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Continuing our series from yesterday, I will be analyzing the predictions of the remaining five professional psychics whose predictions were quoted in this article. Yesterday's psychics didn't do very well, so we'll see if today's crop is more of the same or if there seem to be some genuine paranormal insights in the mix.
As I commented yesterday, making a living as a professional psychic is very difficult. As a magical practitioner, I'm pretty good at divination and can sometimes not only connect with genuine intuitions but also take advantage of them in my daily life. But magick by its very nature is sometimes quite unreliable. Doing significantly better than chance is certainly possible with training and practice, but most media psychics claim that they truly can see the future to an astonishing degree. And frankly, given my own experiences, I'm fairly certain that without some level of trickery such as cold reading nobody is that good.
I also have noticed that many of the predictions here are simply based on extrapolating trends. Most of the psychics predicted more extreme weather for 2013 just like a lot of climatologists did, but as it turned out 2013 was a milder year than 2012 in terms of significant weather events. Likewise, a number of them predicted various technological advancements, usually the sort of things that could be guessed at by regular readers of publications like Scientific American, Popular Science, and Wired.
Our first psychic for today is Judy Hevenly. Here's her bio:
Here are her predictions for 2013:
I'll be charitable here and call this a partial hit. However, it should be noted that negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the new trade agreement being drawn up that includes the US and China, started in 2009.
Nope.
Yes. Rice assumed office in July.
Yes to both. 2/2.
Nope. Yousafzai was nominated, but the award went to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Nope.
Nope.
Nope. Amazon may be working on a smartphone, but the news first leaked in 2012 and there has been no announcement or such a phone this year.
Nope.
Nope - certainly nothing that would constitute "proof." Also, Tibetan Buddhists, who have been developing meditation techniques for more than a millenium, believe that the spirit spends forty days traversing the bardo and then reincarnates. So there's no "other side" where loved ones can be contacted after that time.
California no, New Zealand yes, Japan yes. 2/3. But also note how many earthquakes hit in 2013 and where they struck. Any seismologist could have made this prediction.
Nope. The only major wildfires were in Colorado last year.
That gives Judy Hevenly 5.5/15. Her confirmed predictions, though, don't seem to require a lot of psychic insight. The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations were going on well before 2013, Cuomo and Christie were favorites for re-election, Rice was an obvious pick for National Security advisor, and earthquakes are a lot more common than most people realize.
Next up is Blair Robertson. Here's his bio:
Yes. Mexican boxer Francisco 'Frankie' Leal sustained a traumatic brain injury in the ring and died three days later in October.
Yes. Ken Norton, who defeated Muhammed Ali in 1973, died in September.
Nope. They did reconcile in January, but broke up again in May.
Nope.
Partial hit. Two prominent former heads of state died in 2013, Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela. However, Thatcher's husband died in 2003 and Mandela's ex-wife is still alive.
I'm calling this one a partial hit as well. Tensions have been high between China and Japan since September 2012. They did escalate in 2013, but it happened at the beginning of December month.
Yes. There was a major explosion at a Florida propane tank plant in July.
Your prayers are answered, then. Nope.
Partial hit. There were fewer tornadoes overall, but also fewer deaths than the preceding year. A tornado did hit Ontario in late April, but it was in central Ontario and only classed as an EF1, the lowest rating on the Fujita scale.
Nope. 2013 was the mildest hurricane season since 1994, with no major hurricanes and none making landfall in Florida.
Yes. There was substantially increased Pacific Rim volcanic activity in 2013.
Yes, though similar accidents have happened almost every year since 2005.
Thankfully, nope.
Yes, although mass bird and fish deaths are common and so are conspiracy theories about them.
Yes. A new drug, palbociclib, was named a "breakthrough therapy" for breast cancer by the FDA in April. However, it should be noted that discoveries like this are happening all the time due to ongoing cancer research.
Nope.
Yes. The Steller Sea Lion was removed in October after a major population comeback.
Nope.
Nope. At least, nothing out of the ordinary that would constitute a "fad."
That gives Blair Robertson 9.5/19, and some of his confirmed predictions do seem hard to guess based on existing trends and common occurances. Like the other psychics, though, his weather predictions are pretty much in line with what climatologists expected for the year, but turned out to be wrong in several cases.
Next up are Craig and Jane Hamilton-Parker. They'll be considered together because that's how they are presented in the article. Here are their bios:
Not a lot to go on there. Here are Craig's predictions:
I'll be charitable and call this a partial hit because the world's financial troubles are still causing problems. But this is a pretty easy prediction to make given the state of things at the end of 2012.
Nope. If anything, the civil war in Syria is spilling over into the Israeli/Iranian conflict.
Nope.
