Several people have commented on my last post, pointing out that Bristol is over 18 now and really any information about the baby needs to come from her and Levi, and if they choose not to release anything it's their call. This is 100% true and I cannot dispute that. The two young people are entitled to their privacy, and even though at times in my frustration over some aspects of this, I may get a little sarcastic or "snarky," truly I have nothing but sympathy for the two young people and wish them the best.
It is uniquely awkward however that this pregnancy - which was used deliberately and explicitly to prove that Trig had to be Sarah's - was "then" fair game and is "now" off-limits. I don't know how to reconcile this.
I don't agree that because the election is over that this is suddenly a non-issue.
For example, let's say a candidate has been widely rumored to have a history of domestic violence but he has denied it. He loses the election but is still being widely discussed as a potential player in the next election. Then, the facts come out after the election that the story was true all along. Heck yes, I think it would still be news and a valid topic for discussion.
Bristol is entitled to her privacy and it is her call whether we ever see a single photo of the child. No argument there.
This potential deception, however, is not like lying about a job, or an educational background. In this case - let's be clear - the potential hoaxer used another person (her own minor child) potentially to perpetrate her lies. And now, because that second person (oh so conveniently) has become an adult, she's off limits.
I don't have an easy answer to this one.
No Time for Tuckerman
-
Time. It is precious, they say. It flies, they say. And former Republican
Party Chair, former Dunleavy Chief of Staff, and now former University of
Alaska ...
8 months ago
386 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 386 of 386Hello Anon at January 3, 2009 10:48 AM!
I agree. I believe I said something similar in my earlier posts.
Remember, Sarah Palin was blamed by the US Secret Service Over Death Threats Against Barack Obama. I am sure she was warned by the Secret Service. Did she say anything to stop the violent people who were screaming " off with his head"? Nope, nothing. She had that smile on her face and seemed like enjoying the show her "Real America" was demonstrating. Don't you think Secret Service is watching Sarah Palin and her family closely, even after the election? I bet they do. Just recently, Alaska Racist Emails Against Obama On State Accounts have been probed.
http://tinyurl.com/4h4ofv
Don't you think Feds as well as Alaska State officials are investigating racist jokes about President-elect Barack Obama that have been circulating on state government email accounts?
I am sure they are investigating her and her husband with respect to the house they built, their ties with AIP, just to mention a few.
I have to laugh each time I read this old statement" Sarah Palin's approval rate in Alaska is 80 %". Yeah, you wish.. No, those were good old days for Sarah Palin when Alaskans believed in her. Blind Faith is what it is called. Just read the comments on different blog sites as many of them are Alaskans. They don't sound like they approve Sarah Palin:-|
By the way, I also would like to believe that TeamSarah.org is under investigation(due to racist comments against President-Elect Barack Obama). Sarah Palin and her family members are most probably members of TeamSarah.org. I know Sarah Palin is reading this blog as well as many others on the net. That explains why she sleeps so few hours :-|
However, as you say, timing is everything. I am sure it took a while to build the case against Blago prior to his arrest.
Now, why I could never and will never believe in Sarah Palin's bizarre birth story of Trig Palin or that she is the biological mother of that poor child. Let's forget all the fake photos, all that bizarre travel from Texas to Alaska, her own words, lies after lies, her father's statements, untrustworthy medical statement on the election night and all the rest. Ladies and Gentlemen, if Sarah Palin was indeed pregnant and gave birth to Trig on April 18, 2008, she would have sued every blog owner, every reporter, every website owner who have been writing and talking about Palin Deceptions and that she is not the biological mother of Trig. Why do you think she never did and she will never do that? Because if she does, the whole truth will come out. The Palin family cannot risk that. We're not talking about the risks you can take here. This must be more than that. A shocking truth, to say the least.
What is funny and quite unbelievable is that she still comes out and makes bizarre statements. The more Sarah Palin and her father speak, the more people, a lot of people, do not believe in them.
This is my theory, of course. I wish I was wrong because I do feel so sorry for the Palin children. They are the innocent victims of power hungry, irresponsible, self-absorbed parents who are deluded in themselves. I remember when she proposed to Tina Fey that Bristol could babysit for Tina Fey's child. OMG, As if Bristol is just around in case Mommy has some work orders for her so that mommy will look good.
-----------------------------------------
ANON at January 3, 2009 10:48 AM Wrote:
Something to think about.
There is always a season and time for everything to happen. The laws of nature are ALWAYS working. For every cause there is a effect.
I am positive that people are watching Sarah and her family under microscope. But they are not going to waste their amo until the absolute right time.
Just like I said in the election Allow the enemy to destroy themselves and you don't have to use much effort to finish it off. People that are not mindfull are caught in a web. You cannot escape the web without the effects of what you created.
January 3, 2009 10:48 AM
I think the last thing one would put under the carpet is electric wiring.
just noticed on the 3-amigos picture:
what's that dark shape on the white shirt between the tie and SP's sleeve?
I stumbled on a posting by a company that was making "life size" blowups of SP. It stated that the image was 5'6.5" tall. I would expect that would be with heels. Maybe height was not so important in Alaska in 1980's for beauty pageants and basketball.
sandra in oregon
Look at Palin's hairline in the 'three amigos' picture. Look closely where it interacts with the picture frame behind them.
Truthseeker #971
http://www.adn.com/opinion/comment/story/641263.html
Read article above. Some others are wondering how Levi got an apprentice job without a diploma.
Read the comments as well. They are interesting. Those palinites love SP. Just can't believe how in their eyes she does no wrong. So SAD!
I have been looking at these pictures a lot the last 2 days and a couple things come to mind. Maybe someone that has been to/seen the area the photos were taken can answer.
First, I agree with whoever said it's the same pose taken at different camera angles.
Her "focus" (or apparent lack thereof) is nearly identical in both pictures. It looks to me like she stood still in one place and someone took photos from several different angles.
Second, in most govt buildings I have been in, framed artwork is hung at the same level through the whole building, giving continuity throughout.
If you look at the Gusty pic, the artwork is hung low enough that SP is taller than the frames.
In the 3amigos pic, the artwork is hung so high that SP is hitting about the middle of the framed piece.
If you look at both photos, the ones in the Gusty pic are hung considerably lower (if you use the door behind Gusty as a point of reference).
They are about midway up the door in that pic and in the 3amigos pic they are hung about even with the top of the glass.
It seems odd to me that they would hang them that much lower when it appears that they are just off another hallway on the same floor (possibly the one behind Gusty even).
It probably doesn't mean anything, but it's something that caught my eye and based on my experience with govt buildings where frames are normally uniform throughout.
Re EXIF and other dating on photos:
I just worked on setting up an electronic photo frame with photos, and I read in the (Sony) instructions that if you are trying to copy a photo into the frame that is too large or otherwise not acceptable to the frame, the frame will automatically re-size and/or fix the photo and in the process strip the old exif data and substitute some other date, not necessarily today's date.
So I bet other file transfers might do the same. I think I mentioned before that upon hearing about the online exif tool:
http://regex.info/exif.cgi
I tried it on some photos I knew the actual dates of, and they were way off on unexplainable ways, so I now put zero faith in this info.
--Amy the first
Yes, anon 10:48, you are so right.
This debacle brings up the very interesting question of "how often do people get away with things"? Since we rarely learn about those who do, it's impossible to say, except via our own fallible intuition in our own invalid-sample-sized lives.
But when I think of the Martha Moxley murder case (probably solved now, after many years), and the Marilyn Vanderbur incest story (the former Miss America whose father sexually abused her and got away with it for many, many years until she wrote about it as an older woman), and even the current Maduff ponzi scheme that probably would still be going strong except for the extreme weakness of the market -- it really makes one wish for Sherlock Holmes to be doing his pro bono work once again. Or Hercule Poirot. But we have Audrey!
Or was it always just a fiction that these things inevitably come to light? And that "no good deed goes unpunished" is really the way it is.
Well, I guess we are in the process of seeing which it is.
--Amy the first
Yes, newborn babies can have puffy cheeks. The point is that, while the birth announcement photo looks like a newborn, as Emma points out, Trig simply looks way too big/old in the official hospital photos. The photos remind me of my 3rd kid, the one who tipped the scales at 9-14 when he was born.
I am also swayed by the point that has been made about the failure to produce a birth certificate-namely that, assuming Sarah & Todd did adopt Trig, why didn't they simply produce a b/c showing them as parents? I don't believe, at any rate, that an adoptive b/c is any different from any other b/c. I agree the one answer makes sense is that Trig was not really born on 4/18.
So, okay, let's engage in a bit of historical fiction. Just for yuks. Bristol turns up pregnant at 16, due 4/18 or thereabouts, maybe late April; is whisked off to a high school in a different town, keeps the pregnancy
secret (it was winter in Alaska, after all) from even classmates; the family quietly arranges a private adoption. At some point the doctors start to have doubts about gestational age and perform amniocentesis to determine fetal lung maturity. Maybe the adoptive parents are also keen to know the baby is okay. This would have been done at or after estimated 32 weeks' gestation --the beginning of March, if the baby was due in late April. The test reveals Downs, the adoption falls through, the Palins hastily cook up the Desperate Housewives ploy. Bristol is sequestered...somewhere. (If there's news or speculation where she was through March of '08, I haven't heard it.) The baby is
born a month early...somewhere. A Downs' baby is special needs but doesn't necessarily need NICU
care. After my 2nd child was born I shared a room with a young woman who had had a Downs baby, and he hung out in the bassinet in our room as much as my baby did. Bristol and Trig leave the hospital and return to sequestration. On April 17 something happens that threatens to bust the story open. Maybe, being a rebellious teenager, Bristol simply announces that she's not going to stay in hiding one second longer, she's going to go hang with friends who are getting ready for that "fourth prom." Maybe the person or persons housing Bristol aren't willing or able to care for the baby without Bristol. There are a million possible, plausible scenarios. Here's another one: someone catches Bristol and Levi back together, flagrante delicto. If a second pregnancy was hatched in mid-April, the due date would be early January. In any case, Todd and Sarah, who have flown off to Texas believing they have plenty of time to get home and stage the birth, scramble to get back and "welcome baby Trig" into the world. Bristol joins her sisters visiting Trig in the hospital, looking not like a woman who just gave birth,but like a teenager who has had a month to recover.
Yes I have an (over?) active imagination. But it adds up.
It's too friggin' freezin' cold for the paparazzi to be hounding Bristol. I think the $300K+ they will be getting for picture and story from PEOPLE magazine is going to make a nice nest egg for Bristol and Levi. How many newly weds start out with that kind of money?
The intense interest in this pregnancy is partly what drove this kind of award. I'm sure Bristol and Levi are thanking this website all the ways to the bank for making this kind of money possible.
from RAW.STORY
DAN FAGAN can be our ally: it seems like he's already a HOUND on the chase!
...
A critic of Gov. Sarah Palin claimed the Alaska politician may have once again abused her power to obtain an apprenticeship for her soon-to-be son-in-law Levi Johnston.
Dan Fagan,
who also publishes a Web site called
the thealaskastandard.com,
said federal regulations require all apprentices to have a high school diploma, which Johnston does not have.
"So how is it that the governor's soon-to-be son-in-law is working in an apprentice program?" Fagan wrote in an column. "Is this another case of the governor believing the rules don't apply to her or her family?"
RE DS PROBABILITIES
The odds of a 15-year-old having a DS baby are roughly the same as a 35-year-old. That's because there's a curvilinear relationship between age and the odds of DS. (I know Bristol was older than 15 at time of Trig's birth, but the data for the teen years are spare - so interpolation would be necessary).
So if you factor in the unlikelihood of SP getting pregnant at all, it's hard to argue that statistically it is a lot more likely that SP is Trig's mother than Bristol is - in fact, I'm guessing the opposite would be true, though my point is not to get bogged down in calculating odds - it's just that statistical reasoning is not terribly useful in trying to decide the matter.
Personally, I wonder if Trig really is a DS baby. Given what we know about SP's propensity for falsehood, there is reason to doubt any claim she makes without independent verification.
Brad
In Photo#1, it seems unnatural to me that Sarah is leaning forward slightly. A woman large with child will tend to lean backward at least a bit, when standing, to compensate for the shift in center of body weight.
It is also likely for her [the preggo] to stand with her feet NOT together. This is not what Sarah shows in Photo#1.
Also, I noticed when watching the interview video of her walking outside with the reporter (Sarah had reported her "pregnancy" at the point it was done) that she not only walked fast, which might be possible for her, but she had NO trace of a waddle as women in later stages of pregnancy tend to have.
smyrna
A quick note to say that you can get a very good look at the "star necklace" in Palin's official portrait on the government website. You can blow it up very large and see it clearly -- same necklace.
Gadfly, nice job on your ADN piece.
There's a word I haven't seen on this blog that belongs here. During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, Reuters and others published photographs that were shown to have been staged, altered or both, with major-media knowledge and/or participation, to create prejudice against Israel. At the time someone coined the perfect word for it: FAUXTOGRAPHY. (Anyone curious should visit the related sites www.theaugeanstables.com and www.seconddraft.org.)
Posting this reminded me that there is a lot of lying by and through the media that deserves attention. This blog has been an impressive demonstration of interactive, cooperative detective work as people contribute different skills and correct each other's mistakes. I hope others see the potential and run with it.
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b77295_sarah_palin_over_moon_about_grandson.html
Here is a picture I have never seen.
Diana - Your photo collection is fantastic - thanks so much for sharing.
I am optimistic that through this collective effort SP's lies and deceptions will come to light before long. If it is only that she did not know that Trig was going to be a DS baby beforehand, thus making her wild ride story marginally more plausible. It is entirely possible that that nugget was just a quick and dirty little lie she threw out there having no clue the magnitude of political benefits it would reap. But, it is obvious to anyone with real-life childbirth experiences that her story does not add up.
That is why her story about the wedding before the birth of Bristol's baby annoys me. It is just another convenient lie SP threw out there for political gain.
And she continues to do it. As we just saw this week with her ranting about the high school dropouts, she continues to just make stuff up to make herself look good, apparently on the fly.
But now there are lots of people watching and paying attention. I am convinced that as she can't help herself (and apparently no one else can help her either) from carelessly lying here, there, and everywhere, she's going to get tripped up - OK, that just came out that way, I swear, no pun intended, she makes this too easy!
I like it, Kat.
