blonde poker forum

I don't believe I'n mediums or psyics . But after tday my mind changed I picked up a customer from Liverpool airport and journey was 30 mins . I'n that time he told me something about my past which was only known by 2 people and he said I was very lucky as if I had carried on doing this job 4 this guy would have been in serious trouble .this guy ended up going away for a long time and lucky I never got asked any questions . This medium then said you sometimes do a activity which finishes at stupid times and you can't sleep after it and involves cards .I can see you enjoy it and will do ok . The last thing he sensed was stars or diamonds . Might be reading 2 much I'n 2 it but freaked me out . Any 1 believe I'n them or had experiences similar

No. Load of BS imo

Blonde actually has an ongoing thread about some people trying to become mediums.

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=56169

My late mum, who was into that sort of thing became friendly with a famous local medium called Jenny Bright.

I'm pretty sure that JB was occasionally called in by the local police to help them solve murder cases.

I'm pretty much ambivalent about it myself but I do own a dockering ball that must have belonged to her at one time.

He will no doubt have said other things to you as well which you will have reacted differently to and hence he quickly moved on. These people are good at what they do but they don't have any special powers. He reads people in a similar way to how you read players at the table.

They are callous, thieving, wretched shysters and purveyors of the finest weapons grade bullshit known to man; preying on the vulnerable, weak and stupid. Whilst their pathetic ramblings aren't real, the consequences of their trade often are and can cause great hurt and suffering.

If you're struggling with the death of a loved one, go and see a grief specialist, not a medium.

Easy tiger, that's a very opinionated post there. Lets not generalize too much.

Erm could tell you a whole list of stories on stuff thats happened to me regarding them. But they long stories, lets just say yeah they are for real and the people i have encountered in my life did not charge me a bean.

generally speaking, all people who profess to be in contact with the dead for monetary gain are covered by my description above.

I have very strong opinions about these people. I can't stand them and the quicker they are outlawed the better.

You're right though, I should reign it in a little. Some of their bullshit is hardly weapons grade, you don't need gatters to see through it, you just need to be a) not a moron and b) not have your opinion tainted by grief or loss.

My particular favourite is the genius who, whilst bombing on stage, claimed that she 'hears so many voices it's hard to know which ones to listen to'. Wait a minute....you're justification for the fact that you're shit at your fake job is that actually you're too good at it? Give me a fucking break.

Also not all charge a fee.

Have been reading Laxie's blog here http://www.spiritualdawn.com/The%20New%20Fraudulent%20Mediums%20Act.htm

They are referring to the recent clampdown on fake psychics and mediums, which are giving real mediums and psychics a bad name. You'll be ok as long as you stick with one of the genuine ones.

There is no such thing as mediums who can see into the future or talk to the dead.

Anyone who claims they can either a) know they can't (so they're a crook/fraud) or b) thinks they can (so they're mentally ill)

Would be interested to know how the conversation started that lead to these revelations. Did he speak to you first? Or are you generally chatty with customers?
I am open minded about such things, but I know that there are some very clever people out there, who can pick up a whole load of info by being observant for a start, and by being easy to talk to, allowing you to open up and tell them all
sorts of things without you realising they are prompting you into it.

What he would gain in this situation I dont know, which is why I would like to hear more about it.

jesus christ.

we're now differentiating between 'real' and 'fraudulent' mediums?

(http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/126/314/3cd8a33a.png?1306264975)

Perhaps the fraudulent ones

and the real ones


using AndrewT's definition.

The only way to avoid getting ripped off imo

if you pay money to a medium, or offer them any consideration in return for a 'reading', you're getting ripped off. De Facto.

Regardless of whether they are a crook (probably) or ill (possibly), they still can't talk to the dead.

I will offer £10000 to any medium who can help me communicate with my Uncle Sam who died on my 15th birthday after a long illness. Anyone who can pass a message on to him is worthy of my money, I just don't think they can do it and I think it's horrific that they con people like they do.

I had a medium size shirt............once upon a time

But science can't *prove* that we can't talk to the dead. How can so many people repeatedly use mediums for seances and such like if it's all a load of baloney?

of course science can't, because you logically can't prove a negative. On the other hand, you can't prove that you DO talk to the dead, which science therefore regards as a theory without proof: worthless.

And people believe in mediums for the same reason kids believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the toothfairy -- because they think they'll get something out of it if they do.

'
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K14sIoE8qT4

Still not getting this. Is it about experiences or folk that actually pay for such things?.

But to add.

I used to attend a spiritualist church, not a regular but did go, they had certain nights to raise money for the church where different folk would be there and give a talk (readings if you so wish) or healing nights, no money was taken for this but an entrance charge was optional for the church of maybe a suggested 1 or 2 £. What I am saying is try not to mix this with these so called mediums that advertise and charge. I saw my very own husband gobsmacked at a reading that he paid no money for and did NOT give any clues.

Have no intentions on seeing 1 . He did say a few things which were totally wrong but must have been very lucky 2 get what happend years ago right mybe I'm just reading 2 much I'n it . And that wasn't a pun lol

of course he gave clues without knowing that he did. that's the entire charade.

LOL Muz, how, by saying hello?

Against everything I believe in, I once went to see a medium.

