Psychic continues to maintain accuracy level by failing to find missing person

Back in May and June EoR looked at the efforts by Chris Roubis to psychically locate missing person Hayley Dodd. In summary, Mr Roubis "saw":

• She was buried under an oak tree near a creek within a 20 mile radius of where she was picked up


• There are other young girls buried in the area


• The culprit is 40+ (but looks young for his age) with dark brown or black hair and a moustache, big, 5.7 - 5.9", Aboriginal, has a scar on his face, is also White and with tattoos on his arms


• He has also killed 3-6 other girls


• He has killed 3 girls and 1 boy


• He lives in the area in a duplex and probably has mental problems


• The oak tree could be a "huge" tree

Astute readers will note that these guesses are either self-contradictory, or so vague as to be useless (since Hayley Dodd disappeared in 1999, it would be safe to assume that anyone who killed her would be around 40+ now, for example). Other psychics are called upon, muddying the waters even further, suggesting it was an Aboriginal in his forties at the time, or two people, and names are known (but not, of course, named). After the relevant thread was commented on by another sceptical blogger, various threats were made, the psychic believers turned on each other, and the thread was eventually closed to the public.

Mr Roubis has now started up another thread which, if the subject matter wasn't so serious, and the random guesses probably so painful for the family of Hayley Dodd, would be the stuff of farce.

Margaret Dodd has been played with over the years by fakes and opportunists, but that is no excuse to be playing with us....

Even when, no matter how deludedly you believe you are 'psychic', you are one of the fakes and opportunists?

A poster claiming to be Margaret Dodd (and quite possibly is) asked for some information known only to her and Hayley in order to gauge the self-titled psychic's truth. Sceptics will realise this is the one thing psychics can't provide, unless the person first gives it to them so that it can be stated back as a 'fact' revealed by 'spirits'.

And as for your negative comments towards me i feel you are being unjust. Rember when you first started the forum on Hayley and the information was so far from the truth? You said sorry deleated the post and said that you had been misslead by fake psychic's and you should have trusted in yourself. Are you supprised that i am a sceptic when you are also misslead by other psychic. I am sorry that people on your forum are bickering and because of this i agree the best thing you can do is close it down because it is not helping to find Hayley.

Far from newage hoslistc caring-and-sharing people, psychics are the most self-centred individuals around it would seem. Mr Roubis calls in a psychic from the US who, like all the other psychics, clearly fails to make any progress, and then storms off in a huff:

Now this lady from USA is so annoyed by peoples lack of respect.. that she will never ever help anyone regarding this missing case...

Yes, she can solve this case. But she won't now! She's taking her crystal ball, and she's going home! You see: farce and tragedy combined, in the person of a psychic throwing a tantrum that would make a two year old proud.

As if the failures, invective and bitterness weren't enough to prove how useless and timewasting 'psychics' are, Mr Roubis unfortunately posts a chat transcript with a "lovely US Psychic that i brought in to help with the case.."* There is an amusing (and lengthy) passage where Mr Roubis and Lovely Psychic attempt to use Google Earth. Mr Roubis keeps sending her links to the relevant page, but she can't seem to get Google Earth to work for her... Why a psychic needs to use Google Earth in the first place is beyond EoR, especially since she's in 'contact' with Hayley Dodd, but then why she can't get it to work stuns him (aren't there any geek spirits around to provide guidance for her on how to use a web browser?). Later she has to take a break to go to the shop for "fags & choc". This really is one classy and professional psychic.

Lovely Psychic is clearly a proponent of cold reading (ask questions, and hope the suckers give you confirmatory information that you can parrot back at them) since she keeps complaining that "see i need her mother for this" and at one point asking for "pics whatever she can provide or the cops" to help her. At one stage (while she's 'communicating' on the ethereal planes with Hayley) she asks Mr Roubis if Hayley has a sister. Doesn't Hayley know this herself? The scamming is so blatant how can anyone fall for it? She also has "some kind of stepfather or uncle" and, when this isn't confirmed, "a male role model." So, the guesses become vaguer and vaguer, in the desperate attempt to try and match something, even if it might apply to virtually the whole human race. Hayley shows "a small dog". There's nothing to say she owns it, or her family owns it, or she had a dog once, or someone she knew had a dog once, or maybe she saw a dog once. Who knows? Who cares? What's the relevance? As far as EoR can determine, the only true statement she ever makes is:

this is just wastin time

Out of the mouths of babes and charlatans...

She claims that Hayley Dodd is buried in bush 10 feet from a gravel road. And there are buildings and signs. There are lots of gravel roads in the country. And buildings. And signs. And her 'guesses' confict completely with the other guesses made earlier by the other brilliant psychics (and this time, we're back to only one culprit, and he has "some kind of pitchfork in his hand" — could it be the Devil?).

None of the psychics seem to have foreseen that a prisoner would claim to be the murderer (though at this stage it is only hearsay, and there is no proof that he wasn't just confabulating to other prisoners).

EoR waits with baited breath to see how long the current revelatory thread lasts.

---

*True to form, Mr Roubis has edited the thread, removing the transcript of the chat session between himself and the "lovely" psychic. In the interests of proving that you can never delete anything once it has been placed on the internet, and in the belief that psychics should be exposed for their rambling inaccuracies, EoR preserves here the full transcript (and, yes, the original was in blue):

