Law and Magic Blog

Carpet Store Angel

Back in July 2008 MSNBC.com covered this angel image that appeared at night in the window of a carpet store in Porterville, California. Some people believed it was a sign from above. Others said it was merely the reflection of the lights from the gas station across the street. The gas station owner was annoyed because sightseers wanting to see the angel were blocking customers at his place of business. He tried turning off his lights to show visitors that the image was the result of reflections and glare from his nighttime lighting, but got so many threats he turned the lights back on. The store owners noted that since the angel's appearance vandalism in the area started to decease (and I guess, so did the threats to their neighbor when his lights came back on). Here's more.

I couldn't find any updated stories on the angel. Did it disappear?

I Think It's Pareidolia

The Today Show/msnbc.com has this collection of photos, in which some people discern religious images; they range from the bottom of an iron to a cut-open orange. I think the human brain is a pattern seeking organ, which accounts for the shock of recognition, but reasonable minds can differ. The image in a cat's fur doesn't surprise me, though. I never met a feline that didn't think s/he wasn't divine.

Cemetery Law (In the Green Mountain State)

Deborah L. Markowitz, the Vermont Secretary of State, and her staff have a healthy (!) sense of humor. Check out their publication Digging Deep: Unearthing the Mysteries of Burial and Cemetery Law (2007). Chapter One is titled "Of Grave Concern." And it continues from there (should I say it goes downhill?)

Clearly written, helpful information, nice sketches that provide a touch of whimsy. Just the sort of thing good public servants produce for their constituents. Well done, Ms. Markowitz, who's a graduate of Georgetown Law. (I note she's running for Governor of Vermont, and I'm agnostic on her candidacy. I'm just saying...).

Gender, Ethnicity, Fortune Tellers, and Stereotyping

Of interest, a piece on discrimination against Romany people, particularly women, and particularly those who practice fortune telling. Here's the cite, with an abstract.

 Alexandra Oprea, Commentary: Psychic Charlatans, Roving Shoplifters, and Traveling Con Artists: Notes On a Fraudulent Identity, 22 Berkeley Journal of Gender of Law and Justice 31 (2007).

I aspire to become a lawyer one day. But as I check the boxes marked "other" on law school applications, I think back to when I first became aware of Romani marginality in the legal system. I was a sophomore in college and was interning at the nearby family court. As the judge adjourned another case, the court reporter, clerk, and attorneys began to engage in the usual banter. After a case involving a rambunctious teen, an older white woman serving as the clerk said something to the effect of, "If that were my kid, I'd give him to the Gypsies." After crying in the bathroom, I returned to the courtroom and told them that unfortunately for them, I was "a Gypsy."  I tried to explain the term "Roma," our origins, and the problematic nature of what was said. I calmly explained that her statement presenting Romani parentage as a form of punishment is based on deeply-seated stereotypes of Roma as baby-thieves and generally suspect people. They responded defensively, and I quit my internship. Reflecting on the incident, I wondered, what if there was a Romani fortuneteller fighting to regain custody of her children from the state? Or what if the judge were in criminal court, and the defendant was Romani? With such stereotypes so deeply ingrained within the collective psyche, what prospects for justice are there for Roma and Romani women in particular? I have recently confronted this question again in the context of fortunetelling.

 

Clean Sweep: Alabama Shop Owner's Broom Takes a Stand

A news report from Alabama about a broom that stands up for itself. The owner of a consignment shop says she thinks there's a little "Holy Spirit" operating, and she's keeping this cleaning implement. Yes, but...aren't brooms associated with evil and witchcraft? Never mind. This seems to be a nice broom, a friendly broom, a Harry Potter, Samantha Stevens type of broom. I say it is, and I say good for her for not discriminating against this broom. It will undoubtedly help her clean up in in future.

British Inspector Credits Prayer For Drop In Crime Rate

Apparently a local police chief is relying on prayer to help cut crime in Devon (England), and he says it's working. Inspector Roger Bartlett says he started his initiative several years ago with local prayer meetings and since then, crime rates have dropped in several categories. While he seems to attribute the drop to prayers, I note that his initiative also includes locals who patrol the streets. I would think citizen vigilance would do a lot to deter crime, whether or not it's linked to religion. Read more about Inspector Bartlett and his praying officers and volunteers here and here.

I do wonder if only Christians are allowed or invited to participate in praying, and if police officers who aren't Christian feel pressured to participate in the meetings. The UK does, after all, have a Human Rights Act that protects religious freedom and speech rights, but it doesn't do much good if people feel that they can't express themselves because their supervisors are, well, expressing their own selves quite so openly.

House of Commons Committee Report Says NHS Should Cease Paying For Homeopathic Treatments

From the BBC, an article discussing the recent call by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee that the National Heath Service should stop paying for homeopathy. Here's a link to the Committee's Report.

See also this report on cautions about homeopathy from the World Health Organization.

Wrestle That Deck!

Check out this DC area magician. His name is Hudson Taylor, and I think we'll be hearing from (and seeing) him in the future (and I don't even have a crystal ball).

Thanks to Ken Trombly for the tip.

Update: I blogged about Mr. Taylor's fiancee's work, elsewhere, without realizing she was Mr. Taylor's fiancee. Lia Mandaglio is a George Washington Law School student, and has written an extremely interesting piece called Speaking Across the Divide: A Functional Grammar Analysis of Feminist and Masculist Reproductive Rights Rhetoric in the United States. Ah, the mysteries of the law and magic connection.  

Why the (Not So) Dead Hand Is Quicker Than the Legal Eagle Eye

More evidence, if we needed it, that eyewitness testimony isn't as reliable as we thought. According to scientists at the University of Edinburgh, "[P]eople looking at pictures often failed to detect deliberate alterations, such as objects becoming bigger or disappearing. Professor John Henderson of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences said: 'We think our eyes show us the world in sharp detail all the time, but in fact this is not the case. "Our studies show that our eyes do, in fact, miss a great deal. Our research gives us insight into how people see the world and ultimately how the brain processes information.'" BBC1's program Bang Goes the Theory highlighted the research.

And Abracadabra! That's how David Copperfield disappears.

For more from Dr. Henderson, see also Peter Lamont and John Henderson, Correspondence: More attention and greater awareness in the scientific study of magic, Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 241 (March 2009), in response to Stephen L. Macknik, Mac King, James Randi, Apollo Robbins, Teller, John Thompson & Susana Martinez-Conde, Science and society: Attention and awareness in stage magic: turning tricks into research, Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9, 871-879 (November 2008).

Magic Remedies

I Can Has Cheezburger.com

There is no Ash Wednesday magic hangover remedy. Soft purring is the best one can expect from a sympathetic friend as one prays to the Porcelain God. (That should also probably be Purrbon Street).