Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my windswept wonders. How are you? Has anyone notified Mother Nature that autumn doesn’t begin until September 23? I am not fond of these sudden switches in seasons. I believe that I was in the middle of one of those hazy, lazy, crazy days when the wind suddenly chilled and the night grew cool. I prefer a much more gradual transition. Or maybe I just prefer more summer.

An article appeared in Time.com last Thursday, and I just had to draw everyone’s attention to it. “In the Crystal Ball: More Regulation for Psychics” - http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2015676,00.html Oh dear, they paint such a negative picture of those who ply my trade. Yet it is interesting to note that “about 1 in 7 Americans consulted a psychic or fortune teller in 2009, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. That could be 30 million or more people.” Ahem, 30 million people aren’t just smoke and mirrors. I can understand why the government wants to get in on this market: more fees and taxes. Already the $150 fee (plus $10 background check) for a one-year license. It will only go up. It will only grow. That is the way of bureaucracy. Not even my powers are capable of stopping it. Soon the very fees and taxes that we pay will be used against us. Then, when all of our psychics are out of business and their jobs have been outsourced to “telepsychics” who speak indecipherable English from call centers in India, only then will you begin to understand what was spawned here. But then it will be too late. Unfortunately, that is my professional prediction.

While in a somber vein, I’d also like to draw attention to some other recent news. “Protest over French gypsy crackdown” - http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hNn4WLl_Mka6D4MV3cIDjj0dWg9w

“Thousands of people all over France have marched to protest at expulsions of gypsies and other security measures adopted by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.

“Protesters blew whistles and beat drums in Paris, the largest demonstration among those in at least 135 cities and towns and elsewhere in Europe on Saturday.”



In response to those who support the expulsion of my people from France and other countries, I again draw your attention to the calm, well-reasoned retort to your position which I posted in my blog last week: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju-YEey7dNrwny7PoaqPEt2e_wC0TRLyNXIcnLDP-a1tRSekd4TptqpQOQZxrh_3tWunysa9DKS67-UnVbFOEskcXlTQ9eDPCoGK4uG5rLq8XhyOP1EwPuIRQdg_7LEbS7nGPd6y_lzAc/s1600/phbbbbt.jpg

That’s it for this week, my dear Irregulars. Thank you so very much for making me part of your day. I love visiting with those I know and with those I don’t know. As it said in my ex’s watering hole, “You are a stranger here but once.”

Please send your political screeds to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Hold onto your hats, Irregulars – literally. You never know when a gusty pre-fall breeze will take a swipe at you. The times, they are a-changing. Vorticity!