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Fiery Takedown of Psychic Fraud

By Laraine Rose

James Randi has a very peculiar background, attitude and approach to the real world because he is a conjurer. He prefers to be called a conjurer to being called a magician. "You see" he says, "magicians use spells and incantations and wierd gestures in order to accomplish real magic. No, I don't do that, I am a conjurer, someone who pretends to be a real magician."

Now, how does he do that? Well, he depends on the fact that audiences will make assumptions. For example when he walks up on the stage and takes the microphone from the stand and switches it on, you assume that it is a microphone, which it is not. As a matter of fact it is something that you will be familiar with, it is a beard trimmer and makes a very bad microphone.

Another assumption that you make and this is to show you that you WILL make assumptions, not only that you can, but that you will when they are properly suggested to you. You will believe that he is looking at you. Ah, he's not looking at you, he can't see you. He can hear you, but he can't see you because he normally wears glasses. These aren't glasses he has on, they are empty frames. Now why would a grown man appear before an audience wearing empty frames on his face? To fool you, to deceive you, to show you that you too can make assumptions. Don't you ever forget that.

Randi is an actor who plays a specific part of a magician, a real wizard .. if someone were to appear on the stage and claim to be an ancient prince of Denmark named Hamlet, you would be insulted and rightly so. Why would a man assume that you would believe something so bizaare as this. But there exists out there a very large population of people who will tell you that they have psychic magical powers. That they can view the future, that they can make contact with the deceased. They also say that they will sell you astrology or other fortune telling methods, perpetual motion machines and pre-energy systems. They claim to be psychics or sensitives.

The one thing that has made a big comeback just recently is this business of speaking with the DEAD. Now, to my innocent mind, dead implys incapability of communicating! You might agree with me on this. But these kind of people tend to tell you that not only can they communicate with the dead but that they can hear the dead as well and they can relay this information back to the living. I wonder if that's true? I don't think so because this is the subculture of people using the same gimmicks as magicians do. The same physical methods, the same phychological methods and they effectively and profoundly deceive millions of people around the earth to their detriment. They deceive these people and it costs them a lot of money and a lot of emotional anquish. Billions of dollars are spent every year all over the globe on these charlatans.

Questions

I have 2 questions that I would like to ask these pcychics if I had the opportunity to do so.

1. I want to ask them to call up the ghost of my grandmother because when she died she had the family will secreted someplace and we don't know where it is.

So we ask grandma; "Where is the will grandma?" What does grandma say? "I'm in heaven and it's wonderful up here with all my old friends and my family and my puppy dogs and the kittens I used to have when I was a little girl." And, "I LOVE YOU and I'LL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU. GOOD-Bye." She didn't answer the question! Where is the will? Now, she could easily have said, "Oh, it's in the library, on the second shelf, behind the encyclopedia." But she doesn't say that. No, she doesn't bring any useful information to us. We paid a lot of money for that information, but we didn't get it.

2. Suppose I asked them to contact the spirit of my deceased father-in-law, for example. Why do they insist on saying: "My name starts with "J" or "M" or ... ?

Is this a hunting and fishing game of 20 questions? (More like 120 questions.) No but it is a cruel, vicious, absolutely consciencelessness game these people play and they take advantage of innocent, naive, grieving and needy people. This is a process that is called "cold reading." There's one fellow, James Van Praagh is his name, a big practitioner of this sort of thing. There are hundreds of them, John Edwards, Sylvia Browne and Rosemary Altea, to name just a few. But James Van Praagh, what does he do? He likes to tell you how the deceased got deceased. Very often it is like this: "He tells me before he passed (gasp, gasp) that he has trouble breathing." People, that's what dying is all about! You stop breathing and then you're D-E-A-D! It's that simple! Is that the kind of information he's going to bring back to you? That's very useless information.

These psychics will make guesses, they'll say things like:
"Why am I getting electricity? He's
saying, "electricity" .. was he an electrician?" (No)
"Did he ever have an electric razor?" (No)
It is a game of hunting questions.

You might wonder

"Why are you concerned about this, isn't this just a lot of fun?" No, it is not fun! It is a cruel farce!

