• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Sylvia Browne Protest - Dallas - Resources?

bozothedeathmachine said:
Therein lies a problem. If she does something completely inside a venue, it's unlikely you'd be able to access Sylvia or anyone going to her show.

For instance, if she's doing the Gaylord Texan over in Grapevine, that place is massive. It's like a bio-dome on a palatial estate, which is likely private land. You'd only be able to protest outside the gate. Which is about 1/2 mile from the hotel itself.
Click to expand...


Is her show really that big-time though? I know she's been on Montel and all, but I doubt she'd be able to fill a stadium or anything. In any event, you could set up shop outside the property where people enter and pass out pamphlets there, if there is a gate then people will slowing/stopping, providing the chance to approach them.

Or you could put up a big FREE BEER sign and bring an empty keg with you, just tell everybody that you just ran out a few minutes ago, but you'd like to give them a pamphlet anyway.
 
GrandMasterFox said:
You would be correct. You can protest only on public property. You can't go into someone's house and do whatever you want. Otherwise every single person caught breaking and entering will say "I came to protest".

A slight reminder that Sylvia got RSL kicked out of the hotel the day where he saw her show. Story on his site.
Click to expand...

there is a great big sidewalk which Dallas County smoking laws should keep well populated at an event like this. The sidewalk is public.
 
Robo Sapien said:
Is her show really that big-time though? I know she's been on Montel and all, but I doubt she'd be able to fill a stadium or anything. In any event, you could set up shop outside the property where people enter and pass out pamphlets there, if there is a gate then people will slowing/stopping, providing the chance to approach them.

Or you could put up a big FREE BEER sign and bring an empty keg with you, just tell everybody that you just ran out a few minutes ago, but you'd like to give them a pamphlet anyway.
Click to expand...

I think, unless Jayme disagrees, that should be the plan. I have scouted the venue. It seems very prone to its sidewalk (which is public).

People are paying big bucks to see her. I would have a hard time paying that to see Pink Floyd.
 
Yeah, I'm definitely not going to be scared away from planning this on the internet with our various local groups and our larger coalition group. We have a right to share information with the public and I will not be intimidated.

If I was an easily intimidated type, I certainly wouldn't be an openly "out" atheist and skeptical science teacher in a public school in Texas.

I think we should make flyers (with some volunteer help would be amazing, by the way!) and make them easily downloadable online to spread at events of hers all over the world. NCSE did this with bookmarks for the BananaMan's book releases, to great effect.
 
Yeah, I'm definitely not going to be scared away from planning this on the internet with our various local groups and our larger coalition group. We have a right to share information with the public and I will not be intimidated.

If I was an easily intimidated type, I certainly wouldn't be an openly "out" atheist and skeptical science teacher in a public school in Texas.

I think we should make flyers (with some volunteer help would be amazing, by the way!) and make them easily downloadable online to spread at events of hers all over the world. NCSE did this with bookmarks for the BananaMan's book releases, to great effect.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear this! You might be an upcoming mover and shaker in the skeptical movement. We don't have enough. Waiting to see your results. Make sure you get people video taping everything, from farther away to see the big picture, plus people right there walking up. Great if you could get some of their comments on why they believe. Then again get comments when they leave. Ask if you can interview them before and after. Great stuff.
 
I might be able to get some audio as well for use on Dogma Free America, if Rich will let me do an on-site show similar to his recent Westboro Baptist coverage.

I was recently asked to use a camcorder to record some stuff for my friend AronRa at a seminar at a church here about Creation Vs Evolution and I think the only thing we learned from that fiasco is that I'm not a good person to hand a video camera to, especially when I'm agitated at scammers, liars, and con artists. The video was unusable. I think audio is the way to go.

I hope to begin working more closely with the local skeptical group and organize events like this with the help of other folks not afraid to put their face and name out there. We should not be ashamed of who we are, what we do, THE CHARLATANS SHOULD BE.

I wake up every weekday and go in to teach kids about science and critical thinking. I make a fair and honest living doing what I love (and sometimes hate), but I'm not being dishonest about it. I'm not stealing money from grieving families, and I don't have to lie to make money.

If Sylvia or her cronies are reading these messages, I challenge them to be able to say the same thing. Are you making an honest living helping people? Are you making the world a better place?

Then, sadly, I wonder how many of them actually think they are...
 
Oh, and it's at that theatre in the strip mall area with very little parking, right, mindcore?

Very public area, no real lobby to speak of. I saw Henry Rollins there recently, and it's completely open, an old movie theatre. Great venue for us to talk to folks as they come up, and not private property.
 
Also
You know where she's going to be.
Record the show and pull it apart later.
I saw a very nice ballpoint pen that records both video and sound
 
Again, the only problem I have with recording her show is that it assumes that one of us is going to be willing to pay to go see her. I steadfastly refuse to give a single dime to that woman or anyone who works with her or for her. She's knowingly deceiving people and I cannot support that, even if the end result would be to damage her reputation. I work too hard for my money to waste it on a charlatan. I also think she has plenty of public appearances on Montel's show and others that have already been thoroughly torn to bits by Mr. Lancaster and Randi. They've done quite a thorough job of that end of things. I just want to take that information and make it available to people who ARE spending their money on this liar.
 