Nope.
Here are Jane's predictions:
Nope. Middleton announced her pregnancy in December of 2012.
Nope.
The English climate was not particularly out of the ordinary in 2013, no landslide happened in the Isle of Wight, and no severe storms hit Hawaii. 0/3.
Yes, but again, not a very difficult prediction to make.
So Craig gets .5/4 and Jane gets 1/6, for a total of 1.5/10.
Finally, we have The Amazing Kreskin. Here's his bio:
Here are his predictions for 2013:
Nope. Money is still being paid out to big stars hand over fist, even though the subsequent films often flop.
Nope. I mean, people gossip, but that's not really a prediction.
Nope - at least, not in terms of a trend. The job outlook was still bad for college students in 2013, but it was marginally better than in 2012 and the unemployment rate was slightly lower.
It's hard to know what to do with this one because it's so vague. It's probably true of some families, so I'll be charitable and award a partial hit. Still, this is exactly the sort of prediction a cold reader might make - if it's questioned, they can always find somebody that it will apply to.
So Kreskin, then, scores .5/4.
With our list of psychics now complete, here the totals from yesterday and today:
LaMont Hamilton: 3.5/19, 18%.
Vickie Monroe: 3/12, 25%.
Nikki: 1.5/20, 0.8%. But her predictions are by far the most entertaining. More than half of them could be made into disaster movies.
Sidney Friedman: 3/14, 21%.
Judy Hevenly: 5.5/15, 37%. Many of her predictions were obvious, though.
Blair Robertson: 9.5/19, 50%. And Robertson did hit a few odd ones.
Craig and Jane Hamilton-Parker: 1.5/10, 15%.
The Amazing Kreskin: .5/4, 13%. His one partial, though, was very vague.
So that makes the winner for this year Blair Robertson, who is really the only one of the bunch who strikes me as a possibly genuine psychic based on these predictions. I think I could have topped most of the rest just by looking at trends in research, technology, politics, and so forth, without employing any psychic powers at all. Maybe one of these years I'll have to see about getting in on the game myself.
Here's wishing you all a Happy New Year!
UPDATE: After doing a little Internet research I discovered that in fact The Amazing Kreskin is not a psychic at all but a mentalist. He has never claimed to possess any sort of psychic powers. That would explain why his predictions are so vague and sound like cold reading - because they are by his own admission.
As I commented yesterday, making a living as a professional psychic is very difficult. As a magical practitioner, I'm pretty good at divination and can sometimes not only connect with genuine intuitions but also take advantage of them in my daily life. But magick by its very nature is sometimes quite unreliable. Doing significantly better than chance is certainly possible with training and practice, but most media psychics claim that they truly can see the future to an astonishing degree. And frankly, given my own experiences, I'm fairly certain that without some level of trickery such as cold reading nobody is that good.
I also have noticed that many of the predictions here are simply based on extrapolating trends. Most of the psychics predicted more extreme weather for 2013 just like a lot of climatologists did, but as it turned out 2013 was a milder year than 2012 in terms of significant weather events. Likewise, a number of them predicted various technological advancements, usually the sort of things that could be guessed at by regular readers of publications like Scientific American, Popular Science, and Wired.
Our first psychic for today is Judy Hevenly. Here's her bio:
Judy Hevenly is a teacher, astrologer, and writer, whose forecasts have appeared in many publications and newspapers worldwide. Her clientele includes royalty, former presidents, Hollywood movie stars, and heads of state. Judy was also called in to work at the O.J. Simpson trial. She is featured in the book, The 100 Top Psychics in America.
Here are her predictions for 2013:
President Obama will spend more time on foreign policy, discussing trade with Xi Jinping of China. New trade agreements drawn up to benefit both countries financially.
I'll be charitable here and call this a partial hit. However, it should be noted that negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the new trade agreement being drawn up that includes the US and China, started in 2009.
An unexpected vacancy on the Supreme Court moves a conservative court to a liberal one.
Nope.
Susan Rice appointed National Security Advisor.
Yes. Rice assumed office in July.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo re-elected; Gov. Chris Christie wins re-election in New Jersey.
Yes to both. 2/2.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist shot by members of the Taliban for arguing for equal education for girls in Pakistan, receives the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize for standing up for girls' education in her country.
Nope. Yousafzai was nominated, but the award went to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Dr. Dre, the rap music legend, stars in Las Vegas stage play, which brings him much acclaim.
Nope.
Tim Tebow gets offer to play in Canadian Football League.
Nope.
Amazon will announce it is coming out with its own smartphone.
Nope. Amazon may be working on a smartphone, but the news first leaked in 2012 and there has been no announcement or such a phone this year.
