A bill to repeal Harford County, Maryland’s 31-year old ban on fortune-telling has been delayed due to protests by some residents who want to keep psychic businesses illegal.
Last year, Maryland’s High Court ruled that bans on fortune-telling businesses were unconstitutional.
Since they can’t be shut down outright, Harford County councilman, Dion Guthrie, wants to at least control where they’re allowed to operate.
To that end, he sponsored a bill that would overturn the old ban, but restrict such establishments to the B-2 and B-3 business zoning districts.
These businesses would have to be located at least 1,000 feet from a school, another similar business or a place of worship, and would need special permission from the Board of Appeals.
He’s also considering setting age restrictions on those who can visit fortune-tellers, and maybe restricting such businesses, alongside adult bookstores, exclusively to the B-3 zone.
For some residents though, that’s not enough. They don’t want fortune-telling anywhere in the county, regardless of what the State High Court determined.
According to The Aegis, in his presentation to Council, Allan Gorman, a senior pastor at Harford Community Church, quoted bible verses in opposition to mediumship and fortune-telling.
‘When you, as the authorities of the land, allow for a spiritual opening for dark forces to come into our community, they will come,’ he said. ‘The effects will be permanent until another authority steps in and says no to that.’
John Mallamo, of Bel Air was concerned that there was no qualifications for readers, or requirement that they prove their accuracy.
And James Zachary, an elder with Breath of God Christian Fellowship felt the Maryland court decision was wrong and that fortune-telling is a bad legacy for the Council to leave behind.
Though no one seemed to come out in support of fortune-telling, not everyone felt it was a danger to the community.
Pete Gutwald, director of the county’s planning and zoning department, described it as a personal service that could be practiced in a residential zone.
And Nancy Giorno, the county’s deputy attorney, felt that unlike the case with adult bookstores, there are no proven secondary effects associated with fortune-telling businesses.
The issue remains unresolved.
Council decided to delay their decision and put the question off for another time.
Romanian witches and fortune-tellers have won their battle. At least for now.
This past Tuesday, 249 Romanian deputies rejected a bill which would have forced fortune-tellers, or witchcraft practitioners, to pay a fine or go to jail if their predictions were wrong.
Ten deputies supported the new legislation, while six abstained.
The bill, which passed the Senate last month, would also have required receipts to be provided to all customers, and have prohibited such businesses from being located near churches or schools.
Politicians who brought the legislation forward claimed they were looking to regulate occult practices and trying to prevent ‘the devastating effects of witchcraft’. Others disagreed.
Some commentators felt the move was nothing more than a governmental diversion tactic meant to avoid focus on bigger problems faced by the country.
Earlier this year, new legislation requiring fortune-tellers to pay taxes incensed many Romanian witches, leading some to dump poison mandrake into the Danube in an attempt to hex the government.
The City of Lindsay, California is looking into changing its existing zoning ordinances for sexually-oriented businesses and fortune-tellers.
Council would like there to be a 1,000-foot buffer between churches, parks and schools, and sexually-oriented businesses.
They’d also like these businesses to be at least 500 feet away from residential areas.
Lumped into almost the same category as strip clubs and adult bookstores, are fortune-tellers and tattoo artists.
Council intends to regulate where they can and cannot operate, and are calling for a 500-foot buffer around churches, schools, parks and residential areas.
Before going forward, Mayor Ed Murray wants to see a map showing what areas would be included and excluded as possible locations for such establishments.
“It shall be unlawful for any person within the corporate limits of the city to carry on the business of telling fortunes or to carry on the trade, business or profession of phrenology, clairvoyance, palmistry or other business of like kind or nature in which the future of any person is foretold or attempted to be foretold.”
Questions about the constitutionality of this prohibition have come into question, leading City Council this past week to ask its attorney to draw up an order to rescind it.
Similar laws have recently been struck down in Michigan, Georgia and Maryland.
Guy Ritchie’s intended new home has suddenly become an unintended temporary Tarot school.
In addition to Tarot, the squatters that moved in on Monday night also plan to teach classes on house occupation and using public transport for free.
The group that calls itself, The Really Free School, realize that they’ll be thrown out of the $9.6 million mansion soon.
But until they are, they’re using Ritchie’s house as a pop-up free school, offering workshops, debates and film screenings.
In their own words, “Our time in this building is short, we have the next couple of weeks to zhumba, zhumba, zhumba.”
The police went to the recently renovated property near London’s West End, but were unable to evict the squatters.
According to British law, a person can claim a right to stay in an empty property as long as they don’t break and enter. At least until they’re formally evicted by the owner.
Just yesterday I wrote about fortune-tellers under pressure in Malawi. Today it’s Romania that’s back in the news . . .
On January 1st the Romanian Parliament declared fortune-telling a legal profession.
It seemed like good news at the time. At least for those witches who didn’t mind paying taxes.
