My Mentor Ingo Swann In Memorium

On February 1, 2013, I learned that my friend and mentor Ingo Swann passed away.  Even though he was 80 years old and in terrible health, I somehow did not imagine that he would actually pass away.  Ingo was one of the most famous psychics in the world and co-created the CIA's psychic spy program, better known as remote viewing. 

The last time I saw him was a year ago in November, 2011.  Strangely, I did not post the above photo of us on my website, out of respect for his privacy, until last month.  No particular logic.  Just felt right.  A year ago, I met him at his apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and we sat, as we usually did, on two small, filfthy square mats on the cement steps of the stoop of his building while he smoked endless cheap cigars.  Ingo spent hours out there during good weather, watching the traffic, looking at the auras of the passerbys, saying hello to the local residents, artists, postmen, restauranteurs...  I had wanted to talk to him about UFOs.  We did, and, as if on cue, the postman walked upt to us and delivered a package addressed to Ingo from his colleague and famous ufologist Jacques Vallee.  He confided in me that a movie was about to be made about his life.

Whenever we ate out, Ingo never finished his meal.  He didn't have much of an appetite - which he attributed to his digestive issues and old age.  But he would always carefully take everything home in a doggy bag.

I hadn't seen or talked to him for many months, and so he told me that getting old was a "bitch" and that no one should underestimate how awful it was.  His problems with his hip had deteriorated over the years I knew him.  He was having more and more problems getting around with a kind of labored shuffle.  And yet, despite living mostly in the basement of his building in his studio which was one flight down of very deep stairs, he didn't complain.  When I used to call him on exceptionally hot summer days when the temperatures hit higher than 103 degrees in New York City, and offered to take him to an air conditioned location, he always refused.  He said he was just fine in his stuffy, airless apartment without air conditioning. 

Ingo understood the meaning of living lightly upon this earth.  We would walk around together in his neighborhood.  Occasionally, he would stop to examine piles of garbage put out on the curb and, in true New Yorker style, would select usable items.  One day I carried a bunch of old dishes for him which he took back to his apartment.  Nothing went to waste.  He had no use for what others might see as trendy, new, valuable, glitzy.  He lived lightly and took up very little material space.  He didn't see what others saw.  When we would walk down the street together, he would make comments about the ghosts who passed us on the sidewalk.  The first time I saw his apartment I was amazed (and yet not surprised) to see a stuffed and mounted front half of the body of a giant cat above his tiny kitchen table. 

"Oh!" I said, "A snow leopard!"

"Yes," he said almost suspiciously.  "How did you know it was a snow leopard?"  (Apparently no one else had ever accurately guessed the species of cat).

His living and dining quarters were not a place of living, the way we normally think of living in an apartment.  Everything was covered with volumes of books.  It was almost too much to take in at once.  The walls were covered from top to bottom with ecclectic bits of art.  It was visually overwhelming.

Ingo told me that in fact he had been deathly ill for the last few months with some respiratory illness.  He had called upon a psychic medical intuitive friend of his in the midwest who, over the phone, had correctly diagnosed the problem (Ingo had been shoveling dog shit out of his building's outdoor basement entrance left by careless dog owners and apparently had acquired some nasty airborne fungus or bacteria) and also correctly told Ingo how to cure the problem using a homeopathic remedy.  Ingo had followed the psychic's advice and was amazed that the entire respiratory issue disappeared within two days when none of the traditional medicines had worked. 

Ingo looked at me and said, "You know, I was really very, very sick.  I was on a respirator and I didn't think I was going to make it."

I said, "Yes, I know.  I was worried about  you."

He looked at me funny and said, "What do you mean you knew?" 

"I saw you on a respirator with my third eye," I said, tapping the spot between my eyebrows.  I don't know how I knew this, but I did.  I had visualized him in his studio apartment, lying in bed, with a respirator.

He seemed surprised.  A funny response from a man so accepting and understanding of psychic powers. 

I am really at a loss of words to explain how much Ingo meant to me.  He was so incredibly aggravating and combative, as well as condescending when he wanted to be, and yet he had one of the kindest hearts and gentlest voices of anyone I ever met.  He told me when I first met him, in no uncertain terms (after I complimented him for saying something nice) that he was definitely not a "nice" person.  And he wasn't "nice" - in any traditional sense of the word.  He didn't want to be my mentor.  He kept refusing to cooperate.  And yet, he kept giving me advice, he sent me important articles, gave me tips about how to investigate the paranormal, and gave me books from his personal library.  He argued with everything I ever said, and yet gave me - to my great shock - a wonderful (and very rare) endorsement for my book "Psychic Intuition: Everything You Ever Wanted to Ask But Were Afraid to Know." 