She told me something very specific, it was a worry I had, and I had never told a single person about it. I was absolutely astounded. (it wasn't the reason I went)

It turned me from a sceptic into some kind of believer. Yes many are cons, but I can't bring myself to not believe in it

Conversation started by usual taxi talk . Yes im quite chatty is good 4 tips lol . Dont think I gave any clues about my past . At the end of journey he was hinting if I wanted a 30 min reading I said let you know ac he worked from home . But won't be parting with my money

I think these things can be pretty fun as long as you take them as a bit of a laugh and don't really believe these people can see into the future or speak to the dead.  I paid a fiver to some guy in bognor to get my palm read last year and yeah, he got a lot of things about me quite accurately (got his 'report' around somewhere - might post it up later), but really for most personality traits there are only 2-3 alternatives (eg extrovert or introvert, intelligent or thick etc) and it's easy enough to get lucky.  My mum got hers done too and it was way off.

that said, i'm pretty open minded about the untapped power of the human mind, and have had a couple of spooky (what some might describe as 'psychic') experiences myself that I won't be sharing or else I'd be ridiculed (and certainly very happy never to have any again) :D

As someone said earlier ITT, the ones that really annoy me are the ones that prey on the recently bereaved.  My mum believes in all this stuff, and a matter of days after her partner died a few years back some woman was knocking on the door saying he'd spoken to her and asked her to come to see my mum.

Psychic Sally is lol.  I just had to go back over my old facebook posts to find something I'd posted when I happened across a few seconds of her show a few months back:

Sally: "does the name poppy mean anything to you?" woman: "bobby?" Sally:"yes that's it"...........
woman (after the show)"when she said poppy i knew it was him because bobby was his nickname". oh kay......

 rotflmfao  Soz, but that's not my blog.  Not read through it yet to give an opinion, but might do if I'm bored tomorrow.

As for the rest?  I do have certain beliefs that most would roll their eyes at so I just don't bring it up.  Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks at the end of the day.  Whether you believe or not, stick to your thoughts and try to keep things positive...the rest will work itself out. 

Secret's safe with us SD ;)

Love that one Claire :D

Would be wrong to laugh at this....(I did nearly choke)

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1z2X_442Ms

found my report from the international palmist and tarot reader from bognor market.  He has tez handwriting but can make most of it out.  some of it is quite com.  List of headings on the page, and he's put a word or two next to each of them:

Brain: Clever, shrewd (that one is spot on obv)
Confidence: plenty, when used.
Leadership: decisive
Humour: selective
Perception: liable to premonitions
Dependability: loyal, reliable
Creativity: more practical, with some literary ability
Romance: 3 marriages (ooooooooo)
Health: prone to migraines
Temper: when provoked
Obstinacy: strong willed
Weakness: gambling (ridic imo)
Moods: changeable
Flirtation: high sex drive
conceit: some
Impatience: won't suffer fools
Sympathy: warm hearted

Pretty amazing he could work that stuff out looking at some lines on my hand.  bargain really.

Just remembered that Jon MW also read my tarot cards for me once and correctly predicted (I think) a pre-dinner break exit for me in a poker tournament.  Soooooo spooky!

CALL

nit.

raiiiiseeee it up

I was waiting for him to lead out again on the turn, and then I could shove all-in.

But of course, you already knew that....

voyant is my middle name

Proof?

(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc43/kinboshi/120690.jpg)

Being open to all things makes is much more fun than dismissing them without any solid evidence. You can never say anything is 100% fake or does not exsist unless you are God, which you dont believe in, so I assume thats a No.

This is a subject I feel very strongly about, it is so incredibly fake when you break it down logically, but the people who go to these things often do so at a time when they are very vulnerable. If for some reason you have a lot of time on your hands, check out some of these:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb39htpY6dU

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEHMkU5ht-E

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se82D8cqhgk

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xswt8B8-UTM

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQyfsCNFyRY

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Fkb-wxoas

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbKOoyK7FCc

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIsnhSt6wAM

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Z7KeNCi7g

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhYSI5sWi8s

You have proved alot of people take the piss.

Yep, I'm open to the existence of unicorns, Santa, fairies, orcs, fire-breathing dragons and mediums.

Equal evidence for them all.

Are there people claiming to be orcs? interesting..Maybe they played D&D too much. You have to do better than pluck those out for examples, I am really interested how people know 100% that something is not true.

I can see the future.

It's a forty-page thread, Godwin's around page 9. Page 10, boldie enters, striking fear into the hearts of the believers.

boldie's head is a bit like a crystal ball. not too sure where I'm going with this......

me too.

I can't prove they don't exist, but I am open to other people proving that they do exist, you know, in a real and scientific way. One that we can measure and observe -- not 'but he said 'ham and pea soup and my mother was in a kitchen at some point of her life'.

I don't know 100% that any of those things aren't true.  But I'd like to see 1 tiny piece of independent evidence that suggests that any of these things really exist.  Unicorn shit, a dragon skull, Santa's sack, or a medium who can actually give credible 'readings' under controlled test conditions.

Typically, the standard of proof is 95% for these things.
I think they're just saying that it's unreasonable for those who hold those beliefs to hold them for the reasons they give.

 http://www.firebox.com/product/3286/Canned-Unicorn-Meat?aff=1108

Tends to give me the horn.

(http://media.firebox.com/pic/p3286_main.jpg)

I repeat - I'm prepared to pay a lot of money to any psychic that can get in touch with my uncle. There is one thing he knows about me that nobody else knows - absolutely, definitively and if any medium/psychic can tell me what that is I shall give them a large pot of money and consider myself instantly converted.

any recommendations?