Now, It may bring a certain amount of comfort, but that comfort lasts about 20 minutes or so and then the people look in the mirror and say, "I just paid a LOT of money for that reading and what did she say to me?" "I love you." They always say that. They don't get any information. They don't get any value for what they spend.

Sylvia Browne, often referred to as, "The Tallons," is a big operator in the field at this very moment. She gets $700.00 for a 20 minute reading OVER THE TELEPHONE. She doesn't even go there in person and you have to wait up to 2 years because she's booked ahead that amount of time. You pay by credit card, or whatever, and then she'll call you some time in the next two years. You can tell it's her by her husky voice.

Montel Williams of the Montel Williams Show, is a very intelligent man, we all know who he is on television, he's well educated, he's smart, he knows what Sylvia Browne is doing but he just doesn't care. The bottom line is the sponsors love it and so he will expose her to television publicity all the time.

What does Sylvia Browne give you for that $700.00

1. She gives you the names of your guardian angels. (Without that how could we possibly function?)
2. She gives you the names of who you were in previous lives. DAH!

It turns out that the women that she gives readings for were all Babylonian princesses or someone like that. The men were all Greecian warriors fighting with Agamemnon. Nothing is ever said about a 14 yr old bootblack in the streets of London who died of consumption. Obviously, he isn't worth bringing back. And the strange thing is, you may have noticed this too while watching these psychics on television, they never call anybody back from hell. Everyone comes back from heaven but never from hell.

Sylvia Browne is an exception in one way .. the James Randi Foundation offers a $1,000,000. prize in negotiable bonds to anyone proving any paranormal, occult or supernatural event or power of any kind under proper observable conditions. Easy! Win the $1 million dollars! Sylvia Browne is the exception in that she's the only professional psychic in the whole world that has accepted the foundations challenge. She did this on the Larry King's live show on CNN .. OVER SIX YEARS AGO and they haven't heard from her since. She said, at first, that she didn't know how to contact James Randi. DAH, a professional psychic who speaks to dead people, she can't reach him? Now she says that she doesn't reach him because he's a godless person. All the more reason to take the $1 million wouldn't you think?

Now, these people need to be stopped! They need to be stopped because it is a cruel farce. People are ruined emotionally and financially because they've given their money and their faith to these people.

Homeopathy:

Homeopathy is an alternative form of healing. Take a full bottle of "Calms Forte'. (Sleeping pills) Ignore the instructions, it's probably something the government has put in there to confuse you, I'm sure. Take the whole container at one time. (32 caplets = 6 1/2 days worth) Homopathic medicine has a government warning on it. "In case of overdose call 1-800 number."

They won't affect you. Why? The answer may surprise you. What is Homeopathy? It's taking a medicine that really works and diluting it down to the point where there is none of it left. This is not just a metaphor I'm going to relate now, it's true! It's exactly equivilent to taking one/325 mg. aspirin throwing it into the middle of Lake Tahoe and stirring it up (obviously with a very big stick) and waiting 2 years or so until the solution is homogenic. Then when you get a headache take a sip of this water and, VOILA, your headache is gone.

A claim that they make is, and this is true, the more diluted the medicine is, they say, the more powerful it is. Now wait a minute, we heard about a man in Florida who was on homeopathic medicine and he died of an overdose. He forgot to take his pill! lol

It is ridiculous! I don't know what we are doing believing in all of this nonsense for all of these years.
The fact that nobody has taken the James Randi Foundation up on their offer of $1 million doesn't mean that superpowers don't exist. Undoubtedly there are superpowers. But $700. for 20 minutes .. that's more than lawyers make. That's a fabulous amount of money! These people don't need the million dollars, perhaps, but wouldn't you think that they'd like to take it just to make James Randi look silly, to get rid of that "godless" person who Sylvia Browne talks about all the time?

I really think that something should be done about this. I really would like suggestions from you on how to contact federal, state and local authorities to get them to do something. I understand that there are other very serious concerns people have about the Aides epidemic, starving children around the world and impure water supplies that people have to suffer with. Those are very important! Critically important, and we must do something about those problems! But at the same time, as Arthur C. Clarke said, "The rotting of the human mind" .. the business of believing in the paranormal, and the occult and the supernatural, all of this total nonsense, it's medival thinking. I think that something should be done about that and it all lies in education! Largely it is the media who are to blame for this sort of thing. They shamelessly promote all kind of nonsense of this sort because it pleases the sponsors. The bottom line is the dollar line, that's what they're looking at.