Ingo was highly secretive.  He thrived on his secrets.  He kept his psychic abilities secret.  He refused to tell me how many porno books he had authored in his pre-psychic past.  He told me he knew he had been previously reincarnated as someone incredibly important in history but refused to tell me who.  I wondered if he thought he had been Jesus Christ.  Or maybe Hitler.  At a speaking engagement in recent years, in his opening remarks, he announced that, contrary to the opinion of many people, he was not in fact dead!  He giggled (he was often amused by himself) that he had come back as a reincarnation of himself! 

And I believe if anyone could actually accomplish this, I am sure Ingo could.  I miss him.  Alot.

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Who Are The "Men in Black"?

Strangely - or not! - my computer has refused to allow me to add a photo to this blog.  This has never happened before.  Perhaps it has something to do with the nature of the blog I intend to write.  Stranger things have happened.  So be it.  No picture.

My topic is the famous "Men in Black" - known to many of you through its most publicized Hollywood version that fantastic movie by the same name released in 1997.  It has always been one of my favorite movies.  The two protagonists, played by Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, are a kind of CIA-style operatives protecting earth from various bad aliens and monitoring immigration of good aliens.  Once they return to "normal" life their memories of this entire subculture alien world that co-exists with our "normal" world is erased. 

Having recently been exposed to some excellent books written by some of ufology's finest investigative journalists, particularly Jacques Valle, John Keel and Colin Wilson, I am now trying to process an enormous amount of mind-boggling, paradigm-shattering, difficult-to-digest information about the so-called "alien influence" on our modern world.  All three of these amazing ufologists demonstrates through detailed documentation of hundreds of case studies (the ones reported in their books are just the tip of the iceberg) that 1) we are not alone, 2) the interactions of ETs with humans bears striking similarity those found in the secular paranormal and religious spirt worlds, and 3) there is a growing body of evidence - as horrifying and patently unbelievable as it seems at first - that we humans are being manipulated on a grand scale.

John Keel ("Why UFOs:Operation Trojan Horse"/"The Mothman Prophesies") talks alot about how various strange men, always dressed in black suits, show up after there has been some kind of UFO contact or interaction, to advise the contactees never to discuss their experiences with anyone.  These "men in black" have been documented by many writers and witnessed by people I have interviewed.  Likewise, in UFO interactions, there are often a whole host of other mysterious characters who seem to show up out of no where - very often they are paramilitary men driving unmarked cars or Air Force officers who require the contactees to be debriefed and evidence to be confiscated or journalists who are later found never to have existed. 

There are most certainly high levels of government interest in the UFO phenomena since, by definition, no matter how superficially ridiculous it seems, there are too many worldwide reports now circulating by thousands of sane individuals that the government could simply ignore as a question of national security.  But, that being said, very little has been said about the growing possibility that these "Men in Black" or presumed military/government officials may actually be alien imposters.  While you might logically expect anyone in top secret military activities to maintain a high level of security and invisibility, there are certain things that do not make sense in many of these cases.  Evidence disappears; others do not see what others see; addresses and license plates vanish; real objects morph; electronic events that cannot be explained by experts; mail is mysteriously rerouted; and so on. 

It leads to the obvious (but sickeningly unrealistic) question: Are our governments and our military (Air Force included) being impersonated by aliens?  Seem impossible?  Would you know if you met an alien on the street?  How would you tell the difference?  Read the literature.  There are some tell-tale signs!  This theory suggests that the growing gap between the American public and UFO enthusiasts, and the U.S. government/military stance on the non-existence of UFOs, ETs, and alien abductions, is actually being fomented by an alien intelligence capable of mind manipulation and hallucinogenic reality-alteration.  Shape shifting - a topic previously reserved for South American Indian shamen - may be a talent utilized by alien intelligence to create Air Force and military humanoid imposters!! 

Mind boggling?  Certainly.  Insane?  Sure seems like it.  But for those of you who dare to challenge your most cherished grasp on reality, force yourself to read documented accounts of encounters that suggest "Men in Black" may not be as human as we all assumed.

Doomsday: A Self-Fulfilling Prophesy?

