Q: Then you’re in a position to help people. How can people spot a “cold read” or tell a fraud from someone legit?

A: Well, it should be really specific. People have to watch for the general stuff, Mark, OK? I’ve seen some mediums on the platform demonstrating, and they’ll come to someone and say, “I have your grandmother here, she’s a lovely woman.” And I swear to God, they’re always little women with round faces and a bun. And I’m like, I’d rather get — like last night I did a group, and I got this woman who was so educated, I kept straightening up my back, and she was so serious, this woman.

I can joke with those on the other side if they have a joking personality. But if they can bring through the personality of someone, Mark, or nicknames, or mannerisms, then I feel they’re real. They need to stay away from the general stuff, Mark, “I have your grandmother here, she loves you.” Well, no [expletive]! More evidence. Because I trained in England, Mark, and they are really big, big, big into evidence.

This question struck a major chord with me, especially in light of Monday’s post. I enjoyed reading Mark Rahner’s article, where he interviews popular psychic John Holland about the afterlife, whether or not The Medium or Ghost Whisperer adequately portrays psychics, and other related topics. This article had me chuckling at times, especially when Rahner asks John Holland if he has received any messages from John McCain.

Source: Seattle Times

Britain’s Consumer Protection Regulations is set to pass on May 26, 2008, which will ban 31 types of unfair sales practices which include bogus closing-down sales, prize-draw scams, aggressive sales solicitations. It will also crack down on rogue traders who have used loopholes for unfair trading practices. So, what’s got the psychic community in an uproar?

Promises to raise the dead, secure good fortune or heal through the laying on of hands are all at risk of legal action from disgruntled customers.

The Consumer Protection Regulations will replace the Fraudulent Mediums Act. Once the regulations go into effect, all UK mediums will be required to cite a list of disclaimers before they launch into their regimen. Legitimate mediums have no protection against consumers, who could easily sue them for real or alleged fraud. The medium will have to prove to the court that they did not intentionally mislead, coerce or take advantage of the client’s vulnerability for financial gain.

Carole McEntee-Taylor, a spiritualist healer in Essex, said having to stand up and describe the invoking of spirits as an ‘experiment’ was forcing spiritualists to ‘lie and deny our beliefs’. She added: ‘No other religion has to do that. And how can you tell if someone is vulnerable? You would have to ask them if they felt vulnerable, or had mental health issues, or were of a nervous disposition.’

Her husband, David, says, “It is taking a religion, a way of life, and making it a commercial transaction.”

While Carole makes some good points about determining people’s emotional and psychological dispositions, I find it hard to swallow that spiritual healing or psychic mediumship is a religion. Yes, spiritualism is a way of life and a religion. But when you require people to pay for your services, then your readings are considered a commercial transaction by law. Churches do not require their members to pay a fee at the door before they are allowed to attend Sunday services. Rather, members give donations to support the church and the various charity causes they run. There’s a big difference.

The couple plans to present a petition to 10 Downing Street on April 18th. I think there’s a good chance that the courts will overturn it and pass the law, which is a long time in coming. The psychic business has grown into a multi-million dollar industry both in the UK and the US, rampant with fraudsters who are looking to make themselves wealthy off of people’s miseries. It’s high time that this industry saw some regulation.

Source: Guardian.co.uk

Staff writer Wes Helbling hatched the idea as an April Fool’s Day prank. I went out to the Bonne Idee to find a suitable setting for a photograph we’d use as a background to superimpose an image of an alleged bigfoot.

By the time I got back, he’d finished the story. I took a look at it, and though it was well written, I exercised my editorial license. I changed a reference Wes used that the couple involved in the story had just returned from vacationing in Roswell, New Mexico. For the uninitiated, Roswell is the site of the most famous (or infamous) UFO sighting in U.S. history. We put up spending some time at Poverty Point.

Apparently, the story was a bit too believable for a few too many folks.

Here is the original story. As far as fake photos go, they did a good job with this one. According to the sheriff, people all over that town buzzed about this “sighting”. When a reporter called to do a story about bigfoot Wednesday morning, the staff writer, the sheriff, and the captain of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries had no choice but to admit this was a prank in the spirit of April Fool’s.

When looking to buy a house, make sure to question the current owners if they want to sell the house with everything in it. Because chances are, there is a very good and unpleasant reason they want to get rid of everything. Gaetano Bastianelli thought he was getting a deal of the century when he bought a modern home in the Umbrian town of Spoleto in 2005. Little did he know that he and his family would spend the next three years enduring horrific paranormal events, such as finding luminous green mold all over the walls every morning.

Why the Bastianellis didn’t move out sooner than they did makes me suspicious of his claims. At any rate, Bastianelli may very well win this case because of a 1490 Italian law which requires residents to inform prospective buyers of anything that is wrong with the house. Also, research confirms that an exorcism of a girl took place in the house in 1977.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk