Froth Slosh B'Gosh

Another Credulous Reporter

Today in "psychic" fraud news, we read about Melanie Barnum in the Connecticut Post.  The writer, Deb Keiser, assures us that Barnum is "legit."  After all, she studied under James van Praagh (you can read more about van Praagh here)!

Reading the article, its clear that what this woman is doing is nothing more than cold reading, augmented by a little internet research. For example, we read this from the exchange between Barnum and Keiser:

Q: How do you know the answers?

A: When I do a reading, I tune into that person's energy field. Even before  they arrive in my office, I sit in a chair and do a grounding exercise, a  meditation of my own, and then I write some notes that come to me about what I  should share with that person.

That's how I knew you were a petite, energetic and organized brunette even  before you got here. (True: she showed me the notes.)

It took me less than five seconds for me to find Keiser on Facebook, her page contains a lot of information about her, including numerous photographs.  Wouldn't be hard at all for Barnum to do the same.  Deb, you might want to review your privacy settings.

And again, here:

In a different reading, a woman came in who was unsure about her professional  direction. Suddenly I felt I had to say, "I have to talk to you about all the  soldiers. You are digging up all the soldiers." She was stunned, and asked how I  could know that.

That was her moment. It turned out she had started a family research project  and every single generation going back to the Revolutionary War had a soldier  who'd served in a war, including the Civil War, World War I and II. The soldiers  came through to tell her to continue the research, and that she was headed in  the right direction by doing that.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that Barnum has an account with a service like Ancestry.com, and routinly does a search on whoever happens to be coming in for a reading.  Wouldn't be at all surprised either if you have to make an appointment, I doubt she sees "drop ins"  (her webpage is silent on the matter, but there's plenty of contact information).  Of course, if she really were psychic, she'd know you were coming, right?

As P.T. Barnum is alleged to have said, there's a sucker born every minute!

Gerrymandering, Electoral College, And Congress

There's a pair of good articles today.  From the P-G,  Clifford B. Levine, president of Pennsylvania's 57th Electoral College writes about the Republicans plans to change the way Electoral College votes are tabulated in "blue" states where they control legislatures, and wonders why Republicans in reliably "red" states aren't concerned about "proportional representation" in those locations.

With statewide elections, each candidate has a fair opportunity to win;  statewide boundaries are not subject to political manipulation as are state and  congressional districts. However, party partisans, frustrated by recent losses,  are now seeking to unlevel the playing field by altering the traditional method  of selecting electors. The consequences would be devastating to our system of  government.

And in a related article, Sam Wang writes on how gerrymandering by Republicans is helping to thwart the wishes of the electorate at large, and that no, both sides don't do it..  And guess who the worst offender is?  Pennsylvania!  Needless to say, extreme gerrymandering coupled with changing the way electoral college votes are distributed (in the blue states only, natch) culd have a profound effect on who wins presidential candidates, making it much more likely for a candidate losing the popular vote to get elected.

If you cannot win under the existing rules, just change the rules.  Its the Republican way!

Merry Christmas!

No, Merry Christmas doesn't offend me.  Neither does Happy Holidays.  So no matter what your belief system, have a wonderful time, and best wishes for a new year.

I'll be heading to Virginia, so expect light posting until after the New Year.

Instead Of A Tree, There's A Pole

 

Happy Festivus!  A donation in your name was made to The Human Fund.

Insure Them?

So far, the best, and in my mind the most Constitutionally acceptable response to the Newtown Massacre that I've seen is legislating a requirement that gun owners carry insurance on their firearms.  Insurance rates could be set by private insurers using actuarial tables.  What you would pay would be based on the type of firearm, the likelihood of its use in a crime, etc.

For example, I own three guns, a reproduction musket, an antique bolt action rifle, and a five-shot snub-nosed revolver.  I'd expect that the revolver would be the costliest of my three weapons to insure, based on its concealablity and greater likelihood to be used in a crime if lost or stolen.  The rifle and musket likely have a much lesser propensity for violence, especially the musket, due to its unwieldiness and slow reloading time. 

I think this is a workable solution.  It doesn't unduly burden those purchasing weapons for hunting or home defense, while preserving the ability for people to purchase high ammo capacity semi-automatic military grade weapons if they wish to own them, they just have to pay more to insure it the same way it costs more to insure a high-performance sports car as compared to a family sedan.  Discounts can also be offered for those who use trigger locks and store the ammunition separately, just as homeowners get a discount for having smoke detectors. Since the insurance would be provided by private companies, anti-government paranoids wouldn't have to worry that the gubmit is tracking their guns.

I think this is also a solution to straw man purchasers.  A straw purchaser would have to get insurance for the weapon,  even though they no longer possess it.  No one is going to want to maintain insurance on a weapon that they've illegally turned over to a third party. 

Your thoughts?

UPDATE:  Three dead in central PA.

Headline Of The Day

Mosque arsonist tells court: ‘I only know what I hear on Fox News’

An Indiana man convicted of setting fire to a mosque in Ohio told a judge on Wednesday that he committed the crimes because Fox News and conservative talk radio had convinced him that “most Muslims are terrorists.”...

Linn claimed that he had consumed 45 beers in the 6 hours before leaving his Indiana home to set fire to the mosque..

How the hell can anyone even function after drinking nearly two cases of beer in six hours?  In any case, do you think Faux News or the radio gasbags will tone down their rhetoric anytime soon as a result?  Naaahhh, of course not.

As noted earlier, Faux viewers are not only less informed, they're more likely to believe things that aren't true.  And then some of them lash out violently.

Oompa Loompa In Deepity Doo

Orange Julius can't control his wackaloon caucus.  Taxes will go up on everybody because the Plutocratic Party cannot stomach seeing the top 400,00 income earners seeing a small bump in their contributions to society.  Worst Speaker Ever?

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Oh wait.  To the Mayans, today is the cosmic scale equivalent of January 1st.  Never mind and carry on.

Perhaps They're Feeling Something?

Dick's pulls certain weapons from its stores.  Cerebus is disinvesting itself from weapons manufacturers, stock in gun manufacturing is dropping, and the NRA has been very, very quiet.

What emotion could they be feeling?