marymagdolane1: i can locate this girl can see the rd an area of bushes she is passed love
marymagdolane1: strangulation
GraFix: ok
GraFix: ty
marymagdolane1: I am not going to tell the mother that immediately
marymagdolane1: i see a sign further back also this is a gravel rd
GraFix: the mother cannot view the private forum
GraFix: so u can put it in there
marymagdolane1: im worried about others confusing love at this point im not reading theres right now till i focus
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: this girls been gone a while love hu
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: they've searched this area with dogs but missed it
marymagdolane1: damn wish it was over here nto gonna be able to walk there bit too far for me to go love
GraFix: that would be cool
marymagdolane1: i can see the rd i can see the bushes she's like 10feet in
GraFix: wow
marymagdolane1: this is what i do i walk it in my mind remote view
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: connect to the person & it just falls one after the other like a puzzle
GraFix: there are maps in the forum if u want to see
marymagdolane1: man , friend, pic ,road, Bush, sign<
marymagdolane1: now a map i can look at just not worded info
marymagdolane1: & her pic
marymagdolane1: i keep seeing this young man with some kind of pitch fork looking thing
marymagdolane1: chatting to her
marymagdolane1: friendly at this point
marymagdolane1: like "hey how r yu"
GraFix: map is in the forums and u can also use google earth
marymagdolane1: she's a bit shy
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: see diff scenarios leading up coming in now
marymagdolane1: whats the place called just the name of the nearest town
marymagdolane1: no specifics though just place
GraFix: hang on
marymagdolane1: i will look at it on google
GraFix: Badjingara township, Brand highway & North West Road.
marymagdolane1: whooaa north west rd
marymagdolane1: hold up
GraFix: in Western Australia
marymagdolane1: ffs
marymagdolane1: wont bring it up as typed
GraFix: do u have google earth?
marymagdolane1: whooa
marymagdolane1: dense area
GraFix: http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&rl ... a=N&tab=wl
marymagdolane1: yeah lookin at brand highway but want that rd
GraFix: focus in more it will show the names
marymagdolane1: kk
marymagdolane1: here we go
marymagdolane1: im on satillite
GraFix: great
GraFix: clik on earth
GraFix: u will see everything
marymagdolane1: k downloading
marymagdolane1: yep thats what i want specific area
marymagdolane1: like im walkin there
GraFix: ye
marymagdolane1: i feel her in spirit hon in the distance here she's startin to connect
GraFix: great
marymagdolane1: her mothers had a llot a bs thrown at her from cops also they dont know wtf there doin
marymagdolane1: so much confusion
marymagdolane1: from get go
marymagdolane1: & they did not move fast enough
GraFix: yep
marymagdolane1: this man is still out there he knows it is one man
marymagdolane1: but others know some details
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: he has told at least two people
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: seh did not suffer allot dear
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: it was frustration on his part
marymagdolane1: like a snap
GraFix: ok
GraFix: did he work on the farm with the others?
GraFix: was it the one hayley was visiting?
marymagdolane1: mm sorta kinda he was different though
GraFix: going to
marymagdolane1: fromt he others
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: they may have questioned this man i feel hes very quiet unnassuming
marymagdolane1: young though
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: teens to 20s
marymagdolane1: early
GraFix: so the guy she liked was the one that did this?
marymagdolane1: they had chatted would'nt like to say it was "the" one
marymagdolane1: as of yet
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: depends if this guy fits the description of the dark hair 5'8 i can see him in my mind
GraFix: so he met her on the road?
marymagdolane1: yes
marymagdolane1: she was walking
GraFix: he gave her a lift?
marymagdolane1: no he had no vehicle
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: he has some kind of pitchfork in his hand like hes working
GraFix: so he just dragged her to the bushes?
marymagdolane1: stop love lol
marymagdolane1: i have to let it comet hrough as is
GraFix: sorry
marymagdolane1: dont put shit in my head hahahah
marymagdolane1: bless ya
GraFix: hehe
marymagdolane1: he was walking chatting as far as i can see it was a snap thing
GraFix: oh
marymagdolane1: fffs this is takin forever to unload
marymagdolane1: im gonna run out & get some fags
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: this has got me gripped now babe
GraFix: can i post this text in the forums if u like?
marymagdolane1: hold up first i dont want anyone puttin there ore in yet lol i really want to speak to this mother so i hope she emails me i dont think she'd want this out there till i speak to her it would be bad for her
GraFix: its a private forum
marymagdolane1: plus the cops are stillinvestigating they have not closed the case yet right
GraFix: she cannot see it
marymagdolane1: no its a few of the folks in there love one specifically not yu baby i trust yu totally
marymagdolane1: someone could get to her
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: on face book iven if the innocentely mentioned it elsewhere
marymagdolane1: yu get my meaning love
marymagdolane1: its not about me not about them its about the family & the girl
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: & she can then choose to share the info witht he cops or not
marymagdolane1: this is how i work i tell them this innitially yu can choose to use what i give yu or not
marymagdolane1: out of respect for them i never go around them to the cops
marymagdolane1: or to others
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: kk babe be right back this things takin forever to download anyway
marymagdolane1: oh & definately yu save the text if yu can
GraFix: ok i will
GraFix: ty
marymagdolane1: cause sometimes i will forget things i have received
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: well just been to store got fags & choc i eat allot when i do this cause of the energy drain love, still this has not downloaded
marymagdolane1: i asked haley to try & come through clearer, she is disturbed ont he other side love, I've asked her to come through for her mum & tell me does she have a sister
marymagdolane1: sorry askin yu that does she have a sister?
GraFix: yes
marymagdolane1: kk
marymagdolane1: she gives this to me
marymagdolane1: while i was int he car she was distressed somewhat its her passing they can stay like this sometimes for many of our yrs
GraFix: ok
GraFix: poor thing
marymagdolane1: but she definately needs help there & her family need help here desperately
marymagdolane1: & I will try my damdest to clear this
GraFix: ty
marymagdolane1: this has gone on way to long
GraFix: yes
marymagdolane1: tell me also i sense some kind of stepfather earthbound or uncle close to her
GraFix: probably
marymagdolane1: a male role model
marymagdolane1: see i need her mother for this
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: the more i connect with others earthbound around her the clearer she will respond
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: she is untrusting
marymagdolane1: she's a wee girl
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: small in stature
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: shy but friendly
marymagdolane1: she's also showing me a small dog
marymagdolane1: earthbound
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: here again i need her mother
marymagdolane1: have yu ever spoken with the mother
