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StopSylvia email: "What??? Stop sylvia"

RSLancastr

www.StopSylvia.com
RSLancastr
Joined
Sep 7, 2001
Messages
17,135
Location
Salem, Oregon
Here's an email I received at StopSylvia today, with the subject "What??? Stop sylvia":

If you have really done any investigating on Any medium. They will tell you and anyone willing to listen,that YES they are NOT always right! they are not super human beings or try to say that they are! Really is this all you have to do? Why don’t you put some of that energy to something good in life besides slandering people. My observation of you is you are jealous or was possible hurt by some person claiming to be something that they were not. well my friend suck it up we all have trials and tribulations, but we all don’t waste time of others that don’t feel the same way you do. I feel sorry for you and hope that you find peace somehow.
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I'll post my long-winded reply later.
 
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Yeah Robert! Don't be all possible hurt by some person.:rolleyes:


And


Merry Christmas! My Friend!
 
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My overly-long reply:

Mr. [name]:



Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me.



First off, yes, I have done a LOT of investigating of psychics and mediums, ESPECIALLY of Sylvia Browne.



In my investigation of her, I have:



1. Read five or six of her books cover-to-cover (I own copies of more than forty of her books, mostly donated for my research or purchased used, but haven't read much of the rest of them, as they seem to be largely her repackaging stories she had already told in her earlier books (even her fans/followers seem to complain about this).

2. Watched dozens of her weekly "Sylvia Browne Wednesday" appearances on the now (thankfully) -erstwhile Montel Williams Show.

3. listened to audio versions of several more of her books (perhaps another five or six).

4. Watched VHS/DVD versions of a few (perhaps three or four) of her appearances before audiences of her fans/followers.

5. Attended one such performance she gave at a theater in The Excalibur Hotel and Casin in Las Vegas (where she singled me out and berated me before the crowd, calling me "A nasty man with a nasty blog"). After the performance, she had Hotel Security escort me and my wife off of the premesis, evidently saying that I had caused a scene, despite some of her followers insisting tht I had not.



...and more, but this will give you an idea of the amount of research I have done about her and her "abilities".



So I know that, assuming that such abilities even existed in the world, she could not be expected to be correct all of the time. But she claims that she has a "documented Accuracy Rating" of betwen 85 and 90%, most often citing one of 87%. And she and her office staff insist that she has solved, or has been instrumental in the solving of, hundreds, perhaps thousands of missing persons and murder cases.



If any of that were true, you'd think that there would be some evidence of it. I have found none, nor have any of the people who have helped me with research for the site. Neither, evidently, have any of the dozens of her fans who have written to me with the "She can't be right all of the time!" defense of her "abilities", when I said the following to them, as I now say to you:



Can you give me any examples of her being correct, or even mostly correct, about a missing person or murder case? Especially one where her reading/prediction was documented, publically (such as in one of her books, or on the Montel Williams Show) BEFORE the case was solved?



If you can do so [NAME], please do. you will be the first. I will research whatyou send me and will put it up on my Site. This offer has even been up on the site itslf, for ost of the 4+ years it has been in existence. Yet I have neve received even ONE example of such a case, nor even an example which someone thought was such a case.



Two of my researchers had access to Lexis/Nexis, an online repository of such things as newspapers and transcripts of many TV Shows (including several years of the Montel Williams Show). They searched throught the Montel Williams transcripts for episodes in which Browne appeared, and searched through THOSE for any readings she gave on Missing Person or Murder cases. I believe they found 115 of them.



They then took each of those and, using what little information as the sitter provided (erhaps only the first name of their missing/deceased loved one and/or the name of the town in which they disappeared or died), searched the Newspapers & Magazines database of Lexis/Nexis using those pieces of information in an attempt to find news reports on each case.

When they successfully linked the report of a case to what the sitter had descibed to Browne on the show, they then searched to see if the case had ever been solved (the missing person found, or the murderer convictedted).

Of THOSE (and there weren't many. Sadly, Murder and Missing Persons cases old enough for someone to discuss them on Montel's show Cases are rarely solved).

Of THOSE, my researchers then compared Browne's reading/prediction from the show with the actual outcome of the case.

They found Browne to have been correct, or even substantially correct, in none of the cases. Not even one.

That's ZERO PERCENT in those cases which could be checked - a far cry from her claimed "documented 87% Accuracy Rating"

As to your implicit contention that I am "slandering" Browne:

Legally, as I understand it, something cannot be considered Slander or Libel unless it is false. Can you point to anything I have said/written on the site as a fact which is false? If you can, please point it out to me and I will correct or remove it as soon as I can.

If you can't, and if you can't provide me with even a single case of Browne's having been correct (or even MOSTLY or even HELPFULLY correct) in a missing person or Murder case, I have to wonder why you disapprove of my site, and WHY you even believe that Browne has any of her claimed "abilities".

As to your wondering why I don't put some of my energy into helping people, I firmly believe that that is PRECISELY what I have done with this site. I have been thanked by many people - some documented on the site - who told me that they had been big supporters/believers in Browne and her "abilities" until the evidence presented on my site convinced them otherwise. Some thanked me for saving them the hundreds of dollars they had planned on spending on a "phone reading" with Browne before reading what was on my site. I consider that to be "helping people" indeed.

