In the Crystal Ball: More Regulation for Psychics

[onager]

Starting this week, fortune tellers in Warren, Mich., must be fingerprinted and pay an annual fee of $150 — plus $10 for a police background check — to practice their craft.

The new rules are among America's strictest on palmists, fortune readers and other psychics, part of a growing push to regulate a business that has never been taken, or overseen, very seriously.

"We had no mechanism of enforcement to protect people against unsavory characters," Warren city-council member Keith Sadowski says. "We want to be sure there is some recourse in case we do get somebody who is not legitimate..."

:rofl:

Psychic Gina Marie Marks pleaded guilty Wednesday, Sept. 1, in Florida to grand theft and organized fraud. One of her victims testified that Marks swindled her out of $312,926.29 — and persuaded her to get a tattoo, to boot. It's now "a constant reminder of the psychological abuse I endured at the hands of this false prophet," she told a Broward County judge.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2015676,00.html?xid=rss-nation-yahoo#ixzz0yfQklbe0

[realisticphish]

1. I am 100% opposed to licensing psychics

I think it does nothing but legitimize them

[onager]

2. Agreed.

Leave them unregulated, with govt. paying no attention until they screw up and get caught bilking the suckers.

Then haul them in front of a jury and test their "powers" in a controlled environment. With the proviso that any official worried about "which ones are legitimate" be barred from designing...or being anywhere near...those tests.

Obviously I'm dreaming here...

I also posted this in LBN, just to see if it will fly. Eagerly awaiting hundreds of Googlicious links to Stanford Research Institute and Operation Stargate...

:banghead:

[realisticphish]

3. yeah, I saw that

started to reply, then decided to avoid the shit storm :)

Part of what frustrates me is the extrapolation that comes from utter crap like the Ganzfeld experiments. "See??? In this highly flawed study, someone was able to choose the right card 53% of the time! Clearly, this means that people can speak to my dead grandmother and figure out where missing children are!"

You see the same crap from theists who use "logical" proofs for a vague deistic or pantheistic creator god, and use that as justification for their dogmatic faith

[Orrex]

4. Absolutely correct

These frauds will begin referring to themselves as "licensed psychics" and acting like it's proof of their mystical powers.

[ZombieHorde]

7. I would if I was in that racket. nt

[charlie]

5. Romania attempts to tax witches and fortune tellers

Proposals to tax witches and fortune tellers in Romania were voted down by senators.

The politicians who had drafted the new law claim it is because they feared they would be cursed if they passed the plans.

Alin Popoviciu and Cristi Dugulescu of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party drafted a law where witches and fortune tellers would have to produce receipts, and would also be held liable for wrong predictions...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/romania/7991507/Romania-attempts-to-tax-witches-and-fortune-tellers.html

The woo merchants shouldn't let this opportunity go by. Since lawmakers admit they're skeered of them, they should press for perks and subsidies... or else.

[charlie]

6. "Pretending to practice witchcraft" is against the law in Canada

The strangely worded offense is actually on the books:

A Brampton man claiming to perform magic is facing fraud charges after being accused of charging people money for his services.

According to Section 365 of the Criminal Code of Canada, it is illegal to "pretend" to practice witchcraft. Sergeant Zahir Shaw, Peel Regional Police, said in a phone interview that using magic for monetary gain is illegal.
...

Yogendra Pathak, 44, of Brampton has been charged with one count of Fraud Under Five Thousand and one count of Pretending to Practice Witchcraft. Mr. Pathak was arrested on Monday, September 13, 2010, and will be making a court appearance in Brampton on October 7, 2010.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/297576

(Hat tip to Smiling Skeptic)