Some of you may notice that we've been closing down comments on our Allison DuBois rants, slowly but surely. It's just too tiring and distracting to constantly fend off credulous prosimians whose comments essentially add up to "Alison ROX! U R loosers!" Sure, none of them present any challenging arguments to counter (most of them are barely able to string two words together), but one of our ground rules around here is that no moron gets the "last word" — ever. It's as simple as that, folks. If any of you creduloids want to "definitively" finish the argument, get your own site. The point being, while there isn't much substance to counter in these comments, we're loath to leave them unanswered, just on basic principles. So when the idiotrons crawl out of the woodwork after another DuBois event sends hundreds scurrying off to Google her, we're inundated with incredibly dull and repetitive diatribes. Our response nowadays is to answer what little there is to answer, and close the comments down to avoid any more pathetic drivel from these fools.

That's what's going on, on the surface; but just to give our readers a peek behind the scenes — and we're sure many of our Usual Suspects encounter the same damn problem — the credulous raving doesn't stop there. Once they're rendered incapable of spewing forth utter bullshit in one of the DuBois threads for all to see, these stalwart morons see fit to fill in our contact form, so they can at least spew forth utter bullshit privately to us. Oh, joy. The only advantage here is that we seldom feel the need to respond to such e-mails — they're welcome to get the "last word" in private, where it has nothing to do with what's on our public website and where the only people who are forced to read their drivel — us — are not in any danger of believing that it has any merit.

In addition to the morons, however, we also get some wonderful e-mails that really make us happy — or justifiably and sympathetically outraged, as the case may be — from people who really understand the problems with Allison, and often even have their own personal horror stories about her that they wish to share.

So it seemed a fitting symmetry when, in the past 24 hours, we received two very different e-mails from two very different people. We present these below in the original text:

What your accusing allison of is absurd. I know allison personally, she's AMAZING. Maybe you should go in for a reading, then see what you think afterwards. You tell me, how does one know the most intimate details of you and your passed husband, his favourite foods, expressions, his full name, how would you know that from a phone call, without even knowing my name, she gave me the most amazing details, how do you explain it huh? you rekon its bullshit? Your pathetic. If you go for a reading, and you arent a 100% convert, ill give you my house. Dickheads

If we wanted a trailer home, we'd take this moron up on his/her/its offer (excuse the pronoun confusion; this e-mail was sent to us twice, with a different — and potentially differently-gendered — name each time. As a note: the second version of the e-mail omitted the "Dickheads" at the end, presumably because the sender was no longer quite as sure of our Dickheaded status). We get more e-mails like this than we can shake a divining rod at.

The second message was from Karen:

I want to thank you for your rantings on Allison Dubois because I was just ranting to my sister and my mom about her five minutes ago. Ali, as my sister Domini called her when she was still alive, wrote about my sister in her first book. She didn't ask for permission and used it as a story that "proves" her validity. It pissed me off then and pisses me off now. My sister's death from cancer was bad enough, but Ali's bullshit makes it worse.

...

Anyway, my issue is totally personal, and I guess my point is that she uses the deaths of people who are cared about, and it does hurt the family who are left behind. I don't like the fact that she uses my sister's death in her book, and she says at the front of it, "Domini, I love you, and please visit me regularly." How the hell am I supposed to feel when she acts like she still talks to my sister after she is dead? I'll never see her again, and that is bad enough. So, anyway, I am glad you call her on her bullshit because I have known Ali almost as long as my sister did, and she was a bitch when they were friends. Incidentally, Ali and her mom came to my sister's funeral. This is what her mom had to say about the fact that my mom, my other sister, and I were all there. My mom, my other sister, and Domini always had a rocky relationship, but when Domini was dying there was no question we would be there for her. Anyway, Ali's mom said at the funeral when I was standing by my sister's casket about to be lowered into the ground, "So it takes something like this to get your family together." I was mortified--what in the hell had Ali been telling her mother about my family? So, as far as Allison Dubois is concerned, she is a bullshitter 100%. I will never forgive her for using my sister as a prop in her pathetic lie. She was and is one of the biggest bitches I know.

Note the grasp of spelling, syntax and grammar in Karen's e-mail as compared to the first one; are we saying that intelligent people see through Allison's bullshit, while morons buy it hook, line and sinker? In a word: yeah.

When we contacted Karen to ask if we could post her correspondence on our site, she agreed. She also provided some additional details. First, she directed us to an interview with Allison from ABC Radio National in Australia:

Rachael Kohn: Allison, you write about a very close friend of yours, I think her name is Domini, who died of cancer at the age of 31, which was really pretty harrowing for you. You'd known her for half her life. Now I was surprised to read that when she was ill, you actually told her she was going to die.

Allison DuBois: I actually told her that when we were like, 19, when we were teenagers I said, 'I see you passing around the age of 30' and I said, 'You need to stop smoking because that's something that's going to contribute to your demise, and she was like 'Oh Allison', whatever. And she did die at 31 of cancer, and that was hard to watch but the prediction of that came at an earlier age, where I was actually trying to prevent it. But then when she was dying, we did sit together and talk with our friend Stacey, and she said, 'You told me', and I said, 'Domini, please, not the time and the place, don't worry about it.' But the thing that was nice was I was able to take her fear away, that when she died that that was going to be it. And when she was getting ready to pass, she was like, 'You're right, I can see my grandfather, and I know that they're there.' And so it was very important to me that she knew that before she died.

So, this is Allison's version of what happened. What's Karen's?

Let me just say that my sister died from melanoma that had nothing to do with her smoking. In addition, she was petrified of dying because she thought she was going to hell. She never lost that fear. A couple days before she went into a drug-induced coma, she told my mom she was still afraid to die and asked her what she should do (even though her death was about two weeks away). My mom said, "Don't stop breathing." My sister held on to that thought and kept fighting even though we could see her body already decomposing while she was still alive. At any rate, she never "saw" my grandfather--if anything she would have claimed to see my grandmother because they were closer, but she never did that either. Allison didn't see my sister at all for about 3 months before her death at least. Domini would not have "seen" anyone on the other side when Allison was still around because she was still extremely cognitive. In hospice care, the only people who came to see her were family members. My mom was the only one present when she actually died. So why Allison would talk about "when she was getting ready to pass" is a mystery to me since it had been several months since she had seen Domini. The next time I saw Allison was the funeral when her mother was so disrespectful to me and my family.