marymagdolane1: this momans had enuff of bs
marymagdolane1: w
GraFix: i just messaged her to email u on her facebook
marymagdolane1: so many want something from her
marymagdolane1: want to get in on the act so to speak or have done
marymagdolane1: that pisses me off
GraFix: ye
marymagdolane1: thats why i will give her others to email so she can trust me first
marymagdolane1: i have two in australia she can talk to
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: is this supposed to take this long to download
marymagdolane1: on the phone with one of my clients brb
GraFix: no not that long, go back to satellite
marymagdolane1: kk
marymagdolane1: k off phone i have saved google earth instead of opened now i dont know where it is hahaha
marymagdolane1: aahh s my firewall
GraFix: http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&rl ... adgingarra township, Brand highway & North West Road.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl
marymagdolane1: ok earth is downloading properly now
marymagdolane1: bless ya lol
GraFix: lol no bless you my darling girl
marymagdolane1: see i have to work two seperate areas i have the remote viewing psychic end & the spirit end with her personal info & then conjoin them
marymagdolane1: the circle narrows as i go
GraFix: awesome ty
marymagdolane1: it is no accident yu told me about this ya know love
GraFix: oh i bet it wasnt
marymagdolane1: & yu are an intricut part of this procedure
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: person connects with another 7 another etc
marymagdolane1: &
GraFix: agreed
marymagdolane1: i promise yu i will not give up on this for this family
GraFix: ty
marymagdolane1: noone should have to deal with this for so long
GraFix: true
marymagdolane1: k now i dont know how much yu know about the police but was there a mother of a young man questioned yu may not know this
marymagdolane1: im on earth now about to start roaming
GraFix: probably was mary
marymagdolane1: yep get the mother of this young man
marymagdolane1: but haleys mother probably can answer these
marymagdolane1: there are two national parks in this vacinity but not feeling there
marymagdolane1: caravan park
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: i cant get the rds its this rd i want
GraFix: focus in more, u may see it on the map
marymagdolane1: do yu have this rd pinpointed on yur map on yur site
GraFix: yes
GraFix: have a look at the pics in therte
GraFix: or let me show u
marymagdolane1: yeah i gotta get to that rd
marymagdolane1: this is just wastin time
marymagdolane1: the terrain is so large
marymagdolane1: allot a small towns
marymagdolane1: theres a building to the right of where she's walking but in the distance
marymagdolane1: im surrised none of these psychics have pulled to this place
marymagdolane1: this rd
marymagdolane1: p
GraFix: ok hang on
marymagdolane1: kk babe sorry love
marymagdolane1: damn if i could just go there sucks donnit
GraFix: http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=coocle ... =en&tab=wl
GraFix: true
GraFix: Badgingarra
GraFix: follow north west road
GraFix: in western australia
marymagdolane1: this is just not close enuff
marymagdolane1: i can see this singular small rd
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: like a side rd
marymagdolane1: do ya get my meaning
marymagdolane1: off the beaten track
marymagdolane1: thats teh problem
marymagdolane1: i have to span out
marymagdolane1: if i were in the area i could see with my own eyes & recognise it
marymagdolane1: i have to focus more on the situation that incurred the family the girl
marymagdolane1: i do know that right close to this spot there is a large building that does'nt look like it belongs in the terraine
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: this young man no longer is in this area
marymagdolane1: but so much shit surrounding it he says she says confusion
marymagdolane1: in the end the cops lost there focus
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: see i had one once where the child was near a lake problem was there were two lakesi felt swamp land & the body on top of the water wetness she was inbetween the two lakes in bogged area i got confused between under water & above water
GraFix: oh ok
marymagdolane1: its the same with anything singular we get a spot sometimes we can see the exact spot its pinpointing the surrounding area for people to look, when im at a place i get a body pull like magnetics
GraFix: wow awesome
marymagdolane1: i see buildings signs etc
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: when from a distance
marymagdolane1: i also have had a few where im the person being murdered or the murderer in there thoughts, or standing outside of them looking in
marymagdolane1: its like snap shots click click click
GraFix: cool
marymagdolane1: how do yu do this
marymagdolane1: i find psychics do this in different ways
marymagdolane1: & some are just psychics & not mediums
GraFix: i just get images
marymagdolane1: can yu focus on the individuals moving
GraFix: not yet
marymagdolane1: yu need to yu can do this graf
marymagdolane1: yu have studied metaphysics the physics of this
GraFix: im not going to push, i always blok myself
marymagdolane1: yeah thats common early on love just relax let it flow in collect yur thoughts on paper if yu have to & put them together
GraFix: ty i'll try
marymagdolane1: see this is why i like to have a family member cause the more connection i have to them the clearer it becomes
GraFix: understandable
marymagdolane1: i had an australian lady come through on my facebook i did not add her she did not add me we were like who r yu? turns out her son had died a yr earlier he came through right here in my room, she had never heard of mediums so i had to explain why this had happened & her son then prodeded to give me info, she sent me a huge package of ausy stuff a few weeks ago to thank me bless her we are close friends now
marymagdolane1: see how spirit connects us
GraFix: awww
marymagdolane1: i also sent her to anothe rmedium friend of mine in the uk for her healing partwe must all share it is important to bring all of us in
marymagdolane1: accept for the wannabees that harm lol
GraFix: true
marymagdolane1: i am going to focus on this later love she is with me haley just in the distance I will be able to bring her in eventually, but cant emphasis enuff the mother input this is her keyhopefully she will email me.
GraFix: ok ty
marymagdolane1: oh ic
marymagdolane1: yu should send her what yu saved yesterday
marymagdolane1: but i will also email her
GraFix: ok
GraFix: so she maybe 10 feet from the road?
marymagdolane1: so she can check with others before she speaks with me i want her to feel comfortable otherwise she will block me
marymagdolane1: theres no maybe its which section of rd
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: thats where im having the issue i need to see the actual place surrounding area
marymagdolane1: pics whatever she can provide or the cops
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: i can see it in my mind clearly & this building to the right of where she was walking
marymagdolane1: i can see the man
GraFix: wow
marymagdolane1: i just have to have verification of some things
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: now her body is clearly gonna be mostely gone
marymagdolane1: but there are fragments
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: yu have animals there also digging
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: sorry to be blunt but these are the facts
GraFix: yep
marymagdolane1: it is actually better for me to discuss these things with the cops directely the mother is too emmotional of course
GraFix: true
marymagdolane1: but i will not do that with out her go ahead
GraFix: ok
marymagdolane1: the family is the most important part of this as i said yesterday