Palestinians certain to win U.N. recognition as a state.
Nope.
Meditation proves to be the gateway to contact loved ones on the other side.
Nope - certainly nothing that would constitute "proof." Also, Tibetan Buddhists, who have been developing meditation techniques for more than a millenium, believe that the spirit spends forty days traversing the bardo and then reincarnates. So there's no "other side" where loved ones can be contacted after that time.
Earthquakes felt in California, New Zealand and Japan at magnitudes 5.7 to 6.2.
California no, New Zealand yes, Japan yes. 2/3. But also note how many earthquakes hit in 2013 and where they struck. Any seismologist could have made this prediction.
Major wildfires in Canada.
Nope. The only major wildfires were in Colorado last year.
That gives Judy Hevenly 5.5/15. Her confirmed predictions, though, don't seem to require a lot of psychic insight. The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations were going on well before 2013, Cuomo and Christie were favorites for re-election, Rice was an obvious pick for National Security advisor, and earthquakes are a lot more common than most people realize.
Next up is Blair Robertson. Here's his bio:
His past predictions include the Japanese 8.9 earthquake and tsunami, Whitney Houston 's death, sinking of the Costa Concordia, the train fire in India, William and Kate's pregnancy, accurately predicting the Oscars, and more. The Washington Times called him their "favorite prognosticator."
A boxer will be killed in the ring (or die shortly thereafter) within the year.
Yes. Mexican boxer Francisco 'Frankie' Leal sustained a traumatic brain injury in the ring and died three days later in October.
A famous boxing legend will pass this year.
Yes. Ken Norton, who defeated Muhammed Ali in 1973, died in September.
Rihanna and Chris Brown will get engaged.
Nope. They did reconcile in January, but broke up again in May.
It will be revealed that Vice President Joe Biden has been under medical care for senile dementia. I predicted his ailment back in 2012.
Nope.
2013 will see the passing of a number of former world heads of state as well as their spouses.
Partial hit. Two prominent former heads of state died in 2013, Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela. However, Thatcher's husband died in 2003 and Mandela's ex-wife is still alive.
Japan and China tensions will greatly escalate in the spring.
I'm calling this one a partial hit as well. Tensions have been high between China and Japan since September 2012. They did escalate in 2013, but it happened at the beginning of December month.
Watch for news of a propane tank explosion on the east coast of the US that destroys a "complex."
Yes. There was a major explosion at a Florida propane tank plant in July.
Another very large earthquake for Japan and subsequent tsunami within 60 days. I pray I am wrong.
Your prayers are answered, then. Nope.
Fewer tornadoes for the USA, but those that do hit will be much more devastating in their power. A possible large one for western Ontario in late April.
Partial hit. There were fewer tornadoes overall, but also fewer deaths than the preceding year. A tornado did hit Ontario in late April, but it was in central Ontario and only classed as an EF1, the lowest rating on the Fujita scale.
Generally bad weather for the southeast and a hurricane that makes landfall in Florida this fall.
Nope. 2013 was the mildest hurricane season since 1994, with no major hurricanes and none making landfall in Florida.
Unusual levels of volcanic activity around the Pacific Rim, particularly mid 2013.
Yes. There was substantially increased Pacific Rim volcanic activity in 2013.
Watch for news of mine disaster in China within 3 months. Many deaths.
Yes, though similar accidents have happened almost every year since 2005.
Fashion tragedy: I predict the return of mesh shirts for men.
Thankfully, nope.
Worldwide, we will see more mysterious mass bird deaths and tens of thousands of fish washing up on shore throughout the year. Conspiracy theories will abound.
Yes, although mass bird and fish deaths are common and so are conspiracy theories about them.
A breast cancer breakthrough.
Yes. A new drug, palbociclib, was named a "breakthrough therapy" for breast cancer by the FDA in April. However, it should be noted that discoveries like this are happening all the time due to ongoing cancer research.
There will be an unusual amount of people reporting that their diabetes has disappeared. I don't know if this is a "breakthrough," but it will puzzle the medical profession.
Nope.
I'm seeing an animal removed from the endangered species list this year. I hope it is for a positive reason.
Yes. The Steller Sea Lion was removed in October after a major population comeback.
A massive space collision or accident affecting satellites and communications.
Nope.
The next doomsday "fad" will be solar flares.
Nope. At least, nothing out of the ordinary that would constitute a "fad."
That gives Blair Robertson 9.5/19, and some of his confirmed predictions do seem hard to guess based on existing trends and common occurances. Like the other psychics, though, his weather predictions are pretty much in line with what climatologists expected for the year, but turned out to be wrong in several cases.
