A modern Japanese superstition contends that it's your blood type, not your zodiac sign which holds the key to your personality, according to an Associated Press report in the November 27, 1998, Statesman Journal. Despite medical experts' insistence that blood type has no scientific correlation with character, individuals with Type A blood are thought to be uptight and picky, pay too much attention to detail and have a desire to please others. Type B people are supposedly raucous and freewheeling, while Type Os are highly motivated, The AB types are thought to be contradictory, but original thinkers.
One Japanese bartender said he's witnessed countless budding relationships collapse after a couple learns each other's blood type.
Traditional Chinese medicine prescribes a tonic made from seal penis to return vitality to one's love life. Buyer beware is the word from a January 3, 1998, Science News report. Canadian scientists analyzed seal penis aphrodisiacs bought in Canadian shops. Some did contain seal parts; however the survey found others instead contained DNA from dogs, deer, cattle, water buffalo, and possibly a number of protected species, according to a report which first appeared in Conservation Biology, December 1997.
Remember the blue plastic ball that was suppose to replace your laundry detergent and get your clothes cleaner than clean? Well, it was a wash job.
After a seven-month investigation, Oregon Attorney General Hardy Meyers announced on November 12 that two Florida companies, TradeNet Marketing and TOP Marketing Business Consulting, were to stop marketing the laundry balls in Oregon, and were not to sell any product here "unless the claims are fully substantiated by competent and reliable scientific testing." The companies were also marketing "The Force" which they claimed "improved automotive engine performance."
The companies had claimed The Laundry Solution "used specially treated 'structured water' to emit a negative charge" that broke up dirt and eliminated the need for laundry detergent. Later brochures said the balls contained "Ie Crystals" and were to be used with an additive, which was found to contain detergent.
Oregonians who bought the device are eligible for a $75 restitution payment if they provided some proof of purchase to the Department of Justice before January 12. However, according the November 13 Statesman Journal, some Laundry Solution purchasers still swear by the product. "The negative publicity will make some people skeptical, but I know I'll never go back to detergent," said one Grants Pass woman.
Terry Durst of Pendleton has agreed to stop diagnosing medical conditions using a test which consists of asking questions while dangling a plumb-bob over a sample of the person's saliva, reported the Oregonian, October 24, 1997. Durst, in an assurance agreement filed in Umatilla Circuit Court, must also "stop using the letters 'N.D.' after his name to give the false impression he has a degree in naturopathic medicine," the report said. More than 400 people paid $35 for the test, after which they could buy treated-water cures, said Attorney General Hardy Meyers.
Halloween brought out a rash of articles about local haunted houses. A front-page article in the Corvallis Gazette-Times, Friday, October 31, 1997, reported on paranormal happenings at Jackie and Frank Walker's Kings Valley home. The Walkers told of hearing footsteps and voices and seeing objects move, seemingly of their own accord. Things would occasionally turn up missing; for example, Jackie's mending, left on the sewing machine, was later found on a bedroom floor. A report Frank needed for work was missing from his desk and turned up under a heap of scrap paper.
Investigating the history of their home, the Walkers found a child had died there after falling into boiling laundry water. And Isaac King who had staked a claim on the land in 1866 was found dead from a gunshot to his head, leaving a widow and eight children. It was disputed whether his death was a suicide, a homicide or an accident.
According to the G-T report, clairvoyant Andrea O'Reilly said she didn't think the "presence" was from the King family. She reported seeing "entities of children, animals and a younger woman." The Walkers said they have heard a woman and children laughing. Most paranormal events occur in their daughters' bedroom where O'Reilly reported the presence of a "strange energy."
The Walkers said they are a normal family and were reluctant to have their story in the paper for fear of being perceived as strange. Their haunted house has been featured on Strange Universe, The Unexplained, and A Look Beyond.
The Oregonian's Home and Garden section, October 30, 1997, reported psychic Laurie McQuary, owner of Management by Intuition, confirmed a Portland homeowner's suspicions that her 1908 home was haunted. McQuary works out of her Lake Oswego office, primarily consulting on personal and business affairs. She volunteers time to help police locate bodies and solve murders. McQuary toured the home, giving her "impressions" of the spirits that reside in the house. The impressions simply appear in her mind, McQuary explained.
According to an October 24, 1997, Statesman Journal article, fairies are beginning to rival angels in popularity, thanks to new books and movies. Fairy lore dates back to before the Druids. Irish folklore says when the Celts defeated the Danaan, who had magical powers, the Danaan were forced into a parallel world while the Celts occupied Earth. A more modern theory says fairies fell from grace and were cast to Earth for being indecisive in the fight between Lucifer and God. Author Janet Bord investigates fairy sightings in her new book Fairies: Real Encounters With Little People, and explores the link between fairies, mythical beasts, and UFOs.
