Posted on 02/03/2011 4:21:18 PM PST by butterdezillion
The Problem with the Announcement Stories
Two items have been offered as evidence of Barack Obama being born in Hawaii: an online COLB image which the HDOH has indirectly confirmed in 2 different ways as a forgery, and online images of birth announcements in the Hawaii papers shortly after Obama’s birth. This post will explain why I believe we’ve been fed – and swallowed – a lie about where those images came from. Later posts will give a glimpse of just how far it seems somebody was willing to go in order to have something – anything – that would suggest Obama was born in Hawaii, a critical need since Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie told Mike Evans (transcript and audio link) he had gone into both hospitals (Kapiolani and Queens) with a search warrant but found no birth certificate for Obama.
First the claims:
Shortly after Barack Obama’s campaign website posted what they said was Obama’s Certification of Live Birth (COLB) and questions arose regarding its authenticity, Lori Starfelt decided to see if there was a newspaper birth announcement for Obama in Hawaii. She contacted the HDOH and was told that on Fridays they printed out a list of the week’s births; “The Honolulu Advertiser” used that list to print birth announcements in their Sunday paper. So Starfelt calculated that if Obama was born on Friday, Aug 4, 1961, his birth would have been on the list the following Friday, Aug 11th, and should appear in that Sunday’s paper – Aug 13th. She contacted the Hawaii State Library (hereafter HSL), asking for a copy from the microfilm of the Advertiser’s birth announcements on Aug 13, 1961, and was sent an e-mail with an image that had Obama’s announcement on it. She posted that image, along with her story, at Texas Darlin’ Blog around July 21, 2008. (See Post 7679 )
Several days later “Infidel Granny”, posting at Atlas Shrugs Blog, said she had asked a woman at the Advertiser office about birth announcements and was told to check the HSL. She asked the HSL for a copy of the Aug 13, 1961 “Advertiser” birth announcements and the librarian sent an e-mail with the image, saying she had it handy since somebody had just asked for it a week earlier.
On Aug 13th “Koa” at Texas Darlin’ Blog posted an image for the Aug 14th Star-Bulletin announcements, which he/she had copied directly from the HSL archives.
Around Oct 21 a poster at Prius Chat also posted an image of the SB announcement, saying, “Here's a copy I made today of the August 14th (could have been the 15th or 16th), 1961 Star Bulletin newspaper showing Obama's birth announcement stored on microfilm at the Hawaii State Library in Honolulu. I had to enlarge it to the point of losing the top of the page with the date and day in order to make it readable. The microfilm is stored in the basement of the library and was in the box marked Star Bulletin Aug 1, 1961-Aug 16, 1961. ..."
On Oct 29th Whatreallyhappened.com posted images of both the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin images, which were said to be directly from the Star-Bulletin and Advertiser – which both had their microfilms stored at the Advertiser building. Note that he was not told to contact the HSL, as “Infidel Granny” says she was told.
Texas Darlin’ Blog archives, Atlas Shrugs Blog archives, the original article on Whatreallyhappened, and the Wikileaks page which also posted a copy which was a text-searchable file, have all been removed from the web, and the page at Prius Chat requires registration first; neither I nor several others who tried to register were allowed to do so. So the whole story of these claims and the images themselves have been scrubbed, except for fragments (such as the ones I link to) where others discussed and/or copied material, some of which have now been scrubbed from the web also.
I got Starfelt’s Advertiser image from a link referenced elsewhere as being Starfelt’s image, when the image was still available (“Infidel Granny” was given the same image). Whatreallyhappened still has their images posted. The Prius Chat Forum still has the link to their Star-Bulletin image. I copied Koa’s image from Photobucket when it was still available as linked to from the original post atTD Blog. (In my analysis links below I cite where each image came from.) So the images I have used come directly from the original sources.
To verify that I have not altered the images, here are some other places that still have images (as of today), although not necessarily saying the source: Both, Advertiser, Advertiser, Star-Bulletin .
And next the documents themselves:
When a person looks at the documents and claims about the documents, and compares them to what is actually in the Hawaii State Library microfilms, it is obvious why somebody would want these claims buried – although I am not making any specific allegations about who has done what. That should be investigated by someone with subpoena power. Here is a concise summary of what we have:
The Advertiser image that Starfelt and “Infidel Granny” supposedly got from the HSL is pristine. But in reality the HSL microfilms are so scratched up they are nearly unreadable. When a colleague asked the HSL librarian in late April, 2010, for a copy of the Aug 13, 1961 Advertiser birth announcements – the exact image that Starfelt and “Infidel Granny” supposedly got from there - this is what she was told about the condition of the microfilm (emphasis mine):
"As for your request for the Aug. 13, 1961 Honolulu Advertiser birth announcement page, I looked it up, but unfortunately, the microfilm is so worn down on top of being poorly microfilmed, that it is hardly legible. You might be better off asking another library that has a better, less used copy than ours. Or does it have to be the Advertiser? I checked the Star-Bulletin and that date and that film is fine. Let me know."
