one in England and one in Ireland, are said to be haunted by "gray ladies", while several British churches are said to be haunted by black phantoms- supposedly the ghosts of long-dead clergymen.  All around the world there have been sightings of colorful (as well as colorless) apparitions, ranging from pale green to shimmering blue. 
How can these color variations be explained?

The prevailing theory is that the color of a ghost is a reflection of the personality of the once-living individual, or a reflection of the way in which the person died.  Many believe that the color of a ghost is related to the color of a person's aura- the energy field which surrounds every living organism.

The study of aura colors has been taking place since ancient times, and every color is said to have a meaning.  Let'…

What do Joe Berti, Jessica Ghawi, and Stephen Barton all have in common? 



Jessica Ghawi was a sports reporter who was quickly making a name for herself, landing a position with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche franchise and writing for the blog Busted Coverage.  She was was killed when James Holmes opened fire on a packed midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colorado.  Shortly after her death it was revealed that she had narrowly escaped being gunned down a month earlier during the Eaton Center mall shooting in Toronto, June 2.

Ghawi, who wrote under the name Jessica Redfield, described her near-miss in Toronto on her blog:

I can’t get this odd feeling out of my chest. This empty, almost sickening feeling won’t go away. I noticed this feeling when I was in the Eaton Center in Toronto just seconds before someone opened fire in the food court.



After her death, Ghawi's mother, Sandy Phillips, became a highly-vocal advocate for gun control.  On January 14, Ghaw…

Shortly before 2:30 pm EST, news networks aired an interview with the aunt of alleged Boston Marathon bombers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.  According to the aunt, she had called the FBI upon seeing the photos of the suspects and recognizing the two young Chechen men.  Her reason for calling was to inform the FBI that Tamerlan and Dzhokhar couldn't have been the bombers.  She then told reporters that she believed that her nephews had been set up.  When asked by one reporter who would be behind such a conspiracy, the aunt stopped just short of saying that it was the government, and dodged the question.

These cryptic remarks came on the heels of similar strange and unnerving comments made by Anzor Tsarnaev, the father of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers.  In an interview with ABC News, Anzor stated that if his younger son was killed, that "all hell would break loose".

"If they kill my second child, I will know that it is an inside job, a hit job. The …

In a previous post, in regards to allegations that the Boston Marathon bombing is another "false flag" event staged by the government, we stated that we would reserve judgment until more evidence presented itself.
Well, it didn't take long for that to happen.

Alternative news sources have been buzzing today, after it was revealed that Navy SEALs were spotted at the marathon sporting black backpacks.  This new revelation has some claiming that indisputable proof of a false flag operation has been found.  Alex Jones- the Big Kahuna of conspiracy kookery- even went so far as to claim: Proof Boston Marathon Bombing is False Flag Cover-Up 



So, what does it all mean?

While this latest development is intriguing, it doesn't really prove or disprove anything.  It's no secret that SEALs were in Boston; it's been well-publicized that former SEAL and Massachusetts Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez ran the marathon, finishing the race in four hours and eight minutes.

One thing …

When I woke up this morning, my inbox exploded with emails from readers who wanted to know more about the "mystery man on the roof".  The above picture, taken by spectator Dan Lampariello, shows what appears to be a man on the roof of a building near the site of the second bomb.  Conspiracy theorists are having a field day with this one.

My opinion?  Let's reserve judgment until more information is available.  One man on a rooftop does not make a conspiracy.  Now, if someone enhances the photo and we see that he's wearing a FEMA jacket or a Department of Homeland Security shirt, well then that's a horse of a different color.  But to exclaim, "There was a man on a roof, this PROVES it was all a hoax!" is beyond absurd.

For all we know, the man on the roof could've been a spectator.  If you've ever gone to a marathon, you'll know this is not uncommon.  But to be so close to the explosion?  Weird? Yes.  Creepy?  Absolutely.  But until someone un…

Just hours after the Boston Marathon was turned into a crime scene, conspiracy kooks are already trying to convince the world that this latest tragedy was a hoax (perhaps conspiracy kooks live in a universe in which no one ever dies).  While there is a mountain of inconsistencies surrounding Sandy Hook, today's tragedy doesn't even remotely resemble the Newtown shooting.

Many of us watched the Boston incident unfold, and those of us who have recollections of Sandy Hook fresh in our minds couldn't help but watch the news and compare how the media covered the two events.  The verdict?  Look around the Internet, and you'll find that even most Sandy Hook doubters are convinced that the Boston Marathon bombing is 100% real.

One of the more outrageous claims circulating around the fringes of the Internet is that the explosion in Boston was caused by a harmless smoke bomb.  With tens of thousands of specators in the vicinity- most of them armed with cameras and cell phones- …

Did FEMA's new "youth army" play a role at Sandy Hook?



On September 13 of 2012, the Department of Homeland Security graduated its inaugural class of FEMA Corps.  This group of 231 graduates, aged 18-24, are part of a new program which is an offshoot of AmeriCorps- the youth service program created by President Clinton for "helping others and meeting critical needs in the community." 



According to the DHS website, this new group was designed for disaster response, preparedness, and recovery.  However, one cannot read about FEMA Corps without drawing comparisons to the Hitler Youth and the Jugendbund of Nazi Germany.  Much like the FEMA Corps, these groups were initially formed with the goal of community service and dedicated to "homeland security".

What makes FEMA Corps so disturbing is the fact that the formation of this para-military youth organization follows on the heels of several Executive Orders signed by President Obama which greatly expands the …