Makes total sense to me, and it answers the "Why" (would SP risk such a bizarre fraud as faked pregnancy) beautifully.
Any parent knows you can't control your teenage daughter. . .especially if she's been left alone too long.
Ocean,
Thanks for the link. It's about time she is called to task for being a blowhard. Sheesh, even I could bs like she does.
I still think they will get her on Stevens-like issues of taking "favors" in the building of her home and she will sink like a rock.
Federal prison anyone?
About the size of the hallway where pic 2 was made.
Google--You Tube 2008 Alaska Legislative Session.
Reporter doing a report outside of Spk.Harris,s office
Just went to see that Yahoo article people here are talking about. I couldn't find it. Started looking at Sarah Palin photos and saw her in her new car.
She just got a "Dodge" viper. The article shows her sittin' in it and mentions it gets 12 miles to the gal.
Wow! That calendar must be flying off the shelf.
When I saw that Pic of Palin in her new car I guessed it was to sooth the sting of losing the election. Gee most people can only afford a cry or a pint of icecream these days.
The same day I heard her waxing on about how she and Todd were sitting at the kitchen table wondering how they were going to pay for their kid's college educations, just like other Americans.
Well maybe we don't really need the new car? Hey let's just invest it our kids education. Another example of Palin priorities.
But then again why worry, at the rate things are going, geting a GED seems to be the bigger concern.
I think that photo was from the 2006 Alaska State fair.
Anonymous said...
January 3, 2009 5:04 PM
The photo you are referring to is a family photo taken near the Palin airplane in 2006 and was discussed in this blog on October 25th.
http://tinyurl.com/7ypecl
I have put together some photo edits on the "main two" photos reviewed by the expert and I think I have some interesting things to look at. Is it ok if I post a link here? I would NEVER want Audey to think I am undermining her efforts b/c truth be told that gal is a hero to thousands for her efforts here..but fact is I simply disagree with the expert stating the second photo wasn't altered. (or, "showed no signs of" such, rather) however I totally respect him/her and I love some of what he/she was able to figure out.
I am no expert per se but I have been using photoshop and other imaging programs as a professional photo editor and re-touch artist for almost 8 years.
I don't have anything that will bust this wide open but who knows what brick removed will cause the wall to tumble, right?!
Please let me know if it's ok to post my link..thanks again Audrey & crew for all of your dedication.
I truly believe that you guys will have a place in the history books for you dogged devotion to outing one of the biggest political scandals in this country's history.
Those who say 'no big deal, let it go' have no idea that the total basis for sound democracy and fair government is TRUTH and honesty between politician and constituent.
MKaiser, TX
Two things:
Anon at 3:57 spotted the star necklace on Sarah's official portrait (talk about photoshopping; look at the wrinkles on Sarah's face in the picture of her and Tod holding "newborn" Trig, then compare to the baby smooth skin in the official portrait!). Here the star is on a MUCH longer chain. I suspect Sarah likes the star and changes the chain around, depending on her mood/outfit neckline. It's obviously the one part of her April 13 ensemble she got wrong when they staged the Gusty photos in August. In the real 13 April shot, the star is on a very short chain; in the 3 Amigos shot, it's on a midlength chain.
Anon at 6:17 sends us to the YouTube shots of Harris's office. Notice the border on the carpet at that part of the hall. Obviously the 3 Amigos picture was not taken at the same place in the building as the Gusty photo (which has no carpet border). Peculiar, since they were allegedly only 3 minutes apart.
The E!online picture has been pulled. (Anon. 1/3 at 5:04 pm must have found a good one)
Maybe we should email pictures to Audrey before announcing them in a comment so they won't magically disappear? Audrey, moderators, any suggestions on capturing pictures?
Well, OK, mc, I'll give Stretching Sarah a try...
Take a look at this picture: http://tinyurl.com/8qwkwq
(to answer your question from 1/3/09 10:19 AM "But on photo number one: Can't one get that kind of distortion (short and fat) from simply resizing a photo to fit a space? I've accidently done it with my own photos. Any of you photoshop pros tried cutting Sarah out, stretching her out taller and thinner again, and then putting her back in the photo? It might be interesting to see the effect."
My opinion? At least stretching her out a couple of inches makes her expression look a little less spacey (don't know why that is!). I don't think it did anything to make her look less bellyful.
P.S. Audrey and anyone else who takes a look at this picture, I cloned quite a few places to tidy up the margins of where I put her "stretched" figure over the old one (feel free to not post it for that reason). I didn't touch more than a few strands of her hair, but touched up the doorjamb, the wall trim, and her black clothing.
Amazing software, that Adobe Photoshop...
-----------
Kat (@ 3:24 PM 1/3/09)...I like how you think. That's a very interesting scenario.
Well Brad, Bristol isn't 15 and Sarah is nowhere near 35.
These facts are more important in Sarah's case, as she is 44. DS babies are almost 1-in-50 in Sarah's case, and over 1-in-1600 in Bristol's case.
This doesn't mean that teenagers have less DS babies in actual numbers, than women over 40 years of age. The sheer volume of babies born in the teenage group over the older group affects that number.
But from a risk percentage standpoint, the difference is quite clear.
ANON @ 6:17 PM,
the hallway seems to be about 5 feet wide.
Re the wild plane ride: People keep saying that perhaps Sarah didn't care if her DS baby was at risk, but she would have been in at risk too.
For example, the issue of ruptured membranes and going past 12 hours without labor starting or being induced: the risk of infection is what used to be called childbed fever, and it killed the mothers, not the babies.
Regarding the E! Online article that Anon @ 5:04 PM posted (tiny url = http://tinyurl.com/7esh95 ), two interesting things about the photo accompanying the article:
1) If I'm reading the "properties" correctly, the picture is dated 9/4/08. Sheesh, Bristol looks about as pregnant in that picture as her mother did on March 31, 2008. Which is to say, not.
2) Mama Palin is taller than her kid (barely, but still...). Unless Sarah is wearing those retro calf-clinging high-heel boots and Bristol's wearing Reeboks, Bristol should be taller than her mom's beehive (if she had it up in that do).
No wonder I'm confused about how tall Sarah Palin is...
---------------
Ha, ha, HA! Did you see the link --> http://tinyurl.com/7flvt9
at the bottom of the E! Online article to "Lindsay Lohan Blogs About Sarah Palin's Daughter's Baby Drama" -- read it, it's priceless.
Re Ocean at 12:55 p.m. Unbelievable.
For those too lazy to click through to the Anchorage Daily News opinion piece, here is what it says:
"Now it appears the governor may have found a new way to skirt the rules. How is it possible that the governor's soon-to-be son-in-law, Levi Johnston, is working as an apprentice on the North Slope?
The governor, in trying to dispel rumors the father of her grandchild is a high school dropout, released this statement this past week,
"Levi is continuing his online high school work in addition to working as an electrical apprentice on the North Slope."
But federal regulations require all members of apprentice programs, union or otherwise, to first obtain a high school diploma, something the governor's soon-to-be son-in- law does not have. Some apprentice programs even require the completion of high school level algebra or the post-secondary equivalent.
So how is it that the governor's soon-to-be son-in-law is working in an apprentice program? Is this another case of the governor believing the rules don't apply to her or her family?
Bo Underwood, who heads up ASRC's electrical apprentice program, confirmed Johnston is indeed enrolled as an apprentice. Underwood claimed not to know whether a high school diploma is needed to be an ASRC apprentice and said he would check on it. But federal regulations clearly state a high school diploma is needed before entering an electrical workers apprentice program. How is it the man who runs the program does not know that?
Underwood also claimed not to know whether there is a waiting list for the ASRC apprentice program he runs.
Rebecca Logan, executive director of Associated Builders and Contractors, an organization that also has an electrical workers apprentice program, says waiting lists always accompany apprenticeship programs. Her organization's electrical apprentice program, one of only three in the state, has a waiting list of at least 100 people.
ASRC's Underwood also could not say how it is Johnston came to be a part of his apprentice program or whether the governor had anything to do with getting him in.
I placed a call to the governor's office but have not as of my deadline received a response. An attempt to reach Levi Johnston by phone at his mother's house was unsuccessful.
Did Levi Johnston bypass the rules to get into a coveted program because of his soon-to-be mother-in-law? We don't know the governor's involvement. Eventually she will have to address the controversy.
I believe 2009 will be the year more and more Alaskans will come to realize Sarah Palin is in way over her head as governor, doesn't always play by the rules, and is, at times, less than honest.
A poll commissioned by TheAlaskaStandard.com and conducted by Dittman Research shows the governor is losing some of her appeal. When respondents were asked whom they would vote for between Lisa Murkowski and Sarah Palin in a 2010 race for the Senate, an overwhelming number said Murkowski. According to the poll, Murkowski would beat Palin by a margin of 56 percent to 23 percent.
If the public doesn't catch onto to the governor this year, they surely will in 2010. That's the year TransCanada will hold its open season. Chances producers will commit hundreds of billions of dollars to ship gas through the TransCanada pipeline instead of their own; I'd say 1 in 10.
Meaning AGIA. will be exposed for the silly policy it is several months before the governor is up for re-election.
Chances Palin is elected to a second term as governor, I'd say 3 in 10."
Is the apprenticeship Levi's reward for keeping his mouth shut? Bet he is the only high school dropout anywhere is a coveted apprenticeship program. And knocked up the gov's daughter at least once, maybe twice.
Hey folks, I think I have found grounds for impeachment of Sarah Palin:
"Apprenticeship raises questions about Palin," http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/641263.html?pageNum=2&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container
Maybe someone's already posted this url... lots of old photos of Sarah here, 2000-2008. Some say 2008 but not when. The others list month and year for the most part.
Go here, and type in "Palin" in their search window.
http://www.alaskastock.com/resultsframe.asp
I should mention, there wasn't one photo that was interesting for the purposes of this blog from alaskastock.com. There are 3 pages of photos of Palin, several by her good friend Judy Patrick.
Legs lighting shadows size proportion lines reflections distortions.
Did I miss anything?
The bottom line for me at this point is this....
There cannot be this many items and inappropriate issues with two pictures.
Imo someone took SPs pic in her costume at some point in time--it doesnt matter when--and someone then created two pictures.
I think they are both total composites.
I think everything was added.
Image #1..
By taking things apart instead of putting them together each piece stands alone.
..right wall
carpet
one figure
another figure
another figure
left wall.
#2...
one, two three, figures
one wall.
Patrick & Kathleen-
I just saw the Sept. 1 People pictures on your Flikr site. Compare Trig's size in the p.1 photo where he's in red and looks tiny (short legs, tiny hands) to the photo on p.3 w/McCain family where he looks much bigger! (longer legs/bigger arms & legs)
I wonder how much time elapsed between the photos? I never remember seeing Trig look that tiny (like in red on p.1) at any time after Palin was announced the VP nominee.
Thanks for the pictures.
L.
… Anonymous - Jan/3/@ 3:27 PM. I'm sure Bristol and Levi are thanking this website all the way to the bank for making this kind of money possible…
NO…They have her mom to thank since she is the one who put them center stage in the 1st place, and the deal for pictures was made back during the presidential race…
THANKS Anonymous - Jan/3/@ 2:13 PM, “First, I agree with whoever said it's the same pose taken at different camera angles.”
EVERYONE please take another look at SP in both pictures. This whole thing seems like more work from Sarah & Todd.
As much as I do not buy all of the Palin/Trig/birth story as presented to us by Sarah Palin (looney woman that she is) the legs that this story once had, have indeed become a bit wobblier with the birth of the latest Palin baby. As much as I would have loved to have seen whole ugly affair exposed for what it really was, a big lie probably, it is now so murky that any attempt to find the truth has possibly all but vanished. I hate to admit defeat, and that is not what I am doing, but seriously, this has just got a lot more difficult.
I know plenty of you will disagree, and I can appreciate that, but the chances of this all unraveling has become a lot less likely. Any attempt to probe into the latest birth will be looked upon with distaste from the majority.
The best you can probably hope for now is that someone involved in the deception will become an aggrieved party and will spill the beans, other than that, I don't rate the chances.
Hi to Anon (January 3, 2009 6:07 AM):
Thanks for the upside-down "W" = an "M" tip (re the printing on the end of the cardboard box at the left bottom of SP's jacket hem). But when I actually turn it 180 degrees, it looks slanted funny, like it is not an M. Short of finding the actual company that uses this logo, and comparing the graphics, my point really was that an enlarged look at this area sure makes me see patches.
--Amy the first
http://www.polartrec.com/node/3944
this sounds so fake for:
[1] pointing out that she flies commercial b/c she sold her jet. "Doubtful since most Governors travel via private aircraft at least around their own state. Governor Jindal cruises Louisiana in a three million dollar state police helicopter. This is not the case for Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin."
[2] pointing out she's pregnant. "quickly turned to see her pregnant." who writes like that?
[3]BEING POSTED AFTER THE BIRTH. it'd be so much more credible having been posted prior to her announcing her pregnancy.
Re wild ride, from Palin's presser a few days after the delivery (the audio of it is on the ADN website):
Palin claims that, after talking to her doctor at 4AM about her having cramps, she decided to still go ahead with giving her speech early that afternoon at the energy conference.
But she says she decided to skip the evening reception and try to get on an earlier flight back to Alaska.
She said Todd took care of getting her on an earlier flight. (It sounded like Todd might have been with her in Dallas, but I couldn't tell for sure from the context).
So, I guess you could say she returned "as planned" (i.e, by plane--as opposed to checking into a Dallas hospital to deliver Trig). But not "as scheduled"--she claims she changed her flight.
BTW, at the end of this presser, Todd (who is in attendance) makes that remark, "Can't have a fish-picker from Texas."
Another likely reason the main stream media aren't pursuing this story: traditional print publications are in serious financial trouble, so they're cutting back like crazy (laying off reporters, cutting expenses).
So lower 48 publications probably don't have the resources to send reporters up to Alaska to dig around. Especially when Blago-gate and the inauguration are dominating the headlines.
Sad, but I'm afraid true.
Why is Bristol's "baby" so small for "over" 9 mos old?
How does an underage dropout get an "apprentice" position on the slope? I can get a list of "underage" "dropouts" from the village to enroll. Only if they were "affilitated" with the PALINS...... in a way... hmmmmm.