marymagdolane1: & as for the haley case the mother is very quiet love im not sure if she wants to deal witht his
GraFix: oh ok ty for trying
marymagdolane1: her trust is destroyed seemingly
marymagdolane1: I sent her an email back & said I will give her or yu any info I get & she can do with it what she will
GraFix: ok ty
GraFix: ty for trying
marymagdolane1: It almost feels like & I may be wrong, that she does'nt want to know yu get my meaning
marymagdolane1: like it would be too hard for her the reality
GraFix: i understand

Psi-porn

Sceptics can rest easy, now that psychic powers have been scientifically proven. Even better, the magic powers are enhanced when porn is involved.

The suitably science-fictionally named Professor Daryl Bem of Cornell University has had a paper accepted by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology which h+ claims

presents some rather compelling empirical evidence that in some cases — and with weak but highly statistically significant accuracy – many human beings can directly perceive the future. Not just predict it based on the past.

EoR isn't sure what "weak but highly statistically significant" means. That the psi powers are really tiny (but that we're certain they're really tiny)?

h+ does, however, include some interesting graphs showing, among other things, that Christians are more likely to believe in ESP than any other group.

The paper has led to some trippy postmodernist 'reality is what you make it' because quantum physics is all weird and hard to understand and lets you claim anything you want is possible style musing, also repeated at Psychology Today (and which Bem also argues for in his paper).

So if we accept that these psi phenomena are real, how then can we explain them without throwing out our entire understanding of time and physics? Well, the truth is that these effects are actually pretty consistent with modern physics' take on time and space. For example, Einstein believed that the mere act of observing something here could affect something there, a phenomenon he called "spooky action at a distance."

Personally, EoR never crosses a road, precisely because of the uncertainty of just where exactly that truck is, and whether it's about to pass him, or has already passed.

Quantum physics: it works at the quantum level, so it must work at the macro level. In which case, it would be called just physics.

io9 also report on the experiments:

For instance, in one experiment Bem gathered 100 subjects, half male and half female. Using a computerized system, they then played a game in which two curtains were displayed on the screen and the subjects had to choose which one had a picture hiding behind it. Some of these pictures were neutral in content. Others were chosen at random by the computer from a database of semi-erotic and erotic photos (hey, looks like science isn't boring after all).

The result: In cases where an erotic photo was lurking behind the curtain the subjects were able to accurately identify which curtain it was behind with 53.4 percent accuracy – not a huge statistical spike but significantly better than the 50 percent accuracy rate that could be expected by chance. The accuracy rates were not as high for non-stimulating images, which fell more or less in line with raw statistical chance. This suggests that the subjects could somehow sense the erotic stimuli that awaited them before it happened.

To get an idea of how close the differences are that are being claimed here, Experiment 5: Retroactive Habituation I (p.31) of Bem's paper notes, for example (EoR's emphasis):

Women achieved a significant hit rate on the negative pictures, 53.6%, t(62) = 2.25, p = .014, d = 0.28; but men did not, 52.4%, t(36) = 0.89, p = .19, d = 0.15. This sex difference is not statistically significant

Experiment 7 used 200 undergraduates and found (p.37):

Across all 200 sessions, the hit rate was in the predicted direction but not significantly different from chance, 49.1%, t(199) = -1.31, p = .096, d = 0.09. (I now wish I had simply continued to use subliminal exposures.) Nevertheless, stimulus seeking was again positively correlated with psi performance (lower hit rates)

Other experiments had either 150 undergraduates (in two experiments) or 100 (in the rest). Occam's Razor would seem to indicate that, like any truly random process, greater numbers approximate more closely to statistically expected outcomes, rather than psychically altered differences, which appears to be what is happening here.

EoR, meanwhile, is off to randomly click on interweb links, now that he knows they'll very likely be pr0n.

More talking to animals

Oh dear. Yet another magic woman who chats to animals. And heals.

She also regularly receives "planetary wisdom" from whales and rays. The exact nature of this wisdom is not specified, but it doesn't seem to be working:

Madeleine Walker uses her skills of holistic stress management and psycho-neuro-immunology to promote the concept of the healing power of the mind to communicate with the body and facilitate self healing. Madeleine also incorporates the healing potential of colour and imagery to release blocked emotions or irrational negative self-belief patterns.

Holistic stress management and psycho-neuro-immunology? Where's Hari Seldon when you need him? It can't be working though, because it clearly isn't removing the irrational self-belief patterns she espouses.

She can make up a story just by receiving a photograph, a hair sample and, most importantly, some money.

Upon forming a loving bond with your animals’ energy Madeleine opens a communication channel enabling your animal friend to describe past trauma’s, explain their past life connection with you through their reincarnation, advise on your health issues and issues within the home and family. Animals may also provide a link to loved ones in spirit.

Swoon at her heartbreaking dolphin story (heartbreaking especially because of the terrible colour scheme she uses — pink on pink? Really — which guinea pig or reincarnated gerbil suggested that would be a good idea?).

Having swum with wild dolphins I had not considering a visit to this or any resort which kept these marvelous creatures captive prior to receiving this message. the other dolphins there ’told’ me her name was Mani and that she was very sad and had trouble with her swim bladder.

[...]

Lo and behold the dolphin that came up to me was Mani! The keepers said her name was Serena, but I knew it was her! .

You just can't prove the truly delusional wrong! The keepers were wrong! Ms Walker knew the dolphin's real name! EoR imagines the keepers shaking their heads at the mad woman insisting she had the dolphin's real name, as they edge slowly towards the exit...

We left the resort feeling weighed down with melancholy and helplessness for the dolphins

EoR knows the feeling. He feels the same way about people who believe that

That night I awoke to feel Mani on my shoulder again. She told me that dolphins have twelve higher soul chakras and whales had twenty-one. These soul chakras were linked into the planetary grids - I was amazed at this information. She asked me to balance her chakras (physical and soul)

She's been to South Africa to chat to the White Lion Star Beings but, again, no secrets are revealed.

There's also a gallery but EoR has to confess he usually expects more than one image for a page to qualify as a 'gallery'. It's a black cat, without explanation for its presence, though EoR presumes this is the form Ms Walker adopts during full moons. Perhaps it's basking in its two hundred and seven soul chakras. Or however many cats have.