We really must do something about this. Go into the website of www.randi.org. Go in there and look at the archives and you will see the sad record that he has of families ruined financially and it didn't help them one bit, it didn't solve any of their problems. Yes, there could be a "Rotting of the American mind," of the minds all around the earth if we don't start to think sensibly about these things.

Contributor's Note

Credit Lines
~ www.randi.org
~ "Arthur C. Clarke". books and writers. 2003.
~ http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/aclarke.htm.
~ An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural
~ Wikipedia

PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE

The Great Irish Famine
The Great Irish Famine and loss of life.
www.squidoo.com/TheIrish

You didn't mention internet marketers!
"The secret to earning a million by yesterday"
"I'm only offering this to ten people"
"Fully automated, sit back and watch the money roll in"
"We do all the work and you get all the money"
"unique", "secret", "never before released", "it's not your fault", "the gurus put out a contract on me" and, worst of all, "my good friend roogoogooroo gave me permission to tell you about this"

People will believe what they want to believe. The more they are told it isn't so, the more they will believe it.

Incidentally, I do speak to my dead wives and children but they never answer. Odd, that.

Like some people I know,(not mentioning any names here) skepticism, welcomes dissent and debate.

Scepticism is good, especially if people want your money, so I am in favour of exposing frauds like John Edwards and their ilk.

But I have no great respect for James Randi. He needs to step down and let unbiased scientists handle this kind of fraud, as he comes across as too much of a wild-eyed crusader against anything esoteric rather than as a consumer advocate.

I read the link and although I didn't understand all of the arguments against James Randi, I thought a lot of what the author said was interesting.

Despite its flaws, the skeptic movement is attracting dedicated idealists, who believe in the potential of science and rational thought to cast out our many demons. Given what they’re up against from widespread new age nuttery, the people manning this movement deserve praise. But I agree, if they’re to be true to their ideals, they must open the floor to scientifically-minded people.

Well written intel, but I am much less skeptical than you about some of these issues. I'd also like to add that many families have been ruined financially by the medical system and by the legal system without the problem being helped at all. LOL

I understand how you must feel, I guess I come off sounding very skeptical but I have very good reason to be. One very good friend of mine now faces financial ruin because he was gullible and no matter how we tried to caution him to be careful, he fell hard.

I know that in many countries the medical system is burdensome, but in Canada we have a great system and I have no quarrel with them. The lawyers, well, that's a totally different subject.

Thanks for your input.

great intel! its truly amazing what people will believe and what they want to believe. I do this observation activity at the start of the school year with my students. I ask them to make observations on an object from their desk. the object looks like a candle in a candle holder which I light with a match. they all write things down like its white, its 3 inches long etc. but then they also say things like the wax is melting. in the end I pick up the 'candle' and eat the 'wick' (an almond) and take a bite of the 'candle' a 'potato' carved to look like a candle. they all make assumptions. we then go on to discuss the importance of observations in science and the differences between observations, inferences and assumptions.

I like the fact that you get the children to think. So many people live in a dream world. This process should start in school .. Science is one very fun but important subject you teach and it sounds like you are a good teacher.

Or the other one is roogoogooroo is on vacation and while he's away I will give you the whole kit and kaboodle for only $$$. Hurry before he comes back as this goes back to the regular price then.

Thank you for the discount offer. I'll take you up on it.

As P.T. Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute". People WANT to believe because there's something missing in their lives. I don't see anything wrong with carnival fortune tellers who charge $5 or so, but $700? That's exploitation.

Although the people who go around extracting large amounts of money from the gullible in exchange for so-called psychic services tend to be frauds that does not prove that psychic powers do no exist. Usually those who have them do not advertise it or charge a fee, however.

Similarly, I can attest that homeopathy remedies are not ridiculous and do work, but not if taken in the fashion you suggest, of course. Naturopathic doctors have training that is just as rigorous as that of MDs and often are better educated overall. They also, as a rule, charge far less with far fewer cases of iatrogenic harm resulting from their treatment. There is no reason for allopathic medicine to be put on a pedastal and all other modes of healing to be related to the flames. Not in the Inquisition, and not now either.