Brad:
You state:
"The odds of a 15-year-old having a DS baby are roughly the same as a 35-year-old. That's because there's a curvilinear relationship between age and the odds of DS."
Can you give a citation to support that claim? That's contrary to everything that I've seen reported. I'm no expert, so I'm not claiming to be a higher, independent authority. I'm just trying to do due diligence.
For example, from this physician's site:
http://www.ds-health.com/risk.htm
The odds are lowest (1:1400) for mothers 20-24 yrs. old. While the odds increase somewhat for 15-19 yr. old mothers (1:1250), that's nowhere near the likelihood for much older mothers. For example, the odds are 1:350 for a 35-yr. old woman. And for a 44-yr. old woman, the odds are 1:40.
Just went to the AK website and found this photo of SP from Feb. 26, 2008, looking - to me - quite pregnant (more so than in later pics...) : http://www.gov.state.ak.us/photos/govp_washingtondc2008.jpg
Why are some of you guys so stuck on 'statistics'?
Don't you realize that statistics are just THAT: STATISTICS?
In other words: Yes, 'statistics say' that older women are more likely to have a DS birth.
BUT: A YOUNG WOMAN CAN, STATISTICALLY, ALSO HAVE A DS BABY.
Just because a woman is young does not mean she CANNOT/WILL NOT have a DS baby!!!
Off topic, but check out this article in the ADN. http://www.adn.com/front/story/641997.html
Alleges that SP used her influence to keep Sherry Johnston from being arrested during the campaign.
More SOP from SP.
re the boxes: WM = Waste Management co.
I have studied the picture that the phot shop expert says is he camera lens reflection, he is 100% wrong. If you look at the angle of the lens of the camera and then of the suppose reflection they do not match up at all. His conclusion is wrong.
pic 2, dark suit dude. His suit pattern goes 'awry' near SP's hair. There is a vertical stripe that doesnt belong as well as a dark jaggie highlight in SP's hair that doesnt belong which is just above the cloned lighter area in her hair!
LEFT WALL - Left wall has always bothered me. Today I opened the picture with Corel's Paint Shop Pro and clicked view - grid.
Paint Shop Pro is not Photo Shop, but pretty darn close. The left wall does not line up vertically! In my understanding of perspective all verticals are parallel to one another and the horizontal lines go to various vanishing points. Picture #2 appears to have a slight grid problem is you look over McAllister's left shoulder.
5 problems with pic 2. (pic 2 flaw 1 has 2 problems):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34056691@N08/?saved=1
Have fun!
Brad said: So if you factor in the unlikelihood of SP getting pregnant at all...
Watched the Duggar shows at all? Over 40 and produces a baby yearly, so seemingly not an unlikely event.
Littl' Me said...
Just went to the AK website and found this photo of SP from Feb. 26, 2008, looking - to me - quite pregnant (more so than in later pics...) : http://www.gov.state.ak.us/photos/govp_washingtondc2008.jpg
January 4, 2009 5:30 AM
A few things:
If this is a picture from February 26, 2008 has it "always/consistently" been on the state website? The Guv. looks like a cardboard cutout in this picture. You can't really see any belly in this picture, only an oversized jacket. Also, if she would have really looked really pregnant on 2/26, her staff would have never been surprised that she was pregnant when she made the announcement in March. She is also standing pretty close to the lectern if she is "with big belly."
A few items to ponder.
I just had a long visit from an old friend, a former NYTIMES feature writer. When I asked Bill why the MM isn't covering any of this, he said, "Nobody in New York cares. They think Palin has always been a joke, and that her two minutes is over." Add that to the ever-quickening death of newspapers and journalism, and there you go.
So that's the smarty pants East Coast journalistic opinion. And, really, he must be right when I read how much press has descended on the Bahamas for the Travolta death. (Of course, the weather is better.)
That just means that Audrey and Co. --all of you out there photoshopping and surfing the web for photos and conjecturing scenarios-- must keep up the heat.
Thanks to you here who keep me updated on ADN coverage. Sometimes they pull through, don't they? But explain to me why so many of the comments that get pulled seem to be the thoughtful, grammatical, left-wing ones?
"... Pictures of that "joyous blessing," Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, have yet to surface but you have to imagine it will be a footrace to get the first glimpse."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/02/earlyshow/main4695846.shtml
I’m staying strong with my conspiracy theory of Trig’s birthparents are Track Palin & Sherry Johnston…! Also my little countdown to Jan. 6th and the first court date of Sherry Johnston is…2 days to go! Remember Ms. Johnston…tell the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth! Stay tuned!
anon @6:56, Brad is right. Google the topic of pregnancy over 40 and you will find tons of stuff like this:
This isn't news to Dr. Karen Lee, a reproductive endocrinologist with Presbyterian Hospital's ARTS (Assisted Reproductive Technology Services) Program, who has noticed the trend in her own practice.
"People can certainly be pregnant after 40, but there are two major issues to contend with," she notes. "The first is trouble getting pregnant. Female fertility is largely age-based, and we are born with all the eggs we'll ever have. ... There's a much higher incidence of eggs that are genetically not capable of either fertilizing or implanting" as women age, she says. "There's also a higher risk of miscarriage: 50 percent if you're 40."
Older moms-to-be who sustain their pregnancies can expect a slightly harder nine months than younger women, she adds. "The second issue is a higher incidence of complications such as diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as smaller babies and higher need for a C-section. But I tell my patients that for most women who are healthy, there's no reason why they can't be pregnant. It just takes more luck."
Lucky Dugger(?) and lucky Sarah. -B
Try the little Grid trick I suggested before on the Three Amigos picture. The left side of the door does not line up either.
Lying is a apparently a way of life for Sarah Palin. Her decision not to come clean with the irrefutable truth about Trig's parentage one way or another has lead to these current scandales..."appprenticegate", and now the very latest and greatest "oxycontingate" involving Sherry's arrest. Apparently the Alaska state troopers involved are alleging that Sherry's arrest was delayed until after the presidential election by the Palin administration. Once again, McAllister has no comment.
This shows how Sarah will stop at nothing, and should seve as a huge wake up call to anyone involved with the Palin scandals, lies, and coverups. Come forward now and before you and Sherry are cellmates.
Anon @
January 3, 2009 7:28 PM
The EOnline photo hasn't been pulled. PLUS It's not even a relevant photo since it has a date of 2006 which was proven back in October on this blog.
Why must everything seem like a conspiracy to everyone? I agree with the notion that SP did not have Trig, but I swear, sometimes I read stuff on this site and roll my eyes to the back of my head by how ridiculous some "theories" sound.
I've been reading this blog from the time Audrey started it. When posts would garner about 20 replies. Now we have over 200 on every post and half of them are from people who post Anon who quite honestly haven't taken the time to look through the website to get educated on earlier progress and discoveries before they post.
Too early in the morning to be going off, but as much as I like this site, sometimes it just frustrates me.
Please chose a name and use it when you post! It's easy, click on the button just above anonymous and type in a name.
AGE AND DOWN SYNDROME INCIDENCE, cont'd
Earlier I wrote:
"The odds of a 15-year-old having a DS baby are roughly the same as a 35-year-old. That's because there's a curvilinear relationship between age and the odds of DS."
And anonymous at 2:50 a.m wrote:
"Can you give a citation to support that claim? "
Sure - here it is:
Down syndrome, paternal age, maternal age and birth order, J. DAVID ERICKSON , Cancer and Birth Defects Division, Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Atlanta, Georgia
And from the abstract:
"... After adjusting for the effects of parental age, a significant inverse association of birth order with incidence was noted. It also appears that the incidence among very young mothers may be high: for maternal ages 15 years and less the rates seem to be equivalent to those found at 30 or 35 years...."
And to Craig: The chance of two different things happening is the product of their separate probabilities. Thus, the likelihood of SP being the mother (within the context of the question as we have framed it) would be found by multiplying the odds of conception by a women her age by the odds of her having a DS baby. Of course, I don't have exact numbers to plug in, but my point is that statistical reasoning does not really give either outcome (SP vs. Bristol being the mother) an overwhelming advantage - especially considering that Bristol's odds of having a DS baby are higher than those that have typically being cited, i.e., those of a 20-year-old mother.
For what it is worth, I teach a senior-level class on research methods (including probability) at a university.
Brad
This may have been covered before, but I notice there is a blue rain sheath on the video camera. Was it raining in Juneau on 13 April?
Interesting work, KaJo; can you stretch her out more, then make her figure smaller so she doesn't tower over Gusty?
Folks, don't get too hung up on not-quite-vertical lines of the walls in either Photo#1 or Photo#2. You're seeing wide-angle-lens effect.
In fact, sometimes you'll see the same effect in photos supposedly taken at default setting.
---------------------------
Anon/sjk @ 6:22 AM, I think I can answer each of your Photo#2 flaws that you address in your sjk2159's photostream:
1) The "glow" is from the overhead lights, which (without me actually BEING there to verify) must have a highly reflective open grid covering the (presumably fluorescent) bulbs.
2) It isn't the "odd white spot" that's the problem (it's wall color); it's the black bar just above the white spot. I'm guessing that, and the peculiar shadowed white thing between D.Carpenter's inside elbow and his suit, is some kind of white paper-holding device on the wall -- or it could be artifact! Some one would actually have to look at that portion of wall to verify.
3) That "white thing eating his neck" is wall color.
4) I dunno, what looks like "sideways hair clone", to me looks like the end of a lock of hair highlighted by overhead lights.
However, I do agree that there may be "pinstripe issues".
---------------
Another thing, for people who are looking at these pictures at pixel-definition level...
The more a digital picture is "manipulated", the more it loses definition. So, when I "stretched" SP in Photo#1, I caused even more loss of definition when I saved the new version. It might not be too noticeable to the naked eye, but when we start looking at the picture at pixel-definition level....well....
MARGOT,
actually vertical lines ALSO converge to a vanishing point. as in when you look up a skyscraper.
Tina in CA said...
"Anon @
January 3, 2009 7:28 PM. The EOnline photo hasn't been pulled. PLUS It's not even a relevant photo since it has a date of 2006 which was proven back in October on this blog. Why must everything seem like a conspiracy to everyone? "
In defense of Anon @ 1/3/09, it was pulled when I checked it as well. Sorry you don't like how the blog has grown, Tina. Perhaps if you can see it as proof of the number of people who agree with the blog's premise--that Palin has pulled a few deceptions and frauds on the American public--you can tolerate the growing throng. (Oh, and until Audrey makes me get a name to post, I will stick with Anonymous, a name I like a lot! Isn't it up to Audrey to make those calls about requiring a name or not?)
:-)
Because your eggs age along with all the other cells in your body, they are more likely to have chromosomal problems than the eggs of a younger woman, according to Ottawa, Canada obstetrician Andree Gruslin.
from todays' UK's THE TIMES ON LINE:
...
An internet campaign is already under way to promote Palin as the Republican party’s best choice to challenge Obama in the presidential elections of 2012. More than 60,000 people have joined TeamSarah.org, an umbrella group that unites numerous pro-Palin fan clubs such as Catholics for Sarah, Texans for Palin and Small Business-Owners for Sarah.
James Brislin, a Connecticut team member, noted that “the Republican party has lost its way . . . Sarah Palin is who we need moving forward”.
The 44-year-old governor is already facing conflicting pressures to map out a strategy that would give her a bigger voice in national affairs without alienating Alaskan voters, some of whom are already complaining that Palin has “not been paying attention” to the state’s mounting problems.
“Palin’s mindset is still all about the campaign rhetoric and her national aspirations,” said Andrew Halcro, a former rival turned Anchorage radio chat show host. “She has no clue what is going on in her own administration.”
...
Oops!
Slight error. Above I wrote: "Thus, the likelihood of SP being the mother (within the context of the question as we have framed it) would be found by multiplying the odds of conception by a women her age by the odds of her having a DS baby."
That should be: " ... would be found by multiplying the odds of giving birth at all by a women her age by the odds of her having a DS baby."
The two formulations are quite different because the second version also takes into account the relatively high likelihood of miscarriage.
Brad
Here you go, mc (your request @ 9:10 AM)
http://tinyurl.com/9gtrla
This time I stretched SP the same way I did previously, but then I compressed her entire image to match her height in the "original" Photo#1.
It's not a technically great manipulation, but then, I'm not trying to fool anybody! :)
When you compare this picture with the "original", it really does look like someone spread SP's image HORIZONTALLY in Photo#1 to make her look wider in the belly portion of her body. Trouble is, it widened her face, etc.
I think that if the baby were really available Sarah herself would be parading it out in public for photo-ops. Can anyone really imagine her potentially in possession of Bristol's baby and not doing everything humanly possible to get her picture with it on the cover of every single publication that would take it? I mean, this kid is supposedly proof positive that Bristol couldn't be Trig's mother and they're hiding it?
as someone noted....why is MSM all over Travolta's son but near total ignoring of this...SP fabrication?
I realize weather is much nicer in the islands.
KaJo, no one else has the glow.
if its a toplight everyone should have that glow considering how close together the 3 amigo's are.
The SP sideways hair highlight and the pinstripe issue are part of the same cloned area. take a good look!
thanks!
Tripp should be one week old and counting. Still no corroboration.
I enjoy all theories because it sure “seems” like something somewhere irritated Ms. Palin enough to have her make a statement about the drop-out kids. Now look at what that might be leading to…another “gate” to add to her many. Audrey & Company…keep up the great work!
Well Troopers know what's up from Sherry Johnston's point of view, since they we're tapping the line...And you just know she was talking big shiyat about all these blogs.
I especially like the fact that non command people are speaking up about political meddling...this should turn out very nicely.
Of course if Johnston comes up with an attorney beyond her means...things that make you go hmmmm.
Leu2500 thanks for the link to Adn article. Here is an excerpt from article.
Holloway and Masters denied Young's statement that troopers delayed serving the search warrant because of the Nov. 4 election. Masters said the warrant was obtained Dec. 2 and served on Dec. 18 when it became clear a final drug buy the officers hoped for was falling through.
Johnston was at her Wasilla home when it was searched, and was arrested the same day. She's out on bail and is scheduled to appear in court this week.
Palin's spokesman, Bill McAllister, said Saturday he had nothing to add to what Masters said.
Johnston's son and the governor's daughter became parents on Dec. 27 with the birth of their son, Tripp. Levi Johnston is working as an electrical apprentice on the North Slope, according to a statement issued last week by the governor's office.
