In a former life, I used to be employed by a company that manufactured microfilm cameras and printers. I'd tell you that they were manufactured in Minnesota, but you should stop when you got to the third "M".
A number of things affect the quality of microfilm:
*The density, clarity and contrast of the original image.
*The exposure settings on the camera
*The maintenance and cleanliness of the camera
*The quality and processing of the film
*Proper storage of the processed film
*The maintenance and cleanliness of the microfilm printer
Now, we're going to look at the dog who did not bark, to borrow from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. First look at the copies from the Honolulu Advertiser. (Click here for larger image)
See the milky white patches in the background of these "negative" prints? That means that for some reason, those patches were underexposed, which would result in a bit of gray haze or background on a positive print. Now look at the copy provided by the White House:
Hokey smokes! Pristine! Clean as a whistle! No haze, no background. If I may be so bold as to say it, almost perfect! Now, even if we were to assume that these documents were recorded within days of each other, it would not be unreasonable to assume that when they were transferred to microfilm, they would have been photographed within seconds of each other!**
Why the dramatic difference in quality? You can see in the White House "copy", the slight shadow of the curvature of whatever book they were bound in, same as the other two. But miraculously, there is none of the clouding or underexposure of the film which would have produced some background, as if the Magic Microfilm Fairy miraculously healed any deficiencies in the system to help illuminate that shining light that would become our President! (And then, probably let it revert back for all you common people!)
Yeah. Right.
Again. Don't shoot the messenger, but this appears to be yet more evidence that whatever the White House is passing off as genuine, is not.
**And almost undoubtedly on the same roll or cartridge of film. I suppose it is theoretically possible that the documents would be on two different rolls, but highly unlikely. And then the conditions of the film and the filming still would not be that dramatic, IMHO.
Update: I don't know if this will help the hopeless to see what I'm talking about, but I thought I'd give it a shot!
UpdateII: A positive image of the twins' birth certificates
Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything
Posts
You seem like a smart guy Proof. So I'm wondering why you're buying into this Birther ignorance, which is really not a lot more than thinly-veiled racism. Why do you feel the need to throw a bone (or multiple bones over the last 2 days) to the paranoid delusional boneheads who are caught up in this birth certificate conspiracy theory crap?
ReplyDeleteLook, I despise the president as much as any true conservative. But there are many important issues to concentrate on and this is absolutely not one of them. You should be ashamed of yourself for fanning the flames.
"why you're buying into this Birther ignorance"
ReplyDeleteWhat gave you that impression? I have not stated what I believe the motives of the Obama administration are or what they might be hiding.
I have focused on the technical aspects of the document that they said was going to put this to rest, and it appears, from a technical standpoint, to be a forgery.
I cannot help the conclusions that anyone else might draw from this, but if there is any blame, it should go to the White House Forgery Czar for releasing such a clumsy fake.
"thinly-veiled racism" If anyone should be ashamed of themselves for anything, I would think it would be you, for assuming that any criticism of this president is because of his race.
The fact is, there are a number of questions about this president that arise from his circumstances and upbringing and not his race.
The question of his adoption by his stepfather, who was, I believe an Indonesian citizen, his living in Indonesia, his passport in traveling to countries off limits to US citizens, raise some legitimate questions as to other possibilities that would affect his citizenship far more than, say, some guy born in Iowa.
If telling the truth is "throwing a bone" to the delusional, then perhaps you should criticize the White House for the apparently fraudulent document they produced? Then, I wouldn't have needed to.
This is extremely disappointing Proof. I don't know what your goals are for this blog, but if it's to further conservative principles and promote personal liberty, this dancing around the Birther issue while saying that you're only "focusing on the technical issues of the document" is an extreme disservice to the conservative movement. And it's cowardly. Like I said before, you seem like a smart guy. But if you can't see that the root of this fascination with the President's birthplace/citizenship/religion is rooted in rascism and/or xenophobia, then you're truly not as smart as some of your posts make you sound.
ReplyDeleteConservatives have our work cut out for us in the next 18 months. Do us all a favor: pretend that the President's name is Bob Oberwies and that he looks like the last 46 presidents...and then concentrate on the real issues. God knows that this administration gives us plenty of ammunition to make a case for a change in leadership. Drawing attention to a debunked conspiracy theory is absolutely counterproductive and it makes it seem like you don't have anything of actual substance to talk about. Maybe that's the case.