Its the Lakewood Theatre. Its in a part of Dallas that is engineered to lure people into lots of shops and restaurants. I didn't check out the Lakewood's parking, but there will definitely be access through the sidewalk. This is definitely not some private strip mall with a huge parking lot in front of it, forcing us to be a hundred feet from the patrons. Especially since Dallas smoking ordinances tend to cause large groups of patrons to gather out front.

The tickets are over a hundred dollars, I can't afford that. More power to anyone who wants to spend that to catch Sylvia red handed. Skeptics have done it in the past.
 
I have been to many many protests where the venue is far away from a public area like a sidewalk. If Sylvia will be at place with a main entrance to enter a parking area, that would be a good spot. Only a bad spot when there are several entrances and not enough people. People would see you and your signs and would have to drive past. Little chance to hand out fliers but short, to-the-point signs will be remembered.

http://www.lakewoodtheater.com/booking

And a map


(this is just basic info. I don't know this particular venue, and you would know the area better than I)

If anyone can drop by when a different show is going on there, they can see where the traffic goes and get ideas on the best place to be.

As far as putting it online...it is not an intimation thing. Sylvia Browne is nothing to me as well being nothing to you. Anything her people would do you will end up online and just make her look worse.

You just have to decide how much warning you want to give her. Scientology is much worse. When scientology knows they will be protested, they have taken out film permits or city sidewalk permits for the same day, and then blocking people from normally open sidewalks. They also hire off duty LAPD to act as security. But this costs money, so you are probably safe from stuff like that. And there may be security guards there. They will tell you to move away, you can't stand on the sidewalk, blah blah blah. Unless you are blocking the sidewalk, it is not an issue. That is their job so don't believe them. They will not be on your side. Sylvia is generating money for them and you are not. Wait for a cop. Letting the local police know ahead of time is also helpful. They can confirm law relating to signs. In L.A., the only real issue is the length and thickness of poles for signs (if you use poles) so they cannot be used as weapons. If you are not causing a disturbance, using amplified sound, etc...the worst they can say is that you can't stand in one place and must walk. But that just means more people will see your signs. If police do come, have video cameras ready to gets faces and badge numbers in case there is any issue. I really doubt it for something like Sylvia Browne, though.

So you just have to decide if you want to give her a lot of warning. The positive is that you are making her have to worry about it and work on stage knowing she will be confronted. Hell...state you will be there even if you are not. Making her paranoid is also fun. But I can also see being quiet about the protest until the day of, so she gets a nice surprise.
 
Last edited:
Do believe or hope that by simply handing a believer a pamphlet they will somehow change their way of thinking about Sylvia Browne and her like?

Do you think they believe the way they do because they are somehow misinformed or uninformed about what Sylvia Browne and her like are really all about?

Sylvia Browne has been on TV! They can't let just anyone on TV say or do whatever they want can they?
There must be laws about lying on TV right?

Those lazy fools will happily pay Sylvia and her like and keep on paying because money they got, it's ambition, decisiveness and free will they lack.

They believe they need someone, anyone to point them in the right direction.
They are sheep.
They do not have the ability to make up their own minds on even the simplest of daily living things.

The vast majority of those that pay 100 bucks a pop are there to ask one of two questions or both.
1. Will I meet someone?
2. Will I come into big money?

That is how shallow and empty these fools really are.
Do you really think that if someone really truly could see into the future and you knew this to be true and waited and paid for your opportunity to speak with this amazing human being the very best question you could come up with would be am I gonna meet someone?

As much as Sylvia and her like want their money is the exact amount of how much they need Sylvia and her like to take it.

My point being. Sylvia Browne and her like are lying con scum and those that flock to them are lazy fools not innocent victims.

Take my advice and go see a movie that night instead. Treat yourself to a nice dinner.
Your hearts are in the right place it's just for the wrong and lost cause.
 
Have to give it a shot

You might be right, but I want to try it out.

I believe in conversational pressure, like Sam Harris advocates. If I can get people talking about it maybe they will think it through a little more.

The wonderful things about minds is they always have the potential to grow.
 
It might work for a few people. My wife used to believe Sylvia Browne was a "real" psychic until I pointed here to this website. Some people just take it for granted that some psychics are real and never really have taken time to think about it.
 
i don;t know bratus . here are a couple of links to robert lancasters site to show it is not purely the ignorant she preys on , more likely the vunerable . this is what makes her even more of a piece of scum in my book .

http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/email_askepticintheaudience.shtml

http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/email_fromadisgustedexbeliever.shtml

to me there is a difference between someone who wants to know what will happen to them in the future and people who are ill and want to know will they recover or grieving or trying to find out if missing relatives re still alive . i feel so sorry for the latter .

those who passionately belive probably won;t change their mind but if this gets any publicity at all it might make one or 2 wavering people stop and think . that in itself might be worth it . good luck with your protest guys .
 
Last edited:
Just_Me also captures my primary motivation. People who are not normally into woo, but may not be particularly knowledgeable about science and skepticism lose a loved one in a sketchy situation. Children and adults are kidnapped and murdered in the U.S. every day, sometimes for no other motive than the perpetrators own psycho-pathology.

These people are suffering, they are in an emotional state, and Montel Williams and other reputable public figures swear that Sylvia Browne can solve these cases.

If she just predicted lottery numbers, and told people that they had a good looking secret admirer that would marry them, I doubt I would go outside in the Dallas heat in June to do anything about it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom