Dispositive diaries

[Matthew Schlecht]

     Judge Kavanaugh, who worked summers in high school and was too busy for parties during the week, kept a fairly detailed diary of his activities.  While not dispositive, it's there in the mix.

     Dr. Blasey Ford mentioned that the assault took place at a get-together attended, among others, by Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, and PJ (Patrick J. Smyth).

      For July 1, 1982, a Thursday, this quasi-dispositive diary notes:

Tobin's house - workout

Go to Timmy's for [brew]skis with [Mark] Judge, Tom, PJ, Bernie, Squi [Chris Garrett]

[ www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/28/us/politics/kavanaugh-ford-testimony-investigation.html ]

     Looks like we might have answered President Trump's challenge of determining a specific location and date.  Now the FBI (no doubt, with Trump's full backing and confidence, as always) will look into all this in the coming week.

     Mark Judge, as an admitted recovering alcoholic, will probably truthfully state that he has no memory of the event (or probably of much else).

     No one except for Brett Kavanaugh is saying that the get-together never happened, only that they don't remember it.

     <Prediction alert> I imagine we'll be treated to multiple choruses of "...to the best of my recollection,..." next week.

     Seems like what happens at Georgetown Prep no longer stays at Georgetown Prep, at least if you're nominated for the Supreme Court.

Matthew Schlecht, PhD
Word Alchemy Translation
Newark, DE, USA
wordalchemytranslation.com

[Alan Siegrist]

This is starting to become a really fascinating adventure, like the old board game Clue!

 

In this iteration of the game, we peculiarly have a “Mr. Boddy” (or perhaps Dr. Boddy) but still don’t know the answers to “Who did it?” and “Where?” I will leave the interpretation of “With what?” up to the reader. The Candlestick? The Lead pipe?

 

In a slightly more serious vein, it is a well-known scientific fact that real memories can fade or be erased by the brain, particularly that of a victim or perpetrator of a horrific trauma, and also that false memories can be deliberately or inadvertently implanted into this memory vacuum and seem completely “real” and totally believable to the person implanted with the memories. As a PhD in psychology and an advocate for victims of sexual abuse, Dr. Blasey Ford must be completely aware of this scientific research. I can only hope that any sort of investigation pursues this line of inquiry.

 

This applies equally to both the memories of the victim of an assault and memories of a perpetrator that might be addled or altered by effects of alcohol, for example.

 

Regards,

 

Alan Siegrist

Orinda, CA, USA

[Matthew Schlecht]

On Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 4:36 PM Alan Siegrist <AlanFS...@comcast.net> wrote:

This is starting to become a really fascinating adventure, like the old board game Clue!

 

In this iteration of the game, we peculiarly have a “Mr. Boddy” (or perhaps Dr. Boddy) but still don’t know the answers to “Who did it?” and “Where?” I will leave the interpretation of “With what?” up to the reader. The Candlestick? The Lead pipe?

 

In a slightly more serious vein, it is a well-known scientific fact that real memories can fade or be erased by the brain, particularly that of a victim or perpetrator of a horrific trauma, and also that false memories can be deliberately or inadvertently implanted into this memory vacuum and seem completely “real” and totally believable to the person implanted with the memories. As a PhD in psychology and an advocate for victims of sexual abuse, Dr. Blasey Ford must be completely aware of this scientific research. I can only hope that any sort of investigation pursues this line of inquiry.

 

This applies equally to both the memories of the victim of an assault and memories of a perpetrator that might be addled or altered by effects of alcohol, for example.

     Indeed!

     I recall reading an article by Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist who specializes in what might be termed the fragility of memory.  She described being approached on one occasion by defense attorneys to give expert witness testimony in a case of a naturalized American citizen who was accused of having a secret violent past as a Nazi death camp official of some kind.  There were survivors who would testify against the accused based on their memories from the time served in the camp, and would identify the defendant as "definitely" the guy they remember.  The defense attorneys wanted Loftus to discredit the validity of memories already 50+ years old.  Loftus explained (to the reader of the article) that her research could easily have been marshaled to do just that.

     In the end, she declined to participate in the trial.  She didn't mention the ultimate disposition of the matter.

     Aside from any opinions about whether Kavanaugh should or should not be placed in a lifetime position of being one of nine ultimate arbiters of the behavior of others in this country, this one is a tough call.  One person recalls an adolescence of occasionally indulgent but generally upstanding behavior; the other remembers a callous bully/predator.  Who is right?

     I was just struck by the fact that this diary was brought up as "evidence" that the alleged incident could never have happened, and yet it contains a perfectly cogent notation concerning a plausible venue for that very incident.  Whoops!

[Mark Spahn]

A few thoughts that occurred to me while watching the Kavanaugh and Ford testimony (some live, some recorded)...

I wonder why Ford's hair was slightly unkempt/uncombed.  Part of a strategy?  Probably not.