So, let's recap. According to Karen, Domini's death had nothing to do with her smoking, she was afraid to die right up until the end despite Allison's claim that she was "able to take her fear away," there was no known grandfather sighting, and Allison hadn't seen Domini for months at the time of her death. Sounds like another home run for Allison!

Yes, both sides of this particular story are anecdotes, but given Allison's track record when it comes to telling the truth, as well as her vested interest in "creative embellishment," we are inclined to believe Karen, especially since she has no discernable motive for making this up. At the very least, it gives those who would worship Allison something to chew on that isn't coming from our mouths (the morons hate us so).

In this day and age, it's truly amazing how cold reading can astound rubes like the bozo who wrote the first e-mail above; but rubes, please try to fucking grasp this basic fact: it's still just a carny trick. Give us a few minutes of your time, and we could probably give you detailed information about your life, too (or at least make you think that we did). It's a skill, to be sure, but it isn't any sort of "mystical" power.

But even more truly amazing is the sheer BITCHINESS of Allison DuBois...which, by Karen's account, she apparently inherited from her mother. Allison, you are a tool of the highest order, and when your ride on the gravy train comes to an end, we only hope that you use your "powers" to play the stock market...and lose all of your ill-gotten gains as a result. What a fucking whore.

are we saying that intelligent people see through Allison's bullshit, while morons buy it hook, line and sinker? In a word: yeah.

Could be that the intelligennt people who buy into the duBois thing don't feel the need to post rebuttals and figure she's a big girl and can take care of herself? I toss it out as a suggestion, s'all.

To be sure, there are certainly intelligent people who believe stupid things. We aren't doubting that. However, the more intelligent someone is, the more likely they are to understand that people like Allison are not psychics.

We just find it interesting that most of the ardent defenses of Allison that we receive are written with the skill of a two year old.

This fucking woman. Pardon my French, but... this makes me sick to my stomach, the way she lies and uses the death of someone to make herself look better. And it's all lies. I just... there are really no words.

I'm still hung up on Allison's mother's comment at the funeral. If Karen were Karl, and Allison's mother were her father, would it be appropriate to cold cock her right at the grave site? That's the kind of comment that deserves to get you knocked out. Just not sure if it's enough of an offense to further disrespect the ceremony.

And for the feminists, I only change the gender because women show their aggression with fists less often. Usually, they do it with nasty comments are funerals.

Yeah, we're with you, Eric. That's why we can't understand the people who seem surprised by how angry we get at people like Allison. From our perspective, anger is the natural and, more importantly, appropriate response to her behavior. We can't fathom how any rational person can feel otherwise.

Since our original posts on Allison were published about a year and a half ago, we've boggled at a variety of incredible responses, such as:

"why do you have to single out Allison for criticism?"
"If you have a problem with her, so what - move on."
"Why are you so negative?"
"It can't hurt."

We mostly wonder what the fuck is wrong with people who feel that way about a piece of subhuman garbage like Allison.

And Glintir — we absolutely agree. As far as we're concerned, the only reason for not knocking Allison's mother on her ass in response to such words is because of the setting and occasion. So essentially, it seems that Allison's mother has also learned to exploit the pain and suffering of others for her own self-satisfaction. Perhaps Allison learned by example. What lovely people.

Fuck the stock market... I want her to use her "powers" in a poker game against either me or Ed Brayton. If she can win three out of five heads-up games, I'll become a believer on the spot.

Agreed. After all, Allison has made it known that her powers extend specifically to poker. From a previous Rant of ours, which quoted an interview with Allison:

Q: I bet you're good at gambling.

A: Yes, when I'm playing poker I can hear other people's thoughts. But I can't pick lottery numbers because people aren't attached.

Just don't take all her money before we get a chance to play.

My name is Kris. I am older sister of Domini who Allison writes about in her book. First let me say that I had no idea that Allison's book had even been published until my sister Karen brought it to my attention this week. I was struck by the fact that all that information could be published about her without my mother's, my sister Karen's or my knowledge. I was also curious as to how the chapter on my sister had ended up as Allison had let me read a rough draft of the chapter at Domini's son, Jake's, birthday party after Domini had passed away. I felt it was incredibly inapproriate to ask me to look over something like that at my nephew's birthday but I did nonetheless. In the rough draft, Allison had the day Domini went into hospice, the date and time Domini died and who was with her when she died wrong. There were other inaccuracies, however, I felt those were pretty glaring since she talked about her 'guides' giving her that information. Also, to the best of my knowledge, the last time Domini saw Allison was in November of 2000, just before her (Domini's) birthday. Allison never came to see Domini in hospice and Domini had refused any visitors the last 6 weeks she was still at home because she didnt want anyone to see how she looked. Domini died in April of 2001.
I, too, did not like Allison inferring in her interview with Rachael Kohn that Domini's smoking had anything to do with her death. She died of malignant melanoma (skin cancer) as my sister Karen already stated, which was completely unrelated to her smoking. I also agree with Karen that Domini was petrified of dying right up until she slipped into a coma which was something our family wished could have been different for her. If Allison thinks she eased any of Domini's fears concerning death she is misguided to say the least.
Primarily I am struck at how not only Allison seems to be benefitting financially from my sister's death but using her as a means to validate her so-called 'gifts'. If that's Allison's idea of how to treat the memory of a friend I would say she's no friend at all.

What a loathsome woman that Dubois is. It would be nice to see a story such as this published in the mainstream media. Perhaps Karen and Kris would consider it. It's about time this bitch got her comeuppance.

For the TPC, I must admit to some regret at the closing of comments on the Allison rants. Watching you guys lay a vicious smackdown on a moron was one of life's little joys.

Allison is a poor excuse for a human being, Kris, and you're not alone in thinking so (as this thread has already begun to demonstrate). We sincerely appreciate you and Karen taking the time to let us know about Domini. By showing how the true events don't coincide with Allison's account, we hope that more people will come to understand the truth — that Allison is a sick, self-glorifying sideshow act out to profit on the pain of others. Thanks for helping us get that truth out there.

And Adam — don't worry. There will always be posts for the morons to comment on.

