Unfortunately people are always going to be people and some people are jerks. I don't know what can be done about people who ridicule other people's work or findings. Freedom of speech applies to jerks,too. Most people like that will get a reputation and will lost whatever credibility they had.

Personally, I think it's a rip off when people present fake evidence. I think that actually does fall under the category of fraud. Any videos or pictures that have been faked or photo shopped, etc. should clearly be labeled as such. It would be great if this could be regulated, but I'm not sure how it could be enforced other than posting a list of people who have been caught presenting such "evidence" so that anything they present will be taken with a grain of salt.

Many hide behind the term freedom of speech without knowing what it means and it may come to bite them in the butt one day. We may see shortly by this being challenged in the Surpreme Court now.

The free communication of ideas and opinions of every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but they are also responsible for such abuses of this freedom as defined by law. Many legal systems, and society at large, for that matter, recognize there are and should be limits on the freedom of speech, particularly when freedom of speech conflicts with people's other values or rights. The jerks aren't the only ones that have rights although they seem to be the only ones squawking about them.

So, even though the jerks have rights, they don't have the right to do harm to others and are not blindly protected by the free speech rule. The problem is that the good people just let things go and let the jerks get away with it. Well, until now. Can't wait to see what happens with this in the surpreme court.

Personally, I am a big believer in freedom of speech, even if I don't like what is said. To quote Voltaire, I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death to defend your right to defend it.

Our founding fathers made freedom of speech the very first right that they specifically protected in the Bill of Rights and I absolutely agree that it's the most important right we have as a free people. How can a free people be censored?

Putting limits on freedom of speech is a VERY slippery slope. Who gets to decide what's offensive? Whose values determine what can or cannot be said? I'd rather be offended every once in a while that have the thought and speech police in charge of what we say. I think we've already gone too far in that direction as it is.

Just my opinion.

There are always going to be people who try to pass off something as being paranormal when it is obviously not, and there are always going to be people who take it upon themselves to be the "paranormal police." I don't think that will ever change. It is often too hard to resist the temptation to accuse or point fingers, especially when it comes to something that really rests on interpretation for the most part. It is easier to attack something than defend it, and I personally think that once it becomes a primary focus for someone (or a group of people), it is more about their own ego than actually improving any credibility. These people may truly believe that they are doing this for all the right reasons, but I can't help but recall the saying: "It is always with the best intentions that the worst work is done."

Websites that post the 'stop fraud' thing really don't bother me in the slightest – I think it is a good thing because it hopefully causes them (and others) to really think about what they present and how they present it, but I've also seen stuff from groups that have been around for a long time post things that have very simple explanations for them. So I wouldn't just say it is the "pop-up groups," as so many people like to say…

That being said, I think that there are many people that may not be consciously trying to 'rip off' others with what they present as evidence, but then again I think it is a rip off when people either choose to remain ignorant about certain explanations or flat out refuse to be open to any criticism simply because they "believe" they are not lying. Ignorance is not an excuse, is it?

9 times out of 10 these "stop fraud" site developers turn out to be guilty of that which they so vociferously decry…not to mention any names ….b /wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

I think science and Psi/Paranormal can co-exist together.

With the right questions and honest answers, any Psi-Paranormal can be tested – validated – verified.

Does that mean they can explain the dynamics at play? That is the cart before the horse. You first have to have something to actually test. The answer comes AFTER we have the results to evaluate.

I posted in this group the "Astral Projection Test" .. as of yet and again not for a lot of lack of trying, no one has yet to be able to pass the test.

… The test was based on Q & A and observations of what the 'believers' in this tell us, they see themselves asleep on their bed as they stand on the side or the foot of the bed or float above it. Another person said, "I always see the top of my neighbor's garage." But failed to note that his neighbor changed the top of the garage based on his claim. (oops) A very large RED AND YELLOW "Flag" 10 ft by 10 ft.

The Power of Prayer. Doctors found "Prayer" for patients in a hospital did indeed get better "quicker" then those patients with similar medical issues that had no prayers said for them. (This test did NOT talk about which faith was in effect.) Just prayer in general. Prayer in general was tested and found it did indeed help.

It all comes down to how the people "sell" their "psi-paranormal" powers. Subjective or Objective.

Now understand this does not deal with one or two 'paranormal' events one might experience …. but even then, these can be investigated to a point, if the 'event' continues over a period of time.