I too thought of the name Loftus about the unreliability of memory.  I gather that a few decades ago there was a theory of "recovered memory" gained with the help of psychiatrists or hypnotists (Scott Adams!).  Apparently that theory has been out of favor for some time.  In researching memory, it seems to me a hard task to find subjects who have memories that can be objectively distinguished between true and false/conflated memories.

For me at least, I am unable to judge from a witness's demeanor whether he is telling the truth or lying.  It doesn't take the acting ability of Meryl Streep or Dustin Hoffman to fake sincerity well enough to fool me.  Hence I didn't even try in a traffic trial I was a juror in.  We jurors ended in a hung decision, because we could not decide which side was the bigger liar.

I didn't understand the testimony about drinking games.  "Triangles" was described as a drinking game similar to "quarters", which likewise I had never heard.  Well, that's what online searches are for...

In a quick scan, I don't find these two games described in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_game .   But

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarters_(game)

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/09/how_do_you_play_devils_triangle_brett_kavanaughs_quarters_drinking_game.html

-- Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY)

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[Mark Spahn]

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/09/grassley-to-fbi-investigate-anti-kavanaugh-liar.php

Take a look at the letter here, sent from Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Chuck Grassley to the heads of the Justice Department and the FBI.  It contains a redacted name obscured by a black rectangle.  The first occurrence of the name is long, as if the name were, say, "John Smith" or "John A. Smith", but the eight subsequent appearances of this name must be his last name only, like "Smith".  This ought to be enough to narrow down the length of Mr. Redacted's surname, which begins with an uppercase letter.  The font in which Grassley's letter is typed consists of letters of varying width, but each letter of the same type is of unvarying width.  In this font, "Smith" might be of the same width as "Obama" or "Filliji".  Also, later in the attached material are redacted names in a fixed-letter-width font, which should give further clues.  Still more clues are provided on the very last page of the attachment, which shows that Mr. Redacted is a poor typer (e.g., "Do" for "To") and a punctuation abjurer.

The last sentence of Grassley's cover letter says, "If you have any questions, please contact a professional staff investigator in the Committee's Oversight and Investigations Unit at (202)224-5225."  Do you think Senator Grassley's profession staff investigators don't already know about redaction decryption?  I don't think so either.  He's just releasing the name of Mr. Redacted in a subtler, more deniable way than the way Senatrix Diane Feinstein released Doctrix Ford's name.

-- Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY)

[Matthew Schlecht]

On Sun, Sep 30, 2018 at 6:13 AM Mark Spahn <mark...@twc.com> wrote:

A few thoughts that occurred to me while watching the Kavanaugh and Ford testimony (some live, some recorded)...

I wonder why Ford's hair was slightly unkempt/uncombed.  Part of a strategy?  Probably not.

     One commentator opined that this hairstyle might be indicative of Prof. Blasey Ford needing privacy.

 

I too thought of the name Loftus about the unreliability of memory.  I gather that a few decades ago there was a theory of "recovered memory" gained with the help of psychiatrists or hypnotists (Scott Adams!).  Apparently that theory has been out of favor for some time.  In researching memory, it seems to me a hard task to find subjects who have memories that can be objectively distinguished between true and false/conflated memories.

     Quite true.

     Kinda throws a big wrench into the whole "eyewitness testimony" thing.

 

I didn't understand the testimony about drinking games.  "Triangles" was described as a drinking game similar to "quarters", which likewise I had never heard.  Well, that's what online searches are for...

In a quick scan, I don't find these two games described in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_game .   But

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarters_(game)

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/09/how_do_you_play_devils_triangle_brett_kavanaughs_quarters_drinking_game.html

     What really caught my attention in your third link was:

But it's also worth noting that the Twitter account Congressional Edits, a Twitter bot that monitors edits to Wikipedia made from Congressional I.P. addresses, discovered that the Wikipedia term "Devil's Triangle (disambiguation)" was edited anonymously from the US House of Representatives shortly to describe it in the same terms as Kavanaugh.

    CongressEdits Wikipedia article edited anonymously from US House of Representatives https://t.co/CjKZt7FBEu pic.twitter.com/oWZYc7aREV
    -- congress-edits (@congressedits) September 27, 2018

     So, the inferred pro-Kavanaugh family values irregulars within the Congressional establishment felt that it would benefit their cause to retroactively validate this kooky definition of "Devil's Triangle" by planting webidence and hoping that people would notice (but not notice the recent provenance), because if it's on the internet (by the time you search), it must be true.

     Sadly, operatives within the cyberworld disinformation division of the inferred Congressional family values irregulars are apparently blissfully unaware that Wikipedia edits can be easily tracked.

     Or, maybe this is Deep State, deviously posing as Congressional family values irregulars in an attempt to make them look suspicious and discredit their cause.

     Or, maybe this is proficient Russian hackers imitating Congressional family values irregulars, or imitating Deep Staters imitating Congressional family values irregulars.

     "You know, you could go crazy thinking about this." (Sarah Connor)

     No news on whether the definition of "boofed" as relating to flatulence instead of sexual intercourse has been similarly naively retroactively validated.