Masters said neither Palin nor anyone else in the governor's office knew of the investigation until the search warrant was served. At that point, Masters said, he called Palin chief of staff Mike Nizich and gave him a heads-up to be aware that a media frenzy was coming.
Young's e-mail last week to union members was in response to a written statement issued to news media by Masters last Monday. In the statement, Masters declared the case officer, Anthony, had filed an inaccurate affidavit as part of the charging documents.
The investigation, Masters wrote, was handled normally and that the affidavit wrongly said Johnston had been under Secret Service protection.
He was referring to a line in the affidavit saying "Sherry Johnston is no longer under the protection or surveillance of the Secret Service." Masters wrote he would notify the court about the inaccuracy.
Investigator Young said the affidavit was accurate and that "apparent political pressure" motivated Masters to contact the court and "smear" the case officer.
"It is true that Sherry was not directly under Secret Service protection, but it is true that when Levi was at the house, that he and other household members were under their protection," Young wrote in his e-mail to union members.
"Text messages from Johnston to the informant indicated that she was afraid to meet and conduct one illegal transaction, because of Secret Service presence at her home," Young wrote.
In an interview Friday, Masters said neither Levi nor Sherry Johnston were under Secret Service protection -- just the governor and her immediate family, including Bristol. A spokesman for the Secret Service said the same thing to the Daily News earlier.
Masters said the governor's office didn't ask him to send out the written statement, and he was just trying to clear up misunderstandings in the media. Troopers director Holloway said he advised Masters against issuing the statement because he didn't think it was necessary and would just make an issue out of it.
Public safety union director Cyr said there's no formal role for the union to take at this point regarding what Young wrote, other than standing behind him.
"There is no reason for the Mat Su drug unit to lie or to falsify the record in this regard. And there is reason, political reason, for the commissioner and other members of the command staff, if you will, to distort what actually happened," he said.
________________________
For a while now...I have wondered if SP knew Sherri was a drug dealer even before the Secret Service came into her life. After all her son Track was a user and wasn't he sent into the army because of his Oxycotin use? It was well before the Secret Service was around. You don't think she was all over this!?!
I would imagine SP must have had an idea before the Secret Service came in her life and that the local police had been flagged to watch Sherri looking for an opportunity to stop her illegal activities. But how complicated it is to have your daughters... future mother in law and Grandma to Trig...arrested? She needed her help in keeping it quite. She didn't expect the Secret Service to become aware of the potential hazard to her career. What a wicked web you weave once you start hiding the truth!
If Sarah Palin didn't tell the Secret Service, I can't imagine it would be something the Secret Service would have kept from her once discovered. Her daughter’s future mother in law and possible Grandma to baby Trig is selling drugs….possibly even the person who supplied them to Track…..and Sarah Palin doesn't know. I doubt that very much!
If Wooten was taken down by Sarah...imagine what she would do to protect her children. SP very easily could have asked the Secret Service to gather information and bust Sherri...to take her out of her children's lives.
So maybe on the Jan. 6th… Sherri may be a little pissed off!? I suggest Sherri tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth at her court hearing! It seems too many secrets can cause more than one family to fall apart and they all start falling like dominos. Diana
Brad,
I'm no statistician (nor do I play one on TV!), but that study you cite seems to have tried to assess paternal age (husband) into the typical maternal age influence. It appears that they were not able to have much clear success in their assessment, and that they encountered a serious limitation in their target population due to a significant number of women 35 and older who had pre-natal testing and choose to abort babies with indications of DS. Thus the researchers admitted that this resulted in an underrepresentation of birth-prevalence rates of DS for women 35 and older. And even with this in effect, the J-shaped curvilinear relationship between this genetic abnormality and maternal age was unquestioned.
Also, keep in mind that a 44-year old is still generally assessed to have higher odds of testing positively for a DS defect than even a 35-year old.
It also seems to me that a simply static multipling of the odds of a 44-year conceiving with the odds of a 44 year old showing test results for a DS baby would not be a reliable measurement for any specific couple, with their own unique conception history.
Hi Diana,
How about just link to the article.
MORE ON MATERNAL AGE AND DS INCIDENCE
Thanks, Craig. The direct quote I give from the abstract of the study is self-explanatory and sufficient to support the assertion I have made. Again, the quote is
"It also appears that the incidence [of DS babies] among very young mothers may be high: for maternal ages 15 years and less the rates seem to be equivalent to those found at 30 or 35 years."
While you make several irrelevant points in your lengthy exegesis of the study, you do not manage to convincingly suggest the authors of the study have failed to support that particular point that they made in the abstract.
Brad
With all of this talk about DS statistics, we're forgetting some of the other information that this blog has supplied. Those who followed the my space entries of the local kids commented that there was alot of drinking (and drugs?) going on. What kind of Baby Tripp do you think that produced, since we know (almost for sure) who the young partying parents are. Pictures of the infant may reveal some very unwelcome symptoms, things that a professional might notice at birth.Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a real issue, and may spell some real problems down the road.
Some of this discussion is getting a little "off thread." Remember we are only trying to show that SP did not give birth to Trig. Maybe we are taking the name of this site literally and trying to show all of Palin's deceptions. I don't think we can.
Discussions on statistical interpretations and perspective in photos are technical items and should be discussed on their own. They are interesting but distract from the focus.
What has motivated most of us is our belief that Sarah Palin should never be so close to becoming our President again. Our ideas should be focused on exposing her lies, not just discussing side lights.
It really looks as if she is going to implode herself because of pressure from the national press. She never had to deal with that before. Let's keep them on that task.
If we keep getting off the track, no one will attempt to read anything on this site. Let's keep it simple and relevant to new information.
sandra in oregon
i am pretty sure i have read all the comments posted (there is a time gap to consider) but has anyone looked at palin's pant legs in photo #1 on the right side? the black color seems very jagged and i don't think it is completely explained by the pattern in the carpet? well, maybe her pants are just bunched up? and what odd shoes to be wearing when you are pregnant... did her feet never swell? on a side note i have to give some pause to nicole kidman's exquisite pregnant condition. WOW.
oh and the stretched photo looks a lot more like what i remembered when i first say photo #1 on the internet -- but i still think palin's belly area was even more flatter.
when my sister's first grandbaby was born -- the family had cell phone photos immediately followed by flickr photos a day later....so not sure why the big long wait from palin, et al? guess it is hard to sell baby photos in these economic times?
signed - fed up with palin
To the anonymous poster on 1.2.09 at 8:10PM:
Amen sister. Or brother. I couldn't agree more.
Except don't forget to include that only certain unwed pregnant teenagers can be a part of this. Unwed pregnant teenagers of liberal/Democrat/anything but Palin-like conservative parents or a good percentage of unwed pregnant minority teenagers are excluded due to "the failure of liberal morals".
Why does People not offer it to people who actually need it, like to help starving children in Africa? I could think of much better things that $300,000 could go towards than to someone who doesn't need it.
The discussion regarding the incidence of DS births for mothers of various ages misses the salient fact throughout this entire deception: Only Sarah Palin and her family have stated thsat Trig has DS. Since DS children are much more likely to be born to a mother of Sarah Palin's age than to a mother of Bristol Palin's age, that supposed "fact" was intended to help end speculation that Bristol was the birth mother of Trig. (Although younger mothers overall may account for more DS births, that fact is irrelevant statistically when asking the question whether one of two women -- Sarah Palin or Bristol Palin -- gave birth to a DS baby.)
It is my strong belief that, in the future, Sarah Palin will declare that the test which showed Trig to be a DS baby was a "false positive" -- which occurs in about 1 in 20 DS diagnoses -- and that God has miraculously blessed the Palin clan with a non-DS baby. I can only hope that the community of families who love and struggle so valiantly with developmentally disabled children will then appreciate how Sarah Palin has lied to them, and that their rightful wrath is brought to bear against her by forever foreclosing any possibility that she again hold elective office.
Diana...Sherry was never under Secret Service surveillance, only Levi was at the RNC when he was with Bristol. The SS only protects the candidates and their immediate family.
Apparently Sherry was such an amateur drug dealer, she didn't have a clue she was under investigation by the ALASKA state troopers, not the Secret Service...they had absolutely nothing to do with her drug bust. I would imagine Sherry was being trailed for quite a while, even before Plain was the VP nominee, from the sound of the article.
But if she blames Sarah for the arrest, so be it...may make her sing that much louder in court.
FW from VA
For a while now I've noticed some posters speculating that Trig does not actually have Down Syndrome (some have even suggested he may have fetal alcohol syndrome instead).
Photos from the time of her VP announcement and beyond show Trig has the typical facial features of Down Syndrome (this is clear to me as a physician, and would also be apparent to many non-medical people who are familiar with the condition)..
The letter from her physician states he had Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome).
I do not think there is any doubt that this is the case. There is no "test" that would now turn out to be negative for DS, given that chromosomal analysis would have already been performed to confirm the diagnosis (either prenatally, as stated by Palin, or postnatally).
The other issue is the likelihood of Tripp having FAS or other adverse effects from her partying. I think it's unlikely unless she was drinking on a heavy, regular basis for a sustained period of time. For much of her pregnancy she was on the campaign trail or seeminly in hiding, so presumably wasn't doing any heavy partying then. Typical teenage partying is probably not going to result in FAS (unless 'partying' now differs alot from my days in College.
Oops - mean Bristol's partying in my above post.
With apologies in advance for another LOOOOOOOOONg post.
1. Thanks for the W = "Waste Management Co" tip, sjk from the belly . . .5:42. This is the best I could find on the web:
http://www.wm.com/wm/services/business.asp
Look at that WM logo: although it has a similarity to the graphic on the box, I can find nothing with the oval line around it.
But tantalizing: if one added an extra M (a yellow one again) to the left of the green W, it sure would look like the logo on the box, a zig-zag, MWM, and it would explain the lighter color, making the supposed patches look less important. The broken line of the green oval could of course be part of the logo design. So I guess the light/dark of the zig-zag might be a dead end unless someone can say with authority that there are in fact patches rather than just artifacts resembling patches.
2. Also, thanks to Anon (January 3, 2009 6:17 PM) for the link to the video taken at the 3Amigos location:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xmdThFr3fk
At 0:44, it put to rest my suspicion about the rumpled white showing through in the crook of the arm of the guy on the left in the 3Amigos photo. I thought it might be a forgotten part of the original cut-and-paste, but I see at 0:44 on the video that it's the bottom corner of the whiteboard that is affixed there, and is almost fully out of sight behind the left guy in 3Amigos. Too bad for us.
3. But at 1:27 on the same video, re child abuse, SP says to the legislature (i.e., this is not an off-the-cuff blurt) "By ignoring or accepting selfish choices that cause the [child] abuse, children, families, and entire Alaskan communities are destroyed by that." Does anyone else find this an odd way to refer to child abuse? "SELFISH choices"? I'm more used to people saying
"immoral choices," or
"sinful choices," or
"degenerate choices," or
"criminal choices," or
"utterly inexcusable choices"
but not "selfish," which seems much more condoning. I mention this because this has long been one of my personal theories about the conception of Trig.
In other words, if I were to revise Kat's historical fiction, I would put it this way:
So, okay, let's engage in a bit of historical fiction.
Crystol and another family member, (perhaps Truck, perhaps some other drinking/drugging male in the family), are partying repeatedly (as reported by peers on the MySpace pages) in the summer of 2007; one thing leads to another, and Crystol is pregnant at 16, due April 2008; she tells Darah Polin in December 2007, and DP learns the circumstances (that the dad is a family member*) -- which is the one thing she would want to hide, way more than a teenage unwed pregnancy, which is pretty common in her circle -- but incest is still something to hide.
Crystol is whisked away to DP's sister's house; DP spends Dec-Feb deciding what to do. End-Feb she announces that it's her (DP's) pregnancy in order to spare Crystol and the other family member (the dad) AND THE BABY the lifelong shadow of public knowledge of what happened, plus to give everyone a fresh start.
There is no amnio, why should there be for a teen who will not act upon the info it offers?
DP announces her due date as end of April but something unexpected happens On April 17 that needs immediate attention. It doesn't matter what it is (but here are some possibles: the baby is born early and Down Syndrome is discovered, and Crystol is devastated; or the baby is born on time in early April but Crystol decides she doesn't like the plan anymore; or some other family emergency regarding the plan takes place; there are a million possible, plausible scenarios.)
Crystol is grieving over the DS and the circumstances, which makes her post-partum depression far worse. She is comforted by the one person who has time for her, Nevi; she remembers hearing that nursing protects one against pregnancy, but in any case she needs the comfort of someone who loves her, and she becomes pregnant in late April? May? June? -- we will know, approx, eventually.
In any case, Sodd and Darah, who have flown off to Texas believing they have plenty of time to get home and stage the birth, scramble to get back and "welcome baby Brig" into the world.
Crystol joins her sisters visiting Brig in the hospital, looking not like a woman who just gave birth, but like a teenager who has had a month to recover.
Yes I have an (over?) active imagination. But it adds up -- because:
--It explains the Nercedes quotes: "brother Trig" and "mom-in-law DP," since Nercedes is not in on the truth.
--It explains Dr ABC's specialty and why she has kept silent, even re the weird MD letter that risks ruining her professionally.
--It explains why no birth certificate is possible, ever (although I still don't see why the time-honored practice of lying would not have worked far better -- and we DO know that aversion to lying is not a big factor here).
--It explains why SP would have started out with an altruistic save-the-day action, which just took on a life of its own in the greater scrutiny of national press coverage.
--The stupid leakage story was the result of DP lying a little to her Dad (who is also being deceived, at that time, re the pregnancy), and then he blabbed to the reporter, who asked DP, and she had to punt, and then THAT all took on an unexpected life of its own.
--It offers a credible rationale for why co-conspirators would be motivated to remain silent.
--It explains the varying sizes of the DP "pregnancy" as due to poor padding practices rather than some medical anomaly (great abs, really small with my 5th, etc.)
--It explains the need to continue the deception at all costs upon DP getting picked by McCoin, because the actual story would be a show-stopper in a way that the unwed teen pregnancy is not, and is in fact viewed as endearing, humanizing, "making her just like the rest of us." Not something we say re incest.
--The odd wording ("selfishness") re child abuse fits better if one is straining to see both sides of it, if the perp and victim are BOTH loved ones, family members.