And, just to prove that anyone can fall for this sort of madness, she now has a book out with a testimonial from a vet:

“An Exchange of Love will appeal to a wide range of readers from animal enthusiasts to professionals in animal care. The book will complement the work of veterinary surgeons offering holistic treatment modalities as well as raising student awareness of the bit they don't get taught in college! It is a must for anyone interested in the often complex issues shared between animal and carer” Judith Webster MRCVS BSc Vet Med, Veterinary Surgeon who refers clients to Madeleine

EoR has always felt that the veterinary profession often fails its customers by neglecting to address past life issues, chakra balancing, and soul retrieval, and that colleges are neglecting their duties to the planetary grid by not devoting the bulk of their courses to these subjects.

Luckily, some psychics are much more honest about the whole scam...

Psychic Services

Yes2Life (sic) are advertising a 'Psychic Angels Event' in EoR's community newspaper, described as a

3 Way Psychic Demonstration

That sounds a trifle risque. EoR looks forward to future events, where he hopes to see Psychic Pole Dancing, Psychic Mud Wrestling, and Psychic Gentlemen's 'Massage'.

Non-Psychic's Hunch Fails. Media Amazed.

Following on from yesterday's bad psychic, Andy has brought another to EoR's attention.

Variously described as a psychic finding a body in a park, and a psychic finding the 'wrong body', the actual situation seems a lot less clear.

Aboriginal elder Cheryl Carroll-Lagerwey was apparently searching for Kiesha Abrahams, a young girl who has been missing for over a fortnight. It is not known whether she is alive or dead. Instead, Ms Carroll-Lagerwey came across the torso of an adult woman. EoR hesitates to say she 'found' the torso, since she wasn't looking for it. She also, notably, failed to find the girl she was actually looking for.

Ms Carroll-Lagerwey is not a psychic. She has never claimed to be a psychic. EoR has been unable to find any evidence that she has previously ever made any predictions, psychic or otherwise. She states she is

not psychic, but has a third sense and a dream that led her to believe she could help find Kiesha Abrahams.

The distinction may be subtle, but the media labelling her a 'psychic', rather than someone who had a 'hunch', creates a whole different set of expectations. For instance, 9 News states she is a psychic, even though the same report directly quotes her:

It's just my feeling ... so I went with my gut feeling.

Nurragingy Reserve is not a park (as Psychic Line News reports), but a 90 hectare bushland reserve. Shallow bush graves are a traditional method of disposing of bodies in Australia. In fact, if you're going to dispose of a body in Blacktown (not that EoR is encouraging anyone to do so) it sounds ideal:

Nurragingy Reserve is one of the most significant remnants in the Blacktown LGA. It is the largest and least disturbed area of bushland along Eastern Creek.

Ms Carroll-Lagerwey also only related her 'feeling' after discovering the body. Post-hoc psychic revelations are properly termed 'reporting'. They do not require any special skills.

The Police reaction is interesting. Thaindian News reports that

Police are pleased to have been led to a body by the psychic even though it was a different one and they are counting on her help to find the missing girl.

EoR takes that report with a huge pinch of salt, since it states the body was found in a park by someone who is psychic (but not a witch), which is a distorted and inaccurate record of what happened. Chief Inspector Pam Young from the NSW Homicide Squad is rather diplomatic about just how helpful psychics can be in murder investigations:

I have certain strong feelings about people who claim they are psychic. I don’t think it will help if we enter a discussion on that.

Edit:

The mother of a man recently killed by a shark in the south west of Western Australia has commented:

"I was worried, always worried and lived in fear that I would get this phone call, because it's dangerous, absolutely dangerous," she said.

EoR wonders why she's not also being touted as a 'psychic' since she, too, had a hunch that came true, and which is also reported after the fact.

Fleecing The Gullible: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Anthony Grzelka has been the subject of some previous discussion here including examples of his fake 'psychic' readings, but EoR is always intererested in how the science of psychic prediction progresses, so it's time for another look at the best, most accurate pyschic Western Australia has to offer.

Here's a puff piece a regional television station produced (which really should have come with an advertorial warning, since it's hardly news):



He's a Ghost Whisperer, "just like the ones in the movies". That would mean his ghost whispering is fictional then? It's good that Mr Grzelka does this to "help others", not just for the money. EoR does, however, feel heartened that he is encouraging skeptics:

I do believe people should be skeptical because there are people that want to take your money and run.

Others just want to take your money again and again. Mr Grzelka is a master of the Barnum statement, cold reading, the leading question, and the rapidly forgotten run of mistaken guesses. He has an absolutely incredible ability to ask people questions and repeat the information back. His performance is stunning in its transparently fake 'readings'. He'll wander around the bush for hours until he finds some bones. Any bones. Give him a photo, and he'll psychically talk to the wandering spirits (because, apparently, if you take a photo of a ghost it gets captured on the image — even a digital image — and is dragged around wherever that image goes). Even a fake ghost photo will do for his performance, when he'll blather on about all sorts of random stuff in the hope that some of it will seem to be relevant to the (usually desperate for such hits) mark.

Whether I am a bogus medium will of course be asked after an incident like this and there is no way of avoiding this.

EoR doesn't think the question needs to be asked. It's been answered (and, as some of the commenters on that page have noted, 'bogus medium' is a tautology).

Like any good psychic, he's also got a gallery of badly taken photographs, and photoshopped images labelled as ghosts and spirits. Like this baby:



EoR is convinced that this must be real. Why, only the other day he took a photo and this is the incredible result:



Clearly, the spirits are trying to communicate a Message.

Welcome Your Psi-Powered Cephalopod Overlord

Never mind communicating with animals via a psychic, just let them talk directly to us.

A "psychic" octopus is said by its aquarium owners to have predicted the country's football team will knock England out of the World Cup.

When consulted, Paul the octopus chose a mussel from a jar with the German flag on it ahead of one in a similar jar bearing the cross of St George.

Cephalopods are intelligent creatures, but who would have suspected their aquatic fascination with a human propensity to knock a ball about from one end of a paddock to another?