The problem that I have with actors like Randi, who are self-acclaimed skeptics, is their propensity to tear down rather than build. I have the same argument against atheists. In their rush to "destroy" God, they forget tolerance and mercy. In their rush to destroy non-traditional methods of healing, overzealous skeptics forget the first rule of medicine, which is Primum non nocere (First, Do no Harm!)

I agree with you that pyschics should not be charging an exorbitant amount of money for their services. There is a Bible verse I would like pychics to remember (if they truly have powers as you suggest .. and they may .. and perhaps not from God) to follow the principle stated by Jesus: “You received free, give free.” (Matthew 10:8)

Alternative forms of medicine are also thriving in wealthy countries. Among the most popular types of alternative treatment are acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, naturopathy, and herbal medicine. Some of these practices have been scientifically studied and proved beneficial for certain conditions. The effectiveness of certain methods, however, has not been adequately established. The increased popularity of alternative types of medicine has raised some safety issues. In many countries such healing therapies are not regulated. This provides an environment where harmful self-medication, counterfeit products, and quackery can thrive. Although being well-intentioned, friends and relatives lacking sufficient training often become self-appointed practitioners. All of this has resulted in adverse reactions and other health hazards.

In several countries where regulations are in place, alternative forms of therapies are gaining acceptance in the conventional medical community and are offered by medical doctors. Still, there seems to be no valid claim that these methods will ever bring about cures.

I do agree that Randi goes off a little half-cocked sometimes but to compare what he has to say about Naturopathic doctors with someone in a "rush to destroy God" may be going a bit far.

I agree that psychic phonies should be exposed since they rob desperate people of significant money. However I don't like how Randi is doing his best to destroy faith in a deity. Religions been in existence since Sumer and I doubt faith will disappear from society any time soon. By faith I mean any one of them and not only Christianity. Many people believe there is life after this one. I believe people's views on the afterlife. Be they believe it exists or doesn't should be respected. You may think they're being foolish. However it is my sincere one should show respect for somebody's feelings. It is to me sometimes much more important to show understanding then to prove one is right.
The exception would be if the person is being suckered out of a significant sum of cash. Even so, tact, sensitivity should be utilized. As for althealth, it is quite controversial. I personally like Herbal handbooks written for health professionals. They are trustworthy, not hyped.
I personally don't go for Iridology. The one connection I know of is people with different colored eyes (hetero iridis) present a tendency to deafness.

Thank you for your comment, Mugwort. I too am a Christian and believe in God. I do NOT adhere to ALL that Randi touts. I do however believe that harmful phonies are undesirable and should be exposed. We have the example of our great teacher and leader, Jesus.

Jesus said to the Pharisees: "Adroitly you set aside the commandment of God in order to retain your tradition. For example, Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Let him that reviles father or mother end up in death.' But you men say, 'If a man says to his father or his mother, "Whatever I have by which you may get help from me is corban, (that is, a gift dedicated to God,)" you men no longer let him do a single thing for his father or his mother,' and thus you shove the word of God aside for your tradition which you handed down. And many such maxims you do."

It is evident from the above words of Jesus that the Pharisees were interested in the "gift" that was dedicated to God (that is, to the temple of the Pharisees). The Bible speaks of these men as money lovers; and this brought on occasion for Jesus to tell the Pharisees in no uncertain terms: "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is under obligation.' Fools and blind ones! Which, in fact, is greater, the gold or the temple that has sanctified the gold?" -Matt. 23:16, 17; Luke 16:14.

In the matter of judgment and faithfulness God’s Word required that those professing to be leaders and teachers should be just and true. The Pharisees were sadly lacking in such things, and Jesus took them to task for it. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you give the tenth of the mint and the dill and the cummin, but you have disregarded the weightier matters of the Law, namely, judgment and mercy and faithfulness." -Matt. 23:23.

If Jesus is our leader and we are his followers, surely, we have the right, if not the obligation of exposing false teachings when and where we can.

For my take on "mercy" please see my up-coming intel. "To be merciful."

My Goodness, sourpuss James Randi has been around for a long time and he's very needed for debunking the many quacks & phony mystics. However, his detective rationalism isn't always the full answer.

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