So, Kat, what do you think? Of this fictional story? (Any resemblance to persons living or dead being entirely coincidental.)
--Amy the first
______
*And, no, there's no correlation between incest and DS, per the web. Although the superstitious and ill-informed often think there is (again, per the web).
Hello!
Now, I am a bit confused. The recent comments focus on the theory that how higher odds of testing positively for a DS defect for a 44 year old woman than even a 35 year old. Is this supposed to give Sarah Palin the higher odds to be the biological mother of Trig Palin, due to her age? Thanks Gawd she is over 35 so her age can be used to support this theory:-|
Now, I do not believe Bristol Palin is the biological mother of Trig even though her compassionate actions at the convention, her mysterious leave of absence for 5 months may point out that.
However, I do believe that a younger woman can give birth to a DS child( the reasons are different and not only related to the age of the mother). Hello folks.. it's not only the mother who makes a DS child. You're forgetting the role of that child's father. You're forgetting the family history.
My point is that just because a 44 year old woman has been reported to have higher odds to have DS child, doesn't make Sarah Palin the biological mother of Trig.
Yes, Trig's biological mother can be a woman around Sarah Palin's age, but it's not Sarah Palin, it's someone else.
Now, I've viewed the photos that Diana very nicely put together. http://tinyurl.com/9mn4vn
Very well done, Diana!
I think I mentioned this a while ago, regarding the baby photos of Trig( the official ones shortly after he was born and the baby Mercede/Sadie Johnston is holding at her Myspace page). These babies are not the same, in my opinion. Just look at them closely and they are not the same babies. I've read most of the comments here and I believe some of you also discuss this. Today, while looking at he photos(from Diana's collection), I saw something. The child(Trig) looks different to me. Look at the photos (9-13-2008 and 10-1-2008)) and look at the other photos for instance(9-4-2008 and 10-2-2008). Do you think they are the same baby? They do not look the same to me. I even think one of them has slightly darker hair color and also thinner. Now, is it possible that Trig has a twin brother?
Please note: This is just an observation and it's possible that babies may in fact look different from day to day.
I admit I can’t help myself…the court date for Sherry Johnston is nearing & I would like people to ponder this. Anyone out there (ALASKA) can tell me I’m wrong at any point in time with concrete evidence and I will gladly admit I’m wrong! Oh for the record…I am not a political junkie…not even a little bit! But I am a DON’T LET THIS SARAH PALIN ANYWHERE NEAR THE WHITE HOUSE JUNKIE! It has been said that Keith Johnston is Levi’s father…okay I’m going with that…hears my question to everyone…WHERE IS KEITH JOHNSTON??? I “believe” I heard it somewhere during the election (I don’t know when or where though) that Levi went to the North Slope with his dad in March 2008. Okay “IF?” Levi went with his dad not his future dad-in-law then to this small town girl that’s all I need to know. To me it means that there is one thing that would cause the “enough is enough” for the father and son to leave…Sherry Johnston (mommy) being pregnant with “someone” else’s baby…oh you know like Track Palin’s baby. It also makes the rumors of Bristol’s baby (the Tripp) make sense as well…it was an “open secret” in Wasilla about Bristol and Levi’s baby. Some people say “winter” and I’ve heard “around March 2008”…well it’s still winter until March 20th. Just saying…WHO AND WHERE IS THIS KEITH JOHNSTON? He could explain a lot too…and make a little coin as well. I say sing Johnston boys sing!!! That’s all for today on my conspiracy theory that Trig’s birthparents are Track Palin and Sherry Johnston.
Sandra, I agree with you 100%, but I also think some of the new "gates" (apprenticegate & oxycontin gate)can be linked directly to the McCain/Palin campaign's decision to out Bristol's pregnancy to "prove" Sarah was Trig's bio mom.
If Bristol only got pregnant with Tripp in March of 08, why would Levi have had to drop out of school that month to get a job he did not have the educational qualifications for? Why would Bristol not have been able to attend classes last spring or even go to summer school and finish up before Tripp's arrival?
No one would have even heard of Levi or Sherry Johnston if Sarah would not have thrown Bristol under the bus, and kept her pregancy private. Sherry could have been arrested without incident, headline, or delay had Levi not been known to be Sarah's future son in law.
Why did Sarah feel the need to drag her very pregnant teenage daughter and 4.5 month old DS baby all over the country on planes, buses, and crowded campaign rallies risking exposing both of them who have compromised immune systems to germs, colds, and diseases from all those crowds?
Maybe because the chances of her lies being exposed were greater. I think what we are seeing now is Sarah's huge Tower of Babble ready to topple, and these latest scandals have a very good possibility of exposing the truth.
Hi Alex,
I agree that your NYT friend states the attitude correctly: "Nobody in New York cares. They think Palin has always been a joke, and that her two minutes is over." Ditto in university towns in CA. I used to agree.
But let's imagine for a moment my scary scenario (no pre-election financial melt-down thus no extra support for Obama; some weird other event that buoys McCain; maybe a little election fraud here and there; or whatever it takes to have McCain win. I remember a time when I was sure McCain would win in spite of everything important to me. I also could really not believe the actual election results -- I thought it would somehow be taken away if Obama DID win. In other words, my gut feeling is that we were and still are in a pretty precarious position.
Anyway, let's just entertain the idea of a McCain win, and then Ooops! a McCain death, and now SP is the president of that very same NYT reporter and his pals.
And now happens the econ melt-down and maybe a couple more things that are almost certainly waiting in the wings for us, hard issues that we are owed a reckoning on -- an extra global-warming symptom, some bad world event, etc.
And Miss Sarah is our president -- doing her very best, to be sure.
Do you think that you, I, and the NYT guy are going to be rioting in the streets pretty soon? Or moving to our summer cabin in the wilderness with our just-bought gun? I do. Maybe not right away. But we would be TAKING STEPS, because our dear country and its traditions are slipping away from us, and an unable person is at the helm, being manipulated in bad directions. No help in sight. Bad for most of us. Bad for the USofA as it used to be.
If he's still around, pls ask the NYT guy about that.
--Amy the first
@Kay
Hello!
Yes, it's so true. The more Sarah Palin speaks, the more problems she creates for herself and her family. If I were her, I would keep a very low profile, study, learn and educate myself.
Nope, she cannot resist:-| Each time she comes out and gives statements, as if she is one of the celebrities, she digs herself into deeper troubles. A new Palin gate!
If Levi Jonhston is working as an electrician, I do not think it's because of his mother's influence. As the future son-in-law of the Governor, he got the job.
Here is something so bizarre, by the way:
why did this young man leave the high school back in March considering the fact that he did not know at the time that Bristol was pregnant? What was the reason? Was he bored or something?
No matter what Sarah Palin says, once you drop out, you are a drop out. Again her defensive statements point out the fact that there is always a lie behind everything she says.
I do not think Sarah Palin takes education seriously. It's obvious, isn't it? She has no intellectual curiousity either. Just think of those months when all her children(except for Track) were with her at the rallies. Couldn't they be back at home to go to school? Of course they could.
How does Sarah Palin explain the money($300K) they will be receiving for the "pics of Tripp"?
Is this allowed by law in Alaska?
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt got money for the baby pics but that money was for the charity, for a good cause.
Saw People cover at grocery checkout. Top left had pic of Sarah's and Bristol's faces and announced the birth. My local`Sunday paper had a snippet about the birth and cited People. The internet announcements cite People also too. Can you imagine how PO'ed at Palin all these publications, especially People, are going to be when they figure out that the Governor issued a false statement through her state-paid spokesperson saying the baby had been born when he hadn't? (I am 80% sure Tripp hasn't arrived.) If the media didn't think the Trig/Tripp timing was suspicious before, they will then. Palin just creates more and more smoke pointing to her fire. -B
Further evidence that Sarah put words in Bristol's mouth: I just looked at the September People article on Patrick's flickr. Featured quote from Sarah was "Trig is perfection. I can't imagine life without him." Sounds familiar, like almost exactly what Bristol is claimed to have said about Tripp!
Anon @4:45, a twin for Trig is very unlikely. A baby's face and hair often looks different in different photos. My baby's did. Gives baby a chance to look like mom, dad, each grandparent, etc.
Historically, groups, families exhibiting even bits of behavior as the palins are hold many secrets.
By behavior I mean...
-changing stories
-covering
-smile a lot, everyone is happy always appear so
-avoid answers
-answer something else
-secrets bond the group
Managing the on-going secrets is a full time job and its very shaming.
I know someone going thru this right now...it is amazing to watch.
It is generational and consumptive, and overwhelming for those involved.
..or for those watching.
Do we have yet another birth date for Tripp?? Levi's father has said that he was born on Saturday and released on Sunday. Thought officially it was reported he was born at like 1230 am early Sunday morning?
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2008/12/29/index.html
Keith Johnston, Levi's father, confirmed the news to ABC News' Josh Gaynor. He said Tripp was born Saturday and left the hospital Sunday.
The new grandfather says he hasn't seen Tripp yet, since he is out working in the oil fields.
------------------
And Sherry Johnston's court date is now Monday, Jan 5th. It's been moved to AK Superior Court. Follow the docket entry at:
http://www.courtrecords.alaska.gov/pa/pa.urd/pamw2000.docket_lst?62040255
On the SS and drug bust situation..could it be that they were only at the Johnston house if Bristol was there? Do they not follow kids of VP and Pres candidates while the campaign in going on?? Bristol was MIA except the convention. She may have been back in Alaska, hanging at Levi's house. Hence the SS presence.
RE: the ABC news story about Keith Johnston's "confirming the news".
Oh, boy, another extended Palin family member who isn't even in town, "confirming" the birth of the Bristol Palin/Levi Johnston offspring. Funny how all these people who haven't seen the baby yet are stepping up with birth announcements.
Levi Johnston's father is "out working in the oil fields", which is (facetiously) just about as far away from the mystery hospital as Kennewick, Washington is...
Color me still skeptical.
My apologies for the statistical stuff. I just wanted to rebut the idea that statistical logic can be used to argue that SP is much more likely than Bristol to be Trigg's mother. It just ain't so, if you take into account all the factors. Unfortunately, some Palenites who must be paid per post have insisted on making tendentious arguments over pretty much everything, no matter how silly they make themselves look. So I am done with the topic.
Brad
You can see where the back padding is next to and under her arm...
You can notice it on the shoulder also.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33163903@N05/3093331245/in/set-72157610933010448/
It looks like she's using a fanny pad as well.
People Mag denied any deal yet for Palin pictures. The $300,000 is an unsubstantiated rumor, just like Trigg's birth is.
I wasn’t going to say anymore tonight but I will & thanks for the links about Keith Johnston & the court date…let me clarify some more as to why I think Sherry Johnston is Trig’s birthmother…it would be easier for her to hide the pregnancy than Bristol. I doubt anyone would care that she was pregnant…other than her family and the father’s family! She would have some blackmail on Ms. Palin. Even if someone noticed she wasn’t just getting fatter but that she was pregnant…wouldn’t everyone just “think” it was Keith Johnston’s baby? Keith Johnston probably would not want anyone knowing that his wife had someone else’s baby and he would deny her being pregnant and say she was gettin’ fat and that would be enough for the locals. Why would it be so “easy” for the whole town not to notice Bristol pregnant with Trig but it was an “open secret” about Tripp? It seems to me that most of the town folk thought that Levi and Bristol having a baby was not “ideal” but still okay and “no big deal”. Also the few “church & the church hospital” crew that would have to know about the birth and adoption of Trig…they certainly would not want anything stopping Ms. Palin and her quest for higher office…it helps with “their mission”! Oh and on a side note…Bristol was in Wasilla in February (the accident)…maybe she got pregnant with Tripp then and she could know that she was pregnant in March. And that would also make Bristol in her last trimester at the VP announcement like the Wasilla caterer said the rumor was. I think Bristol had Tripp in 2008 but “maybe” not on December 27th. It also explains why Ma & Pa Heath want all questions routed to Bristol’s parents…I believe that Bristol is being protected by her grandparents and she is living with them. They all don’t want to spill the beans but they don’t want anything to do with this new deception of Ms. Palin & Todd. Thanks for all your hard work Audrey & Company…keep up the great work!
I guess Keith Johnston doesn't have access to a camera phone or he would have seen his grandson. He can't confirm Tripp's birth. He can confirm only that he was told of a birth. The same ABC article quotes Aunt Colleen saying, "The baby is fine and Bristol is doing well." Of course, she lives in the Lower 48, so her knowledge isn't firsthand.
Let's stop with the DS odds -- it is meaningless as any kind of a predictor or support evidence for our problem.
Yes, there's a mom and a dad, and a family history, but the cause of DS is unknown. Yes we can speculate that a less-than-healthy egg is related to it (the egg of a very young woman; the egg of an older woman). But people who spend all day and night worring about this say: No known cause. No correlation with bad behavior, so we can't view it as a punishment; no known correlations that are interesting enough to warrant a real focus by the people and groups who are obsessively interested in this matter ALL the time, instead of for 10 min in reading this blog, as many of us are.
Even if the odds were "1 in a million" that Mom A will have a DS baby, and the odds are "1 in 2" that Mom B will have a DS baby, nevertheless it is possible that Mom A and her DS baby sit right beside Mom B and her non-DS baby. And then we can blabber on all we like about the odds, and the possible causes, but what happpened happened. And knowing the odds was obviously neither predictive beforehand FOR THESE TWO WOMEN (although it IS predictive for a large population; but we are not interested in the large population -- we are interested only in the two Moms).
The stats give the Moms some useful info, but not as much as they would want, since what we all want is a guarantee for our own case. But that's not available.
Okay, experts out there: am I right or wrong?
--Amy the first
Littl' Me at 5:30 am said...
Just went to the AK website and found this photo of SP from Feb. 26, 2008, looking - to me - quite pregnant (more so than in later pics...)
However, if you look at other photos from that day and the group shot of all governors, she does not look pregnant at all. See
http://tinyurl.com/a4ea9y
http://tinyurl.com/86cnm9
and rest of shots in that group
I never read the original Daily Kos story, but found it tonight. The author lost credibility by using mis-dated pictures of Bristol as proof of a baby bump. http://wizbangblog.com/docs/Daily-Kos-Sarah-Palin-Smear.htm
I also saw a comment on another blog from back then about the youtube video of a demo showing how Photoshop could have produced Sarah's pregnant belly. A couple of people here said that demo used the Gusty photo. The comment I just read said the link to the video disappeared, and I certainly haven't been able to find it.