FF: My goals are to pursue the truth. What you call "dancing around the Birther issue" is me demonstrating from a technical standpoint that the President of the entire freakin' United States, and putative leader of the Free World is of such low moral character as to perpetrate what seems to be a hoax of this magnitude.
ReplyDeleteAre there more pressing things to focus on? Yes. I will do so when appropriate. But, Obama made this news when he announced it at his press conference. The fact that it is an apparent forgery is instructive.
If mine were the sole voice of reason in the blogosphere, you might have a point. But, we conservatives also don't have to march in lockstep with one another to achieve our goals.
Give me a break, Alex Jones. You've been duped if you think this is some elaborate hoax. BTW, 9/11 was not an inside job, the moon landing was not faked, and Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK. Rational intelligent people do not fall for bunk conspiracy theories, but it sure seems like you have. But keep convincing yourself that you're a voice of reason or that you're spreading the truth. There are many true conservatives out there who can see through this and we know that people like you are hurting us all.
ReplyDeleteI just want to add how ridiculous it is that you say that the goal of your blog is to pursue the truth right after you've been called out for latching onto this birth certificate nonsense. Even if you are foolish enough to believe that the birth certificate must be a fake or that this is part of some grand conspiracy, any sensible person who is truly interested in pursuing the truth would not jump on this like stink on sh*t pretending to be some kind of forensic expert qualified to identify a forgery. If you really were interested in the truth, you would have given the experts a chance to evaluate the document before you weigh in with your infinite knowledge.
ReplyDeleteDon't misrepresent your self as some kind of noble conservative truth seeker. Maybe you should stick to posting pictures of pretty women and clips of lame music.
"called out for latching onto this birth certificate nonsense" I'm sorry! Are you on drugs? I have neither attributed motive for the fake birth certificate, nor hinted at what it might be hiding. That is the realm of "birther nonsense". I am pointing out a fake document put out by the current president, whatever color he is, because I can see it's an obvious fake.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about the "Fiscal" part, but as far as I can tell, you're dead on with the rest! Thanks for playing!
Give me a break, Alex Jones. Nice smear, Freak. Can I say it doesn't surprise me how quickly you resorted to name calling after you ran out of argument (somewhere around your first comment)?
ReplyDeleteLet me ask you this: what qualifies you to positively identify a fake document and how do your qualifications make you more of an authority on this than...the actual authorities? If you are not qualified to make this determination then you cannot possibly say that you pursue the truth. What if you're actually doing the opposite of pursuing the truth: spreading falsehoods? Don't you think that's dangerous and a it's disservice to the rest of us level-headed conservatives?
ReplyDeleteYou whine that you're being smeared and you get extremely defensive when you're confronted about the fact that you are perpetuating a conspiracy theory, but that's exactly what you're doing. You should admit it and stand by what you believe instead of embarrassing yourself by saying "I'm not latching on to this birth certificate nonsense...but the birth certificate is obviously fake." Your credibility is gone if you ever had any in the first place. As a conservative blogger you should create an environment where we can debate and share ideas, but that would mean owning up to your content or occasionally admitting that you're wrong. But you seem to be constantly on the defensive without any regard for the implications of your content. I'll say it again: this obsession with the birth certificate is bad for our party, but instead of distancing yourself from it, you seemed to have embraced it (whether you admit it or not).
I would love to hear from some of your other contributors and readers on this issue. I've said my piece.
"You whine that you're being smeared" says someone who compared me to a white supremacist! Most liberals are irony impaired. Et, tu, Freak?
ReplyDeleteIs "smear" a word you're unfamiliar with? Are you just parroting arguments you've heard used against you?
Bad mouth me all you want, Freak. Just don't expect to be taken for an impartial observer when you come here race baiting and name calling.
"I've said my piece." Thank God for small favors!
methinks fiscalfreak protests too much, to be what it says it is.
