Thursday, October 23, 2008

Astrology passes as news these days...

Earlier this week I posted about equity strategist John Wilson, who essentially said nothing useful about the plunging stock markets. Even though Wilson was tautological, at least he was not as inane as these morons:
From his base in India's financial capital Mumbai, Raj Kumar Sharma has been tracking the turbulence in the world stock markets and has come to one firm conclusion - it was written in the stars.

Where many blame banks overstretching themselves or inadequate financial controls and policy, Sharma sees a clash between fiery Saturn and its arch enemy Leo as a key factor in the recent financial turmoil...

"Leo is the sign of the sun and the sun is the father in Indian astrology," he said.

"But the son (Saturn) and his father (the sun) don't get along, so whenever they are sitting in the same house together, they always fight and create ill-will and danger in the market," he said...

"That's why Lehman Brothers fell," he said of the US investment bank....
His "colleague" Christopher Kevill:
"I don't think the planets 'cause' anything to happen on Earth - they are mere correlations based on some larger principle of interconnectedness," he explained.
They should really get together and try to get their stories straight. One claims causation and the other doesn’t? (If the planets don’t cause things to happen on the Earth, then… perhaps our actions on the Earth cause the planets to orbit!)

Kevill, the one who doesn’t claim causality, hasn’t confused Correlation with Causation, but of course, he should at least demonstrate there is correlation. I have my doubts... I’m equally as good at Postdiction as they are - predicting things after they’ve happened. And let’s not get into his unsubstantiated claim (read: non-existent made up BS) of a "larger principle of interconnectedness”.

Now as bad as these two arseclowns are – they don’t quite measure up to the pathetic “journalist” and editor(s) who published this drivel. Such a pointless piece in any newspaper or on the web (in the business section!), without any hint of skepticism, or what I would consider to be basics of journalism, like asking critical questions of the interviewee(s), is shameful.

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Hat Tip: Humbug reader Ben.
Source: Saturn, Leo to blame for global meltdown - Brisbane Times (Oct 17 2008)