The E! online article may be new but the photo of Sarah and Bristol is a couple of years old...you can find it at Alaskastock.com along with 179 other Palin photos from about 2000 to present.
First time posting but I've been following for a while. I don't believe Sarah is Trig's mother.
Someone commented on the Gusty pictures about the reflections but I didn't see it addressed and would like to add to what they said.
If you look at the picture on the left, you can see the camera lens reflection but what also looks like the reflection of the Victor picture on the opposite wall. If you look at the pictures on the right wall, you can see reflections of picture frames and chair rails from the opposite wall. Does anyone know what is on the left wall that we can't see in the photo (from the video tour or some other source) to see if the reflections match that wall. The angles/reflections seems off to me but I'm no expert so I thought I throw it out to the resident experts.
I can't wait for the truth to come out, everyone thinks I'm crazy. Thanks to all of you for keeping the pressure on, I'm sure something will break this wide open and then we can take our shiny hats off!
To my mind, these two photos:
http://tinyurl.com/7g3zoc
http://tinyurl.com/7zxuwp
are pretty convincing evidence that Levi is Trig's daddy. In the first photo, he is being handed the baby's bottle (and it looks like Willow is handing off Trig for feeding, as well); in the second, he is tenderly kissing Trig's head. This from a 17-year-old who'd publicly declared he didn't want kids. Suddenly he's all gooey over his girlfriend's baby brother? Not likely. My husband is much older than Levi and is also not the paternal type (we don't have kids). When he was handed his infant nephew during a family visit, he was visibly uncomfortable and couldn't wait to pass him off to me. I would think that Levi's reaction would be the same to someone else's baby, and the only reason he suddenly turned into "Mr. Mom" is because Trig is his son.
I think we need to assess where we are with the "investigation.
Reason for this blogg. We do not think Trig is s.Palins Bio child.
Facts only.
No proof when Trig was born
No proof when or if Tripp was born
Possible altered photo,s
Levi quit school in March, 08 Why?
New questions being asked regarding electritian apprenticeship without high school diploma.
S. Johnston arrested for drug sales.
Peoples magazine??
Is it legal for Bristol to accept money or gifts?
--------?
--------?
where do we stand fact wise right now.
I think the speculation is good, but I feel like we need to dust ourselves off and determine what we know for sure.
I guess the bottom line on possibility of having DS child: it is possible for any age woman.
I just feel suffocated with all the maybe's, and want to establish the facts.
I think disgusted Alaskans are some of our best hope.
KAY!! Anon January 4, 2009 5:52 PM wrote to us:
"And Sherry Johnston's court date is now Monday, Jan 5th." I hope you can pop that popcorn at a moments notice for the show ... you have to be ready today!
I posted a long message last night that disappeared into cyber-space (thanks for checking on it Audrey!), so I'll restate it but much shorter since there has now been more discussion about her hair.
Photo 2 - 3 Amigos
SP's hair on her right has that horizontal curl that is highlighted. First, to me, all that side of hair looks unnaturally finished on the edge ... no fly-away hairs, just a dark even line. Then, take a closer look at that horizontal highlight. It just stops ... dead stops at the edge of her vertical drop of hair. That curl should continue on to a wisp of a finish and end past the vertical hair.
Another lesson learned about poor choices in PhotoShopping!
@Alex January 4, 2009 7:41 AM
Thanks a lot for the insights into the minds of the "liberal media elite" in NYew York. Those journalist obviously think that this whole Sarah Palin issue is just a joke and will simply disappear. They are DEAD WRONG. Sarah Palin has been discovered by the extreme right, and these people are determined, aggressive and dangerous. It´s a grave mistake of the media to neglect this issue.
See the links:
http://www.freedomist.org/profiles/blogs/freedom-fights-back
And here in the first blogpost, a familiar name from the first link:
http://www.teamsarah.org/
I’m staying strong with my conspiracy theory of Trig’s birthparents are Track Palin & Sherry Johnston…! Also my little countdown to Jan. 6th has now been changed to Jan 5th (thanks anon yesterday) and the first court date of Sherry Johnston is…0 days to go! Remember Ms. Johnston…tell the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth! Stay tuned, I know I will be and to repeat myself from an earlier post…Nothing scares people more than uncovering the truth! I for one will be watching the show…but I am extremely patient and will stay strong on the quest for justice! I still say it would be best for Ms. Palin to just “COME CLEAN” but I have doubts that she ever will.
ON THE TOPIC OF PERSPECTIVE.
Yesterday I wrote a comment about the funny left wall. I refer you to my blog to see the grid I superimposed over picture #1.
http://chihuahuasforchange.blogspot.com/
I notice that there was a comment made that vertical lines do in fact have a vanishing point such as when you look up at a skyscraper. I cannot argue with that. However, what I can say is that at eye level or thereabouts vertical lines are parallel.
Walk around you home, close one eye and look at how wall corners aligned with doors. They will all align perfectly unless you live in a crooked house. The wall on the left is in the same environment as all the other vertical lines in picture #1. Therefore, they should all be parallel. (Note that the picture on the left does not align because it is hanging on a hook that makes it hang out further at the top than the bottom
anon@11:25. Good idea to define what we know and what we don't. Speculation helps too, to reach consensus and spark connections.
One problem is that as soon as Audrey posts something new, I switch to commenting at the new post no matter what topic, because people stop reading comments to the older posts. Another problem is the amount of info already here, so that we keep re-answering the same questions because it's just too long for everyone to read through and know where the blog has been. A summary of where we are would be good but would take a lot of time.
One thing that might help for now would be for Audrey to take the topics that are active here and create a post for each, so that people following S.Johnston's hearing can comment there, and those of us looking at the April 13 photos can comment there (maybe even separate posts for Gusty and 3Amigos), and further evidence of or statements about Tripp's birth could be added to a post about that. That might help people find info they are looking for.
Having said that, a (repeated)comment about insurance. Bristol's pregnancy would be a pre-existing condition if she married Levi before having the baby. The Palins can afford several thousand for a birth, but you don't want to be uninsured if complications develop. I think Tripp can be insured through Levi whether or not his parents are married. Why not marry in August otherwise? Or maybe they aren't sure they want to marry at all.
Thanks, KaJo, for trying the manipulations. In looking at this first Flickr photo again, I finally figured out what's wrong with Sarah's face: her chin proportion is too long. Compare the ratio of upper lip, lip, lower lip, and chin in this photo to the ratio in similar photos taken of her, and you'll see that her chin is nearly twice as long as it should be.
I think they pulled her belly out, as demonstrated in the video, then had to adjust at the neck, hence the disappearing necklace and distortion to the chin.
Also, look at her hands in this photo. THey're huge! Compare them to Gusty's. Then look at Sarah's hands in other photos; she does not really have big hands.
I really don't understand why FactCheck simply took Gusty's word that these two photos were not photoshopped. Kinda blows their reputation. One would think they'd be anxious to retrieve it by exposing the photoshops now. And Gusty should be fired.
someone asked:
~~I find it interesting that at least two people recall seeing the same Gusty photo but with Sarah looking less pregnant. One even remembers a demo, perhaps linked to Daily Kos in September, that showed how the belly could have been expanded. Anyone else see it?~~
Yes, I saw it either on Huffington or Daily Kos.
In that demo Gusty became much thinner.
Does anyone know if the picture of her in photo #1 is an accurate depiction of how she looks?
I agree with the previous poster who said:
"I think the speculation is good, but I feel like we need to dust ourselves off and determine what we know for sure."
Let's stipulate that one or both photos were doctored. So where do we go from there?
I personally would like to have some theories as to who and why. This would then point enterprising reporters into further lines of investigation and interviews.
For example, was Gusty involved in the photoshopping, or was she just an unknowing accomplice? If the former, maybe a reporter can catch her in a lie or inconsistency. If the latter, maybe she can be made to finger the person that did the photoshopping.
Yes, Amy, you are right. No argument about the likely odds of a Down Syndrome baby being born to a mother in this group vs. a mother in that group is going to settle the question in this case. So let's move on. Thanks,
Brad
Anon @ January 4, 2009 11:25pm
Levi quit school in March, 08 Why?
I think he quit school in March, 08 because Bristol had baby Trig then. Why else would he quit and go work on the slope in his senior year of high school?
I think anyone expecting Sherry Johnston to "sing" and cast some sort of accusation at Sarah is going to be sorely disappointed today.
First, IF SP is not Trig's mother and went to great effort to protect one of her children, why wouldn't Sherry do the same? I mean, SP is the other grandmother of baby Tripp. Would Sherry REALLY want to be responsible for wrecking her future daughter-in-law's family by accusing SP of committing some sort of wildly unethical or even criminal act? She may feel bound to protect Levi and Bristol.
Second, IF Sherry has some sort of proof that Sarah has committed a crime, coming out and SAYING that in public gets her nothing. Offering evidence against Sarah as part of a plea deal could be beneficial to Sherry, but if that happens, we will not hear about it today. Any criminal investigation into the Governor will proceed quietly until there is enough evidence gathered to make a public statement and an arrest.
Finally, IF Sherry has something on Sarah and IF she is willing to come forward and confess all, it would have to be something big enough that she's willing to risk the fallout. Let's not forget that Sarah whipped crowds of people into a such a frenzy that people were worried about violence. Even the Secret Service said threats against Obama and his family increased during this time. Coming forward could very well result in threats against Sherry's life - some of those Palinites are crazy!
As for speculation about Sherry and Track, my wild guess is that IF there is anything there, maybe y'all have it backwards. Let's say, for just a minute, that Track and Sherry are Trig's parents. Perhaps unlikely, especially considered the photos from the RNC that show Bristol with what appears to be the chest of a nursing mother, but whatever.
Everyone is assuming that Sherry would have blackmailed Sarah... but what if it was the other way around? Sarah found out about the pregnancy and learned that was where Track had gotten his drugs, so she blackmailed Sherry to get the baby - give me the baby or I turn you in for dealing drugs. I wouldn't want my grandchild raised by a drug-dealer, nor would I particularly want it to come out that my child had reproduced with a much older woman who sold drugs. Such a scenario could explain why Sherry would have handed over her own child (if Trig is hers), and with Track off in the army, he couldn't really step forward and fight for Trig either.
If that wild scenario is true, then it might possibly be enough reason for Sherry to go after Sarah. Someone taking your baby is an awfully good motivation to seek revenge...
Are we not entering the twilight zone now?
Some comments are really off the wall and while speculation is all that has dominated the last few days, someone stated after a week, proof is absent for both children.
Even if the lie is exposed, SP will still command the nitwits that want to support her as they will forgive her for protecting her daughter.
I am sure if it is a cover up wrt medical insurance etc, she would be astute NOT to exploit the benefits should she be exposed hence the angle for impeachment will likely be a dead-end street. She probably still commands favors from donors and the like as all politicians seem to enjoy internationally (No it is not just a USA thingy) there will be a way settling in cash and by that records can be bypassed - yes doctors are humans too.
Irregardless - she will likely run in 2012 but will get crucified in the primaries, look how "polite" Hilliary was with Obama, even if Palin by some weird fate achieved the nomination, can you imagine her debating Obama who by now will have +3-1/2 years behind him and assuming he makes no major blunders, you think wink-wink Palin is going to be able to smoke that pipe?
Will she still run on pallin' around with terrorists, tax cuts in this economic meltdown.
If Obama achieves a return to sanity, which I sincerely hope will happen, what will Sistah Sarah have to offer the people?
The Christian right will still have their freedom of worship although there may be more separation of church and state hopefully.
Maybe Obama brokers a peace treaty with Israel, a sure sign of "teh antichrist" and rapture :) and lets say it just so happens to be 3-1/2 years later, peace exists, no temple is built in Jerusalem and no "image of Obama is anywhere to be found other than official pics of the President, no rapture has occurred, then maybe some of the radical right will realize the "myth" they have been following - Oh I am sure by then there will be a new spin on it as after all, we are approaching the end of the Mayan calender.
Let's say all that happens, if the GOP seriously endorse her as nominee, then they are playing Russian roulette with 6 chambers full.
Unless anything really screwy happens, Obama will have lifted the bar so high that only someone equal to him will be able to pose a real challenge. In fact I would hazard a guess, no one really will want to run against Obama in 2012 as that will be a guaranteed loss.
He has a boat load of challenges that face him now but lets be conservative and assume he gets 50% done of what he envisioned, that would put his approval ratings in the +70's - know any GOPers that can rise to that challenge at present?
Who knows, maybe we get a Michelle Obama 2016 nominee (if I live that long) that would be awesome and after (optimistically) 8 years good service, it would be a slam dunk and wallah, you would have a 1st female and non white at that.
IMO having lived under a black president here in SA, the USA have reached a turning point, there is no going back to the old ways and the GOP know it.
That said, this blog will serve as at minimum unanswered questions which she will no longer be able to hide come 2012.
I seriously doubt anyone with her limited acumen will be able to make an effective bid for the senate in 2010 - the risk of losing would be IMO too great.
Maybe sensibilities will migrate from the lower 48 and AK may go blue too - imagine that?
Walking on egg shells is a bitch.
Re: Why Levi left school
anon@7:19, maybe Levi left school because Trig was born, maybe to pay some child support, more likely to get him away from Bristol and the enquiring minds.
But cynical as I am, I don't think Sarah would have arranged the apprenticeship and persuaded Levi to drop out. She really seems to want those kids to finish high school, so much so she can't shut up. Also, that apprenticeship would have needed to be arranged somewhat in advance, maybe before Sarah knew Bristol was pregnant.
Possibly, despite being a few months from the end of his senior year, Levi lacked enough credits to graduate then. That's not unusual. Playing hockey may have kept him from studying or showing up over the years. Knowing that he would need to do summer school or online courses or take the GED anyway, as soon as the hockey season ended, he was leaving school anyway. The apprenticeship was a bonus, and got him out of Wasilla.
In regards to the Gusty photo/interview:
http://tinyurl.com/8rw5pf
Notice that earlier in the day KTVA has a report that says:
Wrap-up of events from Juneau
Article ID: 8923080
Date: April 14, 2008
Publication: KTVA - www.ktva.com (Anchorage, Alaska)
We'll have a wrap-up of the events from Juneau and when we may be expecting a special session, tonight on: CBS 11 News at 5 and 6.