I did some crazy shit on wigi boards as a kid that lead to some crazy crazy adventures that both opened my eyes  up to stuff I didn't wanna know about.  Personal experiences and life journeys are much more accurate in considering something to have a sniff of merit to them than listing to sceptics disclaims money taking "mediums" who speak to dead relatives. Its akin to saying God doesn't exist as my local vicar was partial to boys, moves us on no further to proof either way.

One of the vids I posted, James randi, has a long standing million dollar pledge to anyone who can prove they have psychic abilities in controlled conditions. Only one person has taken so far I believe in about 20 years (failed obv)

Zero reason for them to do this if they were infact real mediums. $1m bounty is a smoke screen, it would be totally against their beliefs to do it for financial gain and be subjected to ridicule/interrogation. I am 95% sure James randi would know this too.

I am not saying i believe in them myself, its just funny people claim to know its defo lies.

There have been a few of those types of offers around - AFAIK none of them have ever been 'won'.


What beliefs? It's not a religion

beliefs as in knowledge and epistemology; not the biblical sense.

bizarrely those are the exact 6 words I just typed before deciding not to post as I really don't want to get into this conversation. are you psychic?

yes - i told you about his tarot skillz

What beliefs? It's not (in general) a belief system

I went to see one years ago for a laugh with a couple of mates at the time that were genuinely into it.

I'd say 75% of the stuff she told me did not come true but there was some really scary shit that did, I mean really specific stuff too that you couldn't make up. I didn't talk to her at all during the interaction, she gave me a note pad to write stuff down and told me to be quiet in case I thought she was extracting info from me through conversation/my reactions.

Thats not your real hair colour? :dontask:

Pffft - Jon MW doesn't have any psychic ability.

The hat, however...

are you a medium?

you might win a prize for powers of observation....

Mediums and psychic readings 'work' because of a number of factors.

Those who attend psychic readings are a self-selecting group of people who want to believe that it is true - half the medium/psychic's battle has been won before they even begin.

People are far more likely to remember the hits than the misses.

People have common ways in which they wish to be perceived, and also common doubts about their personalities.

Statements such as 'You are a very considerate person but there are times when you can have a selfish streak.' (saying that someone has both a certain personality trait and also the exact opposite of the same trait) will have a lot of people thinking 'that's me' and once the psychic has got you thinking that they know what they're talking about you'll want them to continue to be right and so will seek nuggets of truth that can be applied to you in everything they say.

Such a bunch of charlatans, these psychics and mediums. They take the hard-earned cash from the suggestible and the gullible, often gaining a foothold during the most vulnerable times of their followers' lives; they feed them a bunch of nonsense shaped around what they want to hear, and prey upon the victims' desire to keep in touch with the deceased by professing to be a 'channel to the spirit world'. Those that do this the best generate a cult of personality which grows and grows, creating a mental fugue of unquestioning loyalty and childlike obedience in their adherents. 

So glad I stuck with mainstream religion instead.

Hope I just get normal folk tmw , but I doubt it I could write a book on characters and escapades I'n my cab but I will leave that 2 the interesting diarys on blonde

Don't forget also that the psychics very often get the information ahead of time in some instances, known as hot readings.

Some have been found using ear pieces, some make the audience fill out profiles, most suggest the audience bring pictures or personal trinkets of the deceased, the shows always start late so the audience spend a lot of time talking among themselves and to plants posing as fellow guests - the list goes on

Psychics befriending thousands on Facebook also, their 'Timelines' then checked when their name pops up on the ticket list for the next show.
This is quite well done, some of them pretty tenacious :D YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4qGfNViVN8

Lol that is brilliant, what is the show? That guy was like a weird Louis Theroux / Russell brand hybrid

Good point.

Back in the day Doris Stokes (who even Tikay will have heard of) used to have thousands of people write to her outling their problems, or the story of their close relative who had just died.

Doris used to file away all these letters by town and when she was playing, say, Preston, she'd go through her Preston letters and read them all, safe in the knowledge that a good few of these people would be in the theatre, and may well have forgotten about the level of detail they put in the letter.

do u post off a phone cos it keeps correcting in to I'n.

I went to see one of these and its all bullshizzle imo.

I think the series was 'The Bullshit Detective' and this one was 'Exposing Psychic Fraud'. He's pretty good :D

How would you explain the fact that Scotland Yard sometimes enlists the help of a medium in murder cases and there has been a degree of success over the years?

well andrew is 100% they are lieing, so he would say they are making it up.

proof that there has been a degree of success caused by the psychic and not by the police pls.

I would describe it thusly;

There are plenty of morons in the police and bollocks.

mediums kill people and then get the police to let them back into the crime scenes where they can plant false evidence and frame other people?

yep

fire away, by PM if you prefer.

unless, ofc, as I suspect, your recommendation is gfy :D

also, can a psychic pls tell me if keysie is going to win the gsop live thing? I'd like to know before I xfer my piece ^^

Urgh, my mum went to see one the other day, ive always thought, and still kind of think, what a load of bs. But a couple of things the woman said/asked my mum were really weird. The medium said to my mum, "your sons had a blip recently and is going to sort it in an unconventional way, hes going to be fine. Ask your son about Mark and Simon" Obv just got made redundant and playing poker for a living now, backed for cash by 2 guys called Mark n Simon, never told my mum or anyone in my family their names, weird

I wasn't going going to get involved in this debate, but...............

