November 29, 2008
The United Press is reporting that a Florida Woman is suing her psychic for $13,200. Is it just me or does $13,200 seem like a lot of money for readings as apparently claimed by the defendants.
I would hate to be the judge in this case. How do you decide if the money was for readings and a curse vs for a “spiritual loan”. What the heck is a “spiritual loan”? Why did the psychic not see this coming and make certain that her client understood what she was paying for?
There is a long history of predatory practices by “Psychics” involving those who have just lost loved ones or had other negative life events. See What’s the Harm? for many examples.
On a related note, the stop Sylvia Brown website has a new web address. The original address was lost when it was unavoidably allowed to expire.
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Skepticism, skeptic | Tagged: court, media, psychic, Skepticism, Sylvia brown, what's the harm? skeptic | 
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Posted by theskepticnextdoor
November 29, 2008
Skepticality’s most recent podcast is about Skepticamp. It is a skeptic variant of Barcamp. It is one of those, “why didn’t I think of that?” ideas.
The basic idea is to get a group together as an informal mini-conference. The catch is everyone who attends must participate in some way, preferably by giving a talk. It is a great idea.
Link to the podcast:Skepticality-Skepticamp.
Leave a Comment » | Skepticism, skeptic | Tagged: barcamp, podcast, skeptic, skeptic group, skepticality, skepticamp, Skepticism | Permalink
Posted by theskepticnextdoor
November 29, 2008
France’s President lost his court case to stop the sale of voodoo dolls made in his image. Technically he won. He was awarded one euro, court costs, plus a note to be added to the doll’s packaging. Fortunately no one involved seems to think that voodoo dolls actually work.
The appeals court judge found that “spearing the doll… constitutes an offence to the dignity of Mr Sarkozy”.
The note to be supplied is to advise buyers that pricking the doll would offend Mr. Sarkozy’s dignity.
Wonderfully, part of the courts decision was that banning the dolls would “limit the right to humor”. If that is not part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it should be.
I think the court was exercising its right to humor. Sales are destined to prick up.
Leave a Comment » | Humor, Skepticism, media, skeptic | Tagged: court, France, human rights, Sarkozy, Voodoo | Permalink
Posted by theskepticnextdoor
November 27, 2008
From http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/sask_same_sex_marriage
Summary:
- Marriage commissioner refused to perform a gay marriage.
- Marriage commissioner is fined $2500 by the Saskatchewan human rights tribunal.
- Marriage commissioner sues Saskatchewan government for the right to decline the ceremony because his charter rights have been violated.
The more I think about this, I don’t think the marriage commissioner should have the right to refuse. If you are a marriage commissioner, you should as part of your job, perform any legal marriage. This is a civil ceremony not a religious one.
Should such a person be able to refuse interracial marriages? How about a catholic commissioner not marrying someone who has been divorced?
I do not think this is a charter of rights violation. Does performing a marriage ceremony with a same sex couple alter your beliefs? Should a pharmacist be allowed to not fill birth control prescriptions if they do not believe in birth control? What if there is only one pharmacist in town? If you do not like this find a new profession.
How should this be handled? If he had said, “I am willing to perform the ceremony but I personally do not feel that same sex marriages are proper.” Would not the couple go else where? Is this the same as a refusal?
Leave a Comment » | Skepticism, media, skeptic | Tagged: fine, human rights, marriage, same sex marriage, Saskatchwan | Permalink
Posted by theskepticnextdoor
November 27, 2008
My home is near a local bar. I knew it was there when I bought the house. It is a nice bar with good food and beer, and lousy service. They have bands playing three or four times a night. I have had a nationally recognized rapper in my home because my partner brought him over from the bar to meet my underaged stepdaughter.
The owners make an effort to keep down the noise. They place sound proofing over the window behind the stage. Even the loudest bands are no louder than a conversation outside the building.
For years it has been a happy coexistence. Until smoking was banned in bars.
I am not a smoker and have never been. I love being able to go to a bar and not come home with my clothes stinking of smoke.
The unanticipated consequence is, the smokers now stand outside the bar smoking and talking and yelling loudly until two in the morning. This I can hear. It is extremely annoying to have a bunch of babbling drunks holding a cocktail party outside our bedroom window.
I am not certain what to do about it. Talk to the owner? Ask the cops to cruise by every night? Wander over in nothing more than my boxers and ask them to keep it down? The boxers are probably the best choice. It would likely scare half of them away. Maybe I would get stunned silence. Silence followed by histerical laughter.
Leave a Comment » | Skepticism | Tagged: skeptic, Skepticism, smoking, smoking ban | Permalink
Posted by theskepticnextdoor
November 22, 2008
I was in Washington DC last week, and I am frustrated that I missed two very fun things.