However, Gusty's report says:
90-day session wraps with more than 700 bills introduced and less than half voted on
Author: Andrea Gusty, CBS 11 News Reporter
Article ID: 8925182
Date: April 14, 2008
Publication: KTVA - www.ktva.com (Anchorage, Alaska)
The halls are silent in our state Capitol after a bustling 90-day session wrapped up late Sunday night.
More than 700 bills were introduced and less than half were voted on. Those that did make it are headed to the governor's desk for approval.
The halls that were bustling just Sunday, are now silent. Lawmakers have finished the state's business in 90 days. It was a jam-packed 90 days. All in all, 186 bills passed. Most lawmakers call the session a success, but ...
Notice that she mentions twice the halls are silent (an odd thing to report once let along twice).
But she also said LATE Sunday. Wasn't it supposed to be reported at 5:00 or 6:00? If the session didn't finish until late Sunday, which is conflicting with other reporters versions where it finished at lunchtime, shouldn't the video have been reported the NEXT day on the news?
It seems like someone edited this article to fit the picture?
"I don't think Sarah would have arranged the apprenticeship and persuaded Levi to drop out. She really seems to want those kids to finish high school, so much so she can't shut up."
I think a lot of people here are more into researching SP online than I am, so I'll just say that while I don't think SP wants her kids to NOT finish high school, on what basis do you say that she really wants them to finish? Maybe she's talked about it a lot and I've missed that, but all I can think of off the top of my head is that she called People and left a message indignantly denying her kids were dropouts- and she said that was because their reputations could get damaged and they might not get good jobs. Not because "we strongly value education and we've encouraged them all their lives to plan on college." Nope. Their reputations, and their jobs. (Not even careers, now I think about it.)
I'm pretty much convinced that SP never does anything unless she thinks she's going to reap some benefit from it, and that she's not particularly wedded to the truth. So I'm not sure she really wants the kids to finish high school so much as she wants people to think she supports education.
Incidentally, she may very well have pulled some strings regarding Levi's job. She may just have called somebody and said, "My daughter's boyfriend really wants a job there, is there any possibility?" and the other person said yeah, well, we have this apprenticeship program and called someone and said, "Take a look at this kid" and that person thought wow! High level friends. Better skip some formalities here." It could all have been done without anybody saying "hire this kid even though he doesn't have a diploma."
Along with many of you, I remain skeptical of Trig's parentage, and now, skeptical of Bristol's recent birth.
That said, however, I am not convinced that the Juneau hallway photos were retouched. I am a professional photographer who works with Photoshop almost every day, though I have no forensic experience. I've examined all the evidence presented here--the edges of hair, glasses--perspectival lines, etc.
The problem is that the images in question are 72dpi jpegs, and all the edges of figures and objects show extreme jaggedness and compression artifacts. Moreover, much of the discussion about perspective and vanishing points seems to me unsupportable. I've laid vanishing point grids over image 1, and see no evidence of anything wrong.
I'm not saying categorically that nothing has been done to these images. It's possible. But it is my professional opinion that the evidence of Photoshop tampering is inconclusive.
I remain open minded, however, and don't mean to discourage anyone's efforts to get to the truth.
Re:Gusty photo
anon@6:51 says, "In that demo Gusty became much thinner.
Does anyone know if the picture of her in photo #1 is an accurate depiction of how she looks?"
Good idea. Not sure if you mean Gusty became thinner as they shrank Sarah's belly back to the possible original size, or as they expanded Sarah to have the belly used as proof. (Would love to find that demo!) I've just assumed someone took Sarah's image out, expanded the belly, and put her back in.
Go to ktva.com and play some of the features/I-team reports. Gusty appears toward the beginning. (Don't do this while eating. Topics are pretty nauseating.)
She doesn't seem the same size in every video, and I didn't see her in any back in April, but to me she looks thinner now than shown in our photo#1. The first video shows her legs in black pants like photo#1 and they look trimmer. In fact, her legs in photo#1 look kind of flattened in comparison. So maybe she expanded as Sarah expanded in Photoshop, or maybe she has lost weight.
On 4/13 Sarah was at minimum trying to look 8 months pregnant. I suspect Gusty was correct that she did look pregnant. So the original photos should have been sufficient. But the pixel expert found signs of alteration in photo#1, and we've found other anomolies. Why bother to alter photo#1? Is it because the Daily Kos reporter wrongly said Sarah never looked pregnant?
Re: Andrea Gusty
KTVA's I-Team does their investigative reporting. I-Team would investigate Trig/Tripp. Gusty is now their main reporter. We won't hear the truth from KTVA.
I've been reading this blog for about a week now... and although I believe SP is a liar... I'm wondering what you think this blog is accomplishing? If she did this she is obviously getting away with it. All this picture disecting, DS stats and speculation is not going to out her. Why are all you guys obsessing over this online. Unless someone actually goes to Alaska and stalks SP and her family, paparazzi style, and takes photos of a still preggo Bristol, or photocopies some hospital records, or even makes SP's doc confess by gunpoint, nothing is going to happen!! The media will not report on this. If SP did actually have that baby she endangered his life and is a disgusting person, if she didn't she used her daughter and is a disgusting person. Doesn't seem like anyone cares except people on this blog. Nothing you do is going to change the fact that she is good at keeping secrets and you will never out her. I just think that all this on this site is pointless effort and a waste of all of your time. Without a serious effort to find out in Alaska nothing is going to come of it. Take up a collection and hire a Private Investigator, it would at least be productive.
Radar Online reported on 9/2/2008:
Plenty of people remain unconvinced that Sarah Palin is actually the mother of her four-month-old son Trig. In fact, this gentleman here presents a comparison between actress Demi Moore and the Alaska governor at similar points in their pregnancies.
Radar Online Photo
The National Enquirer purchased Radar Online around Oct 24th according to today's Gawker.com.
Re: Gusty photo
anon@9:50 says, "That said, however, I am not convinced that the Juneau hallway photos were retouched. I am a professional photographer who works with Photoshop almost every day . . ."
The photo, altered or not, isn't crucial to our argument that Sarah didn't give birth to Trig. As I just wrote, we should assume on 4/13 she was trying to look 8 months pregnant. But that doesn't mean she was or wasn't pregnant. An altered photo points to a coverup, and is worth pursuing, but otherwise isn't crucial.
The photos that matter are when she should have looked at least 7 months pregnant (or 8 if Trig wasn't a month early) and even fully clothed didn't look pregnant at all or very pregnant or more pregnant than a month before, and had a weirdly shaped baby belly with signs of square padding.
My Captcha is "sombumpe," almost "some bump!"
OK. I have watched the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xmdThFr3fk .
Has anyone else besides me noticed how SP seems to be exhibiting classic lying signs when she is talking about the childabuse issue?Besides the odd usage of words (Amy TF: "But at 1:27 on the same video, re child abuse, SP says to the legislature (i.e., this is not an off-the-cuff blurt) "By ignoring or accepting selfish choices that cause the [child] abuse, children, families, and entire Alaskan communities are destroyed by that." Does anyone else find this an odd way to refer to child abuse? "SELFISH choices"? "), she is also very skittish looking around, blinking more often, avoiding eyecontact, breathing in inappropriate places, vague, and almost apologetic.
This might be a candidate to send to that lyingeyes lady...
Re: Why bother?
BlueTx says, "Doesn't seem like anyone cares except people on this blog. . . . I just think that all this on this site is pointless effort and a waste of all of your time."
You may be right. I feel more sane knowing others here don't buy the story either. How can the media give her a pass on flimsy logic? ("I birthed Trig because I say Bristol is 6 mos. along.") It is also an addictive whodunnit, a soap opera. But who can afford an Alaskan PI? (Investigative reporters could.)
Palin's religious groupies who won't already admit that she lies might just care about this whopper when exposed. They might not vote for her. It matters.
Reading this post, I came to realize that our family really must have hit the jack pot.
22yr.old daughter in law, 23 yr. old son. Second child born with downs. Yes, heart breaking, and life changing for young couple.
The post I am referring to:
"The odds are lowest (1:1400) for mothers 20-24 yrs. old.---- And for a 44-yr. old woman, the odds are 1:40."
January 4, 2009 2:50 AM
So much for statistics.
So it boils down to a fifty-fifty chance. either you will, or you won't.
Alright... I am going crazy here! Please, someone check the picture of SP, Trig and BP from 8-29-08. (From Dianes site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/33163903@N05/3130217258/). WHAT IS THAT WHITE AREA ON BP'S LEFT BREAST? It looks like her bra, either after nursing or breastfeeding - as if she has not yet pulled up her dress...
A few random thoughts:
1) LACK OF REPORTER AVAILABILITY. TheMudflats.net published a post in the past week about severe layoffs at the Anchorage Daily News. I think this is another reason no one can touch the birth story (or stories) up north: http://tinyurl.com/a96wrs
In general, this is a terrible time for reporters and editors; journalists are being cut from every news organization.
2) JEB BUSH. In terms of Palin in '12, did anyone else hear that G.H.W. Bush wants Jeb Bush to run? I don't think Palin has a chance against the "good" Bush; she has no chance against any of the big $$$ GOPers with Ivy League educations, either. (TeamSarah folks must be very upset over the Jeb news).
3) WHAT TO DO NOW. Some folks have been rightly wondering: "Where do we go from here?"
Here are a few suggestions for individuals to try:
A) FACTCHECK.ORG. If you haven't yet done so, write to Factcheck.org and ask that they review and rewrite their entry about the Gusty photo, which obviously has major issues.
B) LOBBY NEWS/MEDIA. Write to valid news organizations with links to this blog and others, asking them to at least report on this investigation as it goes on in the blogosphere. Have we tried to lobby Slate and Salon yet?
C) NETWORK. Tell others about the findings here.
D) STOP WAITING FOR A CONFESSION. Realize that someone who has such deep mental health issues as S. H. Palin will not make a public confession--so don't hold your breath on that one.
She is likely a malevolent narcissist with a hero complex (note-- a "hero" complex and not a "heroine" complex). She is male-identified and has Amazonian/warrior (non-maternal) elements at the forefront in her "wired" psyche.
E) CONTINUE TO CATALOGUE. In 2008, Andrew Sullivan started a public list of Palin's "lies" on his blog. Obviously, 2009 is starting with more Palinian ethics issues and obfuscation (see Johnston, Levi and apprenticeship). Continue to update your own tallies for possible future listing on a blog or news story--or to aid someone who has one. Andrew Sullivan certainly reads and publishes responses from readers on his blog.
Of course, these are just a few possible suggestions/comments. Feel free to disagree or suggest better options! Perhaps we need an "action" list thread, Audrey?
RE:Anon at 10:40 am
Look at the next photo in the photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33163903@N05/3130217184/in/photostream/
It's just a white insert in her dress
We need to stop speculating about these photos. They have already been looked over by an expert, and they don't -- and won't -- prove anything, anyway.
Waiting to see whether the Alaskan paparazzi are covering Sherry Johnston and her day in court or the return of Bristol to her high school. Both should be happening today.
Do we know that Levi has an apprenticeship? Are there other jobs on the North Slope that might not require a high school diploma? I'm sure we've all known someone whose family upgraded the actual job title. This does not detract from Levi leaving town in March, but there should not be too much focus on whether apprenticeship guidelines have been breached.
sandra in oregon
The very first mention of Bristol's recent(current) pregnancy came from a poster at Mudflats the night before the McCain campaign announced it.
The very first mention of Tripp's birth came from a poster at Mudflats ("Wasilla nurse") the night before Bristol's aunt announced it.
Looks like McAllister is not the only Palin spokesperson.
If Levi dropped out in March and started working in the North Slopes, when did he and Bristol supposedly conceive Tripp?
Just a note for people who say, "The election is over -- Palin doesn't matter anymore. Drop it."
When Richard Nixon was running for President in 1972, he abused the power of his office to subvert the Constitution and make a mockery of American democracy. He won the 1972 election (in a landslide) while only the tiniest pieces of information about what would become known as the Watergate Scandal were slowly being dug up by a couple of low-level reporters. But just because an election is over doesn't mean that the issues of honesty, integrity, and trust in those who choose to put themselves forward as candidates to lead our nation are over. It took almost two years after the 1972 election was over before Nixon had to resign in the face of overwhelming evidence of his corruption -- evidence that was gathered piece by painstaking piece by people who were told over and over again to drop it -- the election was over and it didn't matter anymore. The election may be over, but democracy isn't.
Someone asked, "Do we know that Levi has an apprenticeship?"
Yes, The Alaska Standard verified the information: "Bo Underwood, who heads up ASRC's electrical apprentice program, confirmed Johnston is indeed enrolled as an apprentice."
To B:
Palin is history, she is not going to run in 2012 except in her own mind. She is a joke to the media, and both political parties. Her groupies are not enough to carry her anywhere but the next town maybe.
Thats why I say all this is a waste of time, its going to get you nowhere unless someone is willing to put in the effort, possibly break some laws to go find out. Speculating from the far reaches of the internet is not going to expose Palin. The media is not going to report on some doctored photos. Like I said, unless you have a birth certificate, photos of a still pregnant Bristol, or DNA tests this story is under a rock and will stay there. So unless someone is willing to commit breaking and entering to get Palins medical records you will never see this story make the light of day.
anon 10:40:
It's just an insert on her dress, like here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33163903@N05/3130217184/in/set-72157612078543682/
--Amy the first
palin pregnancy truth -
working with the 1st due date given -
First Day of Last Menstrual Period:March 13, 2008
Probable Date of Ovulation: March 27, 2008
Possible Dates of Conception: March 23 to March 31, 2008
Due Date: December 18, 2008 (40 weeks)
truthseeker #971
One little thing nags at me. Please talk me down, as Rachel M wld say:
Would Levi Johnston maintain, as of September 08, a myspace page saying he doesn't want children, if he had already become the father of Trig, months earlier? And if he had known he was going to be a father for 6 months or so before that? In other words, wld he keep the comment there even after more than a year of being directly involved with fatherhood? What a guy...and what a poor, dumb 'billy to now find himself with (we're told) one and most likely two babies. I hope he steps up, the clod.
Lines that are parallel in 'real life' do not appear so in photos and drawings. That is perspective - the lines of dots pointing towards the door should appear to converge at a point on the horizon, and unless the ones are perfectly horizontal with the picture taker, the ones running under the tips of their shoes won't be quite parallel with each other, either.
