oh for pete's sake, "Psychic's Tip About Bodies Was Hoax."

[mike_c]

http://www.click2houston.com/news/28168909/detail.html

LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas -- A tip from a psychic about dozens of bodies being in a rural area in Liberty County turned out to be a hoax.

The Liberty County Sheriff's Office said the tipster told them 25 to 30 bodies were on a property at the intersection of County Roads 2049 and 2048 between Hardin and Daisetta.

Tip calls started coming into the Liberty County Sheriff's Office dispatch Monday night directing deputies to a general area, officials said. The calls became more specific Tuesday and included the layout of the inside of a home.

<snip>

Texas Rangers went into the home about 7:45 p.m., after obtaining a search warrant.

Detectives said no bodies were found.

more@link

They ran this easter egg hunt on the advice of a PSYCHIC?! How 19th century! OK, maybe pre-Columbian. A PSYCHIC?! Somebody who has SUPERNATURAL POWERS?! Words fail me. I wonder what the average level of education is on that police force.

Years ago, when I was a grad student in Georgia, I helped teach a series of summer in-service workshops for elementary school teachers on "using living animals in the classroom" as educational vehicles. One day we did several activities with snakes, which are often relatively easy to keep in captivity. One of the participants, a young man who taught second grade, if I remember correctly, was reminded that the best way to keep snakes from entering homes is to write Bible verses on slips of paper and leave them under the couch, in corners, under the house, etc., because "snakes are from the devil, and therefore they cannot cross a line defined by Scripture." A man with a college degree and a head full of nonsense. Anyway, this story from Texas reminds me of that former workshop participant-- moon-eyed acceptance of the most ridiculous notions, utterly without question. A "psychic" had a bad dream, and they acted on the strength of that dubious "evidence" like it was real.

Sheesh.

[NightWatcher]

1. "psychic" and "search warrant"??? I'd like to read that warrant, who signed off on that?

[fascisthunter]

3. no kidding... WTF?

[Moe Joe]

57. I love America

You guys are insane! :rofl:

[fishwax]

59. indeed

:wtf:

[LoZoccolo]

2. Maybe they didn't know it was a psychic at first.

The main thing for which I'd fault them is that they told the press before they checked it out, but it may have been an unauthorized leak.

[Octafish]

4. Yeah. Who ever heard of a psychic ever getting anything right?

Enemies in the mind's eye -- For more than 20 years, the CIA funded psychic experiments

[mike_c]

6. men who stare at goats....

:rofl:

[Octafish]

13. Now that you mention it, that was a pretty darn good movie.

Fictionalized account of all that. From USN&WR:

Even such hardheaded operatives as Richard Helms, who later became the director of the CIA, were intrigued. The declassified documents reveal a memo written when Helms was deputy director for plans in 1963. For 10 years a small group in the Technical Services Division had been studying hypnosis and telepathy for use in clandestine operations but concluded that these fields were not ready for operational applications. Helms disagreed and sent a memo suggesting more research in "this somewhat esoteric (and perhaps scientifically disreputable) range of activities." He argued that given the Soviet preoccupation with "cybernetics, telepathy, hypnosis, and related subjects . . . recent reported advances . . . may indicate more potential than we believed existed."

Helms and Co. didn't want the US to lose the PSI-War.

[SidDithers]

8. LOL!...

Tell me you're not defending psychics. Please, tell me that you're not saying that psychic abilities are real.

Sid

[Octafish]

12. Don't have to be psychic to know you don't know everything, siddithers.

That's a fact.

[qazplm]

20. It isn't required to know everything

to know that psychic powers are about as likely as the sun giving you the powers of Superman.

[Octafish]

23. Superman vs Psychic Powers -- What an interesting analogy.

Never heard DIA studied one person who was invulnerable, possessed incredible strength, enjoyed X-Ray vision, and could move and fly at near light speed.

Did hear Uncle Sam's spooks spent a fortune on people who demonstrated psychic abilities.

[zappaman]

27. LOL!

Hey, did you know Jeanne Dixon predicted JFK's assassination?
It's true...you can read it on the internets!
Nostradamus predicted it too!!!!
:rofl:

[Octafish]

63. For a guy who claims to have met Frank Zappa, twice, that really is unevolved, zappaman.

On every level.

BTW: What did you two have to talk about? Was he driving 10 mph over the limit?

[JoeyT]

64. Yeah, I remember reading quite a bit about it when I wrote a report on it in highschool.

Did you hear the psychics were absolutely patently full of shit and many admitted they were just guessing?

They had enough "remote viewers" that one was bound to get a guess or two right...so when one finally guessed close enough to what they wanted to hear, they threw away a ton of money on something that never worked. Eventually the entire thing was scrapped.

They also had dowsing rod bomb detectors fairly recently. The military and intelligence community are very talented when it comes to throwing away money on stuff that a fourth grader would laugh at.

[Octafish]

66. Schrödinger or Heisenberg?

It really is an interesting question: Can consciousness itself affect the material world? Jack Sarfatti says it's possible.

Now, I don't give a damn whether people believe psychic powers are real or not.

I do give a damn about people being able to express their views on the topic -- one way or the other -- without being ridiculed.

When a subject or poster gets so labeled, it shuts down discussion on things that may be important. Don't you think?

[snooper2]

And because some things are "unknown" powers of woo "could" be real

:rofl:

you guys crack me up

[Octafish]

62. I know what you mean.

I just read through your journal. Wow!

[snooper2]

50. dupe

[Maru Kitteh]

51. Sombody put a double-dog-voodoo curse on your return key! Ooooo noooos!

[snooper2]

55. my return key is more "evolved" than I am

:rofl:

[SidDithers]

5. I hope the homeowners sue the fuck out of the Sheriff's department...nt

Sid

[Maru Kitteh]

31. I sure as hell would. n/t

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SidDithers]

9. Unevolved enough to understand!!!...

This thread is full of win.

