James Randi v Sylvia Browne CNN 2001 - Video

LK is a pie. In his intro he says that Randi is offering a six figure sum. $1,000,000 has seven figures (is the dollar symbol a figure? If so, it's 8)
 
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Thanks Richard.

Does anyone have a high quality version of "The Power of Belief" (with Stossel, Randi and Shermer)?
 
Well, I stuck with it as long as I could.

Richard, don't think I don't appreciate you posting the link, but I could only stomach 17 mins of it. I actually watched it live when it was first broadcast. My stomach for woo was a lot stronger then.

I hate to think of myself as a person who could wish a torturous death on another human, but that Slyvia Browne...
 
Bump!
Thanks Richard for another great video for me to add to my collection.
I don't know where you find these things, but I thank you.

We’ve seen parts of this segment before on the Sylvia section of the JREF website, but I can't believe I missed out on such gems as:

Larry: "You can't prove an afterlife, can you, Sylvia?"
Sylvia: "Ehhh, pretty much, yes, uh, yes I pretty much have proven it."
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:eek: You have got to be kidding me.

Larry: “Would you want this power Randi”
Randi: “No I do not, thankfully”
Sylvia: “Well you’d never have it anyway Randi, there’s no way that you’d have it”
(Randi gives her the eyebrow and a slight, amused grin”
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Classic.

Larry: “How do you explain Randi, those occasions when things that happen that are not explainable”
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:confused:

Larry: “How can you explain what you see there? Where did that face come from?
Sylvia :“It comes from future”
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No, that’s not a typo. She really does sound like a cavewoman.

Sylvia :“I am not against Randi debunking. I think we need debunkers. I think that there’s so many <frauds>, and I won't mention 900 numbers and all that stuff, but what about the rest of us in that are in the field that are spiritually, truly, trying to get a message across…?”
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Again, we see that every psychic is a fraud except for the on Randi happens to be talking to at the moment. Sylvia’s only defense is to appeal to people’s religious views and to paint Randi as the depraved old heathen. Later in the episode Randi talks about the dangers of magical thinking, and she interrupts to again invoke her belief in God. Six years later, Sylvia’s manager is still playing the God card.

Not to mention that out of about 8 callers, every damn one was a fan of Sylvia. There was even one from my hometown of Schaumburg, Illinois. (Incidentally, they misspelled it as “Chaumburg”)

It was also quite sickening to hear Sylvia suggest specific medication for the suffering child of one of the callers. What a dangerous, irresponsible, and unethical thing to do. Simply disgusting.
 
Richard said:
For your downloading pleasure. The whole 42 minutes.

RealVideo format.

http://www.fupload.com/download.php?file_id=z5bt92qwfsg8dp3k0jm4
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I saw it live. :D

And I've linked to the transcript often here and elsewhere.

I think besides noting that Sylvia accepted Randi's Challenge in that show, it is also important to note it was eight days before 9/11.

And not a peep out of Sylvia about that upcoming tragedy.

John Edward was also on LKL, doing readings, THE DAY BEFORE 9/11!!!
 
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Luke T. said:
I think besides noting that Sylvia accepted Randi's Challenge in that show, it is also important to note it was eight days before 9/11.

And not a peep out of Sylvia about that upcoming tragedy.

John Edward was also on LKL, doing readings, THE DAY BEFORE 9/11!!!
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I really never got this criticism.

You criticise them for not saying something because they didn't see it. Huh?

Additionally, if JE, for example, claims to speak to people who have died, how would he be able to see those who had yet to die in some horrible tragedy?
 
T'ai Chi said:
I really never got this criticism.

You criticise them for not saying something because they didn't see it. Huh?

Additionally, if JE, for example, claims to speak to people who have died, how would he be able to see those who had yet to die in some horrible tragedy?
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But Sylvia Browne did see it:

"I really didn't see it, that's what all the skeptics have said, "Why didn't you see it?" And if it's supposed to happen, you can't see it. All I saw the whole week before was fire. I kept calling my son's house. When it hit I was like "Oh my God, that's the fire." But I don't know any psychic that got a bead on it. "
From the MSN chat session with Sylvia Browne, on October 30th, 2001
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She just didn't "know" what it was, because she didn't have sitters to make the connection.

Defending psychics for not being able to see 9/11 is the lowest of all. You really hit rock bottom this time.
 
T'ai Chi, I think you may have a point about John Edward. IF he has never said that he can see the future. However, Sylvia regularly publishes her prognostications. Perhaps in her mystic world 3,000 deaths does not create a big stir and she didn't notice and didn't see it happening. In any case, that is an uncomfortable place to be in an argument about the existence of woo.
 
Unfortunately for T'ai Chi, John Edward does predict the future:

Growing up, John thought he was just like any other kid on Long Island. He played ball, hung out with his friends, went to school, ate burgers, had out-of-body experiences and visions of relatives who had passed, and predicted surprise visits and phone calls.
Source
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Edwards main psychic abilities are to predict future events and to communicate to peoples loved ones who had crossed over the other side.
Source
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Anything a psychic says after 9/11 about seeing fire, or whatever, is completely useless and just exemplifies how full of crap they really are.
 
T'ai Chi said:
I really never got this criticism.

You criticise them for not saying something because they didn't see it. Huh?
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Isn't that her job? Isn't that what she is all about?

Please explain why predicting what Hollywood celebrity is going to get pregnant (and getting that WRONG) is more important than the worst terrorist attack in American history.

Additionally, if JE, for example, claims to speak to people who have died, how would he be able to see those who had yet to die in some horrible tragedy?
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That has been answered. He claims one of his main talents is predicting the future.

It doesn't bother you that no psychic anywhere predicted 9/11? Or the Pacific tsunami? Including two psychics who had a live international audience eight days and one day before 9/11?

I bet the word "tsunami" wasn't even in the psychic crowd's lexicon before December 2005, and I'll bet it sure is now. They probably make regular tsunami predictions now.
 
Luke T. said:
Isn't that her job? Isn't that what she is all about?
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You'd have to ask her.

Please explain why predicting what Hollywood celebrity is going to get pregnant (and getting that WRONG) is more important than the worst terrorist attack in American history.
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Please explain why you believe anyone would assume it is more important.

It doesn't bother you that no psychic anywhere predicted 9/11? Or the Pacific tsunami? Including two psychics who had a live international audience eight days and one day before 9/11?
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It bothers me that no one, psychic or otherwise, did. But it seems no one would take them seriously even if one of them did make such a prediction; it would be attributed to luck, one hit out of million of misses, etc.

It is not, however, a good argument against psychics, considering many of them only claim to get images, and can't control the ones they receive, according to them.
 
T'ai Chi said:
It bothers me that no one, psychic or otherwise, did. But it seems no one would take them seriously even if one of them did make such a prediction; it would be attributed to luck, one hit out of million of misses, etc.

It is not, however, a good argument against psychics, considering many of them only claim to get images, and can't control the ones they receive, according to them.
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Excuse me? Have you seen Sylvia's predictions? She gives names, dates, places. Details. Very specific things.

It demonstrates her claim about seeing "fire" for what it really is.
 
Luke T. said:
...
I bet the word "tsunami" wasn't even in the psychic crowd's lexicon before December 2005, and I'll bet it sure is now. They probably make regular tsunami predictions now.
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Taking a page from Randi's book, perhaps?

alfaniner said:
27th December 2004, 11:16 AM -- I predict that most psychics making their predictions for 2005 will have the word "tsunami" somewhere in their lists.

28th December 2005, 03:46 PM -- How about the predictions of what the psychics will predict? I bet they use the words "hurricane" and "tsunami".

28th December 2006, 09:13 AM -- I'm willing to bet that, prior to Dec 26, 2004, the word "tsunami" was never mentioned in all her predictions before that.
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Truth to tell, I forgot that I had posted that more than once, myself...!
:D
 
T'ai Chi said:
It is not, however, a good argument against psychics, considering many of them only claim to get images, and can't control the ones they receive, according to them.
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If I received images in my head and was unable to control them, I'd quickly go and seek medical help.
 
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