I have nothing specific to say. I just want to offer my appreciation to the combined brain trust at TPC for doing a lot of the heavy lifting in dealing with these predatory pieces of garbage like Allison.

It's very difficult for people to grasp that some of those who claim to be loving, helpful, or godly, can be absolute cold hearted liars. Benny Hinn is a terrific example.

I'm enraged.

I wish, really wish that I could be convinced that a day will come when we as a human race will discard this medieval thinking. But it'll never come.

Thanks for your expose.

I am particularly struck by how quickly Allison and many other psychics will agree that there are many, many frauds out there.

Matched, of course, by the speed with which they become incensed when you ask them to prove they are not one of the frauds.

Kris & Karen - your story is important. Thank you for sharing it. The fact that I have not seen your stories in the public media only goes to explain how lazy and inept the media has become.

I've never heard of Allison but it's quite obvious that she takes her lessons from Sylvia Browne. Ms Browne can be seen on Wednesdays on the Montel Williams show. If you really want to see some blatant stupidity check her out. She makes a fool of herself - yet has an apparent AMAZING following. At $700 a whack - she'll give you a reading like you've never had before. Or if that's too rich for your bood - you can try her son Chris for only $300. Larry King Live also promotes her. What a joke.

REgarding Allison's mother at the funeral. I enjoy the TV show supposedly base on Allison's life. That said, I despise the real life woman for things just such as this. Even if Allison were really a psychic (assuming the existence of of course), that comment at the funeral had no place being made in such a fashion. Completely inapporpriate regardless of Alison's "gifts."

Pool Guy: No thanks are necessary, but we appreciate it anyway. In this particular instance, the overwhelming majority of gratitude should go to Karen and Kris for allowing us to share their story.

Mark: Boy, do we understand that rage. And while it's true that we'll probably never see an end to ridiculous beliefs like these (certainly not in any of our lifetimes), each and every person that we can steer away from predators like Allison is a win in our book.

Yahzi: That's one of the things that pisses us off most about Allison — her arrogant dismissal of all of the "frauds" out there pretending to be psychic. It's amazing that the very things she points to as revealing the duplicity of the "fakes" are the things that practically define her career, history and behavior. She's truly a reprehensible individual.

Rajah: Yep, we know all about Sylvia Browne. Though we don't devote as much time to her as we do to Allison, we've written about her line of crap in the past. Montel Williams and Larry King should be ashamed. Well, more ashamed.

mouse: To our way of thinking, we can't imagine how anyone could defend what Allison did in the above account, no matter what they might think of psychics in general, or the existence of psychic powers. Complete asshattery, it seems, is pretty universally recognized.

"But then when she was dying, we did sit together and talk with our friend Stacey, and she said, 'You told me', and I said, 'Domini, please, not the time and the place, don't worry about it.' "

wow, that particular response made me feel sick to my stomack. i mean, even if it were true, wich i have no doubt that it isn't, what is the point of telling such an anecdote other than her own self-glorification!!! what a bitch, someone really needs to punch her in the face.

I disagree with all of the above comments. I DO believe in Allison's gifts.
I am also highly intelligent (Re: read above), extremely well spoken and written, and would outdo most of you in a MENSA challenge without even thinking about it. I resent the comments that only the unintelligent and uneducated believe in the gift Allison is blessed with.
If you have set your sights on defaming Allison, I wish you luck. She will always have supporters and there will always be believers - many of them.
Perhaps this website would have more credibility and benefit from using less undesirable language (which generally comes from less educated people), and from being a little less harsh with the terminology used.

As for the story concerning the young lady's passing from melanoma, it is truly heartbreaking and my sympathies extend to her family for the loss they have endured. However, it appears that this particular family had a dislike to Allison long before their sister lost her fight. Naturally, they are not going to have touching words to say about her, and the hurt they feel from Dominmi's death is only going to heighten those emotions. I'm not saying Allison (or her mother) never made comments which appeared inappropriate, however perhaps given the setting, the emotional upset at the time, and the feelings of dislike this family already harboured for Allison the comments were taken out of context.

Most of the above texts were written by people based solely on what they read on this page. It helps to have an open mind about such things, and not always believe what you read. Maybe inappropriate comments were made; maybe they weren't.

I have a strong belief in the abilities Allison possesses, however I also respect the feelings of the non-believers who visit this forum.

As I stated before, the credibility of this site would rise dramatically if the abusive language was curbed somewhat. There isn't any need for it and it appears highly unprofessional.

Dear Allison supporter,

Maybe you should've read some more postings from this site because you bring nothing new to the table.

Doubting the credibility because of the language used has long before been refuted. These guys as are as fucking entitled to use any foulmouthed language they see fucking appropriate as they fucking want. Just yanking your chain here, but you should get the point. Using 'foul' language does in no way deminish credibility! In my opinion, it only does so when you're already looking for an excuse to diminish it in the first place.

Regarding the open mind, please, in my experience it's quite the opposite. I've tried having discussions using credible sources and facts with believers of the Sylvia Browns that are around. They usually go like this:

Poster 1: "Hi, I'm a medium, anyone else too?"
Poster 2: "Sure, I believe you, why wouldn't I?"
Me: "Uhm, how about some proof?"
Poster 1: "You don't have to believe me but it's true."
Poster 2: "Yeah, you just don't understand!"
Me: (after giving sources as to why Sylvia Brown is a fraud and even giving the link to the fabulous Allison-debunked-week) "See, this is why I don't believe. Again, show me some proof, maybe even use the scientific method, whatever. Don't just take my word for it, investigate for yourself"
Poster 3: "Well, look at Quantum Physics. Tests have proven that photons can be in two places at the same time. How's that for proof! Explain that!"
Me: "Erm, yeah."

Don't try to tell me that the true believers are really the ones with the open mind...

About the familiy already harbouring ill feelings towards Allison. Well, that doesn't really change anything about the situation, does it. Allison still changed the story to use in her book and make shitloads of money! I'd sooner take the version of the story provided by the two sisters than that of dear Allison.

As you can catch from my elaborate posting, I still haven't learned my lesson about discussions with 'the believers', and thus I still try. And, my apologies for any mistakes in my spelling and grammer, even though I work for an international organisation and use English everyday, this is not my native language and I make mistakes often enough.

