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a brief analysis of criminological psychic predictions

Psychics as a whole seem to exhibit an almost parasitic attraction to spectacle - the more strange, outrageous, horrific or violent some event is, the more likely that some psychic will invariably allege gross incompetence and negligence upon the parts of those charged with preventing such disasters by claiming that they predicted the event far in advance and, undoubtedly, will wistfully decry on a time-lost web page "If only I was believed!" This has always galled me - as a criminology student, I like to think I am better informed about police and investigative methodology than most, and seeing the sheer amount of time and effort put into crime prevention laughed at is exceptionally aggravating, not to mention offensive.

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norman_borlaugIt's gratifying to see the name of a real hero grace the headlines of the papers today. Norman Borlaug was 95 when he died in Dallas this Sunday. Not familiar with that name? I'll admit that I wasn't either. But I was familiar with the man who developed plants that saved an estimated 1,000,000,000 lives. No, that's not a typo - that is one billion (American usage).

Borlaug's passing gives us time to reflect on a man who used science and technology to improve the world. In fact, the Wall Street Journal article claims that because of his advances, all hunger in the world today is the result of political disasters, not natural ones.

Borlaug's dwarf wheat crop, known as triticale, was responsible for a mutli-fold yield increase. Star Trek fans will recognize the name "triticale" from an episode featuring "tribbles" - it's what they were feeding on.

Borlaug also helped create so-called "Golden Rice" which contained beta carotene, - an essential nutrient often lacking in the diets of the impoverished.

So here we have a man that used science to do incredible things. He won the Nobel prize, and demonstrated once again that a thoughtful man can do more than all the prayer in the world. I dare say that no one else in the history of mankind has ever saved as many lives. I would call him a super hero.

And yet I'm a bit bothered by something I saw on Twitter.

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Remember Uri Geller? It seems that new generations have no idea who he was, or what a "mystifier" is. Actually, I don't think anyone knows what a "mystifier" is...

So while Uri's star may be setting below the horizon, it's actually important to remember him because his story teaches us lessons. One man can fool millions into believing he has supernatural powers, unless he's tested under controlled conditions. And when a man refuses to be tested under proper conditions, well, that can tell us something too.

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For the past eight years, September 11th has been a day that stands out as a date to remember and reflect on the worst terrorist attack in US history and one of the most shocking events in many of our lifetimes. The attacks of that day have caused a lot of pain and lead to a great deal of disagreement over the cause and the response and the things done in the name of security and safety.

However, I'd like to consider another aspect that is rarely discussed: the events were never in any way predicted by any of the self-proclaimed psychics or future-seers out there. While some have claimed that the vague words of Nostradamus or some other cryptic phrase contains clues, the fact is that nobody, no professional nor amateur psychic gave any indication that there would be a major terrorist attack in New York City or Washington in September 2001. None said that the year 2001 would see commercial aircraft turned into weapons to bring down skyscrapers. None stated that the World Trade Center would be destroyed. Nothing like that has ever been verified.

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kittyalienI attended the first ever UFO festival in Exeter NH on Sept.5, 2009.  I have to say my impression is that the good old Yankees of the Granite State really don't get into the whole UFO/alien thing as well as the citizens of the West.  No real Roswell style over the top costumes or booths selling quart rocks to help communicate with our space brethren.  Just simply a simple display by the NEUFON (New England UFO network), the Kiwanis selling lunch, a tv table with a few newspaper clipping from the Historic Society, and t-shirts.  The t-shirts were selling well.  Inside Exeter town hall about 100-150 people calmly listened to talks by various UFO authors (with books for sale).  The main draw seemed to be the niece of Betty and Barney Hill.  We all remember Betty and Barney Hill as the couple that was abducted by aliens, and "recovered" their memory of it via hypnosis.  The doctor that treated the Hills always emphasized that he did not believe they had been abducted, but that they certainly did believe.

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