No, I'm just saying they weren't in widespread use and most things got punched in by hand.
2. It seems to me that you are blaming some clerk in Social Security's main processing office in Baltimore for accidentally typing a zero (0) instead of a "9" for Hawaii when the clerk worked on Obama's Social Security application. Is that really fair to workers at the Social Security Administration?
I think so, yes. They are human. They make mistakes.
4. Back in 1977, did ALL Social Security applications from Hawaii go straight to Baltimore?
Yes. According to the SSA, all applications, from Hawaii as well as the rest of the USA, have been processed in Baltimore since 1973:
http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/geocard.html
I think so, yes. They are human. They make mistakes.
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1. Have you ever worked for the Social Security Administration, especially the processing office in Baltimore, and that is why you know so much about what goes on there?
2. If a clerk in the Baltimore central processing office of Social Security made a mistake with Obama's application form in 1977---he typed 0 for Connecticut instead of 9 for Hawaii--wouldn't it be reasonable to expect that the same clerk, or other clerks, made the same mistake several times over the period from 1977 to the present?
3. That is, shouldn't there be OTHER present or former residents of Hawaii who are walking around with Social Security numbers that begin with 042 of Connecticut instead of 942 of Hawaii?
4. My point is this: It is difficult for me to believe that the only time in Baltimore Social Security Administration history---especially from 1977 to the present---that a clerk accidentally typed/punched the number 0, Connecticut, instead of 9, Hawaii, on an application form was in the Obama case in 1977.
5. So until you can come up with some present or former Hawaii residents besides Obama who also have a Social Security number beginning with 0 or 042, for Connecticut, instead of 942 for Hawaii, but who have never lived in Connecticut, then I say that your theory is in error, sounds highly improbable. and you are just guessing.
No, I'm just saying they weren't in widespread use and most things got punched in by hand.
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1. So you admit that the federal government probably had some type of scanners back in 1977.
2. So how do you know that back in 1977 the Social Security Administration did not have some of those scanners, because, as I see it, if any federal agency could have used them, it would be the Social Security Administration, an agency that handles thousands of pieces of paper every day.
3. I'm trying to imagine the processing steps of a Social Security application sent from Hawaii back in 1977 after it entered the Baltimore office.
a. Let's say I lived in Hawaii in 1977 and sent my application to Baltimore.
b. Does my application first end up unopened---along with many other application forms---on a clerk's desk?
c. Does the clerk open it and start typing and transferring the information on my application form onto a Social Security data sheet, hopefully without mistakenly punching 0, Connecticut, instead of 9, Hawaii?
d. In 1977, would the clerk be sitting in front of a typewriter or a computer screen? Would the clerk be typing on a keyboard as the clerk looked at a computer screen, or did they even use computer screens back in 1977?
e. After the clerk finished typing my information onto the computer screen or some other type of screen, would the clerk put my original application into a pile with other original application forms, and would the clerk then move on to the next original application form in the clerk's first pile of unopened letters?
f. Again, back in 1977, if I sent my Social Security application form to Baltimore, Maryland from Hawaii, would a clerk process my application form in similar steps like I write about above?