[Rene]

On 9/30/18, Matthew Schlecht <matthew.f...@gmail.com> wrote:
> No one except for Brett Kavanaugh is saying that the get-together
> never happened, only that they don't remember it.
> <Prediction alert> I imagine we'll be treated to multiple choruses of
> "...to the best of my recollection,..." next week.
> Seems like what happens at Georgetown Prep no longer stays at
> Georgetown Prep, at least if you're nominated for the Supreme Court.

....bit late for this, as I had no time to look at the daily flood of
NH messages, but I enjoy the latest falied prediction.

Another one added to the pile.

Getting predictions right or wrong should be a great reality check....
I wonder if the we ever reach the point where Dale might consider that
he is watching the wrong movie?

[Rene]

On 9/30/18, Matthew Schlecht <matthew.f...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I was just struck by the fact that this diary was brought up as
> "evidence" that the alleged incident could never have happened, and yet it
> contains a perfectly cogent notation concerning a plausible venue for that
> very incident. Whoops!

Is that what CNN is saying now? I am watching the fake corporate news
pretty regularly but must have missed that.

Or have we upgraded to the Huffpost and Michael Moore by now? LOL

[Matthew Schlecht]

On Mon, Oct 1, 2018 at 5:57 PM Rene <yoi...@gmail.com> wrote:

On 9/30/18, Matthew Schlecht <matthew.f...@gmail.com> wrote:
>      No one except for Brett Kavanaugh is saying that the get-together
> never happened, only that they don't remember it.
>      <Prediction alert> I imagine we'll be treated to multiple choruses of
> "...to the best of my recollection,..." next week.
>      Seems like what happens at Georgetown Prep no longer stays at
> Georgetown Prep, at least if you're nominated for the Supreme Court.

....bit late for this, as I had no time to look at the daily flood of
NH messages, but I enjoy the latest falied prediction.

     Since the "next week" mentioned is in fact this week, beginning 1 Oct., perhaps it's a bit early to discount this prediction.

     But, if your mind is already made up, then there's really not much sense in paying any further attention to events.

     According to Yale classmates, the fervent claims made by Kavanaugh (under oath) not to have been a heavy and belligerent drinker in his college years already appear to be specious.

     While Kavanaugh seems to have cleaned up his act in adulthood, it's disturbing that a potential Supreme Court judge might have little regard for the consequences of lying under oath.  So long as there is an inevitable and complete Trump pardon lying in the wings, though, perhaps he's not risking too much.

     Nevertheless, for hilarious irony, nothing quite beats Trump insisting on the high moral character of his nominee, and vouching for Kavanaugh's high respect for women in practically the same breath in which he utters savage attacks against the women who are speaking up.

[Rene]

On Tue, Oct 2, 2018 at 7:43 AM Matthew Schlecht <matthew.f...@gmail.com> wrote:

     According to Yale classmates, the fervent claims made by Kavanaugh (under oath) not to have been a heavy and belligerent drinker in his college years already appear to be specious

Ah Yale. What a surprise to find to Trump haters there. You almost made me drink the cool aid.

Now lets change the topic. I wondering when you will apologize for punching me and drinking my beer, err 35 years ago? I mean it is not like I remember when it happened or where it happened, and in fact I did not rember that for the last 30 years, but lo and behold I recovered an opporessed memory that someone punched me and drank my beer 5 years ago, and hallelujah now suddenly I remember it was you!

Now  apologize or prove your innocence!

Waiting

[Matthew Schlecht]

On Tue, Oct 2, 2018 at 1:41 AM Rene <rrrat...@gmail.com> wrote:

On Tue, Oct 2, 2018 at 7:43 AM Matthew Schlecht <matthew.f...@gmail.com> wrote:

     According to Yale classmates, the fervent claims made by Kavanaugh (under oath) not to have been a heavy and belligerent drinker in his college years already appear to be specious

Ah Yale. What a surprise to find to Trump haters there. You almost made me drink the cool aid.

     I thought we were discussing Kavanaugh.

     If he thought that Yale was such a hateful place, perhaps he should have considered a safer space for his college education.

 

Now lets change the topic. I wondering when you will apologize for punching me and drinking my beer, err 35 years ago? I mean it is not like I remember when it happened or where it happened, and in fact I did not rember that for the last 30 years, but lo and behold I recovered an opporessed memory that someone punched me and drank my beer 5 years ago, and hallelujah now suddenly I remember it was you!

Now  apologize or prove your innocence!

Waiting

     First, I'll need to secure at least three boxes of Kleenex, because I know this is going to be a tearful time.

     At some point, I might need to work in how my son is praying for you.

     But (in a self-demonstration of my prediction for this week), my response will begin...

     "To the best of my recollection..."

Matthew Schlecht, PhD
Word Alchemy Translation
Newark, DE, USA
wordalchemytranslation.com

P.S., nevertheless, that beer really hit the spot!