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Gotta be coincidence. What else you got?

I appreciate this Dave. So I’m on a Vortex right of passage where I’ve ran my mouth excitedly and been brought back a peg or two today in terms of these letters. One of the coding people I use for app content checks (no real experience in forensic stylometry but handy with code) said that the match is enough to “prosecute but not convict”. What we use is R, because it can be adapted to suit our content, scheduler, plagiarism checks, embedding of videos/fillable activities and so on. Needs further analysis perhaps from software not available to the gen pop to get a totally rock solid definitive answer. It gives a good indicator, it gives a strong direction, but not necessarily a 100% answer. It’s still a remarkable find that Barbs writing can be matched to the Clara letter, but even as a small chance - it could still technically be matched to someone else (remote possibility but not nil). Very encouraging, but not enough to say BEYOND all reasonable doubt that Barb authored the letters. Signature is a good software to give indication for sure, but not enough to state authorship as a resolute fact. What would be needed - at least 3/4 stylometric detection softwares (very expensive to buy, expensive to get a forensic coder to configure them as it’s very niche) at least 3 or 4 other samples of Barbs writings and then a compatible made against all the tests. So there we go. A step in a direction and a viable opening of a line of enquiry, but the end result after an extensive test can still rule Barb out, even at a small possibility.

Ok. Makes sense. I’m less impressed with the 97%, just given my experience. However, I am excited to interact with everything and see how people interact with things too. I was up late watching YouTube videos on coding and programming to help dust some cobwebs off before I fire up the more complex programs to look at these letters. I should have been at a bar. :). I’m trying to understand if the comments here are in reference to just the Signature program or Stylometry as a whole. As in, if Stylo works, does that mean Signature works? I’m sensing that the Signature results are being looked at as gospel. That seems unusual given the education and experience level of this group. I’ll put old differences aside and continue to see how this plays out. Jude and Chris both have unique backgrounds and experiences and I am interested to see what they learn. Jude has an app and Chris is a professor. Both will have access to people who can evaluate the letters. I definitely want to understand Marty’s steps. I have the program downloaded and running. It’s pretty quick and simple. I just want to duplicate what he did.

The Forman’s wrote the book 20 years after discussing this with Barb. Maybe they are misremembering what Barb said. Perhaps she actually said that she jumped near Woodland and they misremembered it as Woodburn.

Thoughts on skepticism about the Stylometry analysis due to the sample size. It’s not a trial for penicillin that worked for one person and then a proclamation that it works without further randomised controlled or clinical trials. Yes drugs and pharmaceuticals need large sample sizes. Same with molecular biology and stuff like that. This is stylometry, a fingerprint. The tech is from 2003 because the detection software is as good as it can be. Human nature and the English language hasn’t evolved. It’s not IOS or Android that needs updated for security and data reasons. If the cops get one fingerprint, they don’t say “it’s only one print we need the whole hand to bust the criminal”. These letters were written in the 1980s. Tested using workable 2003 software. GPS hasn’t really evolved much either because the Earth is the same. A 2003 GPS isn’t going to tell me I’m in New York when I’m really in Derry! New York is in the same location as it was 20 years ago and can be pinpointed with the same tech. Here’s a good creative example. If I paint something and visually I use the same colours as Van Gogh, am I Van Gogh? NO! If Van Gogh painted two paintings and used vastly different colours in each painting is one of them a fake? NO. How the paint is applied, pigments, composition structure are all detectable with visual and stylometric photography. The same methodology is applied to writing - like voice recognition for the written word. Saying 200/300 words aloud is enough for voice recognition software to identify an individual, as is 200/300 written across two letters to pick up the idiosyncrasies, sentence length, SPG and other things that make a written finger print a written fingerprint.

I can see the logic. Whether true or not, I suspected that the caller/writer wanted to tell someone of the crime. He could not do it in a public way and give all the true info. So he brags to Gunther. He gives a name that is close to someone he knows well and uses much of that guy’s life as his own. This is very common in novels. I just got done with a great John Grisham book and he writes how it was loosely based on a real story, at least parts. Lee Child does it. Michael Connelly. It happens. We write about what we know. Now maybe Gunther knew a LeClair. It just seemed odd that there was a Dan Clair in the military records who was born in Canada and moved to Newark and joined the Army. And that his wife shared the same birthday with Clara. And the guy was born like 60 miles from the real LeClair’s birthplace. Canada is a big country. That was my logic. Marty helped with the military records when I was still learning the Ancestry interface. His notes to Ralph could be edited. He may have more notes. In the Ralph notes the name is Collins. LeClair is not really that common of a name. The notes don’t match up exactly with the book. Someone could probably list those out. Like in the notes it’s Gettysburg college and in the book it’s Rutgers. Someone can say it’s not Dan Clair. Ok. I’ve made my points and it’s not worth debating anymore. But if someone says people don’t make up stories using people they know, I’ll call BS on them. I can see how there is debate. I’ve stated in the past that one scenario is that Gunther made it up, or at least parts. But I’m finding that harder and harder to believe. I still like the approach that some folks are taking to look at records and try to find out who these people were. In 1972 and 1982, no one dreamed that the internet would make all of this easy to find. Or sort of easy. Edit. Of note. All the info came from Clara for the most part. I don’t think if Cooper had jumped that Clara would have seen the chute. I can’t see him carrying it. It’s a simple mistake to think the captain came back to talk to Cooper. Cooper did talk to the cockpit. To me, those are weak ways to discount the whole book.