"Paul's prediction was phenomenal," said aquarium spokesman Tanja Munzig.

"He swam straight over to the German glass, climbed in and even put a lid on top once he was sitting inside."

It's also amazing how Paul has learnt to recognise national flags, and to associate them with the appropriate team.

Some people might be cynical, even dismissive of such skills, but the journalists aren't falling for it. Other animals are actually quite poor at betting on sporting competitions.

Other animal oracles in German zoos cannot claim such a strong track record.

Nineteen-year-old hippo Petty falsely predicted a German win over Serbia last week. At the Chemnitz zoo in eastern Germany, she had to choose between two piles of hay with red apples on top and nibbled from the wrong pile.

Tamarin Anton, a monkey at the same zoo, chose the wrong raisin a few days ago, incorrectly claiming that Ghana would beat Germany, kicking it out of the World Cup.

Now that Paul has correctly predicted the outcome of the Spain-Germany bout (and "every German World Cup match so far") EoR's advice is to put your house and all your savings on his next prediction. He doesn't appear to have issued his official prognostication yet, but even money is being offered on it already. EoR presumes that means his guess will either be right or wrong. Or that, in a game with two teams, one will win.

Woof! Woof! Bark! Neigh!

Didn't understand what the title of this post meant? Then you need the services of Animal Communicator Trisha McCagh. She claims to have been "Guest speaker at the Australian Veterinary Conference 2006". She's also supported by Australian Zoos, including the Perth Zoo. EoR imagines that they also accept and encourage her magical healing powers which utilise such scientific modalities as reiki, crystals and chakra balancing. Like many alternative practitioners, she doesn't sell her stuff. It's an 'investment'. She also now has a book out.

Believe it or not, animals are born knowing about the afterlife. They understand they’ll eventually be returning home, as I found out through King, a gallant white stallion.

His guardian, June, had been given King from a horse rescue centre. She was a woman with a big heart, who had already saved many horses from traumatic circumstances. Sadly though, she felt King’s condition was far beyond a recovery. June came to me for help because she wanted to be sure she was making the right decision about euthanasia for this noble beast.

Like me, June holds the strong view that euthanasia is the ultimate act of love and kindness; that we’re acting selflessly in giving what is best for another. King was extremely emaciated through neglect and was so tired. He knew at a very deep level his journey had come to an end, and he was actually looking forward to the freedom and joy that awaited. I was able to confirm with King that he was more than ready to leave this world.

When I gave this information to June, she then knew what she had to do: she called for the vet to assist him on his way. As King fell into his final sleep, June was amazed at how calm he was, as though he was effortlessly surrendering to his next journey into the realms. She said it was one of the most beautiful experiences she’d ever encountered.

When I contacted King shortly after his passing, he clearly conveyed that, as he left his body, he saw a waterfall of white light in front of him. As he walked through it, he grew the most magnificent white wings, took flight, and began to soar towards the heavens. He told me how wonderful it was to be light once again, and free of the burdens of illness and pain of the earth plane.

As King went beyond the clouds, he landed on a golden path, where his spirit horse mother was waiting for him, and they continued on together into the realms. And just think: it was June who took the action that allowed King to soar when he was ready to go. Without her generosity, his flight into the light would have been delayed.

Trisha McCagh: Stories from the Animal Whisperer: What your pet is thinking and trying to tell you (Allen and Unwin, 2010) pp231-232

Having browsed the book, EoR never fails to be amazed how literate and voluble animals are, conversing easily and freely in extensive English.

Woo: coming to a Zoo, near you.

Psychic Names Murderer

EoR's return to blogging featured psychic Chris Roubis and the solving of the disappearance of Hayley Dodd.

Mr Roubis had identified the culprit as a man, 40+, who was both Aboriginal and White, who lived in a duplex or flat, and "Hayley Dodd is buried under an oak tree near a creek".

Regardless of the fact that there appear to be no duplexes, flats or oak trees in the area (and very few people who are Aboriginal and white), this didn't deter Mr Roubis's followers, chief amongst them 'Sir Laughs-A-Lot'.

After a brief explosion of angst caused by a skeptical blog post commenting on these findings and the overall success rate of psychics in solving crimes, the search continued for a while, and the thread has now been hidden behind a password (EoR's getting an 'A' or 'M' word - I hope they change it before he manages to login...).

On June 2rd 'Kimberley' joins the discussion. Kimberley is an 'empathic reader' who apparently 'reads faces.' She presents her own psychic revelations:

Followed/watched by man on foot. Aboriginal in 40's at the time

That she identified an Aboriginal as well (though not a 'white' one) is remarkable. Clearly independent verification of the criminal. Though his age doesn't seem to agree. Was he in his forties at the time, or is he 40+ now? Of course, the two are not mutually exclusive, just vague and unhelpful.

She also does a Google Maps search, as Sir Laughs-A-Lot had previously done, and 'sees' a face in it which indicates where she believes Hayley is buried. EoR hastens to add that he is not making any of this up.

Sir Laughs-A-Lot, meanwhile, appears to have abandoned Mr Roubis's revelations, and is now taking 'a very good psychic' (Chanty) to the area to solve the mystery and who

confirmed the widely held belief by both police investigators and other private operators that Hayley was abducted near the areas shown on the Badjingarra - Moora road, in posts here using google earth pics.

It is, of course, only psychic powers that would enable someone to confirm a widely held belief.

Then, the really scary part:

The name of ONE of the 2 perpetrators is KNOWN by me, and the family, and was provided by a psychic. That doesn't mean we can provide it to police YET, because quite simply we have ZERO proof, that will stand up in a court of law. To do so would be highly irresponsible as yet, because the person has the presumed right of innocence until PROVEN guilty, and putting someone under police suspicion because of a psychic response, is NOT how our judicial system works.

Yes, someone's name has been given by a 'psychic' as a murderer. EoR isn't surprised the thread is hidden. Defamation comes to mind as a very real possibility.

EoR also notes, in passing, that the single perpetrator of the other psychics' visions is now two people. Make enough guesses, eventually something will match. Sort of. Maybe. Oh look! There's a creek over there!

