StopSylviaBrowne - Email: Browne and the Campus Massacre

[RSLancastr]

New article up:

http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/email_browneandthecampusmassacre.shtml
Email: Sylvia Browne and the Campus Massacre
Did she predict a mass-murder on a campus this coming Halloween?

A brief article, but I wanted to get it on the site in time to do some good.

[shalomsteph]

I have been meaning to give you credit where credit is due, Mr. Lancaster, and debunking the rumors when she DIDN'T say them as well. It would be easy to just let people "think" she did indeed say even more evil things. You didn't and stayed true. Thanks for that.

I made another post about coast to coast's George Noory's disassociation with Browne. I can transcribe if you want if for your site-just PM me through this site. He is displeased with her over the Sago mine disaster. (Yes, I get the Streamlink)

[dacium2007]

More great work from Mr. Lancaster.

I fear however that there is nothing really useful in more to come from the site. She is obviously a fraud, but belivers are belivers.

[Carnivore]

More great work from Mr. Lancaster.

I fear however that there is nothing really useful in more to come from the site. She is obviously a fraud, but belivers are belivers.

Even supposing that all the former Sylvia supporters who have broken with her have been entirely uninfluenced by RSL's site, and even if we assume that no other believer will ever have their faith shaken by it, it is still incredibly valuable as a resource for people who are considering using Sylvia's "services" and reading up on her.

The site is becoming ever more valuable, and apparently is having an influence on the Sylvia camp as well as gaining wider exposure. The more comprehensive the information on Browne's career is, the more authoritative and influential the site becomes. Robert has already saved people from falling into Sylvia's claws, and his site will almost certainly protect more fence sitters looking into Browne for the first time.

Mr Lancaster, my hat is off to you, and I had to run upstairs to find a hat to take off. :)

[SeekingTruth]

Michael Devlin was on the news this morning. His attorney said he will be pleading guilty to the kidnapping of Shawn Hornbeck and the other boy. Since SB's notoriety became so widespread as a result of her failed prediction of Shawn's death - and because essentially that's what sparked the creation of the Stop Sylvia Browne website, his appearance in court may spark further interest in SB's blunder (s). Hence, more traffic to SSB and more people saved from "falling into her claws" as stated by Carnivore above.

ST

[alfaniner]

I believe that www.stopsylviabrowne.com was already in place a couple months before that event. However, that incident was what really raised the site to a more widespread audience.

[Locknar]

As always, great job. You continue to be the honest broker, addressing SB issues as they come to you vs just picking those that may "prove your point" (that she is a fraud). Well done.

[ExMinister]

Robert, another nice article - and even though it's just an unfounded rumor/urban legend, since it's being attributed to SB, hopefully the concerned parents who find their way to the site will be compelled to read further and discover that even though this rumor is false, there's lots more to the SB story than they realized.

[Kilgore Trout]

Good article, timely and interesting along with the Snopes article on the legend. Seems I just missed that when I went to Purdue. There's even an asylum not too far away (the same one Trashcan Man went to in the novel The Stand, actually..).

I do agree with the original emailer, though, even if this rumor didn't have anything to do with Sylvia.. She does need to be stopped. ;)

[sgf8]

Great job Robert. This article may help in the long haul to show how balanced and fair you are. (even though that was already obvious)

I love Snopes.com

Susan

[JoeTheJuggler]

One point you might wish to add is one you made in the article about the Pomeroy-Mason bridge rumor: Sylvia very rarely (if ever) makes a specific, tangible prediction that can be proven wrong in a relatively short time.

Edit: That's a good general rule for when your doubt should kick in--when you hear a story like that which sounds different than other things someone like Sylvia normally says.

Good job, Robert!

[Brown]

It is worth noting that an event of this kind has already occurred. On November 1, 1991 (the day after October 31, 1991), an individual named Gang Lu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_Lu) committed mass murder at the University of Iowa. There was a brief flurry of pseudoscientific crap stories to the effect that this mass murder had been predicted by psychics (who apparently had not quite enough foresight to do anything to prevent it).

[JoeTheJuggler]

It is worth noting that an event of this kind has already occurred. On November 1, 1991 (the day after October 31, 1991), an individual named Gang Lu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_Lu) committed mass murder at the University of Iowa.
And more recently at Virginia Tech, and in high schools and middle schools such as Columbine, Littleton, that Amish school not so long ago. . . . (Google "school massacre".)

Obviously these rumors start because of fears of these sorts of events happening again.

Edit: I forgot to mention the tower sniper at the University of Texas way back in 1966.

[sinclairmcevoy]

Nice work again. Fair and honest, a good balance.

[RSLancastr]

I have been meaning to give you credit where credit is due, Mr. Lancaster, and debunking the rumors when she DIDN'T say them as well. It would be easy to just let people "think" she did indeed say even more evil things. You didn't and stayed true. Thanks for that.Thanks, shalomsteph!

