New Jersey Sucker Birthrate Probably Double The National Average @12:15 PM
A woman named Karen Brown, of Randolph, New Jersey, is suing her former psychic counselor for fraud, claiming the storefront clairvoyant, Paula Lee, took her for $160,000. As the Asbury Park Press reports: "Brown became convinced that Lee 'had genuine psychic abilities, powers and the ability to influence future events,' the suit said. She claimed she could communicate with departed souls and convinced Brown she was under a curse and 'dark forces were obstructing her efforts to find happiness,' the suit said." While it's difficult to totally excuse the victim in such a case, Ms. Lee seems like a particularly predatory fake-psychic. Besides depression and marital problems, Brown was suffering from cancer. And Lee allegedly told her she would die without her help. That's just not nice. 3
The Last of the Hot Summer Town Halls: How We've All Been Fooled By The Health Care Debate @4:48 PM
Abnormally interesting town hall meetings have caused some in Congress to make their August events invitation-only. This tactic, a favorite of the Bush administration, has been bemoaned by the right as cowardice. Senator Byron Dorgan, who puts the D in the Red State of ND, went ahead and held meetings anyway. I went to a few to see what the fuss was all about. (Hint: It's not about health care.)
If our Congress can be measured on a scale of feces (and it should), Senator Byron Leslie Dorgan is closer to adorable rabbit droppings than, say, the diseased swine diarrhea that is Michele Bachmann (R-MN). A three-time senator, Dorgan is the author of Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America. One of only eight senators to vote "No" on 1999's financial deregulation, he is now famous for saying: "I think we will look back in 10 years and say we should not have done this, but we did because we forgot the lessons of the past." READ MORE 33
Who Knew Drea De Matteo Was A Bitch? @8:53 AM
Obviously everyone everywhere is turned inside out by this week's Us story on Lindsay Lohan. Particularly because—wait, what? "'Everyone's turned on me,' says the actress. She tells the magazine that the night of the Chateau showdown, Nicole Richie walked by her and said 'Uck,' and Drea De Matteo said, 'Come at me, bitch.'" Okay, for one thing, Drea De Matteo 1) doesn't work any more and 2) has like a 15-month-old baby, and what is she doing out? Oh and third of all: "Joey"? What the hell? 3
