It probably took about 5-6 people, if “Koa” and the Prius Chat poster were actually the workers at the Honolulu Advertiser who pulled off the switch of the microfilms.
It would not be hard at all to replace the microfilms, and there is decent evidence of how it was actually done at the Library of Congress. The box of microfilm had its label changed for a while and then changed back to its original number. So there would have been a while when only the person who changed the index number on the box knew where it was - until they didn’t need that microfilm hidden any more and changed the index number back so it would be filed again where people could find it. Unfortunately for them, the changes on the box were done in ink so they still show. They might have changed out that box by now but ladysforest has photos of it on her blog, I believe.
And unfortunately for them, the microfilm that’s now in that box has a tear in it and other indicators that it would never have passed the quality inspection for the microfilming company it supposedly came from. It seems almost certain that it came from somebody else.
That’s one example of the kinds of physical evidence I’m talking about. I’ve got other examples on my blog - scratches disappearing over time, provably false claims by the people who claimed to have made copies of the announcements from library microfilm, etc. There’s other stuff that I haven’t gone into because the birth certificate, birth index, Sunahara, etc stuff seemed more important. And ladysforest has a lot of stuff on her blog too. She’s really done a fantastic job of researching the birth announcements.
Regarding a paper copy, the Bishop Library in Hawaii has in its list of holdings a claim that it has paper copies of the old archived newspapers from this time period. But now they’re saying they don’t have any...
Of course, we were also told the HDOH didn’t have any birth records for Virginia Sunahara, but we know how that turned out.
What *IS* Ladysforest's blog? I tried to get in touch with her about 6 or 7 months ago, but I was unsuccessful. I noticed a lead which needed to be followed up, and she was the only person in a position to do so. A commenter on one of the Blogs that she has access to said they knew the Birkebeiles, and that they didn't live in Washington State in 1961. I would like to ask a bunch of follow up questions, but I do not know how this commenter can be contacted. I was hoping to get Ladysforest to contact this commenter with some follow up questions.
If we can nail down the truth on something, we need to do so, so that we won't waste any further time or resources on it.
Regarding a paper copy, the Bishop Library in Hawaii has in its list of holdings a claim that it has paper copies of the old archived newspapers from this time period. But now they’re saying they don’t have any...
Of course, we were also told the HDOH didn’t have any birth records for Virginia Sunahara, but we know how that turned out.
The problem with drawing conclusions from various staff is that they don't really care about this. While we might hang on their every word for meaning, they are casually tossing off their opinion or thinking of the moment without necessarily being careful about what they say, or even correct about what they know.
This is not to say that there can't be examples where they are demonstrably misleading or lying, but my general rule is to assume stupidity and incompetence before malice. I've dealt with too many bureaucrats and they tend to be a clueless and useless lot. Contradiction means nothing to them. They often cannot see it even when it is clearly pointed out to them.
That being said, I'm not discounting crookedness and malice.
P.S. I did a lookup of Ladysforest blog and it came back to "My very own point of view." THAT is the blog I was referring to which has that friend or relative of the Birkebeiles which left the comment. Is there any way we could ask Ladysforest to look into contacting this person and nailing down this information? I assume commenters usually leave an email address with the blog they comment on.