How I Spent My Weekend
Number One Grief Vampire
No, I haven’t given up on Sylvia Browne, …not by a long shot. And I don’t feel bad that she’s apparently not feeling well. My heart bleeds ice water for her. It won’t be long before her son Chris takes over the family business…
I was in Las Vegas last weekend hanging out at a skeptic meeting of some sort…
In between hawking my new book “PSYCHIC BLUES” I found a few hours to get out on the street and DO SOMETHING. You may not agree with Guerrilla Skepticism or the more “in your face” way to get things out in the open, but me and some of the best folks I know: Ben Radford, Susan and Stirling Gerbic, Ross Blocher, Bob Blaskiewitz and Jay Diamond plus several other dedicated people decided to take our banners proclaiming “Convicted Felon Sylvia Browne” down to the Imperial Palace Casino where Browne was charging $125.00 to stand in line and ask one question.
Once again, as in the past: Sylvia and Co. now know there are people out there who are on to her particular brand of infamy and her handlers were not amused by our show of disrespect. We kept to the public sidewalk and despite legions of security, police and Sylvia brokers, we stood our ground for about two hours of loud healthy protest. My 60’s roots were tingling.
Say what you will, we got a really good crowd going and a vivid picture of what the general public truly thinks about The Queen of the Grief Vampires: 80-90% of the people passing by didn’t know who she was (or care), while the others who stopped to talk with us and gather printed information to take inside (we were not allowed to go into the casino) thought she was an outright crook and should be held accountable for telling grieving parents and relatives such trash as: a) Saying she saw their lost loved one dead when they were later found alive, or b) Saying she saw their lost loved one alive when they were later found dead. Whether it’s a or b, Sylvia has never been right with any of her predictions or visions and we shared those facts with the crowd. Check her Wiki page for the most egregious crap she has pulled out of her .. well you know.
Enjoy the video and please pass it on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Sylvia’s Son Chris: Poised to Take Over (already signing up readings at Mom’s website)
Chris will be stepping up to the plate sooner rather than later and we will be ready with the dirt on him too when his time comes. Hey Chris, are you sure you wouldn’t do better in the pro wrestling business? Or have you already tried that?
FYI: If you have a skeptical group that wants to let Sylvia, Chris and her crew know where you stand (and I sincerely hope it would be on the street in front of her next show ) the deal is; whoever gets the banners is responsible to ship them to the next person who asks for them. I have them now. If you need them, just let me know and I will get them out to you. Sylvia Browne supporters need not apply.
Persevere!
In his 1996 book “The Demon-Haunted World”, Carl Sagan wrote that France has more astrologers than priests. People who believe in this kind of bunk feel better because they know more than those people who think they are smart because they went to more school. The Demon-Haunted World IS A MUST READ!
d brown > In his 1996 book “The Demon-Haunted World”, Carl Sagan wrote that France has more astrologers than priests.
No surprise. France is also the land of homeopathy and Freudian psychoanalysis, where an astrologer can get a PhD at the Sorbonne…
“Attention mes amis! Homeopathic emergency in France!”
http://www.dcscience.net/?p=196
“Couch wars erupt in France over Sigmund Freud claims” http://www.bit.ly/LyXMT4
“ET in the Sorbonne – The creation of a doctor in astrology”
http://www.skepsis.nl/doctorteissier.html
Mark, I applaud your efforts and support your cause. I know you’re no youngster and been around the block a few times, so this is just a reminder. I noticed quite a few young people in your video, which is what motivated this response. Far too many people who take up causes use the cause to legitimize their need to hate. When this happens, it can turn what should be a positive, fulfilling experience into a visit to our dark, evil natures. You see this happen all the time.
I am in no way accusing you of this, I simply believe it should be an issue that is recognized, discussed, and guarded against. It is way too easy to slip from exposing evil, to hating evil. Once hate takes over… evil just won.
Keep up the good work!
Yep. I know.
I hate when that happens.
Seriously though, fighting fire with fire is going to burn somebody somewhere – it’s in the nature of the beast.
In fact, at the DEMONstration Friday night,one guy came by twice and the second time said to us while swigging his beer, “…You hatred gives me strength.” That was kind of weird.
“You can’t make an omelet, ….etc. etc.”
Phea, Your points all taken.
Part of the reason we did this protest was to show 1,200 people attending lectures that it was totally possible to put it together in a few hours and with very little planning. We had access to the banners but that is the only thing we had going for us that others might not.
Any group can gather with flyers and make the same fuss. The banners as Mark mentioned are available to anyone who wants them.
The point is that we need to stop sitting around eating bacon and doughnuts and DO SOMETHING. When you can say that you have done that, then go get the bacon and doughnuts.
There are many avenues that we can take, some people are not comfortable doing as we did. Find your own path. Plan and carry it out. My area is Wikipedia. Other’s might education schools about pseudoscience, maybe someone else might leave free skeptical magazines in waiting rooms. Whatever it is just do something.
So, what do you believe in? Are paranormal activities possible? Is it possible that unexplained phenomena can happen?
I think it is exciting that paranormal activities might be real and it gives me hope that life doesn’t have to be boring. On the other hand, I don’t like frauds and people out just to take our money. Instinctively, I know that most psychics aren’t what they say they are. Especially when they write 10 books and nine of them say exactly what the first one said. We might as well throw our money into the street.
Thank you for enlightening me. I never did care for Sylvia and her long nails and attitude.
Julie,
I agree it will be exciting IF paranormal activities would be real. Even a single such phenomena would help us better understand how the universe works, and open up all new avenues of research.
However, none of the famous claims (such as ghosts, clairvoyance, astral projection) have been shown to work under close examination, and in many cases of haunted houses, the “culprit” turns out to be something like an unexciting gust of wind and a creaky door.
You should be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking something *may* be true just because it’s exciting. Carl Sagan has famously said “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” – until such evidence is provided, you should assume the probable rather than the improbable.
In some cases, you shouldn’t even trust your instincts :-). We humans are very easy to fool, by others or by ourselves, and it’s easy to accept what we want to be true rather than what is.
I hope you don’t find life boring without paranormal activity being real. Things that *are* real can be even more exciting and wondrous. Check out the Cosmos TV series (which the above quote is from).
Oh, I forgot to mention the amount charged by the enlightened psychis. If they had the gift they would make it accessible to everyone.
My take on this same weekend protest.
http://montereycountyskeptics.blogspot.com/2012/08/mcs-tam-2012-sylvia-browne.html