I'm pretty sure I've had some kind of 'blip' every year for the last few years.
Unconventional is so generalistic, and open to interpretation.

Can't explain the names, and I think occasional things like that, keep people open minded, when common sense tells them it's much more likely to be BS than not.

I completely agree with what your saying, but just abit weird how they mentioned two names

that's super unlikely to be the whole conversation. she prolly read the names cold - and then your mum confirmed them by generally knowing that two of your poker friends are called mark and simon. later the 'psychic' turns this subjective confirmation into a command >> ask about X and Y as a recap/command rather than that.

at least that's one possibility. it's a bit like when people only remember the times they have aces and lose, not the times they win. memory is selective, so when she said John and James, your mum doesn't remember because they eventually got to Mark and Simon, etc. That's just standard coldreading. If the medium is really good, they could divine the names as well by looking for tiny plosives etc in the lips whilst making your mum think of the name.

Yes I post off phone sorry if it bugs you not sure why it dose that will try not to use that word girgy

http://www.ukskeptics.com/article.php?dir=articles&article=police_and_psychics.php

http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/police%20psychics.html

Personally, i find believing in mediums almost as ludicrous as believing in a god!

Saying that 3 pretty weird things have happened to me in my life which i can't fully explain using science/common sense.

There are people close to me on the other hand who I deem to be very intelligent who believe in both god and tonnes of spiritual type stuff. It all comes down to those who are capable of having unproven faith and those who aren't imo.

Uri Geller though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the guy can still bend spoons under observation in NASA test facilities.

http://www.amazon.com/Truth-About-Uri-Geller/dp/0879751991/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_bending

You tend to find that there are two types who believe in the power of mediums. They are either women or fools and the majority of the time they are both :)

Patrick Jane says they don't exist and that's good enough for me :D

Fuk the spoon bending he made all his wedge from telling people where oil reserves were? not sure alot of others can do it..

What?

He also made the ball move when Gary McAllister was taking that penalty against England.

Don't forget the time he used his powers to help Exeter City in a crucial relegation game, which they narrowly lost 5-1.

he has been paid roughly around $100m over the years by oil companies to pin point oil reserves in the ground. I dont care if its true or not that he can find the oil the fact is he is paid to do so :)

I tried to heal Beckham's ankle once...

Found link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-109381/Nation-help-heal-Beckhams-foot-says-Uri.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-109381/Nation-help-heal-Beckhams-foot-says-Uri.html)

Always thought is was a crock of shite

When I saw Penn & Teller they do a section about mediums/psychics. You can tell that they hate them with a passion, and refer to them as money motivated leeches who suck on the vulnerable etc

They go on to do some tricks that are much the same as a psychic would do and they assure you that these are the exact same methods used by the tricksters, and at no point do they need to talk to the dead or read your mind.

Pretty sure they have done a TV show about it too.

Just made me think, there are two guys in the right circle of people to know about that stuff.

He's been paid $100m.  Really?

Is that the same as when he claimed to have done work for NASA as well?

I know this is talked about on his own website but it's interesting that it doesn't crop up on his wikipedia entry where facts tend to have to be verified

They did, it was in the big list of Youtube vids I posted itt

Derren Brown is also doing the same thing in the UK. I actually find it so much more mysterious and entertaining when Derren does it, but says clearly that its a trick, than when someone claims to have special powers.  

A friend of mine does this aswell (in a nutshell), he gets paid squillions for it as well.  He's not a medium or psychic, he's just really really good at his Job.

Read up on it, the financial times amongst others have reported his work and pay for mining, oil companies. He used to charge 1m advance fee's + share of the profits etc..

One of the heads of a big company suggested he use dowsing to find reserves and he went from there.

What is fact is that he made and continues to be paid alot by companies to find resources, or inform them on spots not to drill. I don't care if he can find stuff or not, hes made a bucket load of cash from people hiring him to do so.

i

how do we know that derren brown isn't a medium? if I had the power I think I'd take the route he has of pretending that I didn't. much more money to be made doing the exact same thing and people don't accuse you of and hate you for preying on the vulnerable

That is actually the excuse a lot of people who claim to be mediums have used to explain Derren Brown's abilities and attempts to expose them as fraud.

obv the company would have to keep quiet about it, given that the ceo would be insta-sacked and sued by shareholders for wasting company funds........

I have read up on it.

He did 'work' for one company, who ridiculously paid up front (far less than $1m though).  Geller found sand - nothing else.

Or Geller might be making it up?

He also claimed to be able to change base metals into gold.  Interestingly, he hasn't made a going concern from this alchemy.

I went to one a while back who people had recommended, saying he'd told them things he could never have known, etc.

I went in open-minded, but I don't think he said one single thing that was relevant or made any sense. It became embarrassing after a while.

Just because you don't know how they do it, doesn't make it real. I'm pretty sure Copperfield didn't make the Statue of Liberty disappear.

With regards to the opening post, I expect you let slip you were into poker somehow, or maybe had a reference in the cab and he took a gentle stab and then fed off your response.

If he'd had to sign non disclosure agreements nobody would ever be able to tell how much he'd been paid or by who or how successful he was.

Handily if he was just making it up you'd end up with pretty much the same result.

