Firstly, hello to a certain co-worker who said she’s checked out my site! You might even like to suggest something I could investigate for you. Simply pop in a comment at the end of this post. And hello to your husband as well. 
Sylvia Browne. What to say? After following her efforts to silence Robert Lancaster, who I met at TAM5, I’m hardly surprised that she’s turning to claiming that ‘she’s human’ after a career that has been depicted as someone who ‘…makes a fortune saying very serious, cruel, show-stopping things to people in distress, especially, it seems, when she’s in a grumpy mood‘.
“What are you trying to tell the world with your memoirs?
It’s time people know that I’m human. I get so sick and tired of people walking around acting holier than thou.
…and what really struck me?
Aren’t some psychics bogus?
Charlatans, the field is full of them. I’ve fought them all my life. Please call them up and see if they have licences, call the Better Business Bureau and Chamber of Commerce. You don’t want to go to someone with a cardboard table with cards.
Well, it’s good to know that there are indeed places that one can report bogus claims – here’s one in Australia that 
addresses psychics called The Little Black Book of Scams, produced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. But how many have fallen through if her efforts are still being promoted, though? I am again reminded of Jon Ronson’s investigation, from The Guardian:
There’s a website called stopsylvia.com. A computer programmer called Robert Lancaster created it as a hobby. He does it because, he writes, “I found her work with missing children to be incredibly offensive.” The site assiduously details many of the notable occasions she’s got it wrong. In the FAQ section, Lancaster asks:
Q: Do you think Sylvia believes she is psychic?
A: No, I do not.
Famous sceptics such as James Randi say Sylvia is not a silly, deluded person who believes herself to be psychic. They say she’s a callous fraud. She’s just a good cold reader.
However, the experience that Ronson has, indicates the opposite is true – that her skills really aren’t even that impressive:
“Then there was Opal Jo Jennings,” I say.
Sylvia looks blankly at me. “Back in 1999,” I say.
Sylvia still looks blank. “You said she was sold into white slavery in Japan but actually she was dead,” I prompt.
“I don’t remember that case at all,” Sylvia says.
“Little girl,” I say. “She’d been killed but you said she’d been sold into white slavery in Japan.”
“No,” Sylvia says. She shakes her head. “Don’t remember that. Not at all. All I remember was that kid Van.”
“Shawn,” I say.
“Van Hornwell?” Sylvia says.
“Shawn Hornbeck,” I say.
“Yeah. Hornbeck,” Sylvia says. “I don’t remember the Japanese girl at all.” She pauses. “Look,” she says, “no psychic – and this is what they don’t understand – can ever be 100%. That’s God.”
I won’t be buying her book – but I’m certain that it won’t stop others from checking it out – so I hope they check out Stop Sylvia.com as well.
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And then there’s this from last month…
Sylvia Browne has one less fan
Wahh, I remember that, thanks for reminding me!
I have a bit of a problem with the “Book of Scams” in as much as it seems to imply that it’s only a scam if the psychic approaches you with an offer or promise in exchange for cash.
I guess that’s their way, Andy, of reflecting that they only can go so far… if it’s your mother-in-law, doing readings at the old-folk’s home for fun and no profit… should she be prosecuted?
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