A few people though, didn’t like the new proposal. In fact, they threatened to curse the legislators who were going to pass it.
The law went through anyway. In retaliation, some witches dumped poison mandrake into the Danube in an attempt to hex the government.
But magic can be a tricky business. It can come back at you if you’re not careful. Maybe that’s what’s happening in this case.
Not only are Romanian witches now expected to be licensed and pay taxes, but politicians are debating a draft bill which would also require them to be judged on their predictive accuracy.
What’s more, they might be fined or even jailed if their readings are wrong.
The new bill would also require receipts to be provided to all customers, and fortune-telling would not be permitted near churches or schools.
Opponents of the proposal say it’s a ruse to deflect public attention from Romania’s many problems.
“The government doesn’t have real solutions, so it invents problems,” political commentator, Stelian Tanase told the AP.
The bill passed in the Senate last week, but still has to be approved by a financial and labor committee, as well as by the Chamber of Deputies.
Fortune-telling and farting could soon be illegal in Malawi.
New laws proposed by Malawian President Bingu wa Matharika’s administration would outlaw fortune-telling and passing gas.
Also up for new sanctions would be challenging someone to a duel, writing or speaking in a way aimed at hurting someone’s religious feelings, or fouling water.
The administration claims Malawi needs the new laws in order to protect women’s modesty and mold responsible and disciplined citizens.
Opposition leader John Tembo opposed the proposed laws. He feels they’d be bad for democracy and create a kangaroo court.
Allstate Insurance thought they were being funny, but the joke didn’t go over so well.
Apparently, people don’t like their astrological signs being used against them. Especially when they’re not even their signs.
Last week the insurance company issued a press release listing accident rates based on the ‘new astrology’ we’ve been hearing so much about.
According to their list, Virgos and Leos are the most accident prone, while Scorpios and the new Ophiuchuses are the safest drivers.
This new astrology, however, is completely bogus. As was Allstate’s suggestion that they might be using it to determine your insurance rates.
People were upset anyway. Virgos and Leos especially, I’m guessing.
The company issued another press release retracting the first one. In fact, according to CNN, the first one has completely disappeared from their site.
“Astrological signs have absolutely no role in how we base coverage and set rates. Rating by astrology would not be actuarially sound. We realize that our hard working customers view their insurance expense very seriously. So do we. We deeply apologize for any confusion this may have caused.”
It’s good to hear the insurance giant isn’t using the bogus new astrology to determine rates. But they might want to look again at astrology in its tried and true form.
Egypt has been the big news these last few weeks so I thought I’d pull a few cards about the situation.
This is not meant to be a predictive reading, but rather a brief exploration of some of the key themes.
Though Egypt is dealing with these issues right now, they’re not alone. Every nation faces them at one time or another.
•What is legitimate government?
•What is legitimate protest?
•What is revolution?
•What is democracy?
Using the Rider Waite Smith deck I started with the first question, ‘What is legitimate government?’ I got the 5 of Swords.
5 of Swords
It’s pretty straight-forward according to my deck. Legitimacy in government is determined by who controls the arms.
I’m reminded of what my first year political science professor taught us in the very first class. Politics is about the control of power. If you defeat the other side, you’re in charge.
King of Pentacles
I pulled the King of Pentacles when I asked, ‘What is legitimate protest?’
This is a serious king not prone to wild histrionics or extremism. At his best, he’s concerned with stability, material prosperity and the general well being of his subjects.
I think this king is telling us that when a leader no longer provides access to these fundamentals, there is a legitimate right for his or her people to protest.
#17 The Star
When I asked ‘What is revolution?’ I got #17, the Star.
Revolution is eternal hope and optimism. Anything is possible. There’s reason to dream, to have faith that it can be better than it is today.
This is a major card and suggests a certain inevitability. Revolution is something that once begun is determined to finish.
The Star card is preceded by the Devil and Tower and followed by the Moon, Sun and Judgment. Revolution takes place after tyranny and collapse, but comes before disillusion, revelation and ascension.
4 of Pentacles
The final question was, ‘What is democracy?’ The card I got was the 4 of Pentacles.
In the Thoth deck, the key word for this card is ‘power’. Like a functioning democracy, it’s a receptive power, defensive and protected, but accessible.
Looking at the RWS version of the card it seems that the king is protecting his wealth, and that the city is literally behind him.
Democracy is the stewardship of a community’s wealth, with the support of its citizenry.
It’s Super Bowl Sunday and the cats have chosen their winner.
I’m not convinced that this was a completely neutral reading by feline oracles. To be honest, it looks more like a propaganda piece from the Steelers camp.
But I like it anyway. Psychic or not, these kitties are fabulous. Good work Merlin, Fairy, Buddha, Elfin and Yogi.
The City of 
Fortune-telling and farting could soon be illegal in 