Skeptic Approach:

Thanks for the sane words. We're always happy to have others helping us fend off people who drop the same old comments we've responded to dozens of times already. So thanks very much! We'll be double-dipping here, because we'd like to set A. SUPPORTER straight, too.

As a note, there's nothing wrong with your written English at all. Besides, simple mistakes don't bother us (we all make those). It's the people who clearly aren't even trying to use comprehensible English that drive us up the wall. You certainly are not in that group.

Allison SUPPORTER:

You are an IDIOT (as are most people whose arguments rest solely on capitalizing a few key words). We know you don't like our "terrible language," so we'll write this comment using alternative words, just for you. With or without the "bad words," our points are the same, and they are valid and supported by reason and logic no matter what you think of our vocabulary; but we'll humor you anyway. You can thank us later. And now, as people like you always seem to fail to do, we will present our rational arguments supporting our positions and refuting yours.

Let's dissect your comment, shall we?

I disagree with all of the above comments. I DO believe in Allison's gifts.

Okay, fair enough. That's your basic assertion; but what are your reasons for believing in Allison's "gifts"? As an intelligent person, surely you must have some rationale, right? Oh, whoops! No, you don't. Or at least, you completely fail to mention any logical, testable reasons why you believe in Allison's "gifts." Good start, bonehead.

I am also highly intelligent (Re: read above), extremely well spoken and written, and would outdo most of you in a MENSA challenge without even thinking about it.

First of all, you have presented no evidence thus far to support your assertion that you are "highly intelligent," other than your own assertion; based on your blind belief in a carny act like Allison, we aren't willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, here. Second, we reject your claim that you are more intelligent than most of us since you have no way of measuring the intelligence of all of the people who've contributed to or commented on this site. We can assert right back that "No, we would beat you in a MENSA challenge!" But that wouldn't really get us anywhere, now, would it? Third, MENSA doesn't particularly impress us, from what we've seen — it largely appears to be intellectuals with self-esteem issues patting each other on the back; nothing special or "super-intelligent" about that. So, all in all, we reject your argument from authority on multiple grounds.

You then say:

I resent the comments that only the unintelligent and uneducated believe in the gift Allison is blessed with.

Whew! Then it's a good thing that we never said that, isn't it? What we did say was:

To be sure, there are certainly intelligent people who believe stupid things. We aren't doubting that. However, the more intelligent someone is, the more likely they are to understand that people like Allison are not psychics.

Do you see the difference here? Surely, someone of your staggering intellect must.

You continue:

If you have set your sights on defaming Allison, I wish you luck. She will always have supporters and there will always be believers - many of them.

We agree. We'll also add that White Supremacists will always have many believers. However, we'd argue that countering their fallacious claims is still important, both for public education, and to let them know that there are those who would stand up to them. But credulous fools like you never make this kind of simple connection (even though we've used this same example at least three times before). As an aside, one of the hallmarks of intelligence is seeing connections between disparate concepts where others may not. Thus far, you haven't impressed us.

Then you delve into one of the most common and least useful arguments that we see on our site:

Perhaps this website would have more credibility and benefit from using less undesirable language (which generally comes from less educated people), and from being a little less harsh with the terminology used.

And:

As I stated before, the credibility of this site would rise dramatically if the abusive language was curbed somewhat. There isn't any need for it and it appears highly unprofessional.

Oh, for the love of Steve, grow up. Swears are words. If you can't handle them, then go pound sand, you prelingual paleolithic prosimian. If the mere presence of "curse words" renders you incapable of parsing and understanding the arguments presented in conjunction with them, then, once again, we are unimpressed by your intelligence. And as a note, please forgive us if we don't jump at your "constructive criticism" on how to be more credible — when the person leveling said criticism blindly believes in a joke like Allison DuBois. Our sincere advice is that you focus on how to make yourself more credible before you start working on others.

You continue:

As for the story concerning the young lady's passing from melanoma, it is truly heartbreaking and my sympathies extend to her family for the loss they have endured. However, it appears that this particular family had a dislike to Allison long before their sister lost her fight. Naturally, they are not going to have touching words to say about her, and the hurt they feel from Dominmi's death is only going to heighten those emotions. I'm not saying Allison (or her mother) never made comments which appeared inappropriate, however perhaps given the setting, the emotional upset at the time, and the feelings of dislike this family already harboured for Allison the comments were taken out of context.

This is all quite lovely (if utterly deranged), but you have completely failed to address the more important part of this account: that Allison completely boned her "predictions" about Domini. Heck, Allison had an event that had already transpired, and she had access to firsthand knowledge of the details from family members, and she still couldn't be bothered to get the story right. Why? Probably because she knew that she didn't have to bother, because credulous idiots the world over would believe her anyway. Thanks for proving Allison right.

We'll also note that we presented this account as an anecdote, and not as definitive evidence of anything. However, we also stated our reasons for believing this account over Allison's, and we stand by that assessment. You have provided no rationale for why you believe Allison over Karen and Kris. Oh, wait, here we go:

I have a strong belief in the abilities Allison possesses...

Well, there you go then. If you have a "strong belief," then it must be true, right? Simpleton.

So to sum this all up: intelligent people certainly can believe stupid things, but then again, we are far from sold on your claim that you are intelligent. Swears are words. If you can't see the arguments for the swears, then you really need to grow up. Even more, the anger that we feel toward people like Allison absolutely warrants the language that we use. She is a vile individual who preys on the suffering of others in order to make a buck. Anger is the appropriate response to her nefarious deeds, and we have to question both the intellect and the compassion of anyone who feels differently.

Finally, on the off chance that you actually are one of the intelligent creduloids, we pose this question to you: can you actually build a case for your belief in Allison? If you are truly intelligent, you will understand that such a case would have to consist of independently observed, testable, replicable and falsifiable scientific evidence, and not merely of assertions of your "strong belief" or anecdotes about guessing that "an L name" had passed after "a chest feeling." If you have such a case, then please, by all means, lay it out for us. If not, then surely you must realize that your belief in Allison is ill-founded. Or you could just be turning off your intellect in order to support a silly, faith-based belief. Then again, you could just as easily be an idiot in general.

We await your response with bated breath.