Regardless of her ability to give a full name for the culprit, Chanty can only locate the body within a 20 mile radius (psychics apparently still operate under the Imperial measurement system). Sir Laughs-A-Lot notes:

However - is it necessarily fair on the psychic Chanty to have media cameras in her face while trying to do something that takes a peaceful and quiet environment to do well?

Might not better progress be made by having the psychic in the search area -with No disturbances from searchers and media, while she just does her thing - hopefully further narrowing the search area parameters such that foot searching becomes achievable / viable within a relatively small physical search area?

That's the outcome I would like and that is not possible with a full on 20 person search contingent and media with their cameras, reporters, sound technicians and helicopters all gathered around the psychic waiting for her to "perform for them on cue like some trained circus monkey. In my opinion that's just not fair on the psychic.

I would honestly like to be left to my own devices with one or two helpers (Chanty included) to conduct discreet searches of the identified area without all the hoopla of the press.

EoR wonders how long it will take two people to search a 20 mile radius area at weekends only.

The rest of the thread, up until it was hidden, discusses arrangements for organising a search, as well as various obstacles, including:

I'd like to take the psychic along with us - & being a woman she won't be "comfortable alone with 2 men" thus I was thinking to take my wife along also, who she knows already...

But she's psychic! She'd know there's no problem! Or else she would, and she'd know not to go with them!

So, someone has been marked as a killer with no evidence other than the word of a 'very good' psychic, the area has been narrowed to 1,257 square miles(!), and we're no further along than before.

There the thread rests, and it's perhaps best for everyone that it has been removed from public view.

Sylvia Browne Explains Physics

From Phenomenon: Everything you need to know about the paranormal by Sylvia Browne with (in far smaller print on the cover and inside) Lindsay Harrison:

Kinetic Energy

You’re in your kitchen, making a meal for your family, when suddenly the cupboard doors begin flying open and slamming shut again on their own. Appliances roar to life as the refrigerator bangs open and the food inside hurtles across the room. You escape into the living room, where the TV comes blasting on all by itself and wildly changes channels. While lights blink insanely on and off, you reach for the phone to call for help. At that same moment it leaps off the end table and falls to the floor, static hissing from the receiver. A mean-spirited ghost trying to chase you out of your house? Maybe. But it’s more likely that you’ve just witnessed a dramatic display of kinetic energy, caused not by some external force but by you or a member of your family who’s either blessed or cursed, depending on how you look at it, with kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is the unintentional, spontaneous manipulation of inanimate objects through no obvious physical means, causing its possessor to become kind of a hapless walking force field. There are several theories about what creates kinetic energy. And, of course, there are just as many skeptics who will swear it doesn’t exist at all, which I’d be happy to consider if I hadn’t witnessed it with my own eyes a few thousand times. Some believe that kinetic energy can simply appear in a person from out of nowhere and then vanish just as inexplicably. Others believe, as I do, that it’s a power some people are born with and others aren’t, a power that ebbs and flows in irregular cycles through the course of a lifetime. Kinetic energy is often at its strongest when the body is going through dramatic hormonal changes—during prepubescence or puberty, for example, or in pregnant or menopausal women. But it can manifest itself in young children, too, who have no idea of the chaos they might leave in their wake by simply walking through a room. My granddaughter, for example, when she was only three or four years old, could crash computer hard drives and entire phone systems and cause paper to fly out of giant Xerox machines simply by coming to visit me at my office. Her kinetic energy seems to have calmed considerably in the last few years, but I’m already bracing myself for her becoming a teenager, which is when my son Paul’s kinetic energy hit its peak. In his case, just when he hit puberty, he would inadvertently cause all his shoes to zoom around his bedroom like missiles every night as he fell asleep. Today, twenty-five years later, Paul’s incidents of kinetic energy are virtually nonexistent. All of which I bring up to illustrate why I’m not convinced that kinetic energy is an inherited phenomenon. Paul and my granddaughter, who is Paul’s niece, are the only two members of my family in at least three generations who were born with kinetic energy, and the many other cases I’ve studied support my belief that it’s about as random a gift as it can possibly be. I almost wish it weren’t. If it were more traceable and reliable, it might be more widely understood and not mistaken so often for hauntings, preposterous satanic possessions (emphasis on “preposterous”) or, maybe most insulting of all, overactive imaginations and/or publicity stunts. So if you or someone you know seems to make all hell break loose among inanimate objects by doing nothing more than simply being there, remember, it’s no one’s fault, it’s not a physical or mental illness, it has nothing to do with evil, it doesn’t require an exorcism, and it’s not some perverse punishment from God (as if God has a perverse streak to begin with). It’s only a temporary, passing spasm of innate, purely unintentional kinetic energy.

Oh, if EoR could only write as humourously as Sylvia Browne... Though he hates to think what the household insurance premium must be like.

The missing girl, the psychic and the aftermath

The Missing Girl

On 29 July 1999 Hayley Dodd disappeared near Badgingarra, Western Australia. Nothing further has been heard of her since then.

The Psychic

Chris Roubis is a psychic EoR had never heard of before. He didn't appear on The One, so it's safe to say he's not Australia's best psychic. The few postings on his forum (the majority of which are by himself) indicate that he is something of a niche interest in the psychic world.

The Crime Solved (?)

On the 31st August 2009 someone calling himself Sir Laughs-A-Lot posted a request on Mr Roubis's forum calling for "anyone with psychic ability in this area, help in any way, to shed light on what happened to her". Mr Roubis's answer(s) are unclear, since he later deleted them.

When Sir Laughs-A-Lot requested further information, Mr Roubis replies "This information was also confirmed and agreed on by another 2 psychics that had the same visions as myself, which has led me to beleive it is correct information, and should be followed." Who are the fellow psychics? Why no names? The following visions were given:

Hayley Dodd is buried under an oak tree near a creek about maybe a 20 mile radius from where she was picked up from. Amongst other things, she was strangled in the end.

Hayley Dodd was a fighter and she was messed up badly to stop her screaming.

It is a very remote outback area with maybe a few farm houses in the distance. There will possibly be other young girls found buried in that area.