I flicked onto Britain's Most Haunted one time and saw a guy called Derek Acorah actually become possessed by the spirit of a woman from hundreds of year ago. It was amazing to see. His face became all contorted as he slumped to the floor and then he rose up screaming out like an old shrew. Afterwards he became all exhausted and overwhelmed when the spirit left him. What further proof to people need?

I used to watch him, fuk me he would get right into it..Not sure what to think of him tbh.

Yvette Fielding has done well to go from Blue Peter presenter to making millions duping people with her 'supernatural' shows.  She and Acorah have done well for themselves with their nonsense.

As I said in an earlier post, I am open minded about these things but Derek Acorah is just laughable imo.
All that shivering and grimacing while talking in a silly voice just makes me cringe.
Seriously though if people can talk to the dead, (and maybe some people can) why do the dead say such irrelevant
stuff? I mean there are hundreds of important things like where are they? is there a god? can they see/hear us back on earth? But for some reason they seem to find it difficult to relay even their own names properly, or say things like "Check behind the dresser for the missing photo" ;carlocitrone;

In the words of Mr Tim Mfkn Minchin...

.....why do we think it is it OK for people to pretend they can talk to the dead?
Isn't that totally fucked in the head?
Lying to some crying woman whose child has died and telling her you’re in touch with the other side?
I think that’s fundamentally sick
Do we need to clarify here that there’s no such thing as a psychic?

What are we, fucking 2?
Do we actually think that Horton Heard a Who?
Do we still believe that Santa brings us gifts?
That Michael Jackson didn’t had facelifts?
Are we still so stunned by circus tricks that we think that the dead would wanna talk to pricks like John Edwards?
....

.....you should watch Scooby Doo.
That show was so cool because every time there was a church with a ghoul or a ghost in a school
They looked beneath the mask and what was inside?
The fucking janitor or the dude who ran the waterslide.
Because throughout history every mystery ever solved has turned out to be
Not Magic.

Whole thing here - but the salient points for this specific area of bs are above

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB_htqDCP-s

Best Minchin I've seen, the man's a genius.

To be honest, Mantis, I think he could have just been play-acting so that it looked like he was possessed/unpossessed, I'd seek better proof than that, with a control condition in an experimental setting. Don't be taken in by them.

Ah now that Derek's been mentioned I have a good excuse to post this again :D

edit: better clip without the additional crap
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbF_l5nwmGs

this is quite funny too

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo7LGHMdSuM

Not going to watch that video, because I know that it will never match up to the title it's been given.

doooo - it does!

Psychic Sally is suing over this article aparantly http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2040285/What-load-crystal-balls-As-Dianas-psychic-accused-cheating-stage-TV-illusionist-exposes-trickery-fool-audience.html

found this when I was youtubing lol psychic sally clips last night.  It's just a few days after that article. 

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQU4ohwvYjY

 i always look up Derek Acorah when im feeling low. The guy just cracks me up . Even booked tickets to go and see him in my local town. Was going to take the mrs, my sister and my brother in law with the sole intention of having a good drink before the show and we were all going to take the piss bigtime.
He cancelled the show  at the last minute almost as if he knew our plan : )


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFjoN3rMoY8&feature=share

fyp :)

bout 2.30 min in , how does he keep a straight face .lol

Actually, a couple of thousand people have applied for the test. For one reason or another, most end up never taking it, but a couple of hundred have been tested. All failed obv.

doesn't appear to have been updated for a couple of years, but quite interesting reading:  details of people who have applied to take the test and what happened.

http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=43

As stated on here, very general with common names for anyone in their 30s or 40s.

had a blip recently - Everyone has blips,
Goining to sort it out unconventionally - well this is a statement of possible future action so again doesn't really say anything specific
Ask your son about Mark & Simon - very common names, no specific mention of who Mark and Simon are, personally I know 4 Simons and 3 Marks.

yup - change 'son' for daughter, leave everything else (including names) the same and anyone saying this to my mum would have her going 'ooooo that was so spot on'

I am in agreement with everyone else that this is clearly all a load of BS however I am not quite as sure whether it is such a negative thing.  Like religon, people often seek out mediums in times of need, grief and bereavment and they get potentially get some comfort from the thought that the medium is able to speak to them and it also reaffirms theirbelief in the afterlife etc and aren't thinking about their son/daughter,father/mother etc lying dead and wet and being eaten by worms.  Placebos have been shown to have a positive impact on peoples health because they 'believe' they have something that is going to help them to get better and this is similar imo in that people seek it because they believe it and it gives them comfort and that isn't neccesarily a bad thing.  You could argue thatpointing out to them how unlikely it is to be true is the cruel thing to do even though it might be factually correct.

Of course none of this means that I think that what the mediums/psychics are doing is morally right but for the user/customer they may get some benefit from it and as such the cost that they have paid to get into the show or have the reading isn't money badly spent.

What actually happens is the people don't move on, in fact the grieving process is paused in a limbo state for them. There are so many instances of the same people turning up again and again, they get addicted, and the medium invariably gives a more accurate reading every time.

It happens more in the states, where there is a more direct link with Christianity, but sometimes they end up getting goosed for their live savings or advised to make major live decisions by the medium (including medical decisions).

There is so much generalisation in this thread!

Barry, not moving on...... What about those people it does help move on?

Picking common names. Anyone feel free to punt on my 2 good mates names I'm playing golf with today. They are both middle class and have common or not unusual names! I bet not 1 person punts correctly

Like I say I am a sceptic as proven by the vids posted itt, but for people to use arguments like "oh they are common names" when she nailed them both first attempt?!?!