TPC - What i would give to work with you guys. I don't think i have ever encountered people with common sense and who are so on point with what i stand for and believe in. I want facts. Not fiction. I want the truth, not what one wants to believe is truth. But then i came to this site. And wow, you guys just blow my mind sometimes. It's just a sad world we live in these days when people decide to just follow others like a mindless zombie, babbling useless fiction into peoples brains until it turns to incoherant mush.

If only some believer out there could match your posts with the detail and honesty behind them then maybe you guys would have your work cut out for you. The only problem is noone will ever be able to match you solely because there is NO proof to back any of their claims up. There isn't even common sense that can conclude what some people choose to make truth. However every sentance that comes from you guys is always backed up with common sense and even fact most of the time. It's just unfortunate that most people can't even grasp common sense.

Well i await eagerly a response from this super-sentient being who seems to know alot about a little. It will be intresting to see some fact back up claims to this crazy womens insanity.

And to Kris and Karen, my thoughts are with you and i hope you take your facts to the media to disproove this lunatics fallacies. She deserves to be exposed for what she really is. A demonic being who is usurping our innocents.

Hello, folks. My question: Is there any objective/ scientific evidence that any of these people who claim to converse with the dead are really doing so? My mother recently passed away and we are all devastated. My sister is seriously considering spending a wad of bucks on consulting one of these types (to whom she was referred to by Dubois) and, while it's her money to spend and might make her feel better, I'd rather she consulted with someone who is really capable of the feat if such a person exists. Is there anyone out there who has been the subject of reliable scientific research and passed the test? Personally, I believe in an afterlife, especially since I've started checking out some of the research on near death experiences, such as that conducted by Dr. Raymond Moody and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. But "talking" with those on the other side is a whole different ball of wax, is a good place for frauds to squeeze money out of people who are hurting, and I don't want my sister wasting her money on a screwball. Can you folks give me any suggestions?

Steve,

We're very sorry for your loss. We certainly understand how pain like this can cause people to look to psychics for assistance. In fact, that's one of the things that angers us the most about these supposed "psychics" — the fact that they prey on people who are grieving over the loss of a loved one. What your sister is thinking about doing is not weak or stupid — it is human nature. The psychics who are ready and willing to turn her suffering into easy cash? They are the ones to blame here.

It's important that you know that there is not a single psychic or medium anywhere in the world that has passed scientific muster. Not one. If they could do so, they would have collected James Randi's million dollars by now. Many self-proclaimed psychics have been tested by many researchers, and they have all either failed outright, or the testing that was conducted was later shown to be faulty (as is the case with Gary Schwartz, the researcher that tested Allison DuBois). Remember, one of the critical steps in scientific validation is the ability for others to repeat the tests and get the same results. As a result, any time you read about research validating the paranormal, it's important that you check to see if the results in question have ever been repeated. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the answer is "no." So if you're looking for a psychic who stands up to scientific scrutiny, the answer is simple: there is no such thing.

The best reference that we can provide to show how these people pretend to be psychics is the premiere episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit (season one). They show precisely how cold reading and subjective validation (among other things) work to give the impression that someone is communicating with the dead. The episode even includes a former fake psychic performing his old act, just to show that someone who definitely isn't psychic can have the same effect. This is a thirty minute program that sets the record straight quickly and easily, and we can't imagine anyone who has watched that program still believing in people who clearly employ these same tactics.

We also want to point out is that Allison DuBois is a bullshit artist. She has no psychic powers. The answers that she gives can easily be divined through normal means (as discussed above), she is generally vague, and even then, she is still frequently wrong. So even if someone does believe in such abilities, they need to know that Allison is not the real deal. She's a sideshow act, and frankly, she's not even very good at what she does. John Edward is far better at the act than she is (he's not a real psychic, either). So even if real psychics did exist, taking a referral from Allison is about as ill-advised a step as we can imagine.

But even more importantly, these people aren't helping anyone except themselves. Yes, they may say things that lessen the pain of loss temporarily (then again, they may say something that increases the pain as well), but do we really want someone else — someone who didn't even know the person we lost — inserting their words and their phony perceptions into the relationship that we had with that person? Do we really want some high-priced carnival act fabricating the last memory that we will ever have of a loved one?

Our advice to you and your sister is to avoid wasting any time or money on these so-called psychics. None of them are real, but all of them will walk all over your actual memories of your mother. We understand the suffering that your sister is going through, and we understand why she's thinking about doing what she's thinking about doing, but in the final analysis, it's just not worth it. It's much better to remember your mother for who she really was; not for what any so-called psychic will pretend she was.

Good advice. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Really appreciate it.

No worries, Steve. We hope it all works out.

— • —

Jonathon,

People like Allison SUPPORTER are a dime a dozen. They come by, drop an asinine and unsupported comment on our site, then never come back again to see the points we've raised countering their crap. But then again, what more can you expect of people who have no desire (and probably no capacity) to learn anything?

Thanks for the kind words — it's always good to find others who value commons sense, reason and logic in this mad, mad world.

after reading all what everyone says here i have to laugh you start out saying about whether or not you belive in mediums ect, but then start fighting over stupid things like competing in a MENSA challenge!" i mean come on focus on what the original subject is not foul language or intelligance but where or not you belive its the truth

Focusing on the original subject sounds like a good idea to us, secretsomeone, so let's make sure we all know what the original subject was — namely Allison's reprehensible behavior toward Domini's family, and her dishonest treatment of the story in her book, which goes a long way toward establishing her credibility (or, more accurately, the lack thereof).

As a note, our "discussion" of MENSA and swearing was, in its entirety, a counterpoint to Allison SUPPORTER's ridiculous assertions, and not something we were interested in discussing with regard to Domini's family or Allison's credibility. However, we have a firm policy around here that idiots don't get the last word on any topic, ever; so we responded to SUPPORTER's assertions and moved on with our lives. No big deal, and if you have something to contribute regarding the original subject of the Rant (as we've outlined it), please feel free.

i can see the INFERIORITY COMPLEX and JEALOUSY in the people who criticize psychics on this website,but as any evil people do comes back against them...

Ana,

I might pre-empt the Two Percenters by recommending that you click here.

We can see the FUCKING STUPIDITY and the ASININE GULLIBILITY in the people who defend these fucking phony psychics without even bothering to look at any actual facts. Hey, that's like you, ana! Yay, people are noticing you!