This person is in his 40+ with dark brown or black hair, moustache. He looks young for his age.
This person is big and aboriginal, 5.7 - 5.9". Green eyes.
He has a scar on his face.
He is a white male. either taking medication or drugs. Also is a violent drunk.
This guy has a record, been in and out of prison for rape.
This person has tattoos on his arms.
This person has done the same thing to 3 - 6 other young girls.

So, we're looking for an oak tree near a creek. We'll ignore the discussion of the area since Sir Laughs-A-Lot already provided lots of information to Mr Roubis via the forum, including a Google Earth satellite image.

The culprit is Aboriginal and 'big', though 5'7"-5'9" isn't particularly big. He is also a white male, which is a remarkable achievement for an Aboriginal man. There are other victims (3-6), all girls, though why we can't get an exact number is strange.

Mr Roubis returns the next day with more information: "This man has killed 4 in the area. 3 girls and 1 boy." So, the 3-6 girls is now 3 girls and 1 boy. The information is contradictory, but perhaps the spirits have done a little checking in the interim and provided him with more accurate information.

This man is from the area, and lives with his parents in a unit or Duplex. He does not work. He maybe on disability pension... he takes medication... possibly mental problems.

If you connect him to one murder, he will confess to all the others.
This guy is a serial killer, he wont stop killing children. He needs to be stopped!

The oak tree I mentioned earlier, could be an oak tree or some other huge tree that has a creek not too far from it.

The vitally important oak tree has become a "huge" tree "not too far" from a creek. How many "huge" trees near creeks are there in the area? In the country?

Note also that he lives in a duplex or unit, something that would be very unusual to find in a small country town, and which must surely precisely locate this psychotic serial killing menace.

Mr Roubis also indicates on a Google Maps image the location of Hayley's body.

Lengthy efforts are made to locate Hayley, and to verify Mr Roubis's information. Suffice it to say that the area has no oak tree, no units, and no duplexes. The location highlighted by Mr Roubis, strangely, also contains no trees or creeks. Does he doubt the veracity of the voices he hears?

Mr Roubis provides more spiritual insight: "Near a creek, trees and rocks." Well, that narrows it down to any part of Australia that isn't desert. It's a start.

Things go quiet until April of this year, when Sir Laughs-A-Lot returns, having noticed that the criminal is simultaneously White and Aboriginal, asking "Can you clarify for me what you meant by that - could he be of mixed aboriginal / white heritage?" Mr Roubis confirms that he is correct. So, Sir Laughs-A-Lot would appear to have psychic gifts at least the equal of Mr Roubis.

Sir Laughs-A-Lot continues his efforts with another (unspecified) psychic who is apparently working with the victim's family. This psychic is "spot on".

At this time the thread is noticed by a sceptical blogger, who posts about the way psychics seem to fester around missing persons and murders, without adding anything to the investigations other than to muddy the waters. Sir Laughs-A-Lot posts a comment to the sceptic's blog, containing mostly personal abuse and missing the point entirely (a copy of his post is at Mr Roubis's forum). In another post to Mr Roubis's forum he rants on (edited):

You sir are a dickwad - your mummy's boy issues are clouding your judgment.

(...)

Your rant has done nothing but upset the family - well done Mr caring citizen with a gob but no brains attached to it.

Keep your rants to yourself and do us all a favor.

Your not worthy of the internet - your not saving anyone from anything they were not willing participants in.

(...)

No sir your a bigot with a big mouth and not much else - who's preparedness to express his somewhat childish opinion has undoubtedly caused the family some grief.

Leave it alone is my sincere advice to you (...) - the internet is not nearly as anonymous as you might think and I'd hate to have to act to protect the family's interests in this from here on in.

Chris I've half a mind to track this (...) bigot down and give him a phat lip and post the pic here for all to see.

EoR leaves it to his readers to decide who is bigoted and ranting here, but he is certain that threats of violence via the internet are just as much a criminal offence as if they were made face to face. You, Sir Laughs-A-Lot are a bully and a coward.

Mr Roubis congratulates his fawning follower, and provides evidence that psychics really really really do solve crimes. They do they do they do! So

there. The ultimate evidence? That they made a program called "Medium"! Mr Toubis, they made a program called "Doctor Who". Do you also believe there's a 900 year old Time Lord repeatedly saving Earth from alien menaces?

The Aftermath

As a result of the specific threats of violence made by Sir Laughs-A-Lot, the sceptic blog posts relating to this matter were deleted. Mr Roubis supports these threats and has allowed the threats to be posted to his forum and to remain there (and this is why EoR hasn't linked directly to the blog).

Mr Roubis and Sir Laughs-A-Lot have no intention of debating the matter (nor do they have an obligation to do so, they can simply take their magical beliefs and live in their own world), but the actions they have engaged in show how fragile those beliefs are, and do little to convince anyone to accept them, or to listen to such arrogance and aggression.

EoR wanted to ignore this sad little story altogether. Mr Roubis clearly has other things much more important to do than provide psychic revelations, and EoR is not in the business of providing any publicity to him. The reaction from these two individuals, however, deserve to be made more widely known.

Mr Roubis also has a strange attitude to the police. On Facebook he states "Unfortunately police are just public servants. If it was a politicians child, they would of found her long ago" and, on his forum post, "This guy lives in the area, and has a record. C'mon W.A Police!!!" which seems a strange attitude from a man who is proud of the fact that corrupt AFP (Australian Federal Police) Officers aided and abetted his lawbreaking earlier in life, according to his own biography.

Also, according to his biography, he apparently has "40 or more other guides" other than the main few who all chat to him at various times. Forty or more! It'd be like a horrible party chat line. And not one of them can provide any concrete information that would actually be of help.

As crimebuff (another victim of Sir Laughs-A-Lot's unwarranted abuse) comments on the forum:

I personally wouldnt like to focus in too much on the basis of a psychics reading, unless you can find more than one psychic that concur with each other, I am aware of the tremendous problems others have had taking literally what a psychic has told them, and it seems 40 psychics all came up with different scenarios,places to look etc.

In other words, if you make enough random guesses eventually someone, somewhere might be right. But it doesn't make them psychic. Only lucky.