I'm prepared to stay open minded

a medium won't say 'these are two people you are playing golf with today' though - they'll say 'do the names Paul and John mean anything to you?' or 'why am I hearing the name Sarah?'

Amazed the thread has got so many replies.

They are nothing more than con artists.

+ 1

Or they will say 'Ask him about Mark & Simon" as per the original post.

The supposed medium didn't say "your son is having financial troubles but he's going to get out of it by playing poker with Mark & Simon backing him" This might be what you interpreted the medium to be saying by what they actually said was very vague and ambigious and you only remember it because it kind of fitted (scoring a hit) if it didn't fit at all (being a miss) you would have forgotten about it completely.

 

Second point, as fake medium I would say tell me about "Michael and Dave"

if I was hot reading I would ask about Kathryn and Todd

It may be a form of lunacy but I don't think mediums deserve to be chastised with such venom. There are other things in the world that are much harder to believe, there are other things that constitute worse playacting, and there are other things that make mugs of the people who pay to go and watch. For example I heard this week that Audley Harrison is launching his return to the boxing ring.

I'd also add "i'm getting animals....a deer.....no a stag.....I can see rocks and water.....Does the name Dan, Daniel or Danny mean anything to you"?

"I'm also seeing a holiday?...The beach, sea, sand....a lady in white....with dark hair....Is it a wedding?"

Most people will naturally move on as part of the grieving process, and I would say it is a much healthier manner in which to do it. Yes a medium may help people get there sooner, but I think if only a small percentage of people are negatively affected by a medium it is still too many to justify, given that most will move on eventually anyway.
 

Should stick to poker: http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=74374

and those people who mediums might help (although I still didn't see any evidence that it was the medium's intervention rather than something else...) would be better served be a grief counsellor.

I went to see a psychic for a private "reading" about 12 years ago.  It was audio taped and I still have it.  I listen to it every so often to reassess how accurate she was.  Over the years it has become clear that virtually everything she predicted has happened.  It is quite bizarre.  Amongst other things she predicted me getting involved in poker, change of career, medical problems (myself and other members of my family), meeting my husband (she described him and his car in detail!), where we would live, issues with my daughter etc etc.  There must be 20-30 things that she either got right in terms of where I was in my life at the time, things that had happened in my past and the future. 

I don't intend to be sexist, but it's clear that women are, on average, more inclined to believe, or at least be less cynical, about mediums, spiritualists etc....
Any idea why that is so?

Sure am falling into that trap....

It's not intended as a trap.
My wife and her sister go to these things occasionally, as do some of her friends, and whilst they don't all blindly believe, they are, at the very least, open-minded.
Whereas I'm pretty sure none of my male friends would ever go near this kind of thing.

On average, women use about 4 times more words per day than men and most of them are about themselves until they have kids and then it changes to a more equitable 50% me: 50% kids.

So, naturally, a nice chat with a medium to use up half the days word allocation is gonna be seen as a more positive opportunity than a man would see it. There are also chatty men but they're a minority of the species.

Anyway, back to the mediums, their wisdom is always going to be specially well received if they say something along the lines 'You've had it hard, but your career will change, you'll meet a man, have children but a word of advice - teenagers are difficult sometimes'.

A reasonable answer from 90% of the population could be 'No shit Sherlock' as opposed to 'Wow, that's amaze'

I might give one a go for research purposes. Are they expensive?

I'll have a stab at it.  just a theory - please don't shoot me.

Disclaimer: Everything I'm about to say is a generalisation and of course cannot be applied to all men or all women, but it's just easier to write/explain it simply this way.   There are some traits that are more common among men and some that are more common among women.  Men tend to be more practical and logical in their thinking - more left-brained, I suppose.  They are more likely to be interested in the workings of things and the science behind it.  Women on the whole are more emotionally intelligent creatures, more intuitive and sensitive, and perhaps see more shades of grey - there doesn't always have to be a logical explanation for everything.  Go to a woman with a problem and she will sympathise and give you emotional support.  Go to a man with the same problem and he will try to devise practical ways of solving it.  generally.  Women are probably also less embarrassed to admit they are open minded about things like that.  Many blokes that might have some level of belief would keep it to themselves because they know their mates would rip the piss out of them.  That might be the only reason why it appears more women are swayed by this stuff than blokes.

i'm gonna shut up now before i dig a big hole.

Go to a woman with a problem........ and it increases factorially

PS. I'm not a misogynist

just a troll? :D

staking thread ftw

Dynamo might do it for 10bags, dunno though he's prob multai now.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dj-grothe/psychic-sally-morgan-sues_b_1244151.html

FWIW I am not a believer.

Anyone else see the irony in the "magician" Paul Zenon bashing on about people being con artists?

He's not a magician, he's just very good at deceiving.

Geo

don't really see the irony.  illusionists/magicians aren't pretending that what they do is actually supernatural.

I'm pretty sure that in one of the interviews posted earlier in this thread, he is asked a question on similar lines.

His response was that, as a magician it was 'honest' deception - i.e. everyone knows it is sleight of hand, or just a trick, and magicians don't claim otherwise.
Whereas, the psychics / mediums stance  is that they have special powers.
(Something like that, anyway)

They are when they label themselves as magicians.

Geo

I totally get that but why still use the label of magician?

Geo

LOL Geo - a magician is one of the most honest professions there is.

