These psychics are the worst of the worst. The idea that people willingly give them tv time is so annoying.

Self promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Monday, March 31st, 2014 2:24pm PDT - promote requested by original submitter eric3579.

@eric3579
totally agree my man.
in the realm where i reside they are like roaches.

i used to run a metaphysical shop with my ex girlfriend years ago and there was a constant influx of charlatans and con artists trying to find a way to exploit and manipulate our customers.didnt help that my ex girlfriend almost ALWAYS bought that bullshit from the get-go.

i used to just play dumb to see how far they would dig themselves into a nice and tidy corner and then publicly humiliate them.

no matter how you slice it,this form of manipulation is bullying and preying on the emotionally weak and i despise anyone who practices this form of exploitation.

James Randi would have fun with her.

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by lurgee.

Oprah is another dim-bulb that promotes these types...
Seniors, in particular, are easy prey for these con artists, probably because they've lived long enough to see friends and family die.
My mother - suffering the early symptoms of dementia - put her and her 3rd husband deeply into debt because of these creeps. After she was institutionalized, I went through her paperwork and discovered the letters that she had written to various psychics asking for help. It broke my heart -- once they had her hooked they sent her endless letters each promising to reveal big secrets to her and she dutifully sent them money time and time again.
Ellen, show some backbone...

Maybe let her know. I think its a powerful story of the reality of how these frauds affect others http://www.ellentv.com/be-on-the-show/10/

Its a fuckin shame they get air time.

Jesus, that took 5 minutes to make a point that could have been made in 30 seconds.

"Psychics are con-artists, charlatans and evil scumbags who prey on the grieving using simple illusionist tricks that any 12 year old kid could be taught in a few minutes. Stop giving them air time"

There, done. Now Rebecca can get back to being freaked out when people invite her for a cup of coffee.

^ Ha i was wondering how long it would take.

Happy to oblige

Definitely would.. if only she hadn't turned down the offer to take the Randi test.

From Wiki:

"In 2012, the James Randi Educational Foundation awarded Caputo a Pigasus Award for being, in its view, the "psychic" performer who fooled the greatest number of people with the least effort in the preceding year. A Pigasus award was also given to TLC for continuing to air the show.[59] In an article published by Wired Magazine the organization's founder James Randi explained why he believed shows like Long Island Medium were deceptive and potentially harmful to its participants:

Why do these pseudo-psychic spectacles bother those of us at the James Randi Educational Foundation? First, and foremost: They are not true. [...] But much more importantly to us, such performances seem to prey on people at their most vulnerable moments — those who have suffered the loss of loved ones — and these mediums use such grief to make a buck. Psychologists tell us this keeps the grieving stuck in their grief, rather than going through the natural stages of acceptance that are healthy.
—James Randi[1]

In June of that year, Caputo appeared in a commercial for Priceline.com in which she portrayed herself "connecting" with the late Priceline Negotiator character previously played by William Shatner.[60] However, this commercial has sparked controversy, since the commercial appears to make light of the Native American belief of smudging.[61] JREF President DJ Grothe issued a statement decrying Priceline.com: "It is difficult to watch the show and not feel heartbroken for those who are desperate to hear from the departed... and even more so if they are being manipulated by a charlatan." Grothe urged the organization to have their new spokeswoman take the James Randi Million Dollar Challenge and prove her paranormal claims."

No shit! I had no clue. Thanks for the info.

This is supposed to be addressed to someone who isn't already a skeptic. I doubt your 30 second dismissal would be at all effective in that kind of context. Probably Rebecca's pitch wouldn't be effective either, but at least she's presenting evidence and reasons that have a chance of getting through.

Also, if you think Watson's reaction to the whole elevator incident counts as "freaking out", you haven't seen a good freak-out. She mentioned the incident and advised guys not to behave that way (which is pretty good advice, I think). How does that qualify as freaking out? You want to see a good freak-out, check out the ridiculously over-the-top response her one-minute mention of this incident got.

*debunked, *lies

Adding video to channels (Debunked, Lies) - requested by Zawash.

and this is what happens when you promote people who really are no better than you and I up to celebrity status. Im sure Ellen and Oprah are really nice people, but I will never understand the adulation bestowed upon them that allows them to make shitty decisions like promoting con artists and the like.

and before some of the trolls of the sift are tempted to turn what I said into something misogynistic. I feel the same way about actors/actresses, sports celebrities, or anyone who's opinion is automatically uprated merely because they're on TV or movies or have a lot of money. Luck, more than skill probably got them where they are today.

Meh, she's still presenting it really poorly. I *agree* with her and I struggled to watch this video. Someone who wasn't a skeptic would have switched it off in the first 30 seconds.

And while I was joking about her "freaking out", and I agree that parts of the response to it were horrific (threats of rape, etc), it doesn't make her initial statement (that a polite, even respectful invitation is somehow threatening) any less ridiculous.