Regards,

Robert S. Lancaster
Founder and Webmaster,
www.StopSylvia.com
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Brattus said:
Yeah Robert! Don't be all possible hurt by some person.:rolleyes:
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Brattus, NEVER mock the time I was almost all possible hurt.

NEVER!


And


Merry Christmas! My Friend!
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And to you my friend!



rjh01 said:
How many similar e-mails have you had?
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Of the "She can't be right ALL the time!" variety? Many, but none in a while now until this one.
 
You've left the man's name in your reply Robert, I don't know if it's too late to edit your post.
I know you usually remove names, as you've done at the beginning.
 
Bill Glazier said:
You've left the man's name in your reply Robert, I don't know if it's too late to edit your post.
I know you usually remove names, as you've done at the beginning.
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Czarcasm said:
You removed his name from the header, but not from the body of the letter.
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Thanks to both of you, and those who PM'd me about it. I knew it was there, and that I'd have to remove it, but forgot.
 
That would make a good article. A sort of synopsis of this writer's email, which basically says the same thing all the other ones say, and your reply. For anyone thinking along the lines of this writer, might be helpful to have it addressed in such detail on the site. Especially since it seems one of the more common responses.
 
".. they could not listen; they're not listening still.
Perhaps they never will?"

Merry Christmas , Robert & Susan.
 
Here's what i wanna know (and maybe some of the legal types can answer this).

How is it that if I lead a financial seminar and charge an exorbitant sum promising that mys system will help you get rich and it turns out to be a scam I can go to jail. Yet, someone like Sylvia Browne can go and charge exorbitant sums claiming to be a psychic and it's a scam and nothing happens? Isn't it the same scam in a different suit of clothes?
 
You always post people's e-mails and your replies back to them, which are both interesting, but what I'd really like to see is their reply to your reply. It seems most of the times it just ends at your reply. You should have a section on your website called "What people say after RSLancstr owns them".
 
Perhaps the most tragic element in all of this is that they probably never respond in return to Robert at all. They've said their peace, they have nothing more they want to do with him, simply because if they take it any further, they might actually have to face evidence. And that's not what they want to do.

It's a sad form of cowardice, one you would hope wouldn't exist, but there it is. It would be nice if they'd grow up a little and admit they might be wrong, but don't hold your breath.

Best to you, Robert and Susan, and Happy Holidays.
 
Roadtoad said:
Perhaps the most tragic element in all of this is that they probably never respond in return to Robert at all. They've said their peace, they have nothing more they want to do with him, simply because if they take it any further, they might actually have to face evidence. And that's not what they want to do.

It's a sad form of cowardice, one you would hope wouldn't exist, but there it is. It would be nice if they'd grow up a little and admit they might be wrong, but don't hold your breath.

Best to you, Robert and Susan, and Happy Holidays.
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It's the internet equivalent of "I just walked up to you to tell you that you are wrong and I don't want to have anything with you".
 
Sherlock said:
Merry Christmas Robert. By-the-way were you ever a member of Northwest Skeptics?
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Nope, sorry. We only moved up here inJan of 2010 and have spent much of our first two years working on my mobility issues (and how we both fit into our redefined relationship, that we havw taken little time to "get the lay of the land" around here, so I think it kinda fell through or something.

What/Who are the Northwest Skeptics? Do they have meetings? Conventions?

We are finally in a position now where we are more comfortable with getting m around, so it might be a good time to look into this. Thanks for asking.

ETA: Merry Christmas!
 
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As a general observation, I get the distinct impression that if it were not for email, letters such as these would be written in crayon.

The misspellings, the grammatical errors, the general incoherency of the message ... all of these scream that the composer of the message is emotionally immature or just isn't very smart.

Now, I don't know anything about the individual who wrote this letter to Robert, but the tenor of the message suggests that this individual has no standing to lecture Robert about anything. Yet Robert is kind and respectful, which speaks more highly of Robert's character than that of the composer.
 
ExMinister said:
That would make a good article. A sort of synopsis of this writer's email, which basically says the same thing all the other ones say, and your reply. For anyone thinking along the lines of this writer, might be helpful to have it addressed in such detail on the site. Especially since it seems one of the more common responses.
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I think I've addressed this in an article or three on the site, but no, not in such detail.

I've meant to add an article detailing the research that EMM and QG did, but tech and health issues have gotten in the way. It would definitely be among the first to go up.

But, an article around this email and my reply? I'll give it some thought.
 
phatred said:
You always post people's e-mails and your replies back to them, which are both interesting, but what I'd really like to see is their reply to your reply. It seems most of the times it just ends at your reply. You should have a section on your website called "What people say after RSLancstr owns them".
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sad to say, few of them ever reply to my reply. I have made articles out of some who have, as the exchange is often interesting. If this man does reply, I will add it to this thread. And, "owns them"? I wouldnt say that at all. But thanks!
 
RSLancastr said:
My overly-long reply:
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Not overly long, you are giving a lot of facts in a helpful manner and explaining your research. You are to be commended for taking the time to write such an informative reply. As per others here, I'd be interested to see if there's a response as I think you've covered all the bases and doubt there's anything anyone could say in that nasty woman's defense.
 
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