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Sylvia Browne

November 21st, 2013
Sylvia Browne has stopped being alive and moved on to the next phase, which she told us is a matter of being permanently 35 and living on a street full of beautiful houses of all different styles. The obits are calling her a psychic. Not a “psychic” but a psychic. Yo, news media? She wasn’t …

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Sylvia Browne says god’s a better psychic

May 9th, 2013
Yes, things are looking grim for Sylvia Browne. She might have to settle for however many millions she’s already made by telling credulous people that she’s a psychic, and not collect any more suitcases full of money. “The [Ariel Castro abduction] is a test case for all psychics,” said Joe Nickell, editor of Skeptical Inquirer, a …

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Sylvia Browne on angels

May 8th, 2013
Sylvia Browne is getting a lot of flack now, not surprisingly. I can’t manage to feel very sorry for her. I searched ur-B&W for her name and found quite a lot. That Jon Ronson article I pointed out yesterday is there, in 2007 when it was first published. Below that there’s an article by James …

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When Jon Ronson encountered Sylvia Browne

May 7th, 2013
First he tells a story of one of her exercises in lost child finding. A six-year-old, Opal Jo Jennings, had a month earlier been snatched from her grandparents’ front yard in Texas while playing with her cousin. A man pulled up, grabbed her, threw her into his truck, hit her when she screamed and drove …

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Sylvia Browne told her matter-of-factly

May 7th, 2013
This is painful to read: Amanda Berry is dead, psychic tells her mother on Montel Williams’ show (republished) The picture is painful to look at, too – Berry’s mother Louwana Miller sitting on her daughter’s bed, which is bedecked with yellow ribbons. Well she did come back, but too late for Louwana Miller. For 19 months, …

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The Hijacking of ‘Stop Sylvia Browne’

November 3rd, 2008

Grabbing the website of a critic and filling it with your own content — that’s just sleazy.… Read the rest



Cruising With Sylvia Browne

October 28th, 2007

‘There is no doubt that she makes a fortune saying very serious, cruel, show-stopping things to people in distress.’… Read the rest



James Randi on Sylvia Browne

February 9th, 2007

And an…interesting former FBI agent.… Read the rest



Sylvia Browne Attempts to Silence a Critic

February 6th, 2007

He receives a letter from her lawyer.… Read the rest



Stuck with our dimension’s annoying laws of time and space

May 8th, 2013
And another post on Sylvia Browne from 2004. I’ve been visiting the Other Side. Well not so much visiting it, I guess, as reading about it. Or researching it, you could call it. Sylvia Browne calls it researching, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t. And never mind about shooting fish in barrels. Not that …

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The Twitter route out of purgatory

July 16th, 2013
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha Vatican offers ‘time off purgatory’ to followers of Pope Francis tweets [gasp] On the one hand purgatory, on the other hand tweets. HahahahahahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA In its latest attempt to keep up with the times the Vatican has married one of its oldest traditions to the world of social media by offering “indulgences” to followers of …

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Epidemics of accusations

December 16th, 2012
I re-read some of Michael Shermer’s Why People Believe Weird Things this morning, to refresh my memory. I’ve read that and Why We Believe and the odd article here and there. I’ve never liked his writing much. It’s not bad, but it’s a little loose and lazy. Characterless. Journalistic. I was interested to see that …

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Zena Ryder of CFI responds

September 17th, 2012
Zena Ryder sent me this response to what trinioler said in..“What trinioler said”: I am one of the administrators of the [name omitted] branch of the Centre for Inquiry, based in [ditto], Canada. In response to trinioler’s comments about our branch, I would like to explain what has been going on over the last few months. Our [...]...


Jim Underdown on hatred, threats, harassment directed at women

August 2nd, 2012

“Maybe we can save the witty jabs for our real enemies like Sylvia Browne, homeopathy, and Power Balance Bracelets.”… Read the rest



We understand the concept

September 22nd, 2011
As we saw, Jordan Sekulow complained that Whether it’s Governor Rick Perry calling for prayer for our nation, Congresswoman Bachmann discussing her “calling” to run for elected office, or Governor Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith, it is now acceptable for many in the media to ridicule the religious beliefs of one particular group of Americans – [...]


Wyrd

October 30th, 2008

Norm has an interesting comment on Ron Aronson’s ‘Choosing to Know’ – but I take issue with it. I wonder if that’s because weird beliefs are more abundant over here, where Aronson and I live, than they are over there, where Norm lives. I wonder if people who believe weird things are more familiar to us than they are to Norm. Lucky Norm if so.

I’m not sure that asking in a general way why people hold weird beliefs – or, otherwise expressed, why they believe things that aren’t true – can yield a single and satisfying answer.

I take issue with that because I think holding weird beliefs and believing things that aren’t true are two different things, which … Read the rest



HB, Skeptico

February 5th, 2006

Skeptico is observing its first birthday with a teasing post in a satirical (but not mocking, or offensive, or disrespectful, or blasphemous, nononono) vein. Views on why the poultry traversed the highway, in the style of various people – James Randi, our dear friend Sylvia Browne, Deepak Chopra, Prince Chuck, and many more. I’m there, being predictable as usual. [curtsies politely]… Read the rest



Whither Satire?

November 16th, 2005

Amusing thing about the (as it were) Theory of satirical dictionary writing. I took careful notes, just in case I ever need to write another.

In conducting this assault, Donaldson and Eyre are making an important point not only about the nature of modern celebrity but also about the nature of satire. The textbook definition of satire is that it flourishes in an age of clearly defined moral standards, or one in which those standards are only just beginning to break down. If you are trying to be funny about other people’s moral failings, in other words, there must be some broad agreement between you and your audience as to what a moral failing actually consists of.

Ah. Well, … Read the rest



The Griffin Can Be Umpire

June 27th, 2005

Hey remember last winter when I used to tell you all about Wicca and Celtic pathworkings and Sylvia Browne on angels? (I’m getting all tearily nostalgic just thinking about it. Those were the days – turning over page after page, staring at the words in disbelief, laughing incredulously, drawing moustaches on the angels and druids.) Well now other people are talking about her, to wit, PZ at Pharyngula and James Randi. It all sounds so familiar.

All God’s creatures exist on the Other Side with only one exception. The only living things I have never seen at Home are insects. I am not sure exactly why that is, but I have never seen a spider, fly, or any

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Somewhere, Over the Rainbow

December 29th, 2004

I’ve been visiting the Other Side. Well not so much visiting it, I guess, as reading about it. Or researching it, you could call it. Sylvia Browne calls it researching, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t.

And never mind about shooting fish in barrels. Not that you would, most of you, but some of you would and do. Some of you seem to think that the targets are too easy and that there’s no reason to shoot at them. Well the targets are easy all right, I’ll give you that, but there is every reason to shoot at them. I’ll show you why.

So why this current interest and acceptance of the absolute truth that yes, there are Angels

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