The Starfelt and “Infidel Granny” images are pristine, with no sign of being “poorly microfilmed”, which would be a constant state for the microfilms, not affected by usage. Those images are clearly not from the HSL microfilms as claimed. However, they match perfectly the images WRH got from somebody at the Advertiser office (with the exception of one C&P line in the left margin below the Asing announcement, which disappeared by the time WRH got a copy). A comparison of the images is here.
Conversely, the Star-Bulletin image – which is the exact same image for WRH, Koa, and the Prius Chat poster (right down to the same piece of hair caught in the viewer when the copy was made and the same waviness in the page being scanned), even though they each claim to have acquired their copy independently, and WRH even claims a different source - has a large scratch down the column of text. But the HSL’s Star-Bulletin microfilms are pristine, including the copy from Aug 14th, where there are no extra marks or scratches anywhere. A comparison of the images is here. To believe the stories of Koa and the Prius Chat poster, you’d have to believe that scratches disappear over time.
Summary:
It is clear that what we were told about where these images came from is not true.
It appears that somebody at the Advertiser office gave out images to select people with the instruction that they were to peddle them off as genuine – the Advertiser image to the librarian at the Hawaii State Library, the Star-Bulletin image to “Koa” and the Prius Chat poster (who may have been the same person), and both images to Whatreallyhappened.com.
This is according to the statements already made and images already made public, which show glaring discrepancies in the stories. There are other discrepancies in the claims which stand out to those who have researched the microfilms as well, and those will be addressed later.
But for now the question is this: Why would somebody at the Advertiser office deceive the public into thinking their birth announcement images were actually copies made directly from the Hawaii State Library microfilms by individuals acting on their own? Why intervene at all, rather than letting these individuals get what really IS in the HSL microfilms? And who was in on this deception?
Those are questions that deserve an answer. Those like Bill O’Reilly and certain “news sources” who cite these images as their reason to ridicule “birthers” would do well to find out exactly why somebody worked so hard to deceive them on where those images actually came from.
The HSL didn’t have digital microfilm scanners. Nice try.
Not for public use, but do you really think they don't have access to the technology?
Do you really the librarian is going to go get the microfilm and make a copy of this page everytime somebody asks for one?
I wouldn't be surprised if they had the page scanned and saved to save wear on the microfilm, since there's such a demand to see it.
Certainly it's more likely than a conspiracy theory.
Social Security Death Index has
Name: Orland Scott Lefforge
SSN: 315-01-5270
Last Residence: 96821 Honolulu, Honolulu, Hawaii
Born: 31 Jul 1915
Died: 4 Jul 2007
State (Year) SSN issued: Indiana (Before 1951)
Searches for Thelma Jones, Thelma Lefforge, Thelma Young, Thelma Jones Lefforge or a search for a Thelma who died June 12, 2008 in Hawaii show any hits.
Have you bothered to read the article I wrote? The Hawaii State Librarian suggested that a researcher get copies from a different library because the HSL’s microfilms are nearly unreadable. If she had the ability to magically make those scratches disappear why would she send somebody to a different library?
You’re trying your darnedest to make this seem like a crazy conspiracy theory but you’re not fooling anybody. It’s painfully obvious that you just don’t want to accept what’s in front of your eyes.
Results for: Thelma Young
Find more records by searching on the
updated FamilySearch site. Click here...
[refine search] [Print]
Death/Burial, 2008, Hawaii, United States
Exact Spelling: Off
Matches: All Sources - 1
U.S. Social Security Death Index
1. Thelma YOUNG - U.S. Social Security Death Index
Birth: 24 Feb 1917 State Where Number was Issued: New Jersey Death: 28 Jun 2008
Matches: U.S. Social Security Death Index - 1
That’s the Family Search result, I wanted to query the date of June 12, 2008, as supplied by another freeper in a previous comment, unfortunately no source was provided.
SOURCE OF AN ALTERNATIVE DATE OF DEATH FOR THELMA - OBITUARY QUOTED, NO SOURCE LINK PROVIDED:
Obituary from Honolulu Advertiser:
Orland Scott Lefforge - July 4, 2007
Orland Scott Lefforge, 91, of Honolulu, a University of Hawaii professor, died in Kaiser Medical Center. He was born in Pettisville, Ohio. He is survived by companion Thelma Young, son Daniel, daughters Andrea Harper and Mia Blake, brother Marian, three grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Services: 11 a.m. next Saturday at the courtyard of George Hall, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Casual attire.