I made another post about coast to coast's George Noory's disassociation with Browne. I can transcribe if you want if for your site-just PM me through this site. He is displeased with her over the Sago mine disaster. (Yes, I get the Streamlink)I would be very interested in hearing that. I'll PM you, thanks.

More great work from Mr. Lancaster.Thanks, dacium!

I fear however that there is nothing really useful in more to come from the site. She is obviously a fraud, but belivers are belivers.Not true. I receive email almost daily from people who believed in Browne's "abilities" until they read the contents of the site.

If you mean that any other articles I put up would be redundant at this point, I disagree. I learned from my experience with the StopKaz site that just about every article is "the last straw" for some people. They might read about a dozen cases she gets wrong and think "well, she can't be right all the time", but the next one convinces them, either through cumulative effect, or that last one has a detail which strikes a chord with them.

Plus, there are topics which I have only touched on at this point, such as her atrocious record with her "annual predictions." I think those articles will hit home for a number of people.

Mr Lancaster, my hat is off to you, and I had to run upstairs to find a hat to take off. :)Thanks for the kind words, Carnivore!

Michael Devlin was on the news this morning. His attorney said he will be pleading guilty to the kidnapping of Shawn Hornbeck and the other boy.Interesting.

Since SB's notoriety became so widespread as a result of her failed prediction of Shawn's death - and because essentially that's what sparked the creation of the Stop Sylvia Browne website, his appearance in court may spark further interest in SB's blunder (s).I hope so, ST. But to correct a point: I announced the SSB site back in September of 2006, and it opened to the public in later November of 2006. Shawn Hornbeck was found - and an article appeared on the site about him - in January of 2007. So, Shawn's case is not what sparked the creation of the site, but is definitely what brought the site (and Browne's gaffes) to a wider audience.

I believe that www.stopsylviabrowne.com was already in place a couple months before that event. However, that incident was what really raised the site to a more widespread audience.What alfaniner said.

As always, great job. You continue to be the honest broker, addressing SB issues as they come to you vs just picking those that may "prove your point" (that she is a fraud). Well done.Thanks, Brick!

Robert, another nice article - and even though it's just an unfounded rumor/urban legend, since it's being attributed to SB, hopefully the concerned parents who find their way to the site will be compelled to read further and discover that even though this rumor is false, there's lots more to the SB story than they realized.I hope so too, EM.

Good article, timely and interesting along with the Snopes article on the legend.Thanks, Kilgore!

Great job Robert. This article may help in the long haul to show how balanced and fair you are. (even though that was already obvious)Thanks, sgf!

I love Snopes.comIt's a great resource.

One point you might wish to add is one you made in the article about the Pomeroy-Mason bridge rumor: Sylvia very rarely (if ever) makes a specific, tangible prediction that can be proven wrong in a relatively short time.I considered mentioning that. But I cranked that article out in just a few minutes. I had just gotten home after a six-hour drive, and was merely going to check my email before collapsing in bed. But after reading the email about the Campus Massacre, I felt it needed to be addressed ASAP to help others looking for info on it. If you read the email from me to the parent, it's not very stellar writing.

Good job, Robert!Thanks, Joe!

It is worth noting that an event of this kind has already occurred.Interesting...

And more recently at Virginia Tech, and in high schools and middle schools such as Columbine, Littleton, that Amish school not so long ago. . . . (Google "school massacre".)I believe that Brown was talking about a school massacre at Halloween time, which is what the urban legend purports.

[dacium2007]

I would be more interested in doing stuff about stopsylivabrowne.com, but she is pretty much USA only (some UK exposure), but outside of these counteries I think she is pretty much unknown. I have asked heaps of people over the last week and non of them in Australia have heard of her. Doesn't seem in australia we have anyone as bad as her.

[RSLancastr]

Doesn't seem in australia we have anyone as bad as her.I guess it all depends on how you define "bad: http://www.StopKaz.com

:)

[Enlighten]

KSU dispels killer rumor Psychic predicts mass murder on Halloween

Bedford Times Register, OH
October 13, 2007
By Dave O'Brien
Record-Courier staff writer

There's a killer rumor going around Kent State University: Apparently, television psychic Sylvia Browne recently predicted on Montel Williams' television talk show that a mass murder would take place at KSU on Halloween. More specifically, the killer would target a specific building on the Kent campus.

Horrible, surely. But untrue, and extremely unoriginal.
...


http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/2695131


Massacre legend recycled in Kent
KSU officials try to calm nerves of those worried urban myth will happen

By Carol Biliczky Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Friday, Oct 19, 2007
Akron Beacon Journal, OH

Kent State students may have to worry about coming up with just the right costume for Halloween.

But they don't have to worry about psychic Sylvia Browne's ''prediction'' of a massacre on campus.

This is the newest incarnation of an urban legend, one that crops up on college campuses every few years.
...


http://www.ohio.com/news/10662651.html

[sgf8]

I Heart Snopes.com

[Apology]

The ability to concede a point to one's opponent is a rare quality in this day and age, Mr. Lancaster. I think it speaks highly of your ethics as a writer. Nice article. :)