The extinct Dodo Bird

  

Many people are genuinely frightened by, yet neurotically focused on, the prospect of imminent natural disasters - things completely out of our human control.  The end of the Long Count Mayan Calendar on December 21, 2012 seems to have become the lightening rod for our disaster-consciousness.  People fret endlessly over various scary prospects like crashing into Planet X, extreme solar flares, meteor hits, magnetic pole shifts, supernova explosions, volcanic eruptions and so on. 

I have two things to say about this.  First, our human obsession with the "End of Times" is really nothing more than a human psychological projection of our fear of our own personal mortality.  We fear our own death.  We know it's coming.  So we legitimize our fear by making it bigger, grander and worldwide - encompassing all of humanity.  We blame it on global catastrophes and out-of-control events.  Yes, sadly, the truth is that you and I will eventually die. 

Second,  even though death is inevitable, we humans conveniently ignore the greater and inevitable catastrophes we face here on planet earth.  Global warming is no longer the subject for armchair debate.  About two years ago, I went to Princeton University to listen a lecture given by Ralph Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences, about global warming.  The lecture hall was packed.  Using statistics, charts and graphs, he clearly demonstrated that while the earth is indeed in one of its normal, anticipated, natural cycles of global warming, there is an undeniable correlation between the increase in our use of fossil fuels (gas and oil) and a freakish, sharp, totally unnatural increase in global warming.  It began in the 1970's and is increasing at an alarming rate.  No doubt about it - humans are the cause of this unprecedented rise in global warming!  We are leading ourselves to the brink of natural catastrophe.  Why do we bury our heads in the sand and refuse to confront our own behaviors?  Why are we becoming a self-fulfulling Doomsday prediction! 

Here is a sobering thought: Ninety-nine percent of all species who ever lived on this planet are now extinct.  Human activity has dramatically increased the extinction rates for the first time in 65 million years.  Is the human race next on that list?  History says yes.  But probably not before we cause the extinction of almost every other species on earth.  Do we really believe scientists will come up with an 11th-hour solution?  Politicians and leaders are nowhere to be found. Americans - who will fight to the death for their Constitutionally-guaranteed "individual liberties" - don't seem to get it.  We are living in different times. Democracy as we know it is at risk of becoming as extinct as the Dodo Bird.  We are entering a New World where, since we cannot seem to voluntarily control our own greed and consumption, the terms will be dictated to us collectively - otherwise we all perish!

Despite my pessimistic tone, I say all of this with cautious hope and optimism.  Recently, a few countries (unfortunately not my beloved United States) have come up with some radical solutions.  Equador, followed by Bolivia, have passed national legislation creating Constitutional rights for Nature.  Sound a bit bizarre?  Maybe to the human who views the planet as his own personal candy store.  The Equadorian Constitution restricts human activities that will lead to "the extinction of species, the destruction of the ecosystems or the permanent alteration of the natural cycles."  Plants, insects and non-human animals now have legitimate "individual" rights!  If that seems unfair to you, all you have to do is consider the alternative. 

I was delighted to see on a recent trip through the various balkanized nations of the former Yugoslavia, that the governments have actually erected bridges across the highways - not for humans, but for animals.  Superficially, this seems like a terrible extravagance since it has no obvious human benefit.  Why waste taxpayer dollars on animals?  Because it is a solution to animal extinction and human territorial expansion.
 

In the former Yugoslavia, the government builds bridges so wildlife can cross the highways!  Bridges built for animals, not humans!  What a concept!  Photos by Nancy du Tertre.
 

I believe there are three basic ways for you to prevent Doomsday and save the human race from going the way of the Dodo bird: 1) Repair instead of replace, 2) Share your "property" with wildlife and plants even when it "costs" you, and 3) Accept less even when "more" is available.  If you simply live your life by these three principles, you may save the human race from extinction and become a living prophesy of hope, not doom. 

A Personal Journey After Hurricane Sandy 2012

Everyone talks about the damage to the coastal areas of New Jersey, Staten Island and Long Island, from Hurricane Sandy.  Clearly, those areas bore the brunt of the storm.  Northwestern New Jersey didn't register as even a tiny blip of concern among lawmakers and media.  But this was my story from New Jersey.  Every single road in my town had a tree that fell across it.  It was impossible to get in or to get out.  Sidewalks were largely impassable due to the debris of fallen trees.

Everywhere you went in Morris County, NJ, which lies 20 miles west of New York City, you saw giant oaks, pine trees, and other ancient trees yanked up at the roots lying next to or crushing equally old homes.

