Am I Popularizing Sylvia Browne?

[Rasmus]

I recently received an email (or perhaps it was a PM) which said, in efffect, that, by publicly criticizing Browne, skeptics such as Randi and I are helping Browne, by giving her fans someone to demonize, and to rally against.
Any thoughts on this?

No, you are certainly not helping her.

Yes, it is true that her biggest fans have someone to demonize and rally against. They can call you a dark entity and do other silly things like it.

And everybody other than her biggest fans will understand what you are saying, and they will understand what her biggest fans are doing.

And, yes, there might be the occasional reader of your site who came across it quite by accident and does not buy into your arguments, they might end up being a fan of Silvia.

Now, tell me, how many e-mails or messages did you receive so far of people telling you that you've led them to Sylvia? (I'd make a prediction, but since nobody will give me a million dollars for that, I shan't bother ...)

Then, just for laughs, compare that to the number of e-mails from people whom you have helped, who's mind you changed, who have at least reconsidered how they thought about what you were doing; compare it to the number of people who, in this thread alone, have pointed out the effect you've had on themselves or their friends.

And, then, if you'll get done counting, see how few people actually attack you for what you are doing. And since that number will be non-zero, keep in mind that the internet is a huge magnet for crazy. Any webiste of reasonable size will draw their attention sooner or later.

Keep going.

 

[GrandMasterFox]

The magnets were fake?

I ment the fake thumb wrappings that were magnets.

Sorry, my typo. Me no speaking english good

 

[RSL's better half]

What other people have said. Plus I think she could be trying to make a comeback, hoping that you will not come back. So get your computer fixed and start updating the site again. Do a few more interviews. Make her retire for good.

rj, Robert's computer will finally arrive in Oregon on Sunday or Monday. As soon as we can we will take it to someone to fix. But please don't rush him back into the game. His first item on the agenda is to get back as much mobility and independence as possible. Once we are finally "settled," we will be working out a routine to include therapy, exercise, chores and free time. Robert will be "in training" for a while yet. He cannot afford to go whole hog on SB yet . . . but he will. As well as JE, JVP, KT, BH, PP and many others.

His life first. His life's work later. Thanks to everyone (including Eeney) for understanding this.

 

[Piscivore]

His life first. His life's work later.

Second that.

 

[ksbluesfan]

Right. James Randi really helped Peter Popoff's career too.

 

[RSLancastr]

His life first. His life's work later. Thanks to everyone (including Eeney) for understanding this.

Well, my life is fine. You are my life. And yes, you are first. then my health. then my web sites.

 

[likelystory]

I recently received an email (or perhaps it was a PM) which said, in efffect, that, by publicly criticizing Browne, skeptics such as Randi and I are helping Browne, by giving her fans someone to demonize, and to rally against.
Any thoughts on this?

You could post the PM I sent you to let the people know my point.

 

[likelystory]

You could post the PM I sent you to let the people know my point.

Here it is......


Niggle Sylvia

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have you ever thought Sylvia requires critics to keep her on top,especially die hards like yourself??

Sylvia ''knows/percieves'' exactly what her opposistion is doing to discredit her in the public eye.

People like you and James Randi really fuel her popularity by attacking her verbally in the manner like her ''FOLLOWERS'' love to hate.

I suggest you require a person to infiltrate Sylvia's comfort zone, and that person is you with a handful of Don't Stop Sylvia Browne Supporters.

Yep you're read correctly, DON'T Stop Sylvia Browne.

I'm not suggesting for you to be a convert,but rather a well refined open stirrer ,whom Sylvia's Discples wouldn't really know if you Robert were ''Arthur or Marthur''... Please have a gentle think about it and I'll give you more ideas on how to take away the focus from Sylvia's Followers to you.

( by no means does this involve you closing down your website wwwStopSylviaBrowne.com... the double whammy is to keep your websit up and running simultaneously)

 

[dropzone]

Unlike some, I heard of Ms Browne decades before they were born. She was a piss-poor and easily-dismissed "psychic" then and remains the same now. And even if/as she's running a con it doesn't follow: if you want the rubes to follow you should feed them what they want to hear,leavened by enough truth to get them to forward your emails while deleting those from, oh, Randi.

