Comments on: Rather on the news

By: RKA

RKA — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:06:59 +0000

Has anyone noticed the ultra-pristine “typewriter ribbon impressions?” After allowing for the obvious xerox’aging,’ there is no significant loss of character clarity, a common problem with typewriters equipped with special superscript keys in the sixties and seventies (I had a fifties-era Remington manual typewriter with such keys). These small characters typically became unreadable, due to build-up on the strike surface from dust, ink, etc. (see the CBS document cited to refute the superscript argument).

In the ctitical documents, there is no ribbon dirt on the elements/daisy wheels/strike faces (whatever they supposedly used thrity years ago). The Texas Air National Guard must have toothbrushed its typewriters daily!

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 13:53:41 +0000

This whole fiasco reminds me of Floridas “hanging” chads in 2000…

By: Kitsune-udon

Kitsune-udon — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 06:15:05 +0000

Here’s a look at the IBM Selectric typewriter (one of two that could’ve been used to write these documents) http://shapeofdays.typepad.com/the_shape_of_days/2004/09/the_ibm_selectr.html

By: terry nelson

terry nelson — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 04:52:10 +0000

Drudge is posting a link to a 1996 posting about the Vince Foster suicide note. Turns out Mr. Matley posed as an “expert” in stating the note was not a forgery for Unsolved Mysteries, while several other real handwriting experts said it was. Don’t have opinion on Vince Foster, but find it ironic that a simple Librarian would be tapped to support democrat postion in two major issues of national attention. Matley’s Foster case involvement article at: http://fennel.assumption.edu/~guest/view/1996/View0396.htm

By: Chris McMahon

Chris McMahon — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 03:37:28 +0000

Here is a list of CBS News Sponsors.

Thanks to Pat for pointing me in the right direction.

By: murdoc

murdoc — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 02:30:50 +0000

The superscript method of rolling the paper down a half line doesn’t give you a smaller ‘t’s and ‘h’s, as Rich notes. The new docs clearly have a ‘th’ that is up above the top of the numerals and smaller. The superscripted ‘th’ from the White House approved documents does not rise above the top of the numerals.

For a screenshot of the comparison, see my site:

http://www.murdoconline.net/archives/001564.html

Keep in mind that while this was on the screen, Dan Rather called these “the same superscript”. They think we’re idiots, and it’s not just because we don’t like Mrs. Kerry’s health plan.

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 02:00:49 +0000

List of Sponsors and email addresses etc. for the Rather-Barnes interview are listed in the discussion forum of Swiftvets.com. Pass them on.

By: inge

inge — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 01:28:13 +0000

Matley is a Librarian in San Francisco, and also studied Handwriting. He is NOT an expert on documents. I can’t see how Rather can justifiy him as an ‘Expert’.

By: Silicon Valley Jim

Silicon Valley Jim — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 01:27:53 +0000

Even manual typewriters could do superscripts. The carriage clicked twice for each full line when you advanced it by turning the knob. If you turned it for only one click, you could do superscripts or subscripts. I did a lot of subscripts back in the days when I typed applications for chemical patents. The issue, as Rich correctly notes, is whether superscripts could be done so that individual characters were a different size from the rest of the text. There’s also the kerning issue; the y’s in the text have tails that curl below the characters to their left. That, as far as I know, has never been possible on any typewriter.

By: rich

rich — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 01:11:10 +0000

Superscripts, yes. I had a typewriter that could do sub and superscripts in 1980. But, superscript of a smaller font size, as was the case in these memos? Nope. Not in 1972. Not in 1982. The resized font in the superscript is a dead giveaway. AS is the proportional spacing, and kerning.

As I said the other day, when you have to start making stuff up to make your point…

By: SayUncle

SayUncle — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 01:06:47 +0000

Once I watched it for the third time, i deleted it. Sorry. Poor planning on my part

By: Chris McMahon

Chris McMahon — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 01:03:46 +0000

If you TiVo’d the entire broadcast could you list the commercials so that we may pressure the advertisers?