A person goes on stage, says they're going to lie to you and deceive you, then lies to you and deceives you.

Yeah I agree but please stop calling them magicians, they are not.

Geo

Prestidigitator is a bit hard to say and spell though.

pres·ti·dig·i·ta·tion (pr s t -d j -t sh n). n. 1. Performance of or skill in performing magic or conjuring tricks with the hands; sleight of hand. 2. A show of skill or ...

Nope, they don't perform magic.

I prefer manipulators.

Zenon's own website refers to magic

The magic is contemporary, amazing and funny, and his style is cheeky and irreverant but never offensive. The comedy is fresh, personalised and often improvised; adaptability being one of Paul's major strengths.

He is therefore lying imo.

Geo

Can't work out if you're serious or trolling Geo, but...

mag·ic [maj-ik]
noun
1. the art of producing illusions as entertainment by the use of sleight of hand, deceptive devices, etc.; legerdemain; conjuring: to pull a rabbit out of a hat by magic.

Exactly. 'Pulling a rabbit out of a hat by magic.' It is the by magic bit that is crucial. They don't stand there and pretend that they did it by sleight of hand or mirrors or illusion. They say that it was the actual magic itself that caused it. Thus they are trying to deceive the audience. They should be put in the same boat as all the other con artists imo, like media and psyhics and the charlatans. If they don't want this, they should explain all their tricks like Penn & Teller do. Or have half or the audience able to see what is going on behind them.

Great Magic movie to help those previously deceived by these con artists, shows you how it's done

Are you watching closely?


YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPyVBO2rRyg

Someone gives an interesting account of a Psychic Sally show. Interesting, because they totally stitched her up:

http://psycicornot.wordpress.com/

wow mental blog...good find.

Thought it would be fun to reopen this can of worms

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/aug/16/psychic-sally-morgan-deluded-harmless

+1

+ another 1

and + another 1

(http://nerdnirvana.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/psychic-fair-cancelled.jpg)

ebay recently announced that they were going to stop mediums/psychics selling services on their site along with people who will sell you any spell you want!

I bet they didn't see that coming.

Looks like you can still buy these until Aug 30:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9483065/eBay-bans-magic-spells.html

So gutted I have never thought of selling spells on ebay! Free Money - doh!

We can assume that Mitch has had some experience with mediums, but it must have been a long time ago.

That is eXceLlent.

My GF is a great believer..i just said to her if a psychic ever says they are in touch with your loved one just ask em to tell them their date of birth...... good luck with that..show over

havent read all the posts but ask toddswain about him/his mums experience with this stuff... was pretty crazy story where the medium could never have known what they did.

The one I went to see knew stuff it was impossible for her to know. I believe in them

can you give an example?

Right, I'm doing this on tuesday. The woman is supposedly very good.

She knows absolutely nothing about me, other than my first name.

If these people have special powers, then I'm a good subject.

I'm sceptical, at best. But will go in open minded.

Will report back next week.

When you go in, try and remember all the stuff she doesn't get right but quickly skates over, that's usually where people get duped.

If you really want to have fun, just make it up and see what she does. If she says I'm getting a "J" name just say "Yeah that's my uncle JimBob, he died at the blow up doll factory he worked at" and take it from there.

It's being recorded too, so ill listen to it and see what I pick up.

Celtic and medium in the same sentence. LOL.

:)

My Dad and my sister had a secret pact where when my Dad died, he would appear to a medium and say a secret word that only he and she knew - something really random like murray mints or something - to prove if there was an afterlife. He died nearly three years ago, so maybe now he has settled in to the old afterlife, perhaps it's time we went and did it. My sister thinks it's all bollocks so I don't think she would mind.

Unless she said whatever the word was, I must admit even though I am not only a skeptic I am also morally opposed to medums, I would be pretty nervous going into it.

Nervous for what reasons?

Just that it all might be true.

Lol. I'm a bit nervous too, but then again, atm, I think it's all a bit of a laugh. Fk knows what I'll think if she starts talking about things she couldn't possibly know.

Happened to me! Blew me away

On the one hand, it's a real skill to be able to detect subtle movements in face and body language to identify whether you're on the right track, plus to be able to encourage the mark other person to speak openly at the slightest suggestion and react from that as if to present new knowledge.

On the other, it's either a scam to make people believe you can talk to the dead or it's very, very dangerous for someone to mess with the occult.

Doris Stokes used to file the letters she received by town/area. When she was touring she would study the letters from that area and make the reasonable assumption that if someone wrote to her they would be likely to pay to see her perform.
Lots of personal info in those letters....

Psychic Sally apparently does the same thing by pairing up credit card payments for her tickets with people on her Facebook fan page. 

As ever the older professions make use of the newest technology.

Anyone getting a sense of deja vu?

No Guy that was a prostitute lol

Not had any experience with mediums, but XXLs now I'm your man!

Might have to borrow some if I don't slow down...

Yes, and not for the first time.

I knew you were going to say that.

Oh not this again ::)

Deja vu...

Yes, and not for the first time.

I knew you were going to say that.

Not again...

Let's stop now. Deja vu isn't what it used to be.

I knew you'd say that...

 ;boltpp;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jun/20/daily-mail-libel-damages-tv-psychic

Daily Mail pay £125,000 in damages to Psychic Sally

Rare I find myself rooting for the Daily Mail.

just what the actual fuck, I just saw that.


how can she ever win in court when everything she does is make up hot air. disgraceful.

