Law and Magic Blog

Poker's Advocates

In the wake of that South Carolina decision against those poker players, the May 2009 issue of the ABA Journal notes that the Poker Players Alliance has started to "advocate for poker as a game of skill." (See p. 16 of the issue).

Here's a link to the PPA's press release on the South Carolina decision. Here's a link to another PPA news release on a January Colorado ruling. The PPA also applauds Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) for his bill calling for federal regulation and licensing of Internet poker (introduced in May).

Here's the text of Rep. Frank's bill.

News Flash: BigFoot Not Sighted In Connecticut

Pity the poor driver in Fairfield, Connecticut, who encountered "an 8-foot-tall creature with a large body and 'legs like tree trunks' " last Tuesday. She almost smacked right into it. I would have reacted the same way, I think.  Raccoons with no sense of direction and hitchhiking poodles on their way to the mall are bad enough. Who expects to encounter something like that in the road, especially at 10:30 at night? But the driver did something clever: she used her high beams and "the creature covered its face and ran into the woods." Scaredy BigFoot!

Well, Scaredy BigFoot turned out to be a teenager in a "gorilla-like costume," said the police. Pseudo BigFoot! In any case, the police captured and delivered PseudoBigFoot, gorilla garb and all, into the custody of his parents. The parents are probably happy no one got hurt and may be contemplating keeping an eye on his sneakered feet indefinitely.

Smart driver, smart cops, smart parents, and a teenager enjoying the first weeks of vacation. Ah, summer.

Astrology

Tonight: Penn & Teller's Bullshit looks at Astrology.

"The Mentalist" On DVD

Fans of CBS' The Mentalist take note: The first season DVDs will be available September 22, 2009. Both Barnes and Noble and Amazon are taking pre-orders.

Church Members Try To Exorcise Teen's "Gay Demon"

CNN's Ali Velshi discusses this clip showing Bridgeport, Connecticut's Manifested Glory Ministries Church members attempting to exorcise the demons of homosexuality from a teenager. The pastor explains the actions of the members to Mr. Velshi, claiming that they are not anti-gay, but believe that gays are possessed by "spirits", as are alcoholics, for example. "Everything carries a spirit," she says. The teen in the video has been identified as 16 years old. According to CNN, a youth advocate who has worked with him says "she doesn't think the church acted maliciously -- but that's part of her problem with the video. "None of the people in this video were intending to hurt this kid," she said. "They performed this ritual in an attempt to rid him of feelings that he didn't want to have." She also said he is the fifth teenager who has tried such radical measures to deal with conflicting feelings, although not all the teens asked religious organizations to assist them. During the CNN interview, the pastor says the teen is "doing much better." Here's reaction from viewers.

P & T Return For a Seventh Season

Penn & Teller: Bullshit returns for a seventh season tonight at 10 p.m., 9 Central time on Showtime.

Wait, Wait, E.T.: TV Really Isn't a Vast Wasteland

Astronomer Frank Drake is worried that aliens, if they're watching and listening, may form erroneous opinions about us based on tv signals. In response to a question from Spiegel Online about what ETs might see (and understand, I suppose), he said, "Particularly at night there are so many crime programs on television, violence and blood and all that. That is a really inaccurate picture of our civilization."

Well, maybe so. On the other hand, assuming they have been watching and listening, or have already visited, and understand our pop culture (big, big assumptions), maybe they've decided we've got nothing interesting to say. After all, our desire to communicate with extraterrestrials presupposes that they want to engage in the conversation, too.

Read more here. 

Six-Year-Old Says Mother Set Fire To Her During Voodoo Ceremony

Prosecutors say a mother set her 6 year old on fire during a voodoo ceremony intended to drive out evil spirits. The girl's mother and grandmother didn't take her to the hospital until the next day, February 5th, according to the D.A. She remained in the hospital for nearly two months. The mother says the girl was burned accidentally while the mother was cooking. The girl is now in foster care, and apparently told her foster family about the incident; they reported it to law enforcement.

Ghosts, Ghosts, Ghosts--Everywhere You Look

This Hollywood Reporter article sums up a number of Hollywood projects centered on ghosts or "ghost-related" issues. Among them, Dreamworks' new "Boo U.", which may not be the movie's final title, about a ghost who needs additional training, to be directed by Tony Leondis, scheduled for release in 2012. "Freakers," which would have told a story from the "ghosts' point of view," seems to have been abandoned. Too bad. That sounded interesting. Finally, someone is pitching another "ghost project."

Just shows to go ya--on film, on tv, in books, on the net, in magic, ghosts continue to be popular.

French Prosecutors Call For Banning Of Church of Scientology

In a surprising turn of events, the French prosecutors handling the Church of Scientology case have asked that the Church be banned, that its Celebrity Center and bookstore be fined a total of four million Euros and that the Church's leaders be convicted of using "fraudulent tactics", but asked for suspended sentences, not jail time for them.  Here's more from Radio France Internationale. The French government currently considers the Church to be a sect. The Church defends itself on the grounds that it is a religion, just as it is in the United States. Here's more from the Washington Post.