Do You Feel Like You’re being watched?

Have you got that creepy feeling that you are being watched all the time? Are you feeling that tingle down your spine like when you bite down on a Popsicle stick? Are you afraid that maybe you're going paranoid? Well, you may not be. That feeling may be all too real.

The change in your pocket could be keeping an eye on you.

WASHINGTON - Can the coins jingling in your pocket trace your movements? The Defense Department is warning its American contractor employees about a new espionage threat seemingly straight from Hollywood: It discovered Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside.

In a U.S. government report, it said the mysterious coins were found planted on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through Canada.

The U.S. report doesn't suggest who might be tracking American defense contractors or why. It also doesn't describe how the Pentagon discovered the ruse, how the transmitters might function or even which Canadian currency contained them.

Further details were secret, according to the U.S. Defense Security Service, which issued the warning to the Pentagon's classified contractors. The government insists the incidents happened, and the risk was genuine.

"What's in the report is true," said Martha Deutscher, a spokeswoman for the security service. "This is indeed a sanitized version, which leaves a lot of questions."

Top suspects, according to intelligence and technology experts: China, Russia or even France — all said to actively run espionage operations inside Canada with enough sophistication to produce such technology.

We here at Blue Crab Boulevard recommend you do what we do. Beat all of the change you receive with a hammer. Oh sure, it's a felony to deface US currency, but isn't it better to be guilty of a crime than to have someone watching your every move. Ok, if that's too extreme, then just look for a coin that looks something like this:

We avoid these whenever we find them. About five times a week. Cue Popsicle sticks.

UPDATE: A brandy new animated version is now posted right here. We really do need to look into getting a life.

Other Links to this Post

1. Blue Crab Boulevard » I Only Have Eyes For You — Thursday, 11 January , 2007 @ 10:11 am