It looks like it was Ron who came up with the idea that Barb was Cooper.

Aerodyne is the only company that makes both canopies and containers. The lesson here is don’t put all your eggs in one ordering basket. One of the components is holding up the whole order. Tell them to ship what is completed and that you will fill the rest with another company’s product.

Wow, the deep state conspiracy extends to Britain too! Biden must have paid off the judge.

That sucks. You'll be ready to downsize by the time it gets delivered :)

I disagree. On its face we have a person having an Identity crisis, which is real. People in that condition do a lot of testing out of different roles. She/he tells the Formans she is Cooper, whether or not she is. If the Formans are being truthful and complete in their statements, then Bob Dayton attached himself/herself to the Cooper hijacking for some reason. Its less likely Dayton will claim to have been Einstein or Moses or Eisenhower! Dayton picks an unprovable by way of claiming personality traits-identity Dayton wants to have poeople think she is associated with. The Formans have no way of proving anything! Dayton might as well stand up in some church and claim she is Jesus. But Dayton will not do that - her confession is only private made in a safe environment where they cant be any consequences that matter. Dayton's identity formation is incomplete. But Dayton is also going some distance making extraordinary claims with her friends and supporters! There is no instance of Dayton going to the FBI and confessing she/he is Cooper! That would have consequences and leave a record. But, Dayton is making extraordinary claims ... probably to a variety of people ... for some reason related to an identity crisis. Did Dayton ever recant her claim to the Formans? If so when? It would not be out of place for this person to contact some author who has no way of knowing who or where she is - then letting the whole matter go before any real consequences can materialise!

They did what they had to do to get an agreement. Each of those colonies had to choose between independance, staying a colony or becoming part of a larger nation. Politics then and now is the art of compromise and the posible.

It sounds like there might be some confusion. As much as we all disagree about things in the Vortex, I don’t think any of us believe Barb was Cooper. There may be one or two outside the Formans. This all has to do with whether or not she is Clara. For all the people who were convinced that Max made the whole thing up, they sure did change their minds quickly.

I'm suddenly remembering, as a kid, we KNEW if we asked dad or grandad for anything while they were sleeping we were good! But MOM! Dad said I could!

I also wouldn't be surprised if it were true, and also think the sample size is probably too small to get thrilled about. It also wouldn't surprise me if it WEREN'T true; after all, that's a very specific longshot, and I'd personally want to see the writing compared to other LETTERS of the time, related to the skyjacking--maybe the "confession" letters sent to the papers, for example. I also think the most likely option is thatCooper died in the event, and I also would not be surprised at all if Gunther made up every single word of the book, including the letters. However, one way or another, one thing is indisputable: regardless of all of that, "DB Cooper" cannot have been involved in the Gunther book, because there are errors that the actual skyjacker would be the first and best to know better than. So if the book is false (regardless of whether Gunther was duped or crafty), there is no connection to nice old Mr. S, other than a picture that looks like he might have been imagined to look later in life. And if the book is NOT false, the question arises: where is the Smith character in it? Clara = Barb or not, there's just no path that leads to any legitimacy around WJS. (Spoiler alert: he's not.)

Nope. They use the term "social transition" which per their definition includes using a pronoun like "they" instead of their birth pronoun. And if you do so - just once - you can be arrested and convicted as a sex offender. No. It allows flags to be displayed if part of the curriculum - as in, say, a Nazi flag from World War II in a history course. It also, of course, allows US military flags to be displayed. Indian flags are OK. There is a list of 9 other exceptions of flags that are OK to display. Just not pride flags or the like. Rhetorical effect. I am copying the language used by right wingers when describing the threat posed to children by, say, trans people. If it seems incendiary or over the top - good. I'm glad you feel that way; so do I. Thanks for attaching that! Note this on the second page: "Terrorism" means activities that: 28 (a) Are done in cooperation with any foreign terrorist organization, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1189, that threatens the sovereignty of another state or the United States of America; That means that local organizations that, say, blow up abortion clinics will not be considered terrorists by definition in Idaho. And perhaps it's just me, but I don't feel that such organizations need protection against the label of "terrorist." I am 100% in favor of those parts of the bill. Here's what I object to: A teacher who has active status in the program is not liable for any civil damages or penalties if the teacher: 84 (i) when carrying or storing a firearm: 85 (A) is acting in good faith; and 86 (B) is not grossly negligent; or 87 (ii) threatens, draws, or otherwise uses a firearm reasonably believing the action to be necessary in compliance with Section 76-2-402. If the rest of the bill does indeed reduce the incidence of accidental discharge and/or misuse, then there's no need for that section. Fear of prosecution for negligently harming a student is, and should be, part of the decision as to whether someone carries a gun in a school. Imagine, for example, a hungover teacher with a drinking problem fumbles with his gun one morning and accidentally kills a student. No question that was negligent. But unless a court can prove that he is GROSSLY negligent (a much higher bar, involving deliberate, severe and reckless disregard) he is protected under this law.