AW, what's the matter, ana? Did we contradict your pathetic and utterly moronic world view so much that, in your abysmally rockheaded angst, you had to post the same comment five fucking times? And you wonder why we don't give much credence to the half-assed psychoanalysis of a moronic fuckhead like you?

Do you really want to prove us big bad skeptics wrong? Then do us all a favor and rely on psychic "feelings" instead of scientific observation and analysis the next few times you cross the street. Really, just close your eyes and trust the Force, or whatever the fuck it is you believe in. Hell, we'll even offer to buff what's left of your tiny fucking brain off of the car bumper after you're fucking dead, okay? Now piss off, you pathetic simpleton.

To all the faithful believers out there:

In my own experience I have come across things that are not easily explained. I personally am open to the possibility that some individuals are more intuitive than others, might be able to access capabilities that are beyond average. Perhaps this woman does have some abilities beyond what an average person may have. Even if she did, her behavior shows that she is unwilling to admit that she can make an error. It is also clear that she has published accounts of stories that have been found to be incorrect. I consider myself wise enough to know there are many things beyond my knowledge. Do some people have gifts? Perhaps. I am a professional magician and have performed routines than convinced some people I had gifts of psychic power when I can assure you that if I do have any such powers, I am totally unaware of them. It was immediately following a gig at a college that I did run into someone who may have had some sensitivity or abilities. What impressed me about this man, who was doing readings at the psychic fair portion of the event, is that he did not tell me what I wanted to hear. He was packing up and gave me a quick reading at my fiance's request. The two things he said that stuck with me were as follows. He stated in my mid thirties I would have a new career path. I immediately thought I would be successful in performing magic to the extent I would make it a full time career instead of a lucrative side business. He informed me that it would not be what I expected. This has come to pass as I am now a computer trainer and did not expect this turn of events. A lucky guess? Perhaps. Also, upon being told that the event coordinator was my fiance, he said sometihng to the effect of "You two? I don't think so..." Not in such a way that I was inclined to get angry, mainly because I did not really put any credence to his "abilities", but as if he saw it as a bad match. Well, in this he was correct again, as I am now divorced from that event coordinator. Did he have abilities? I'm not sure. I know he was correct in what he said. I am open minded to the concept of people having abilities, but will not accept someone's word that they have them without proof. Allison DuBois may have some kind of abilities. I have not met her and haven't really paid much attention to her. But according to this account even if she has gifts, she is full of pride, deception and appears to be taking advantage of people. Even if she has gifts she has too much pride to admit when she makes a mistake or misreads something. No one is infallible. She has also altered stories to promote herself for monetary gain. Plus she is apparently getting very rich taking advantage of people who take her word as gospel. So my thinking is, even if she has some talent beyond that of your average individual... she's still an asshole. Not to mention those who listen to her with more than an intent to be entertained are morons. Take responsibility for your own actions, don't base your life on the supposed pronouncements of others no matter how impressive they may appear. Use your own brain and stop looking to supposed psychics for guidance. That psychic who may have read a bit of my future... it was entertaining. It didn't change my life. I wasn't breaking up with my fiance on his say so nor did it affect my career to listen to what he told me. He may have had a gift. Allison may have a gift. SO WHAT? Unless she starts using her gift in some way that benefits people instead of lining her own pockets, she's not exactly someone I would listen to anyways. If she has such a gift... why couldn't she have warned people about terrorist attacks and gave authorities pointers to find evidence to confirm them and avert them? Well, I'm starting to ramble... but people need to realize even if such things exist... most of the people who are out there doing it successfully have more reliable marketing gifts than psychic ones.

Wait, let me get this straight...you guys are passing on a free trailer?!?! You should really seek this turd on a stick Allison Dubullshit out. I mean, she'll have seen it coming and will no doubt have some really killer retorts.

My, , psychic abilities...tell me that you're expecting a bit much if you'd call it a "trailer."

TPC-
I completely agree with Jonathan. It is nice to find a website that I agree with 100%. These "psychics" are vile, irrehensible people that do not care about anyone or anything except their pocketbooks. And their "SUPPORTERS" must have been dropped on their heads one too many times as a child! It truly amazes me how easily some people buy into this shit. Are they that lonely and insecure that this is the only way that they can feel good, or that they matter?

Come on people, go take some self-esteem classes, or pull your head out of the sand and join the rest of us in the real world! Believing in these people and their harsh, cruel treatment of others' pain is what makes them worse over time. They "see" that no matter what they do, or how badly they screw up and hurt someone, that they can just keep on going like it never happened.

Oh, and MENSA is just a bunch of poorly misguided, smarter than average, insecure lonely people. At the age of 17, I was smart enough to get away from those people before their emotional and social inabilities started to rub off on me.

Anyway, keep up the outstanding work TPC! Your site is truly refreshing!

Dear Steve,

How truly sad, I am sorry for your loss.

I do believe in ESP, however, these tv psychics are money-grubbers. If your sister insists on going to one in order for her peace of mind, then hopefully it will help her more than it will hurt her. But please, try to do all you can to talk her out of it. Help her find something else to focus on that will put her mind and heart at ease.

When my best friend was murdered by her husband, the police reports said that she died instantly. Her mother didn't believe them, so she went to a psychic who told her that Nikki suffered at the hands of her killer. I have read the police report and taken it to my Dr., from a medical standpoint, it would have been impossible for her to live longer than a few seconds after the attack. My point is, her poor mother now inaccurately believes that Nikki suffered and is tormented by this thought on a regular basis. It has destroyed what life she had left after losing her youngest daughter.

These people are cruel and insensitive, they are in it solely for the shock value and the money.

Good luck Steve, things will get better with time.

I actually just finished watching the video clip of Sylvia Browne that you had posted and found it pretty amusing. It's sort of refreshing to watch liars get outted, especially those who are just plain rude. The comment she made took me by surprise, i'm shocked the lady she made the comment to didn't flip out on her. (though, we are talking about live tv and it's probably best that the woman kept her bearings. Rather just stick to embarassing Sylvia rather than herself.)
I don't really know anything about the DuBois woman, well aside from knowing that the show Medium is apparently based on her? Anyway, I do believe myself that anyone who claims to be "psychic" and exploits their "power" in any way (on television, in a studio) doesn't have much credibility to them. I believe in supernatural things, psychic abilities included, but I honestly do not believe that you can just call upon the ability at the drop of the hat. Oh well, let the "psychics" have their spotlight. It's only a matter of time before someone else rains on their psychic parade.