Telephone poles crumpled up like tinker toys.  We had no power, electric, internet, television or phones for two weeks.  We were among the last to get power back in New Jersey.

Some homes got "lucky" like this one and the tree missed the house.

The root structures of these massive old trees made you realize, with sadness, the hugeness of the loss.  While we were very lucky that no trees hit our own house, we were homeless for two weeks.  We stayed with various friends who either had some power or a generator.  Our house was 35 degrees inside - especially the week of the Nor'easter Storm when we also got 3 inches of snow on the ground!

This is me standing in front of a tree that fell on power lines.  The tree had literally been on fire for over a week before the utilities company got around to fixing it.

This photo gives you a good idea of the size of the roots of these trees...

These residents got lucky and were able to contact a tree company before the big rush.  Getting debris removed was another whole issue in itself.

Another sidewalk view.



 

Inside this supermarket, essential supplies like milk are clearly running very, very low a week after the storm.  I was able to hitch a ride to a supermarket with a friend, since I had no gas in my car to get there myself.




Nearly two weeks after the Hurricane hit, some towns in our County began to see power and tree company workers for the very first time.  New Jersey had more than 2 million residents without power for a very long time.  With Of the 11,000 utility workers working in New Jersey, 9,000 were from out of state.  Montclair, for instance, had workers from Tennesee, Florida and Kentucky.  My town only had workers from Ohio.  Northern New Jersey was basically ignored for the first two weeks while workers focused exclusively on Southern and Coastal New Jersey areas.  Thank God for the kindness of others!

I had to cast my presidential ballot in another County since I couldn't live in my house.  Here I am casting a "Provisional Ballot," granted to hurricane victims displaced by the storm, in a cardboard "booth" where I was given a pencil (with no eraser) to fill in all of my personal information which remained on the outside of the envelope into which I inserted my penciled-in ballot for United States president, vice president and a bunch of politicians I had never heard of from this district.  Theoretically, anyone could disqualify my vote simply by erasing my penciled data on the outside of my ballot!  I would say it is definitely time to start thinking about updating our voting techniques.  This doesn't even rate methods used in corrupt Third World nations... Pathetic!



New Jersey began gasoline rationing and odd-even days when you were allowed to buy gas.  We waited in gas lines 5 hours long only to arrive and have the station run out of gas!  After 9 days of not being able to get gas for the car, my son jumps on a gas line for hand-held gas cartons and pulls of a miracle!  Finally we have enough gas to get home again!



 

Is Fibromayalgia A Disease of Psychic Mediums?

A couple of weeks ago I was having dinner with two friends of mine.  David Rountree is an audio engineer, who previously worked on military accoustic research, and now is in charge of the public PA systems in various transportation stations in the NYC area.  He has also developed a following in the paranormal world doing experimentation on behalf of the Scientific Paranormal Investigative Research Information and Technology ("SPIRIT") Lab.  His lovely Texan fiancee, Tracy Ray, is a medium who has only recently come "out of the closet" with her abilities and has begun working with David on his paranormal tours around the country.

During the course of our dinner, Tracy talked a bit about her painful fibromyalgia, which often makes it difficult for her to even touch or hug other people.  David said he was convinced that fibromyalgia is a common complaint among psychic mediums and suggested that there must be some kind of link between the kind of highly energic work performed by a medium and its negative effect on the body resulting in nerve pain from fybromyalgia.  Of course, I was aware that many of my medium friends have trouble touching people physically and suffer from a variety of debilitating conditions including fibromyalgia.  It was an interesting correlation, I thought.

Two days later, I decided to get a massage from my local spa.  My masseuse had only worked on me once before.  I didn't know anything about her background and all she knew about me was that I was a psychic with a radio show.  About half way through working on me, she asked me if I had fibromyalgia.  I was shocked and said no.  In fact, no one has ever suggested such a thing to me before and I don't suffer from nerve pain.  I tend to be as healthy as a horse.  I asked her why.

To my great surprise, she said, " I'm a medium. I used to have fibromyalgia.  I am very familiar with all the medical trigger points related to fibromyalgia."  She explained that people with fibromyalgia tend to experience pain when certain points of the body are pressed.  She told me I seemed to have pain on all of those points.

Well, I had no idea she was a medium and she had no idea I was a medium!  To hear her talk about fibromyalgia fast on the heels of my discussion with David and Tracy seemed way too bizarre - not to mention the suggestion that I might have it myself without knowing it!