Yeah, I agree it's not the best put-together video I've seen. The point could definitely have been made in a more effective manner. I don't think it's horrible though.

As for the elevator thing, it's probably not a great idea to re-litigate that topic now. Suffice it to say that I disagree with your assessment of the circumstances. If the "invitation" actually occurred in the way she represented it, it didn't seem particularly polite or respectful.

How about let's ask them to stop putting ANY supernatural bullshit on TV as fact. If people want to believe in magic, that's their problem. If people want to say publicly that magic is real and controls your life (just send money and we'll explain how to manipulate that for a better life), they should all be jailed for fraud. Yes, that includes preachers and clergy, but is not limited to them.

EDIT: or better yet, how about petitioning our representatives to create a law making it illegal to ask for money for anything 'supernatural'? If they want to pretend their magic is real for free, that's fine I guess. That would get most of them out of the racket.

It's such a cheap move, to bring on a psychic... it makes her look like Montel or Ricki or Springer or any number of other fluffy wastes-of-daytime. Ellen should be above it. Good move, invoking the memory of Carson.

Hey Anderson Cooper, same question directed here at Ellen also applies to you.

Don't watch TV at all and have never seen her show, but I wrote in anyway (thanks @eric3579 for the link).
So should you. I've had the impression she's a pretty intelligent and considerate person, so hopefully the sentiment ends up in her hands in some form.

I have an ex which got me involved in this whole "Mystery School" thing and I regret the money dumped into that racket.

Well... no, no, it was a pretty decent experience getting my body felt up by a group of mostly women during "Reiki" sessions and the weird goddess orgies -- not too shabby for an ignorant white boy.

Those folks who are criticizing the way this video was put together -- you have completely missed who it was made for. It was made for ELLEN DEGENERES. The person. The TV host. Not you, not the masses. She is trying to get Ellen to back off from giving air time.

I thought she did a great job in achieving her goal. I'm sure Ellen will be shown this vid.

She might even change her mind about having her on.

And isn't that a good thing? No TV exposure, this is a good thing, yes?

HEY GUESS WHAT ???

RELIGION IS THE SAME FUCKING THING

No.. that's a different argument entirely. Religion at least has a baseline of morality you can fall back upon and say that it can promote at least a modicum of good.

This broad, however, literally preys upon those who are in a grief spiral, offering promises of comfort through nothing more than deception.

Don't get me wrong, push comes to shove, I'll tear apart religions with the best of them.. but I can at least see a small merit in religion.

1) it's clearly not for Ellen alone. It's the 21st century equivalent of the open letter. It's meant to have mass appeal so Ellen will see it. Somehow I doubt Ellen watches every video she's sent and even if she just sent it privately...

2) that's no excuse for the condescending tone and the poorly presented argument. Ellen is no doubt a busy woman and will only ever hear a summary of this anyway.

3) Ellen is not a complete idiot. I'm sure she's aware of the criticisms against psychics. So that means she either a) believes in psychics, b) doesn't put any stock in the criticisms or c) knows they're frauds, but figures they get good ratings.

And yes, it would be fantastic if this worked. If it does, I will publicly stand up and applaud skepchick. But I really wish she'd done a better job of this. For someone who makes a living doing this kinda thing, it's just really poorly done IMO.

edit: And just for the record, I didn't realise it was Watson when I first watched it.

It is more likely that Ellen will see the whole thing if it goes viral. Hence the "open letter" aspect.

And there is where we get down to it, isn't it? Your opinion, my opinion. Yours carries no more weight than mine, yeah?

Of course.

My opinion is that this is well-intentioned, but poorly executed. Not enough to merit a downvote, but I can't upvote it either. Clearly however, I am in the minority on this one.

But that's cool. Sharing our opinions (both positive and negative) on these videos is the raison d'etre of this site.

N'est ce pas?

Call em for what they are VoodooV, no need to candy-coat the sentiment or facts, they're media whores be they black, fe-male, she-male, cunt-bag or douche-nozzle, they all milk off the same teat of distract and subvert while being paid to fuck minds with tired programming-Celebrity is the double-edged sword wielded usually to lure dumb motherfuckers into programmed oblivion-Never trust anyone who's 'nice' to everyone and seems to smile more than they fucking remember to breathe-Usually a shit-sandwich buried under the free crisps there a-waiting for ya in the lunch pail...Fuck Ellen and fuck the shit outta Oprah and her skinny-fat-fat-skinny-book-of-the-week-peddlin' ass..... they are opportunistic shit-heals the both of em. doing but nothing meaningful for the planet besides foot-printing carbon more than you or I and our minions combined...

And to alll the trolls who love to call the same on others with dissenting opinions?? Fuck You where you live.