I am only 16, and I personally find it very amusing that I have the intellect and capabilities to see past the phasade of psychics like Allison DuBois while others who wish to counterract your ideas dont. Just like any 16 year old, I dont usually speak like this. I use slaying and cursing and the typical teenage vernacular to express myself. But I wanted to demonstrate how someone such as my self, my age, could still post a much more articulate and educated comment than some of the...misguided souls above. :D. So I just wanted to say that I completely agree with what you are saying TPC. I had never given much thought to psychics and the like, but when I did, I thought the same things you have expressed. But I thought most people believed the bullshit. I am so glad to see that I'm not the only one. Thanks.

Glad to hear from you, Jessica! Folks like you show that it isn't age or "wisdom" that allows people to see through the flimsy bullshit psychics fling at all of us — it's simply some inherent intelligence and an actual willingness to do the research and educate yourself. It's fantastic that, at sixteen, you've already shown a propensity for these traits. Sure, it's common that sixteen-year-olds direct some "maverick" resistance at somebody...but it's very rare that they direct it at those who really, really deserve it.

And for the record: yes, you do come across as far more articulate and educated than the utter tools we deal with day to day. Comparing you to the general population, you're way ahead of them. Check out this poll from 2005 showing how many people believe in utter nonsense. It's staggering.

We're always glad to meet more people who embrace science, skepticism, reason and logic, and we hope to hear more from you.

I just wanted to say I don't know much about Allison Dubois and I don't really have an opinion as to whether I believe she is a fraud or not. I just wanted to say that for those of you that believe melanoma is not caused by smoking, you are wrong. Melanoma (skin cancer) is not only caused by sun damage, cigarettes contribute to this cancer as well. My grandfather died from melanoma caused by his smoking. So I do not doubt this woman is a fraud and has done many disgusting things but I just wanted to clear that part up.

We appreciate your input, N, but actually, we think you're mistaken on this one. We haven't seen anything that ties smoking to melanoma. You might be confusing different types of skin cancer. There have been studies linking smoking to increased incidents of squamous cell carcinoma...maybe that's the type of skin cancer you're thinking of?

[Jan Nico Bouwes Bavinck, MD, of the Leiden University Medical Center and his] team of researchers compared the risk of smoking in 580 patients with different types of skin cancer, and in 386 people without skin cancer. The researchers found that smoking was only associated with development of squamous cell carcinoma, not basal cell carcinoma or melanoma.

[Our emphasis]

Or you could be referring to the poorer prognosis that smokers sometimes have when it comes to melanoma. But that, according to the medical research, is more likely just a result of smoking weakening the immune system, rather than evidence of smoking actually causing melanoma. (Kind of like how folks tend to say "He died of complications from AIDS" instead of "He died of AIDS." Sure, the AIDS — or the smoking — may have knocked him down, but it's technically not what finished the job.) As noted on eMedicine:

Although no evidence exists that associates smoking with an increased risk of melanoma, several studies suggest that when compared to nonsmokers, smokers (1) are more likely to have metastases on initial presentation, (2) have lower disease-free survival rates after diagnosis, (3) are more likely to have visceral metastases, and (4) are more likely to die from the melanoma than nonsmokers. Smokers probably have a poorer prognosis with melanoma because of the adverse effects of smoking on the immune system, including impaired immunosurveillance and a lowered capacity to mount an immune response to transplanted melanoma tumors.

[Once again, our emphasis]

If you're aware of any studies that show that smoking can directly cause melanoma, please send the information our way; we'd be interested in getting a look at it. We're not aware of any such studies, though, so our conclusion hasn't changed: since Domini died from melanoma, which hasn't been found to be caused by smoking, Allison's prediction — like most of her claims — remains 100% false.

Allison appears to be a brave woman. It is a hard life being a medium and it's one that most mediums feel they have to hide in order to be acceped into society. I myself am a medium and am only 20 years old. I always found it hard to fit in and could never talk about my gift because no one would ever understand. I am so glad to have someone like Allison show me the way to accept who I am. It's hard to tell people you see the dead... so thats why I never usually do. In my opinion you are all the Bitches! Allison needs to make a living too.. so if she can do this by using her gift then how is this any different from an artist or doctor using their gifts to make money. Fuck you all! I'm just very greatfull I'm not a loser like all of you!

You must all understand that most messages come through unclear so it is hard to be 100% accurate. I tend to recieve messages from my Grandma all the time and try to translate what she means. It isn't untill the event happens that I understand the full message my Grandma was trying to give me.

Karen and Kris... you can both kiss my ass! I have no sorrows for you!

Yes! Another self-deluded moron to make excuses as to why their so called "powers" never work! I might've been nice, but you started off like an ass so I'll return in kind:

It is a hard life being a medium and it's one that most mediums feel they have to hide in order to be acceped into society. I myself am a medium and am only 20 years old. I always found it hard to fit in and could never talk about my gift because no one would ever understand.

Maybe we'd have reason to understand if you were to say...oh...back your fucking claim up? Seriously, there's a little man out there who will pay you $1 million dollars if you can do what you claim under scientifically controlled conditions - in other words, if you can do what you claim when you can't cheat.

I don't want to hear the usual excuses; all you have to do is do what you claim and you win. Simple as that. If you need help with a protocol, you could use the same testing format approved by Sylvia Browne.

In my opinion you are all the Bitches!

Fair enough. You're a deluded dipshit who lies to people (knowingly or unknowingly) and refuses to believe that you could be wrong.

What would it take for you to think you're wrong?

You must all understand that most messages come through unclear so it is hard to be 100% accurate. I tend to recieve messages from my Grandma all the time and try to translate what she means. It isn't untill the event happens that I understand the full message my Grandma was trying to give me.

Then why is it any different than making a guess, then saying it was magic after the fact? What use is your "power", then?

I am so glad to have someone like Allison show me the way to accept who I am. It's hard to tell people you see the dead... so thats why I never usually do.

