CBS Offers New Experts to Support Guard Memos

NY Times ^ | 9/13/04

[EaglesUpForever]

> Dan Rather is now as credible as OJ

Not quite; if the case against OJ had been as slam dunk as that against Rather, OJ's attorneys probably would have gone for a plea bargain. This is like OJ's trial, but with the glove fitting perfectly.

[supercat]

One thing I just noticed--probably not worth starting a new thread for, but maybe someone can tell me where this would be best noted--is that whatever the documents were put through seems to have a minimum vertical thickness, and that the thickness is always judged from the bottom. This is what causes letters like "I" to look so strange. The bottoms of the top serifs are curved up at the ends, and so--because of the minimum line-thickness requirements--the tops of "I"'s come out bent.

This does not seem like the behavior of any analog copier I can think of, but I wonder if some fax machines might work that way. Tracking down what type of equipment does that might help track down what sort of machine was used in this forgery.

[supercat]

Or just run it through some mediocre copy machines more than a few times.

With a fax generation or something thrown in for good measure.

Look at the characters with horizontal serifs [e.g. on the letter "I"]. Notice that on the CBS decouments they are often concave on the outside. I don't know of any analog copier that would do that; it is much more likely to be a faxing phenomenon.

Whatever was used in at least one step of munging these documents to make them look old had a minimum vertical thickness [i.e. thickness of horizontal lines]. When something was too thin in the vertical direction, this device would attempt to place a minimum-thickness vertical line more-or-less centered vertically about where the original mark was.

Because Times New Roman has curved serifs which are thinner than the minimum vertical thickness, the curves on the insides of the serifs caused the whole serifs to appear bent.

I don't know what variations exist among fax machines, but I would think a forensic expert could probably determine which types of machines might have been used.

[supercat]

I've worried about the serifs also, but the main document expert in the world, the guy who literally wrote the book on typewriter identification, said that serifs could not be matched on such poor quality copies.

IPM

Actually, the serifs are preserved somewhat better than it might at first appear. Take a look at the letters to the right.

1lb

Notice that the undersides of the top serifs and the topside of the bottom serifs are curved. Now look at the characters to the left. Notice that the undersides of the top serifs are horizontal.

Look at how characters appear in the CBS copy. You'll notice that a lot more shape information about the serifs is preserved than would be immediately apparent.

[js1138]

The forensic experts have already said that the serif information is lost.

[Aquinasfan]

I thought I read the whole article. I did not see any new experts....

Just this:

Last night, CBS did not present any of the other experts who originally helped it authenticate the documents, beyond mentioning Mr. Matley, who was interviewed on the Friday broadcast. Instead it featured computer and typewriter specialists who had called or posted defenses of CBS on Internet blogs.

The entire network's gone mad. It's like something out of "Network."

[Robert A Cook PE]

Re-read this piece of trash.

That whole story was a coverup!

There is NOT ONE piece of evidence (out of over 85 now!) that confirms the forgeries.

There is NOT ONE use of "forgery" in the whole story.

And I could not even find an opposing "witness" or expert!

Now its time to put a little pressure on THESE TWO writers!

...

MSM hasn't learned it's lesson yet, has it?

[Robert A Cook PE]

"Of course, some intrepid online sleuths could get the typewriters on their own, try to reproduce the memos, and show that they don't even come close to matching the documents used in the CBS report.

"Somebody out there," wearing his pajama's, has already done that.

They didn't match.

[Robert A Cook PE]

It's easier to read the CBS fax number on the top of the copies received from the White House.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Is "that" her actual letterhead?

Big official looking State Emblem, State name, little NY state outline, and next to it, equally big and bold "Democrat"

[wasp69]

He said he was initially leery of talking. "Because quite honestly there's some people out there, they're scary," he said. "You don't agree with them, you offer opinions that don't jibe with theirs and you get a target on your back."

Oh, Nelly! It's the VRWC!

[Libertarian444]

"These documents are 100% authentic."

[Area51]

Bill Glennon, a technology consultant and I.B.M. typewriter specialist who had posted his thoughts on the memos on a blog and was quoted over the weekend in publications including The New York Times, said CBS called him Monday morning.
Look at that; CBS says that they stand by their sources and the memos, but they are reduced to searching the internet and calling this guy in on Monday!!!


29 posted on 09/13/2004 8:41:07 PM PDT by Howlin (What's the Font Spacing, Kenneth?)
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What's worse is they didn't even check the morons credentials. It turns out he was a typewritter repair man.

A Consultant is just another name for being Unemployed.

[nsc68]

"Somebody out there," wearing his pajama's, has already done that.

I didn't know that. Got a link? Thanks.

[Bonaparte]

Is "that" her actual letterhead?

Do not question the authenticity.

You must take my word for it because my name is Bonaparte.

I will do your thinking for you.

That is all.

< /sarcasm >

[dr_who_2]

Nice to know that there are so many experts to choose from. CBS is seriously f****d, thanks to CBS. What fun.