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Ghoul visits Vancouver

By pharyngula on August 16, 2010.

This is a good way to do it: when the fortune-telling, pseudo-necromancer John Edward showed up in Vancouver to do his ridiculous cold-reading act, CFI met his deluded followers with information and honesty. It was a sad spectacle; many of the attendees were desperate, bereaved people, there for a little hope and getting fleeced instead (tickets were $200!)

It sounds like they did everything just right. The only reservation I have is…where were the media? This is the kind of event where contacting a few newspapers and television and radio stations beforehand, and publicizing the protest, is an essential force multiplier — and the news media love a controversy. They're planning another event when the odious James Van Praagh, another phony speaker to the dead, comes to town, and getting a newspaper op-ed or a minute on television can provoke in interesting ways.

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Skepticism

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