£125k jesus

lol the Daily Mail just proved she was genuine , think they could have jailed under the British Witchcraft Act of 1735 like they did for Helen Duncan during WW2

Can't believe they don't put the word alleged in front of psychic. 

"The Daily Mail withdraws the suggestion that Mrs Morgan used a secret earpiece at her Dublin show in September 2011 to receive messages from off-stage, thereby cheating her audience, which it accepts is untrue"

This apology appears to miss out any mention of psychic or charlatan.

I didn't see that one coming.........
 ;marks;

Celtic update ?

I went, was fairly disappointed. Haven't listened to the cd since, but will do this week then will report back with some of the obvious things she got or missed.

It's the way the UK libel laws work. They said that she had used a secret earpiece, but obviously lacked the evidence to back the story up. Her claim was nothing to do with the fact that she lies and preys on the vulnerable, weak and weak-minded for a living.

2+2=5908349

Where on earth do you make that huge leap into anyone prooving anyone is genuine?

I fully agree with this verdict.

Whatever your opinion psychics, the Daily 'hate' Mail, or any other paper for that matter, deserve to be penalised for printing lies.

They didn't print any lies in this case.  They just didn't have evidence to back up their claims.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/13/sally-morgan-prove-psychic-powers

I went to the vitality show this year and spent 15 mins talking to a 'medium'. She was rubbish at her 'job'. Couldn't relate in anyway to any of her vague 'insights' and this seemed to make her quite cross. She asked me if i was being deliberately obstructive and trying to test her. Then said we'd have to 'agree to disagree' because what she was picking up was deffo right ;D

So it's OK for newspapers to print unsubstantiated allegations?

No, that's what they were fined for.

They weren't lying though in this case.  They were 100% accurate about the lying thief.

Is that your opinion or a proven fact?

well it must be your fault not the mad woman trying to fleece you of money and happyness.

Which part?  The bit where she's a liar and a fraud, or the bit where there are witnesses that heard an earpiece transmitter being used?

There are witnesses who independently heard the comments coming through the ear-piece.  Don't think they have a reason to lie about it, and I'm more inclined to believe them than a woman who claims to be a psychic.

My opinion is also that she has no psychic powers at all, because if she did she'd be more than willing to demonstrate them in a controlled environment. She'd make more money from that than she does with her fraudulent act.

In this case, the defendants accepted that the claims were untrue. That sounds like a lie to me.

The real point of this whole silly thing is that there is a right way and a wrong way to report the facts and a right way and a wrong way to pose questions.

The Daily Mail was perfectly entitled to report in its newspaper to its millions of angry readers that there were allegations that a psychic was getting help from more than the spirit world in a live show. It was equally entitled to speculate - and to invite its audience to foam at the mouth while speculating - about whether mediums in general are honest folk, snake oil salesmen or a mixture of the two. Finally, it would have been within its rights to challenge this individual to prove the veracity of her claims and demonstrate that she really could converse with "the other side".

We know this because that is precisely what Simon Singh did. He wrote an article in which he voiced his concerns but presented as fact only what he was satisfied was correct. For everything else, he explained where he was leaning but noted that, in the face of contrary evidence, he was quite prepared to change his stance.

Had the Daily Mail done that, this wouldn't have happened. Instead, it has had to back down.

What strikes me is the comments underneath Ms Morgan's article. It is almost exclusively women. Or, at least, the names are almost exclusively female.

"Please to hear Sally .Everyone should keep their own opinions to their selves"

"I am thrilled to hear this Sally. I have been to see you a few times and it does not take rocket science to see that there is no way on earth you can cheat..I ignored the whole accusation at the time because I know better but I’m so pleased that you finally have your integrity intact and can now put this behind you..God bless."

I will just say one thing more: can there be any question that, whatever she does and however she does it, she is very good at it?

if you have done family history , you would know anything over 100 years is pretty easy to research but all the modern relations you cant research in couple of hours , even professional heir hunters would have problems , all these people do is ask leading questions , any one could do it & become a fake medium

is she genuine & can talk to the dead , simple answer is no , can anyone = no , its up to you what they want to believe & spend your money on

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7l8Gd4G2FE


#Invalid YouTube Link#

How do you know about the witnesses? Is your argument based on what you are inclined to believe?

Why bother with courts and trials at all? Why not let the Daily Mail publish it's version of the facts and, if you are inclined to believe it, job done.


 

I wasn't defending the Daily Mail. It's an odious rag that publishes lots of articles that are full of inaccuracies, bias, and out-and-out lies.

I was merely pointing out that this time they'd accidentally published an accurate article.  The reason they were fined in court is that they questioned her motives without evidence for what they said.

You ask how I know about the witnesses?  I don't obviously, I wasn't there. I've heard what they've said and see no reason to doubt the validity of their comments.  Do I believe what Sally Morgan says?  As she's a professional fraud, no I don't.

.YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3UANEflcX0

I just think it's important to penalise newspapers every time they publish unsubstantiated articles that damage individuals or communities.

Not for times like these, when most people know they're right, but for the other times, when most people don't know they're wrong.

Oh I agree.  The tabloids in this country are often guilty of awful 'journalism'.

This case reminds me of Cantona's kung-fu kick.  It was obviously wrong, and he was punished for it.  But the bloke he kicked turned out to be a NBP/NF supporter, so you can't feel sorry for the victim either.