I never really thought about what goes into running a curse removal scam.

Westside Today:

According to the LAPD, Lee operated a psychic reading business in Culver City and met the victim, a Hollywood resident, several years ago. The LAPD says that during an eight-year period, Lee gained the victim’s trust and claimed the victim was afflicted with negative energy that was adversely impacting her life.

“Lee ‘verified’ the extent of the curse through a ritual involving eggs, and then required large sums of money to be given to her to further the ‘curse removal work.’ Lee told the victim the money would ultimately be returned to her, but this never occurred,” the LAPD said.

Detectives have spoken to two other victims with similar accounts and believe more may exist, according to the department.

“These types of scams are more common than one may think and target emotionally, physically and spiritually vulnerable victims. The scams often involve eggs and/or bananas to determine the extent of a curse, and a promise to return any money or valuables the victim may provide the suspect. Victims are often reluctant to report these incidents out of embarrassment and fear of being ostracized and scorned by their friends and family,” the LAPD said

Ayn Rand's personal life was an unmitigated disaster, fueled by personality cultists who literally, legally, changed their names in tribute to her and her fiction, whom she alternately possessively clutched to herself or expelled in purges worthy of Josef Stalin. Read the rest

There's something pleasantly old-school about the futurism in these paintings of how Heathrow airport could be turned into a less horrific environment for human beings--and creepily modern, what with all the drones.

Forget not the Aird of Sleat, Londoners. Read the rest

A 3,800 year-old stone figure with a creepy propensity to move around slowly has disappointed investigators at Manchester Museum. It was merely vibrations causing the convex-based relic to spin, not an entertaining curse. [BBC] Read the rest