Next up are Craig and Jane Hamilton-Parker. They'll be considered together because that's how they are presented in the article. Here are their bios:
This U.K. based psychic couple scored many hits with their 2012 predictions.
Not a lot to go on there. Here are Craig's predictions:
2013 is going to be another tough years with continued financial troubles and escalating world conflicts but despite many world problems 2013 will be the start of a growing spirituality throughout the world.
I'll be charitable and call this a partial hit because the world's financial troubles are still causing problems. But this is a pretty easy prediction to make given the state of things at the end of 2012.
In the early part of 2013 – possibly January of February – there will be war in the Middle East. Israel will strike Iran with a full on attack at its nuclear programme but fail to destroy some of the more heavily entrenched facilities leaving quantities of uranium available for dirty bombs. The Israeli/Iranian conflict will escalate and conflicts will spill over to Syria.
Nope. If anything, the civil war in Syria is spilling over into the Israeli/Iranian conflict.
There is going to be a second revolution in China and in June 2013 we’ll see the start of this. This will not be anything like the sweeping Maoist Revolution, instead there will be calls for greater democracy in the regions.
Nope.
In Europe I see the start of an advertising-free search engine funded by the EU on a similar model to the BBC.
Nope.
Here are Jane's predictions:
There are mixed blessings for the Royal Family. I feel that in May 2013 there will be a surprise announcement that Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, will announce that she is pregnant. There will be huge press interest.
Nope. Middleton announced her pregnancy in December of 2012.
Simon Cowell will become more spiritual. His sudden and unexpected move away from materialism and celebrity worship will catch the press by surprise and for a while his genuinely held views will be mocked by a skeptical press.
Nope.
2013 will continue to see terrible climate and in particular I see a major landslide on the English Coastline. I believe that this will be at Black Gang Chine in the Isle of Wight. I also see severe weather around the world with an unprecedented and severe storm devastating Hawaii.
The English climate was not particularly out of the ordinary in 2013, no landslide happened in the Isle of Wight, and no severe storms hit Hawaii. 0/3.
2013 is also going to be a hard year for many with extensive benefits cuts triggering riots. I see also that immigrants from Eastern Europe may be targeted in racially motivated attacks that play into the hardship being experienced by may unemployed people in the UK.
Yes, but again, not a very difficult prediction to make.
So Craig gets .5/4 and Jane gets 1/6, for a total of 1.5/10.
Finally, we have The Amazing Kreskin. Here's his bio:
The Amazing Kreskin has, for some six decades, dramatized the unique facets of the human mind…his own. His very name has become an integral part of pop culture throughout the world, invoked in comedy clubs, comic strips, print stories, and TV shows from sitcoms on through national magazines.
Here are his predictions for 2013:
The biggest movie stars will come cheap because Hollywood is in bog trouble. Much movie making will move to India.
Nope. Money is still being paid out to big stars hand over fist, even though the subsequent films often flop.
The return of the gossip columnist -- from people on the street.
Nope. I mean, people gossip, but that's not really a prediction.
College students will find it harder and harder to find jobs.
Nope - at least, not in terms of a trend. The job outlook was still bad for college students in 2013, but it was marginally better than in 2012 and the unemployment rate was slightly lower.
Families will rediscover the family dinner table.
It's hard to know what to do with this one because it's so vague. It's probably true of some families, so I'll be charitable and award a partial hit. Still, this is exactly the sort of prediction a cold reader might make - if it's questioned, they can always find somebody that it will apply to.
So Kreskin, then, scores .5/4.
With our list of psychics now complete, here the totals from yesterday and today:
LaMont Hamilton: 3.5/19, 18%.
Vickie Monroe: 3/12, 25%.
Nikki: 1.5/20, 0.8%. But her predictions are by far the most entertaining. More than half of them could be made into disaster movies.
Sidney Friedman: 3/14, 21%.
Judy Hevenly: 5.5/15, 37%. Many of her predictions were obvious, though.
Blair Robertson: 9.5/19, 50%. And Robertson did hit a few odd ones.
Craig and Jane Hamilton-Parker: 1.5/10, 15%.
The Amazing Kreskin: .5/4, 13%. His one partial, though, was very vague.
So that makes the winner for this year Blair Robertson, who is really the only one of the bunch who strikes me as a possibly genuine psychic based on these predictions. I think I could have topped most of the rest just by looking at trends in research, technology, politics, and so forth, without employing any psychic powers at all. Maybe one of these years I'll have to see about getting in on the game myself.
Here's wishing you all a Happy New Year!
UPDATE: After doing a little Internet research I discovered that in fact The Amazing Kreskin is not a psychic at all but a mentalist. He has never claimed to possess any sort of psychic powers. That would explain why his predictions are so vague and sound like cold reading - because they are by his own admission.
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