Blackout babies, again

[Lee Ayrton]

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/carousel/x1898626884/9-months-after-Irene-
hospital-sees-surge-in-births

OR: http://tinyurl.com/72x6oxf


Header: "9 months after Irene, hospital sees surge in births"

Even better: Their lead-in to the piece is about a couple who were in a
hotel at a local casino during the storm -- the casino is fully backed-up
by emergency generators. No black-out there.

“It was like nothing ever happened at Mohegan. It was great,” Kevin
Wilder said.

And what about other local hospitals?

===========[quote]=======================================
But Day Kimball is the only hospital in Eastern Connecticut that saw an
increase in births this spring. According to Windham Hospital officials,
April births were on par with 2011 numbers. At The William W. Backus
Hospital in Norwich, there was no increase seen when compared to prior
years. In New London, Lawrence & Memorial Hospital actually saw a
decrease for April and are “tracking normally with no increase
projected,” said Michael O’Farrell, director of public relations.
===========[unquote]=======================================


But having failed utterly to prove their case for blackout babies -- more
than 750,000 households in CT were without power for up to a week, yet
the black-out boom only appears in Day Kimball Hospital's catchment --
they persist in cheerleading for blackout babies:


===========[quote]=========================================
And the best is yet to come. While births are expected to be at their
normal levels for June, officials at the hospital expect July and August
to have another increase because of the October snowstorm last year.

Katsoulis said it’s not unusual to see an increase in births nine months
after an event of significant impact.

“You saw it after the Red Sox won the World Series, (and) after that ice
storm we had a few years back,” Katsoulis said.
===========[unquote]=======================================


I want to ask Katsoulis about gestation time being affected by the phase
of the moon.

[David DeLaney]

On Wed, 30 May 2012 17:42:09 +0000 (UTC), Lee Ayrton <lay...@panix.com> wrote:
>http://www.norwichbulletin.com/carousel/x1898626884/9-months-after-Irene-
>hospital-sees-surge-in-births
>
>OR: http://tinyurl.com/72x6oxf
>
>Header: "9 months after Irene, hospital sees surge in births"
>
>Even better: Their lead-in to the piece is about a couple who were in a
>hotel at a local casino during the storm -- the casino is fully backed-up
>by emergency generators. No black-out there.

"Have we FAQqed and died in vain??"

>>Katsoulis said it[']s not unusual to see an increase in births nine months
>>after an event of significant impact.

He's generalizing from one example, and that example is the time his wife
allowed him to actually have sex with her.

>I want to ask Katsoulis about gestation time being affected by the phase
>of the moon.

Dave "obviously a big issue in the local lycanthrope community" DeLaney
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

[Don Freeman]

On 5/30/2012 4:38 PM, David DeLaney wrote:
> On Wed, 30 May 2012 17:42:09 +0000 (UTC), Lee Ayrton<lay...@panix.com> wrote:
>> http://www.norwichbulletin.com/carousel/x1898626884/9-months-after-Irene-
>> hospital-sees-surge-in-births
>>
>> OR: http://tinyurl.com/72x6oxf
>>
>> Header: "9 months after Irene, hospital sees surge in births"
>>
>> Even better: Their lead-in to the piece is about a couple who were in a
>> hotel at a local casino during the storm -- the casino is fully backed-up
>> by emergency generators. No black-out there.
>
> "Have we FAQqed and died in vain??"
>
>>> Katsoulis said it[']s not unusual to see an increase in births nine months
>>> after an event of significant impact.
>
> He's generalizing from one example, and that example is the time his wife
> allowed him to actually have sex with her.
>
>> I want to ask Katsoulis about gestation time being affected by the phase
>> of the moon.
>
> Dave "obviously a big issue in the local lycanthrope community" DeLaney

I think they are barking up the wrong tree though.

--
__
(oO) www.cosmoslair.com
/||\ Cthulhu Saves!!! (In case he needs a midnight snack)

[Alan J Rosenthal]

[quote]

>Katsoulis said it's not unusual to see an increase in births nine months
>after an event of significant impact.

Interesting generalization of "blackout babies". Of course, the explanation
that someone couldn't find the condoms or couldn't watch TV doesn't really
work if you're talking about something like a sports team victory as the
explanation for the unfalsifiable "increase in births".

I recall an interesting phenomenon, discussed in AFU at the time, of people
talking about babies born nine months plus a day after September 11, 2001
and the attack on the World Trade Center towers. New parents were
interviewed saying about how the horror inspired them to forge on, renewal
of life, etc. And the conclusion was, of course, that there was a spike.
(In the absence of statistics, of course; just based on individual anecdotes.)

But the fact that those people (who decided to get pregnant, and succeeded
in doing so, on September 12, 2001) had the previous day's events heavy
on their mind is again tangential to the increase-of-births theory.
People who decided to get pregnant on other days had other motivations,
not necessarily less pregnancy-inducing even if less news-worthy.


(I think everyone is taking for granted the silliness of the basic theory,
but in case not: the main argument against the "blackout babies" UL,
as I see it, is that if someone is so obviously grabbable during a
blackout, then in many cases you will have had sex with them also some
days before and some days after. And so it won't increase the rate of
pregnancy because, basically, getting pregnant on Monday prevents getting
pregnant on Wednesday, and even vice versa (reverse time causality!).
Now if pregnancies all lasted exactly 274.0 days then there might be
an observable spike for a day, compensated by a dip in the surrounding
couple of days. But they don't. And as for the condom difficulty theory,
I've never heard of an electrically-operated condom.)

[Don Freeman]

On 5/31/2012 6:40 PM, Alan J Rosenthal wrote:
>And as for the condom difficulty theory,
> I've never heard of an electrically-operated condom.)

And as far as the 'it was too dark to find them' excuse... well most of
the time is it not "in the dark" that one usually needs them?

[R H Draney]

Don Freeman filted:

>
>On 5/31/2012 6:40 PM, Alan J Rosenthal wrote:
>>And as for the condom difficulty theory,
>> I've never heard of an electrically-operated condom.)
>
>And as far as the 'it was too dark to find them' excuse... well most of
>the time is it not "in the dark" that one usually needs them?

I take it you have one of those partners it's best not to look at....r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

[Don Freeman]

Not at all, condoms are not even necessary.

[Michael Kuettner]

> "R H Draney" wrote in message news:jqehp...@drn.newsguy.com...

You might have found the real truth[tm].
Nine months after a blackout more babies more ugly than usual are born.

Cheers,

Michael "No doctor. I didn't drop the baby. It really looks like this"
Kuettner