Maybe if you gathered evidence, by taking the JREF Challenge, people wouldn't think you're silly.

Allison needs to make a living too.. so if she can do this by using her gift then how is this any different from an artist or doctor using their gifts to make money.

Boy, are you avoiding the issue: She doesn't have a gift! She's doing the equivalent of plagiarism or quackery: Faking a service. Get her to pass a skeptical challenge, and I may reevaluate that conclusion.

You must all understand that most messages come through unclear so it is hard to be 100% accurate.

We don't demand 100%. We only demand that it be statistically higher than blind chance under controlled conditions.

I tend to recieve messages from my Grandma all the time and try to translate what she means. It isn't untill the event happens that I understand the full message my Grandma was trying to give me.

Just like people who only know what Nostradumass was predicting after it happens.

Karen and Kris... you can both kiss my ass! I have no sorrows for you!

I won't mince words: You're evil. What other kind of person would say such things to the victims of deception and vultury?

So I was playing World of Warcraft the other day and I was killing this slime thing and I thought to myself wow that would be cool if a little disgusting oozling pet dropped... and omg it did! I must be psychic... because the chances of the dropping are like .18%. Wow... maybe now i will quit my job and open my own psychic store.
Here's my point. I may not be the brightest crayon in the box but I'm pretty damn sure that people cant talk to the dead. They are dead... What happens to them after that no one knows. If all these wack jobs that claim they can talk to the dead were actually telling the truth dont you think it would be some sort of a fact? I dont know maybe I'm not making sense but I just dont believe it any more than I believe that there is a pink elephant dancing on top of my computer...

Lauren:

If all these wack jobs that claim they can talk to the dead were actually telling the truth dont you think it would be some sort of a fact?

No, because evil atheist Darwinbot religion-is-science meanies would hold them back! Except for the fact that we are the ones who want them to prove it...which would mean we are wrong...

You all think that I'm a lier and that Allison isn't a Medium... how do you know that the Kris posting messages on this board is actually the Kris mentioned in Allison's book? For all you know it could be someone fucking around and all you "stupid" bunch off morans actually believe it's really her! I bet you never thought of that, you just all jumped to your usuall conclousions that you are "always right"... Why? Because your all started to post comments like crazy when you didn't even think first. Haha What a bunch of LOSERS!

Another thing... Allison has also solved cases with the Federal Police on many occasions. Sometimes she has lead the police to the "Villlian" and the Villian has then come clean and admitted to his/her crimes. How do you explain that? Do you think the police would continue to work with Allison if she wasn't the real deal or wasn't producing the results? Please explain your theory!

You all think that I'm a lier and that Allison isn't a Medium... how do you know that the Kris posting messages on this board is actually the Kris mentioned in Allison's book? For all you know it could be someone fucking around and all you "stupid" bunch off morans actually believe it's really her!

What would someone have to gain from that? So far, we have two stories about Domini sent freely to a site that isn't going to pay the authors or give them any real measure of fame (sorry, 2%-ers), which corroborate each other. Then, we have a story from a woman who has been shown repeatedly to mislead, misinform, and lie to increase her fame and fortune, a story which makes her look good, sells books for her, and which contradicts the two corroborative stories. Gee, who do I believe? It's such a tough question...

I bet you never thought of that, you just all jumped to your usuall conclousions that you are "always right"... Why? Because your all started to post comments like crazy when you didn't even think first.

Wow, you're a nutty one. See, the thing is, we're skeptics. We never assume the rightness of anything. We don't jump to conclusions, we examine the evidence. And so far, the evidence overwhelmingly shows that Allison DuBois is a horrible charlatan.

Talk about jumping to conclusions before you think...okay, Medium, which is more likely: Allison DuBois is a greedy fake, who fabricated a story about a former friend's death in order to make herself look better, or she's a real psychic and a wonderful person, and two people with nothing to gain came here with corroborative stories about the same event, because they wanted to mess with us and make us hate Allison for her amazing powers?

Another thing... Allison has also solved cases with the Federal Police on many occasions. Sometimes she has lead the police to the "Villlian" and the Villian has then come clean and admitted to his/her crimes. How do you explain that? Do you think the police would continue to work with Allison if she wasn't the real deal or wasn't producing the results? Please explain your theory!

How do I explain that? Three words: get a clue. If you'll read, oh, I don't know, any of the other posts in this series, you'll see that no law enforcement agency will admit to having worked with Allison. From here:

According to Texas Ranger senior management, the Rangers have not used psychics, including Ms. DuBois.

And:

We have to wonder, though: if she really did provide such an invaluable service to these agencies, then why would they flatly deny using her services? Sure, they could be embarrassed that they turned to psychic assistance, but again, if her assistance really was as effective and beneficial as she claims it was in cracking the cases, we can't really understand the hesitation to acknowledge her contributions. We also wonder why Allison hasn't taken any steps to set the record straight given her assertion that these agencies are misinforming the public about her record. In effect, they are publicly stating that Allison is lying about her involvement with them, which could have legal ramifications if Allison has in fact worked with them. Given that such accusations, if untrue, would be harmful to Allison's livelihood, we would think she would have a solid litigious leg to stand on. Yet she does nothing. Perhaps Allison operates like the Impossible Mission Force, and being interviewed is tantamount to capture...or perhaps, she never worked with these agencies after all. We may never know the truth.

As to your claim that Allison has led police to a "Villlian" (actually "villain," you vacuous gasbladder), please cite the source for this. Tell me, where did this case happen? What was the crime in question? What is the name of the accused? If you know it happened, surely you have more information than you've given. If you can't verify it, then there's a good chance that it didn't fucking happen.

I'm pretty much done with this person; if they were a Transformer they'd be Optimus Slime.

Medium:

Unless you can back up your claims, you are just taking people at their word. If I tell you that I have psychic powers, why would you not believe me?

Unless you can back up your claims, your words mean dick. As far as those 2 people you mentioned go, I take it as an anecdote - meaning I would never use it to "prove psychics wrong", since that is impossible.

And unless you can back up your claims, I nominate the rest of your vaccuous, baseless, shameful, hurtful banter to be relegated to the urinal.

I'm pretty much done with this person; if they were a Transformer they'd be Optimus Slime.

See, I'm thinking Smegmatron.