Beware of Fake Psychic Octopus Predictions Offered on eBay

The success of the German Octopus named Paul has spawned some fakes that internet users need to be aware of. There is only one real psychic octopus who resides in an aquarium in Oberhausen and his only claim to fame so far is picking World Cup winners by correctly going to the side of the aquarium with the winning flag, doing so with striking accuracy (pun intended).

Evidently, there are a few masterminds out there in cyber-land who believe that there is good money to be made off the idea of a psychic octopus. Some have opened up shop on eBay offering to have Paul the Psychic Octopus answer questions about fame, fortune, money and whatever else it is that gullible people will plunk down hard-earned cash for in order to know their fortunes. For $5, you can get Paul to give you the week’s lottery numbers in your town. For $10, Paul will tell you if your spouse is cheating on you, and for $40, you can get a private reading over the phone with Paul’s handler as the go between. One is not sure exactly how Paul communicates for the readings, but let’s face it, how does he even pick winning lottery numbers?

So far, Paul the Psychic Octopus, the real one, doesn’t have a clue his good name is being used to give out phony predictions but if he did, most say he’d turn beet red over it. The shysters who have come up with the plan to use Paul’s abilities to milk money out of the unsuspecting are said to move from town to town but are believed to be operating from someplace in Nigeria.

So be warned, if you receive an e-mail offering a free question answered by Paul the Psychic Octopus, you can be reasonably sure that the e-mail is a scam. Octopi are not computer literate.

Brazil Economists Say Brazil Loss is Victory for Brazil Economy

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – While almost every Brazilian is saddened by the stunning loss of their team to the Netherlands in the quarter-final match, economists in Brazil are celebrating unabashedly, claiming that the loss has a decidedly silver lining.

Said one high-ranking economist “We were very worried about Brazil’s economy going into the World Cup. When Brazil’s team is playing well in the World Cup, our economy takes a nose dive. No one wants to work, everyone wants to stay in front of the television, and the entire country becomes a Sambadrome. Production in Brazil comes to a standstill,” he said.

To make matters worse, they say, if Brazil would have won the World Cup, there would be a month-long party to celebrate the victory. Economists say Brazil’s economy is not in stable enough financial condition to sustain itself while the entire country dances its way into poverty.

“It’s bad enough,” said the economists, “that Brazilians everywhere will be taking a full week off work to mourn the loss. But it’s still better than a month’s worth of down time had they won.”