Sid

[mike_c]

10. "a phoney pretending to be a psychic..."

Hm, not sure oxymoron is the correct term. Circular definition? Statement of the obvious?

[SidDithers]

11. Exactly. A phony psychic...

this message brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department.

:rofl:

Sid

[SpiralHawk]

18. "What fools these mortals be." - Puck

[GeorgeGist]

21. "Welcome to my ignore list" - Phuck

[SpiralHawk]

29. Thank you. I deem it an honor

Materialist-reductionists being who they are and all.

[Maru Kitteh]

39. Fantasy to validate fantasy?

fantastic

[backscatter712]

14. Is there ever such a thing as a psychic that's not a phony?

I think not.

[KatyMan]

34. I'm a psychic pretending to be a phony.

Really, ask me anything about the future, I swear I'll get it wrong.

[kick-ass-bob]

35. I knew you were going to say that.

:tinfoilhat:

[Maru Kitteh]

41. HA! I got you!

:hi:

I just want to say I LOVE YOUR NAME.

kick-ass-bob

LOVE IT.

[kick-ass-bob]

44. Always happy to please

:D

:hi:

[Blue-Jay]

15. Oh man.

:rofl:

[FLAprogressive]

16. Don't "phony" and "psychic" go hand-in-hand?

[Codeine]

47. Duuude. You just don't "grok" it, man. Too unevolved.

Fuck me sideways. :rofl:

[FLPanhandle]

17. "phony pretending to be a psychic"

Oh the irony! :rofl:

[WatsonT]

22. And a real psychic is defined by what exactly?

Is there a licensing process? Or do they have to get a certain number or predictions right?

Seems anyone who could actually do that would simply win the lottery a few times then retire.

[Maru Kitteh]

46. They're so evolved, they don't need money, or food

or computers, or gas, or electricity. They spark outlets to life with their thoughts when they need to plug something in. They ingest cosmic couscous. They post to DU with their brainwaves.

We here are "grossly unevolved" so that's why we still need the other stuff.

[Stuckinthebush]

58. Don't you get it?

Psychic powers don't work that way. You have to fine tune the powers to give you an impression of the future or past or present or other-world. The powers are totally not appropriate for determining the Power Ball. It just doesn't work that way. You just don't understand. I feel sorry for you for not understanding. So sad.

My psychic powers tell me that this thread may be locked soon. Or not.

;)

[Capitalocracy]

30. So what crimes have psychics solved?

Enlighten us.

[RandomKoolzip]

43. All psychics are phonies.

That's like saying "A pretender posing as an impostor."

[Codeine]

45. Few are less evolved than those who actually believe in such fantasy stories. nt

[FLPanhandle]

52. +1

[thanks_imjustlurking]

19. And this thing

made it all the way to a breaking news blurb on the *network* evening news.

[XemaSab]

24. I wanted bodies!

:(

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Believe it or not

psychics have had some success with law enforcement.

As a cop put it though... they are nothing more than perhaps a tertiary source to be checked by OTHER more reliable sources.

But they have had some limited success.

How this happens, I have my theories and have little to do with the paranormal...

[SidDithers]

53. No. They haven't...nt

Sid

[zappaman]

26. LOL!

Love that there are people that still believe in psychics!
HILARIOUS!

[InvisibleTouch]

28. I wonder if it was a hoax in the sense of...

...someone deliberately phoning in what they knew to be a false tip, just to cause trouble - or someone who genuinely thought they had a psychic vision, but was just wrong. In the former case, yes, the person should be fined or some-such for causing a panic - but how do you discern intention in a case like this?

[ScreamingMeemie]

37. I think it was the former.

A convicted sex offender had lived in the house, there has been trouble with neighbors before...etc., etc...

[Maru Kitteh]

48. Easy!

Police: How did you come by this information?

Nutjob: I had a bad dream.

Police: Thank you, have a nice day.

[Horse with no Name]

32. Well--to be fair

they HAD to investigate a tip like that--no matter WHO it came from.

If they didn't and it turned out to be true, then there would have been nine kinds of hell to pay.

I can guarantee the law enforcement mentality of those in that area didn't like it any better than anyone else, but they followed the appropriate procedure.

[Catherine Vincent]

61. Very true

The media is the one that screwed up. They all wanted to be first to report.

[cbdo2007]

33. Funny thing is the news reports saying "20 bodies found in Texas home"

a few days ago, without any substantiation. It was all rumor. Hoax. Lies.

Personally, I love this story for pointing out the absurdity of the media and how they'll report things as fact that aren't.

[Bragi]

36. I know where there are HUNDREDS of bodies

It's right down the street from me.

Oh wait, it's a cemetery.

Nevermind.

[Vanje]

38. ...and in other news : The World did not end last May 21

Sheeesh.

[Vanje]

40. Whaa!?? Snakes can read!!?? nt

[Blue-Jay]

42. Yeah, but they only read Sky Mall catalogs.

[Maru Kitteh]

49. Well that explains everything.

A movie about a book club. Who knew?

[Arkansas Granny]

54. According to the article at the link, they went to the property and saw

blood and smelled an odor like decomposition before getting the search warrant. The warrant was not issued just on the word of a psychic. Also, they are probably bound by law to look into any calls they receive concerning possible homocides.

[slackmaster]

56. I predicted this

:argh:

[leeroysphitz]

60. Maybe the Rangers have been watching too much Chuck Norris.

because I'm pretty sure this was a storyline on Walker: Texas Ranger.

[slampoet]

65. Why does no one ever get fired?

[spanone]

67. psychic journalism.....welcome to 2011