These days she can't even muster that much loathing for her. Sylvia Browne is a hag clawing at the coattails of the washed up Montel.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Well, my life is fine. You are my life. And yes, you are first. then my health. then my web sites.

Get a room, you two!

Of course it's the old Houdini problem- if we could get a reliable witness on "the other side"...we'd be screwed!

 

[ExMinister]

Here it is......


Niggle Sylvia

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have you ever thought Sylvia requires critics to keep her on top,especially die hards like yourself??

Sylvia ''knows/percieves'' exactly what her opposistion is doing to discredit her in the public eye.

People like you and James Randi really fuel her popularity by attacking her verbally in the manner like her ''FOLLOWERS'' love to hate.

I suggest you require a person to infiltrate Sylvia's comfort zone, and that person is you with a handful of Don't Stop Sylvia Browne Supporters.

Yep you're read correctly, DON'T Stop Sylvia Browne.

I'm not suggesting for you to be a convert,but rather a well refined open stirrer ,whom Sylvia's Discples wouldn't really know if you Robert were ''Arthur or Marthur''... Please have a gentle think about it and I'll give you more ideas on how to take away the focus from Sylvia's Followers to you.

( by no means does this involve you closing down your website wwwStopSylviaBrowne.com... the double whammy is to keep your websit up and running simultaneously)

Likelystory, could you be more specific what you have in mind here?

What I get out of this is that you think Robert should be more subtle so that Browne's followers don't immediately think of him as the "enemy."

At any rate, subtle has its place, but I personally think the Stop Sylvia site needs to remain exactly the way it is. I believe it's important and necessary to call a spade a spade, especially when dealing with believers who are likely to want to interpret niceness as inconclusiveness. This is just my opinion, but as I stated earlier, this publicity is not good for her, any way you look at it, and that fact is critical.

Anyone who comes forward stating the facts about Sylvia Browne is going to be fair game for her followers, no matter how subtle they try to be because the facts do not cast her in a positive light. It wouldn't matter how nicely they tried to word things. Just by speaking out, they would be the enemy. Much better to just be forthright and direct.

Just my thoughts. Again, I'm not entirely sure what you are getting at, so if I'm off base, I apologize.

 

[RSLancastr]

You could post the PM I sent you to let the people know my point.

Sorry, Likely. I did not see this until now. Thanks for reposting your PM. Perhaps others here will understand your point better than I did.

 

[RSLancastr]

Get a room, you two!

We have a whole apartment now!

Of course it's the old Houdini problem- if we could get a reliable witness on "the other side"...we'd be screwed!

While I was in the hospital after my stroke, I often wished that my inlaws (from my first marriage) would come by to visit me. Once I remembered that they had both died several years before, I stopped wishing for a visit. At one point I even freaked out one of my daughters by asking her if she had seen them lately. She replied "uh... Dad, they are both dead. For years now. So, no, I haven't seen them lately."

Oops.

 

[Minarvia]

We have a whole apartment now!

While I was in the hospital after my stroke, I often wished that my inlaws (from my first marriage) would come by to visit me. Once I remembered that they had both died several years before, I stopped wishing for a visit. At one point I even freaked out one of my daughters by asking her if she had seen them lately. She replied "uh... Dad, they are both dead. For years now. So, no, I haven't seen them lately."

Oops.

Congrats on the apartment! And don't worry too much. When my dad had his stroke he didn't remember my name and wouldn't admit it. He kept telling me that he knew my name 50 years before I was born. I just smiled and said, "wow!"

He also kept insisting that he knew Dizzy Dean was on our "airplane" and insisted I get an autograph for him.