First I just missed the start of the American Humanist Association’s, “Why believe in God” campaign on DC buses. See that Atheist person for more info.
Secondly, the totally renovated American History museum is opening this weekend. It has been closed for two years. I even had someone tell me that they had gone to it. They may have confused it with the new Sant Ocean Hall at the Natural History museum.
I will have to hit the American History Museum next time I am in DC.
Instead I visited several other sites.
I made my second visit to the Sant Ocean Hall. I have mixed feelings about it. I think the glossy exhibits overwhelm many of the items on display. Big glossy sign boards for a four ounce jar containing a dessicated fish is a jarring disconnect. As much as I love the institution, I always think of the Smithsonian as being a bunch of packrats who display what every they have managed to collect. The resulting collections are often hodgepodges. The Sant Ocean Hall just reinforces this image. My main reason for returning to the Natural History Museum was to go to the two gift stores on the lower level. My nephews are getting 36″ gummy snakes and suckers with edible insects in their stockings.
The last time I was in DC we went to the National Portrait Gallery, but we did not make it to the third floor. Since I parked nearby I went back. If you go, do check out the mezzanine sections of the third floor. The Luce Foundation Center is on one of the mezzanines, basically a visible archive. I always like those. It is like a easter egg hunt, you never know what you are going to find. The Jug with Rattlesnake was one of my favorites.
The US Naval Memorial, is worth stopping at if you are walking by or are really into naval history, I am not. I was there for five minutes. Maybe if it was not pouring down rain I would have enjoyed it more.
I pretty much stumbled upon the Air Force Memorial. I was heading for the shopping mall nearby and took some wrong turns. The memorial is certainly worth seeing. It has a simple elegance and it overlooks the pentagon and Arlington cemetery. I would like to return some time at night.
I always recommend seeing the memorials at night. My all time favorite is the Korean War Memorial. It is dark an spooky. The Korean War Memorial is beside the Lincoln Memorial. If you are in that area go find Albert. He is a bit hard to find but well worth visiting.
Leave a Comment » | Atheism, Skeptic Escapes, science, skeptic | Tagged: air force memorial, albert einstein, American History Museum, DC, Lincoln Memorial, luce foundation, nationa portrait gallery, natural history museum, Naval Memorial, Washington, Washington DC | Permalink
Posted by theskepticnextdoor
November 15, 2008
Lately the question, “What is the most dangerous animal?” has come up a couple of times. Most people answer with lion, shark, or some other well-known carnivore. If the question is which African land animal is the most dangerous the answer is actually the Hippopotamus. Hippos generally hangout in areas frequented by humans such as in or near shallow water and if they attack the bite is almost always fatal.
The clever answer is the mosquito, which spreads the viruses and parasites that cause malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, elephantiasis and various forms of encephalitis resulting in millions of deaths. They also act as vectors for many non-human diseases.
This answer comes up in The Book of General Ignorance by British authors John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. They pose this question dramatically as “What’s the most dangerous animal that has ever lived?” Dangerous to whom or what? Presumably dangerous to humans and not cattle or ants. The authors estimate that as many as 45 billion people have died of mosquito born infections.
Are the mosquitoes dangerous or is it their behavior? To adopt a phrase-Mosquitoes do not kill people. Mosquitoes with parasites kill people. Really the parasites are coming from other humans or animal reservoirs.
It is unlikely that there have been many people directly killed by Mosquitoes. If there are enough of them they could conceivably consume enough blood to kill someone, but this seems like a rare occurrence. The average amount of blood consumed by a mosquito is 0.003 ml1, or approximately 300,000 bites per liter of blood. A large human has approximately 2 square meters of surface area, which is 20,000 square centimeters. Giving 15 bites per square centimeter per liter of blood. Before feeding they inject their saliva to stop blood from clotting and incidentally injecting any parasites them may be carrying. This is also unlikely to be healthy for the victim.
Outside online has an article “Itchy” by Jennifer Kahn, which provides another estimate.
To amuse himself, Vlach once calculated the number of bites a person would have to get before dying from blood loss. It is 424,242—a number close to what an unclothed, unprotected person might have experienced on a midsummer night….
To anyone who scoffs at Mosquitoes draining a human, I suggest a few days of naked camping in northern Canada. The feeding density can easily reach several per square inched. It is still unlikely to kill you but you might hope that it will.
1. University of Notre Dame, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Policy for the Use of Animals for Blood Feeding Mosquitoes
Leave a Comment » | Skepticism, science, skeptic | Tagged: Add new tag, animal, dangerous, mosquito, skeptic, The Book of General Ignorance | Permalink
Posted by theskepticnextdoor
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