ReplyDeleteGood point on the image fog. I'd add that there wasn't a typewriter in daily use anywhere in '61 that could make a perfectly even line of letters like the document displays. The humorous touch of the "U K L Lee" signature strongly smacks of the same mind that presented the US with such new acronyms as WTF (supposedly for Win the Future, social network use What the #@$!) and KMA (supposedly for Kinetic Military Action, social network use Kiss My *%#). It's not hard to read the direct taunts from the administration in this stuff.
Thanks for posting on this from your professional perspective.
Well Proof, I don't want to let you off too easy. You didn't address the most important question I asked. Please do: If you legitimately consider yourself a purveyor of truth, what makes you more qualified than the experts to determine that authenticity of a birth certificate after looking at it on your computer for one day?
ReplyDeleteToo funny, Freak! What part of "I've said my piece" didn't you understand?
ReplyDeleteYou're doing your "good liberal" imitation, aren't you? You can't trust a word they say either!
methinks fiscalfreak protests too much, to be what it says it is He did seem a little tightly wound there, didn't he? Plus telling me what a smart guy I am, so I should lay off Obama, implying he was a conservative, while name calling and smearing like a leftist.
ReplyDeleteFreak may be all right, but the jury is definitely still out on that.
I'm sorry that you feel that you've been smeared and called names. That was not my intention nor did I intend to make this debate hostile. I don't appreciate that because I don't agree with you on everything and I've actually challenged you on one of your posts, you've compared me to a liberal. We very likely agree on many core principles so we should be able to have a civil discussion. I do want to set the record straight and I would really appreciate it if you would respond civilly.
ReplyDeleteI never said you should lay off Obama. I would say the exact opposite with the caveat that this birth certificate issue needs to be let go. It amounts to nothing more than a conspiracy theory that has created a frenzy among people who do not have the ability to actually discuss and debate the real reasons why Obama is a terrible leader.
And I absolutely never said that you were racist or a akin to a white supremacist (those were your words, not mine). I stand my belief that the Birther movement is rooted in racism. Not blatant "white power" racism, but the idea that someone who looks different and has a different sounding name can't possibly be a real American. If you'd prefer not to equate that kind of thinking with racism, then let's just call it immense ignorance. Whatever the case, it's exactly the kind of thing that we should be distancing ourselves from as Republicans.
Now that we've cleared that up, I will respectfully ask you to answer my question: what qualifies you to determine the authenticity of the birth certificate after looking at it on your computer for a day? There are two reasons that I'm asking this: first, if you claim to be a purveyor of truth, you better be 100% positive that you're not actually doing the opposite. Secondly, I am a staffer in Reince Pribus' office and we've had document experts looking at this since Wednesday morning. They have not come to any definite conclusions yet (it would be foolish to rush any conclusion), but they have been able to easily debunk the major arguments that this is a forgery with logical explanations. My concern is that it is irresponsible to jump to conclusions.
Again, I'm sorry that we've butted heads and I do appreciate your response. I just hope that you don't take this personally and that you do address my concern.
What exactly is racist about questioning the validity of the document Obama produced?
ReplyDeleteIf FF voted for Obama in '08 to prove he/she isn't a racist FF will need to find someone else to vote for in '12 to prove he/she's not an idiot.
I'm sorry that you feel that you've been smeared and called names. No you're not, Freak. Unless you have less intelligence than the average head of cabbage, you know exactly what you intended by your remarks. Do you suffer from ADD that you cannot remember what you said? Shall I list all your insults and innuendo?
ReplyDeleteFor you to add smarmy insincerity to your insults insults our intelligence.
BTW, just so you know, I don't take this personally, and you haven't hurt my feelings. In fact, I'm getting a good chuckle over just how inept you are at this.
if you claim to be a purveyor of truth
Don't take this personally, but you can't handle the truth! (See how that works?)
But, thanks for playing!
Spartacus: I think it's a typo. FF stands for Ficus Freak. Gosh. I hope he doesn't whine that he's being compared to a potted plant, or take it personally!
FYI: There are several comments in my inbox that I can't find on the site, either. They are not in my moderation queue, where some spam and comments on older threads show up. One of the comments said in part:
ReplyDeleteIt is cowardly to block/delete comments that you don't agree with. I agree. That's why I don't do it. There may be a glitch with Blogger, but it's not me. As long as they are not given to foul language or spamming links, I let everyone have their say.