In fact, it was one of the strangest massages I have ever had.  I knew I had been through a couple of rough weeks with all my spiritual mediumship work and needed some deep relaxation.  I am used to the sensation of releasing strong emotions when particular muscles are massaged.  This time, however, I seemed to be released very, very specific spirit entities - people and even animals!  It was bizarre.  For instance, when she worked on my left leg, I experienced the release of a male auto mechanic!  Why?  I had no idea.  I had not done any spiritual work involving any auto mechanics.  That night, I randomly turned on a television show, Dateline Mysteries, and it was all about the suspicious disappearance and likely homicide of an auto mechanic by his wife who was also a manager of an auto mechanic business.  I have never watched, read or discussed a case about a homicide of an auto mechanic before.  Don't know if there is a relationship, but in this line of work, you must always keep your mind open. 

My masseuse told me after she worked on me that at a certain point, she felt so much energy releasing from my body that the entire massage room had actually heated up and became uncomfortably hot!

I have shared this story with a group of online mediums and the reaction was quite amazing.  Many of them are indeed suffering from similar fibromyalgia symptons.  David says he believes my masseuse was right on the money - that nerve pain develops from a kind of circuit overload of excess energy (spiritual) that cannot be easily discharged by the medium.

According to WebMD, fibromyalgia is diagnosed based on whether the patient reacts with pain when  18 known trigger points on the body are pressed (see diagram above).  If the patient reacts to 11 out of the 18, then they will be diagnosed with fibromyalgia.  It seems my masseuse's information about the trigger points and release of excess energy were the bits of information that David needed in order to pursue his theory.  He is now working on an experiment to apply EMF stimulation to those trigger points to see if there is a way to reduce the pain of fibromyalgia. 

UPDATE:  An interesting current science article has appeared showing that people who suffer from fibromayalgia seem to improve when treated with oxygen inside hyperbaric chambers normally reserved for scuba divers to avoid the bends!!  Take a look at this interesting article:  http://thespiritscience.net/2015/11/30/fibromyalgia/

Some Coincidences as "Psychic Intuition" Hits Bookstores

Have you ever had that rather common but astounding experience of knowing that someone, out of the blue, was about to call you on the telephone or send you an email?

This past Wednesday, August 29, 2012, I was invited to give a presentation and book signing of my new book, "Psychic Intuition: Everything You Ever Wanted to Ask But Were Afraid to Know," at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Staten Island, NY.  I was told that I should speak for 15 minutes and then do Q & A for another 15 minutes.  Just to be sure I didn't go over my allotted time limit, I figured I should wear a watch.  I don't normally wear wrist watches any more.  Like most people, I flip on my trusty i-phone.  But I thought it would be more discreet if I wore I watch.  I picked through my jewelry box and pulled out all my wrist watches.  None of them worked - except one that was given to me by a friend about 10 years ago.  He had an obsession with time pieces, traveled to Basel, Switzerland, to start up a wrist watch business, and given them as gifts to his friends.  The last time I saw him was many years ago. I had never worn the wrist watch because I frankly I wasn't crazy about the design. But I wore it - for the first time - to my book signing on Wednesday. That night, when I got home and read through my emails, I learned he had died that morning.  He was 91 years old.

Life is incredibly short and we should take advantage of learning about all of our amazing skills and gifts as human beings in the time we have.  This story illustrates what I talk about in my new book.  "Psychic Intuition" was published last week and is now in Barnes & Noble and other book stores around the country, and available on Amazon.  For those of you who prefer electronic books, it is also available on Kindle and Nook.

The story about my friend's watch shows how intuition operates in subtle and curiously synchronistic ways.  Never underestimate your capacity to "tune in" to the vast ocean of vibratory information that surrounds us every second of every day.  It may not seem rational or based on any facts at all - and still you can "know" things without knowing why.  Could you call this a "coincidence"?  Sure!  You can call virtually every event a coincidence.  But a synchronicity is a "meaningful coincidence."   If the intersection of two seemingly unrelated events is strangely meaningful to the person experiencing them, it begins to feel as if there may be an invisible cause-and-effect rather than simply a random coincidence.  It is our responsibility to not merely dismiss events like this, but to examine them for possible causes.  After all, the concept of "cause-and-effect" is not an alien idea to our scientists!

Anyway, I invite you all to take a look at my book.  I wrote it for skeptics and believers.  I wanted to explain the origins of psychic ability to everyone and in terms that everyone can accept and understand.  Psychic ability is not magic.  It is a natural, normal, human physiological function.  Most of us lose this ability as we grow up because our brains become programmed to think in words and logic - both of which kill this style of "thinking" - or, more accurately, "sensing."  We forget how to sense our world.  But this can be retrained.