 

[Senex]

Robert, I'm surprised this doubt ever entered your head. Did Sylvia treat you after her Las Vegas performance like a benevolent (or even benign) critic? She treated you like someone she wished would disappear. Did Kaz embrace your soon to be Australian national broadcast appearance or did she go to the desperate length of feigning suicide to sabotage you from popularizing her further?

BTW -- in the annals of irresponsible popularizing of Browne...there is only one real criminal: Montel Williams.

I have a bad habit of falling asleep with the TV on and waking up in the middle of the night to infomercials. Montel has an infomercial hawking a juicer and the commercial uses a pretend talk show set (like Montel still has a show) with Sylvia as a guest of the fake show and she helps him hawk this dubious piece of equipment. Just today I was purusing consumer websites because my mom wants to buy some steam cleaner she saw on an infomercial and I wanted to check if many complaints about the steam cleaner Shark have been made (there haven't). I couldn't help but notice that Montel's juicer has had many complaints about faulty motors and requests for replacements or money back met with statements a new part will be sent to you shortly but we are currently out of stock. It's kind of sad that...

Seriously? You had to use an anology that could prompt someone to picture Browne naked?

Damn you, headscratcher, damn you!
​

I'll top headscratcher's analogy with a metaphor.

... Montel and Sylvia are still in bed together throwing the woo. (hehehe... shake that image )

Edited by Tricky: 

Please do not import arguments from other threads. This portion of the post moved to AAH.

 

[RSLancastr]

Robert, I'm surprised this doubt ever entered your head.

Senex, it never entered my mind. I got the PM expressing the opinion, and, rather than dismissing it outright, I asked for the forum's opinion, knowing that I would see both sides examined. I also emailed Randi about it, knowing that he had to have considered the question many times over the course of his career.

Just looking for input. But thanks for the kind words regarding my work.

 

[desertgal]

I recently received an email (or perhaps it was a PM) which said, in efffect, that, by publicly criticizing Browne, skeptics such as Randi and I are helping Browne, by giving her fans someone to demonize, and to rally against.
Any thoughts on this?

Popularizing her to whom? Those who might demonize you, and use your work as an excuse to further embrace Browne...well, you aren't going to change their minds regardless of what you put on your website. If they want to believe, they're going to believe.

 

[likelystory]

Sorry, Likely. I did not see this until now. Thanks for reposting your PM. Perhaps others here will understand your point better than I did.

Please don't get me wrong Robert, as I really do like your persistence in giving the public the opportunity to consider for themselves how much of a lying detestable haughty self sured fraudulent ''crap artist'' Sylvia actually is.

Keep up the good fight

 

[Orphia Nay]

Popularising her? No. Making her well-known as a fake, phony and scam merchant, yes. And bravo for doing that!

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

Popularising her? No. Making her well-known as a fake, phony and scam merchant, yes. And bravo for doing that!

This.

To Senex- it isn't just Robert who gets asked if he isn't popularizing Browne.

As I've said in this thread, I've gotten that question, too. Someone- a close friend- accused me of "Just giving Sylvia Browne more attention!" and suggested that skeptics just ignore her, like you do with all pests.

To that I say no, I'm giving her bad "attention". She gives herself good attention, I give her bad. Her mistakes are what I am "giving more attention to". Why do I give them "attention"? Cause, unlike Sylvia Browne herself and Sylvia Browne's alleged and self proclaimed powers and Sylvia Browne's arguable hits, her mistakes get NONE.

They got NO attention before the site and would have continued right on getting NO attention whatsoever if Robert, QG and I had not given them any.

NO ONE would know about ANY of the failed missing persons/murder cases if the three of us had not brought them to light. All the information out there on the missing/murdered people came from the three of us. We were the first to make them known...at all. To even make it available on a small corner of the Internet.

There was no counter information on Browne for someone to even weigh the two sides against each other. All the evidence out there was evidence in favor of her with none to the contrary. And now there is something to debunk her claims- or at least even challenge her claims. There wasn't even that before.

To Robert- someone in another thread told me that no good deed goes unpunished, even if the punishment is just incomprehension.

This seems to aptly apply here.