His wife/companion Thelma Jones Lefforge Young died June 12, 2008. This obituary should be checked too. Coincidentally, the original forgery of the COLB was edited in Photoshop on June 12, 2008 08:13.
http://209.157.64.200/focus/news/2306351/posts?page=166#166
Kenyan Parliament website scrubs November 2008 Minutes which confirm Obama as “son of this soil”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2493777/posts
~~~~~~~
scroll down here
Kenyan Parliament minutes states and acknowledge that Obama was BORN IN KENYA!
Here are some of the important snips;
http://www.obamanotqualified.com/obama_birth_born_in_kenya_evidence.htm
Did you get a Freepmail from me? (Just making sure; sometimes my various kinds of mail don’t work. I had an e-mail swallowed today so if it was you you’ll have to re-send it.)
The degree of magnification and type of reproduction also make a difference. It might help if you showed an example of a microfilm copy you found “pristine” or “unreadable.”
yes, please.
I think you need a new computer. I have an iMac and I don’t worry about viruses, etc. and it plays all the videos you have been missing.
New they are just over $1100, but you can pick up used ones for half that.
I’ll bet if you set up a page asking freepers to paypal you a dollar you’d have it in no time. The name sounds gross but it’s called cyber begging.
Set it up and I’ll paypal you ten bucks. It’s worth it just to read your posts, and who knows where it can lead. Frog marched in an orange jump suit would be nice. :)
Right
I am in for ten.
I think you need a new computer. I have an iMac and I don’t worry about viruses, etc. and it plays all the videos you have been missing.
New they are just over $1100, but you can pick up used ones for half that.
I’ll bet if you set up a page asking freepers to paypal you a dollar you’d have it in no time. The name sounds gross but it’s called cyber begging.
Set it up and I’ll paypal you ten bucks. It’s worth it just to read your posts, and who knows where it can lead. Frog marched in an orange jump suit would be nice. :)
Right
I am in for ten.
To all latecomers ....... Anyone else in for $10 ???
Think: who has done more for us than Butter ???
It’s only $10 via PayPal ........ tiny money to unseat a usurper !!!
C’mon fellow FReepers !!!!!!!!
paypal has a link for “fundraising”:
Good.
OK big B it’s up to you to get the ball rolling
A few of us here want to turbo power you ...
BZ:
Are there birth announcements for the Nordike twins? The current meme from the afterbirthers is the health department gave the lists to the papers every Friday, so BO’s family couldn’t have placed his.
The Nordyke twins’ announcement doesn’t appear in the Star-Bulletin anywhere, although they appear in the Advertiser. The lists between the 2 papers are not identical in any way, shape, or form. There are people whose births were announced in one paper 3 weeks after they were announced in the other paper. There are people (like Nordykes) who made it in one paper but not the other.
Based on the analysis I’ve done of all the August births reported, if the Star-Bulletin only published Oahu births (which is the kindest way to explain the numbers in support of the announcements coming from the HDOH office), 26% of the August births on Oahu were not included in the S-B announcements. If you exclude an estimated 100 illegitimate births (There were 1,044 in all of HI for all of 1961 according to the CDC’s 1961 Natality Report) that might not have been reported for embarrassment reasons, that still leaves 18% of all August 1961 births on Oahu unreported. If the papers printed a complete listing of all Hawaii births that percentage would be even higher.
And I may as well say here, also, that there are signs that the microfilm having the Nordyke announcement has been changed out since the first images appeared also. The first images that appeared were sent to somebody by the Hawaii State Library librarian (just like the images for Obama’s announcements), and just like the Obama announcements, marks that were on that image from the librarian are now missing from that microfilm at the HSL. The marks show up even when the actual announcement is placed at the top of the viewer-copier and when it is placed at the bottom, so the marks cannot be from the viewer or copier but from the actual microfilm itself.
So there are not clean-cut lists that show up in both papers identically. The only reason the lists for the Aug 13th Advertiser and Aug 14th Star-Bulletin appear to be identical is because the Star-Bulletin image was enlarged so that the only announcements that showed were the ones that were also in the Advertiser. In reality there were 26 more announcements in the Aug 14th Star-Bulletin that didn’t make it into the Aug 13th Advertiser.
Anybody who actually looked at those microfilms would have easily seen that, which leads me to believe that the Advertiser reporter Will Hoover did not look in the Advertiser’s microfilms and make those copies himself but was given them by somebody else. Either that, or he deliberately lied about the lists being identical in order to claim the lists were from the HDOH office.
The lies we were told were not just about where the images came from. These people were absolutely counting on nobody actually going and checking out the actual microfilms because they pulled so many fast ones on the general public it’s not even funny. Hopefully the truth can eventually come out where even folks like Bill O’Reilly have to grasp it.
We know O’Reilly is going to say he doesn’t believe in conspiracies.
Was it a conspiracy when Sandy Berger removed documents from the National Archives? Who believes he did it on his own?
Well, the documents ended up in his pants so maybe it was just an accident involving Barney Frank. lol
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