"Psychic Intuition" is not a book about how to become psychic in 12 easy steps, nor is it a book about what an amazing and extraordinary life I have as a psychic medium.  However, I set forth simple exercises to help you "relearn" your innate psychic ability.  I explain what it feels like from the inside to have psychic impressions.  After all, I am a trained psychic.  I became a psychic detective and spiritual medium rather late in life.  The book has been called "ground breaking" by almost everyone who has read it - from skeptics to psychics.  I don't think it is like any other book I have read before.  I invite you to take a look at it and let me know what you think about it.

Another strange "coincidence".  Last night - for the first time - I randomly decided to check on Amazon to see if they had removed my previous (much longer) book called "Psychic Intuition."  I was shocked to see there was just one copy available and it had a list price of a whopping and unbelievable $1,561.57!  This morning, I opened up my email and found a note from someone who had also just checked the price of my old book online and commented, "I still don’t understand why the 2010 ed of your Intuition book has shot up so high!"  It was news to me! 

Coincidence is only a matter of the appearance of events in a seemingly orderly sequence based on our (mis)perception of how time flows.

Long Island Medium "Sees" The Money Ghost

I always liked Theresa Caputo, star of TLC's hit television series "The Long Island Medium" now about to enter its third season.  She was seemingly natural, funny, loud-mouthed, and amazingly talented in her ability to speak to the dead with apparent accuracy.  I especially enjoyed her very typically Italian Long Island obsession with her hair-do - an odd platinum, hair-sprayed helmet hair (rivaled only by Newt Gingrich's wife Callista's undented blonde head piece).  Her obsession made her vulnerable and thus believable. 

That is why I was so shocked and then disappointed to see her appear in a Priceline.com commercial which has aired repeated on television since June.  The basic theme of the ad is that Theresa is sitting at a dining room table giving a psychic reading to a young couple who are trying to connect with the spirit of the Priceline Negotiator, an advertising character long played by actor William Shatner, until the character was "killed off" by the advertising agency in a bus accident.  Theresa appears confusingly like herself in her hit reality show where she gives readings to clients seated across from them at a small table.  She appears to be "linking" with the spirit of the deceased person the couple wishes to contact.  Then, while gently waving incense with her shaman's eagle feather, she seems confused.  She tells them she is hearing the spirit say something bizarre and she starts singing the advertising jingle for the Priceline Negotiator.

What!!!  I couldn't believe my ears.  She just sold her soul for cash!! 

Her sell-out to the commercial world was stunning for many reasons.  First, and most importantly, Theresa decided to opt for cash over morality.  She clearly didn't care that she was using her status as a well-respected spiritual medium in order to grab some quick and easy cash.  Second, she betrayed those who have believed in her abilities as being "true."  By agreeing to be in a hokey, staged commercial basically mocking spiritual mediums, she betrayed those who trusted her.  Don't forget.  Her clients are people who are sad and grieving for loved ones who have died!  Third, by making fun of the information that comes through from dead spirits to mediums (by suggesting that mediums fake their information for commercial gain), she unfortunately has made all mediums look bad.  If she thought this was "funny" or "cute" - she was terribly wrong.  It wasn't.  It made her look like a total fraud - in real life, in reality television, and in advertising.

According to a Reuter's article quoting the Priceline.com press release, Caputo was quoted as saying, "It was a blast doing this spot. The hardest thing about comedy is delivering those lines with a straight face.  But it is the Negotiator, after all, and his sole concern, wherever he is, is saving people money on their priceline.com hotel rooms."  Really?

Priceline's Chief Marking Officer Brett Keller was clearly pleased by the ad.  He said: "Given the 'status' of the Negotiator, Theresa Caputo was a natural choice to help us continue the narrative of this campaign. It was a pleasure working with Theresa and we hope her fans enjoy seeing this side of her."

No, sorry, I don't think this ad will make Theresa's fans love her.  In fact, this ad has backfired in Theresa's face!  By contrast, it was a brilliant move by Priceline.com. The company stands to gain from all the publicity and controversy from having used Theresa's reputation for its own benefit.

Spiritual mediums, like myself, already walk enough of a tightrope trying to make people understand the reality of the spirit world without having someone like Theresa Caputo muddy up the waters again just to make a quick buck.