You are free to call me a coward and I am free to mock you if your comment warrants it. If I wanted to block or delete comments I disagreed with, I could turn on comment moderation and no one would ever see them.
If the Internet ate your comment, I'm sorry, but it wasn't me. Read the comment policy once again. Start with the part that says:
Disagreement is welcome, even encouraged
Have someone help you with the big words if necessary.
BTW, consider adopting a screen name. You can remain anonymous and I can tell if one person is really ticked off or if five or ten people are mildly engaged any given day. You can maintain a POV over any number of forums.
"Spartacus: I think it's a typo. FF stands for Ficus Freak. Gosh. I hope he doesn't whine that he's being compared to a potted plant, or take it personally!"
ReplyDeleteI certainly hope so too. Good god, if I ever attempted to accuse anyone that questioned a process I validated of rejecting the validation due to racism I'd be the first one escorted to the door with a swift kick in the rear. How these belly achers think they can get away with it on hyperbole is beyond me!
and Proof, you need to lighten up on HTML tags!
Gosh, Spart, in the last twenty four hours I've been accused of racism, cowardice, intellectual dishonesty, etc. from one guy whose name links to a debt clock and an anonymous guy that sounds just like him. Low rent sock puppets, maybe?
ReplyDeleteProof, here's a ad hominem attack for you: you are a sad angry loser. You tore apart my comment with defensive wit but you did not even come close to answering my only beef with you: why would you declare that the President of the United State's birth certificate must be fake just hours after it was released and then claim that your only goal is to spread the truth? You're not an expert and it appears that you were wrong.
ReplyDeleteThat's all. There are plenty of other blogs out there with substance and without the anger that really isn't productive. Good luck with a blog that only hurts conservatives.
"you are a sad angry loser."...says the guy with the integrity and intelligence of a potted plant! (Gee! I hope you don't take that personally!)
ReplyDelete"Good luck with a blog that only hurts conservatives." Oh, and you don't hurt conservatives by comparing them to Alex Jones? By calling them cowards and questioning their integrity and intellectual honesty? Frankly I've lost track of all the baseless innuendos you've spewed here. And frankly, as boring as your repetitive garbage is, I have little desire to go back and catalog it.
Are you sure you're not a liberal, Ficus, because you sure spread lies and libels about conservatives like they do! And if you're not a liberal, then you certainly are a hypocrite. Good luck with your poison pen. Go spread your falsehoods somewhere else. I doubt that anyone here will miss you, Ficus. Although I could use a good potted plant for my front hallway...
"There are plenty of other blogs out there...without the anger". You brought that with you, Potted Plant, when you started smearing me without a cause. Drop that same load of cr*p on anyone else's blog and watch the anger show up there, too. I bet it follows you around like stink on manure.
"you did not even come close to answering my only beef with you". That's right, Potted Plant. You want to know why? When some clown shows up on my blog insulting me, calling me names and acting like an insufferable POS, I don't always jump when they stamp their tiny little feet and demand a particular answer from me. I'm just funny that way!
Please take your Potted Plant mentality and all the chicken manure that comes with it to the blog of your choice. Don't let the electronic door hit your fanny on the way out.
Believe or do not believe, that is the question but there should be no question at all and since there is, it brings in reasonable doubt. We, http://thepoliticalsandbox.blogspot.com/2011/04/proof-birth-certificate-is-forgery.html first brought in proof positive after tearing the document apart sent to us from the White House. At ten-thirty, after breaking it into 17 layers we reported on it. We went viral on the web. Why? Is it a lie, I believe not! It's an "Oprah-proof
ReplyDeleteproof.” Trump was right in bringing this up. If I as an individual American, by law, have to produce my BC to get a Drivers License, what is the difference of my producing a document and the President of the United States? NONE! He should have done it right away and maybe, if he is a fraud, would have gotten away with it. Hesitation on a battlefield can get you killed. Well, he hesitated, people wondered why and hence, he is under a microscope.
Gary: Needless to say, Obama brought a certain amount of this on himself, even if all his documents are legitimate. Long time commenter Randy posted a link to a website in Kenya that claimed Barack as a native son when he was running for the Senate.
ReplyDeleteObama should have been more forthcoming years ago.
http://classic-web.archive.org/web/20040627142700/eastandard.net/headlines/news26060403.htm