Ivan Seeking said:
Where exactly is the proof of the money?
Why won't he put it into escrow? I would think the great Randi would be willing to take Sylvia's challenge just to shut up her up...after all, I thought this was Randi's challenge, not Randi's investments.
Randi has the money, and has made an exception for the Browne. And still she refuses to be tested.
Here is a copy of the letter he sent to Larry King.
from one of his commentaries http://www.randi.org/jr/110703.html
Larry King
c/o CNN, 820 1st Street
Washington, DC 20002
Mr. King:
Your frequent guest Sylvia Browne has offered many excuses for not fulfilling her agreement made with you and with this Foundation, on your CNN program, that she would accept being tested for our million-dollar prize. That agreement — that she would make herself available for such a test — was made 970 days ago.
Ms. Browne's first excuse for not proceeding with the test was that she could not find out how to contact me. A psychic, and she could not use a telephone book? Since she claims to regularly contact the dead, contacting a living person should not have been a difficult problem for her. We remedied that by sending her our e-mail address, postal address, and telephone and fax numbers. Still no response.
Next, she said that she was not going to deal with me because I am a "godless person." For that, I admit, I have no remedy.
Her latest excuse — made on your show — is that she now demands that the million dollars be put in escrow, to ensure that she receives the prize, a prize which she had previously rebuffed, saying that she was not interested in the money. This seems a strange turnabout, but though we previously believed that we would lose the interest on the account if it were put in escrow, and our rules specifically state that such considerations will not be made for any applicant, in the case of Ms. Sylvia Browne, we have decided to make an exception. We have consulted Goldman-Sachs, and they now inform us that by means of a special dispensation, we will be able to do this without any loss of income. This should please Ms. Browne, since there is now no impediment in the way of her proceeding with the accepting of the test procedure.
Previously, we have sent letters and other documentation by certified mail to Sylvia Browne. However, this material has been refused by Ms. Browne's office, and returned to us, unread. We will make every attempt to hand-deliver a copy of this present letter to her office.
We have sent you proper proof that establishes the existence of the JREF million-dollar prize, as well as the availability of the prize, and all of that evidence was published on our web page, as well. Ms. Browne has refused to accept this evidence.
In the 970 days since Sylvia Browne agreed, on "Larry King Live," to be tested by this Foundation, she has not contacted us. You had stated, on your May 16th show, that you would be happy to "arrange" for Ms. Browne to be informed on this matter. Since you, Mr. King, may be better able to reach this person, I would ask that you inform her of this latest development, so that she will hasten to fulfill her previous agreement to be tested.
There is only one thing missing in this picture: Goldman-Sachs requires, as part of the process of putting the money in escrow, that we find a person to act as "escrow agent" for the million dollars prize money. That simply means that the agent would have complete control over the distribution of the prize money following the test of Ms. Browne's claim. Since Ms. Browne apparently trusts you, Mr. King, and would have good reason to believe that you would fairly and properly handle this function as "escrow agent," I am asking you if you would serve in that capacity. This would be for a very limited time, of course, from the moment that Ms. Browne accepts the fulfillment of her demand until the test has been done and the answer has been arrived at. I ask you to please inform me concerning your willingness in this matter.
Please bear in mind that it is Sylvia Browne, not this Foundation, who has avoided the challenge. Now that all conditions laid down by Ms. Browne have been met, it should be only a short time before we are able to begin conducting the test. However, since I had previously issued a call for "believers" as volunteers to be subjects for the test, and that was two years and eight months ago, some of those who volunteered have now died, and others have lost interest. It would be necessary for me to go on the Internet and re-issue that call for subjects. I believe it would take about two weeks to find a sufficient number of persons for this purpose. I will of course keep you informed on the progress of this effort.
Note: with the exception of the "special considerations" clause mentioned above, the rules on the JREF million-dollar challenge, as stated on our web page, will be in effect if and when Sylvia Browne agrees that all of her demands have been met, and that she will proceed with the test.
Thank you for reading this letter, Mr. King, and I hope that we might look forward to finally conducting the test of Sylvia Browne's claims that she can contact the dead, and does so regularly, as a profession.