I did compare using a drawing tool and the dots seem legitimate to me. The 'missing' ones under Gutsy's feet are a) slightly visible where it should be under her right foot and b) partially obscured by wiring and her other foot. I'm not saying that the photo is legit, by any means. But the rug seems okay!
Someone may have already pointed this out - I am only part of the way through 356 comments and am quickly running out of steam!
Blue Tx said: "So unless someone is willing to commit breaking and entering to get Palins medical records you will never see this story make the light of day."
With all due and sincere respect, I firmly disagree. Here's why.
Let's use Kit's elegant Watergate analogy for a moment. How did Woodward and Bernstein get the story? They went after the small pieces of it: parts of the CREEP donors' list. Then, using some speculation and deduction, they got others in the Nixon administration's and CREEP's understaff to "deny or confirm" some of their guesses on who gave orders when. Eventually, they got the Bigger Fish to comment, based on what they'd built from small pieces.
Small pieces add up; eventually there's a full mosiac. There are too many Palin "gates" to hold together forever--and those are just the ones with current "legal" standing, including Troopergate fall-out. There is e-mail information about Palin coming out of one civil lawsuit. Many expect there to be some further interesting revelations from the Governor's e-mail (see Halcro, Andrew for a recent dissection of a few e-mail revelations from that suit).
These faux Gusty pictures may be but one small piece of a bizarre puzzle that could come apart. Or maybe a low level staffer will confirm or deny something which leads to a Big Fish.
WE'RE not the ones who have to worry about breaking the law, Blue Tx. Many are already scrutinizing the Palin-Johnston clan to that end, as to THEIR conduct. I'm sure there will be more to report in that regard after Ms. Johnston's arraignment.
just for fun, let's do one on the second due date too.
First Day of Last Menstrual Period:March 15, 2008
Probable Date of Ovulation: March 29, 2008
Possible Dates of Conception: March 25 to April 2, 2008
Due Date: December 20, 2008 (40 weeks)
truthseeker #971
to answer question on sherryJ and court date....there seems to be no disposition, no mention of her entered plea, but there is a pre-trial hearing set for 2-20-09 and a trial date set for 3-31-09...
"http://www.courtrecords.alaska.gov/pa/pa.urd/pamw2000.docket_lst?62040255
Quote
01/05/2009 Trial Set Event: Jury Trial: Superior Court Criminal Date: 03/31/2009 Time: 8:30 am Judge: Kristiansen, Kari C Location: Courtroom 8, Palmer Courthouse 0.00 0.00
01/05/2009 Hearing Set: Event: Pre-Trial Conference: Superior Court Criminal Date: 02/20/2009 Time: 9:30 am Judge: Kristiansen, Kari C Location: Courtroom 8, Palmer Courthouse"
Someone said we should have a plan, for what to do next. That just noodling the photos and our opinions ain't gonna cut it. I think that's right, or we will keep doing what we are doing, and then eventually fade from sight.
I DID write to factcheck to re-eval 3Amigos and SP+Gusty photos and the fakeness of the MD letter. Hope some others of you do too.
But I think we need something more.
My thoughts turn to a letter to a newspaper like the WashPost.
Any other ideas?
--Amy the first
"Thats why I say all this is a waste of time"
I can't imagine MORE of a waste of time than reading and writing in a blog that you have no interest in. Plenty of us here think that SP has political aspirations for the future. We want to see the truth told for the sake of truth itself and to keep SP far away from politics in the future. Neither of those goals is a waste of time to me.
Chris
Johnston pleads not guilty.
Anchorage Daily News
Sherry Johnston pleaded "not guilty". So it will go to trial and proceedings night get juicy, a few things might come out...
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/643147.html
Johnston pleads not guilty as she stands by her public defender. No friends or family came to support her as she explain she is going through a divorce.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/643147.html
Amy the First, in terms of suggestions, I suspect that Salon or Slate might give the photo story a try before the WaPo. However, that's just my opinion--please organize a letter to wherever you feel it is workable. The more places we try the better. Thanks for writing to FactCheck.org. Thank you for your activism.
If there really IS a trial for Sherri Johnston, there will be renewed interest in this story--maybe one of the Courtroom cable channels can film the trial....And then more pieces of the mosiac will be revealed.
Audrey---
there have been some great ideas on this blog for next steps. Guide us!
HI all..
Another interesting day in the news from Alaska.. keep up the good work.. more is to be revealed, I am sure.. this web site is certainly creating a lot of attention from people all over the nation.. you are doing great work..
I wonder if Sherry Johnson has thought about writing down her experiences and information and sending it on to those that may be able to help her.. or protect her.. maybe even someone from this blog.(?).. surely she must be uncomfortable facing the state alone...
Again, keep up the good work.. I have sent one email off to Gustey and I will send another off to her later today as well as an email off to FactCheck..
thanks for any other suggestions so I can help from the lower 48..
Pam
The youtube video that littl'me referred to also is taped in "THE HALLWAY!" look at :43 and you can see the Speaker of the House plaque and the whiteboard.
Is this a help for any of you photo slueths?
Keep up the good work everyone! We are not "crazy," just insulted by deception.
Here is the story about Sherry Johnston's court appearance today. She is unemployed, asked for a public defender, and is going through a divorce:
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/643147.html
The comments are entertaining and little bit enlightening as well.
It must be in the ethers...we are all on the same page.
Also...Oriole I agree those two photos tell a story. Levi would never need take the bottle for Trig. Just wouldn't happen...especially for a kid who never wanted children.
Coleen 8:48
Don't you find it odd that on “ Alaskastock.com” there are over 170 pictures of SP and not one of them shows her pregnant. The pictures go back to 2000 up to 2008. NOT ONE PICTURE SHOWING HER PREGNANT WITH TRIG!
If you want to see the ones they are NOT showing:
http://tinyurl.com/9mn4vn
You will find them sequenced by date. 4 sets of 222 photos. Most of them are pictures of her in 2008. I just want to know why the relevant photos proving her as Trigs mom are not on the Alaska site. Just wondering. It seems like they would be there don't you think!
I think the answers we are looking for are in the photos that we have collected and the inconsistencies we have discussed on this blog site. There is not much more we can add at this point except to take the information we have gathered and condense it into a timeline of events, information and inconsistencies.
Audrey you have done a really amazing job! You have created a place for the truth to become more transparent and I can tell from everyone on this site…we are tired of being lied to. I hope now we take the time to really analyze what we have…from the beginning of the blog to the end.
There are several pictures that I think are critical that still need to be looked at. What seems to happen though…. is that we don't have the follow through because we tend to get distracted with each others information. But if we could get a couple people who could review and compare more of the photos and rule them in or out that would be beneficial. I for one believe some of the photos are very convincing and could be used in building our case.
Look at the 2 photos of SP shown side by side in the Dark Parka type jacket (3-8-2008). She just wore this again in 2009. How can you wear a jacket when you are not pregnant and wear it again when you are just 6 weeks from delivering? You wouldn't even be able to zip it up at the bottom of the jacket...but she did!!!
The 3 amigos shot is great and I am hoping that we are going to get confirmation that they are fake.
Do we have a couple of people willing to evaluate the other photos? I think some of the photos of Trig need to be looked at closer too. His size is inconsistent with the story and timeline. Maybe someone can look a little closer??
Is there a way to start condensing our information into a timeline of events, photos and inconsistencies….then we could submit it to different media outlets for them to review. This blog site has an incredible amount of information on it. If we took this blog and condensed it into a smaller package it has enough information to present a reasonable case. Do we have anyone who would want to put together a package of information based on what we have? Or maybe Audry already has done it??
There is a tremendous amount of information here… but a blog format is full of too much unrelevant information. It is hard to follow what has been ruled in and what has been ruled out. Can we put together something that is more condensed and detailed and start submitting it to the media for their review! I am willing to put in more of my time to make this happen!
Diana
B @ 9:53 AM posted: "anon@6:51 says, 'In that demo Gusty became much thinner. Does anyone know if the picture of her in photo #1 is an accurate depiction of how she looks?" Good idea. Not sure if you mean Gusty became thinner as they shrank Sarah's belly back to the possible original size, or as they expanded Sarah to have the belly used as proof. (Would love to find that demo!) I've just assumed someone took Sarah's image out, expanded the belly, and put her back in."
Me, too. So, this morning, I took Photo#1 and ran it through my Photoshop program again, this time just simply stretching THE ENTIRE PICTURE vertically! Amazing how much more "normal" both SP and Andrea Gusty look....
----------------------
OT:
Lister, on your "random thought" @ 11:00 AM #2: Jeb Bush the "good" Bush??? He was governor of Florida when the 2000 election went so wrong for Al Gore, thanks to those "hanging chads". What a weaselly way for his brother to win an election, but it was only the first of two times...
Jeb Bush is the one who pushed "Terri's Law" through the FL state legislature. Gawd, I'd hate to have someone like him do that on the national level. He's called "pro-life" but he also oversaw 21 executions in Florida while he was Governor, and never commuted any sentences. He's skeptical about man-made global warming.
He doesn't seem to be a better candidate than Sarah Palin. Which is to say, he's as awful a candidate.
/OT
Y'all, a big deal is being made about Levi's answer on his myspace page about kids. It is a default answer. He did not specifically choose those words himself to describe his opinion on children. I had a friend with a kid and his answer about not wanting kids on his myspace page always bugged me until I went to fill in my answers and that was one of the options. You either had kids or didn't want them. I think you can fill in your own words now (?maybe?) but the boy's answer was nothing but default and shouldn't have much weight put on it. Also, the behavior of a young man towards children and infants tend to change some when expecting one of their own. Too much is being put on how he acts around Trig. Yes it could be fatherly, but it could also be a big, hey look at me, I'm gonna have one of my own! Too much weight on things that don't offer much info onto the matter. There, sorry, I've been wanting to say this for quite some time now.
Y'all are great! Keep it up!
truthseeker #971
I agree, Truthseeker 971.
My kids have MySpace pages and they not only have default answer settings but sometimes sit ignored for long stretches of time. In fact, my oldest son, who is 22, ditched his MySpace page for a Facebook because he said MySpace has too much "drama."
It's possible that while Levi had a MySpace he wasn't actively putting time into using it for social networking.
"Johnston asked for and received a public defender, a lawyer paid for by the state. She told Palmer Superior Court Judge Beverly Cutler that she is in the midst of a divorce and living on medical disability payments and child support."
Hmmm... Wonder why the divorce... Did she maybe have Trig?
Anybody know somebody with deep pockets to help her spill the beans?
"No matter what Sarah Palin says, once you drop out, you are a drop out"
In the school district where my son graduated, if one were to drop-out of school, at ANY point, for ANY reason, they are not allowed back into 'regular' high school, only the alternative school for drop-outs.
I don't always agree with this, as some scenarios don't call for keeping kids out of regular school, but I just thought I'd throw out a piece of info to see if any of the Levi/Bristol situation might apply to a similar problem.
truthseeker971--3:07pm: You are so right about Levi and the MySpace info. I looked at my kid's MySpace and it was just not representative of who he is 99% of the time.
It also seems to me, just from the graphics from the RNC, that there is a good deal of normal, good tenderness between Bristol and Levi, and vice versa. So it seems just as likely that Levi would express tenderness for the child of Bristol (whoever the bio-Dad would be) or the baby brother of Bristol, or whatever baby Bristol is feeling (showing) so much tenderness and love and care toward. Sometimes it can just be the simple goodness of people showing through so obviously. Maybe we are all a little starved for that as we do this research, and it is so heartwarming to see it in these two young people.
I send them both my best, best wishes.
--Amy the first
January 5, 2009 3:29 PM, Anonymous said:
Anybody know somebody with deep pockets to help her spill the beans?
~~~~~~~~~~~
National Enquirer needs to get on it, don't they have deep pockets, as well as their reputation to consider?
@Kajo, I share your of political assessment of Jeb. But the Bush family is going to spin Jeb as the "good" Bush brother in the 2012 GOP sweepstakes. His dad G.H.W. is already sending up the trial balloon, and it's only 2009!
Either way, "good" Jeb or "bad," he'll be quite difficult for Palin to match in terms of GOP fundraising when primary campaign season officially opens around 2010.
Diana, I have been a photo retouch and digital artist for 8 years or so and I have been independently going over the 2 Gusty photos (I totally respect audrey's expert but I found multiple signs of alteration and composite editing)
I asked permission to post the link here in the comments but I am beginning to see that anyone can post their links or photo insights- right?
We need to come up with a selection of photos to be looked at in terms of digital analysis. In order to keep from junking up the comments, might we ought to start a blog with just one post per day whose sole purpose is to discuss that day's image revelations?
I have found a couple of concretely verifiable alterations on both Gusty photos as well as minorly interesting "possible" alterations.
As long as there is ONE other person who is with me on this, I won't be letting it go. I'm like a dog ..er.. a Pit Bull.. with a bone when it comes to the possibility of that woman wielding authoritative power over anyone but her twisted little as-wasilly-turns family enclave!
MKaiser, TX
Mkaiser0779@gmail.com
Palin Pregnancy Truth at 8:52 refers to Gusty's 4/14 recap of the end of the legislative session that references "late Sunday" and "silent hallways".
Both KTUU and ABC AK Superstation report the session wrapped up shortly after noon Sunday, http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?s=8160504 and http://www.aksuperstation.com/home/17672094.html, respectively.
Interestingly, the KTUU article was written by ... Bill McAllister. Here are a few quotes:
The legislature "wrapped-up its regular session Sunday afternoon"
"The House of Representatives adjourned from the regular session at 12:53, followed by the Senate just over a minute later."
"With several hours to spare, the Legislature complied with the voter mandate to hold regular sessions to 90 days."
And, from the ABC article:
"Both the House and Senate wrapped up their 90-day session around lunchtime, which have historically finished around midnight. This was the first time since voters changed the mandated time limit from 90 days to 121, that the sessions were able to close before the midnight hour."
So, was the Gusty article deliberately changed after the fact for anyone searching online? Regardless, these stories and their timeline means the 5 and 6 pm airing of her story on 4/13 makes sense.
MKaiser, Please add your link as a comment in Audrey's most recent post, dedicated to the photos. Thx!
http://tinyurl.com/9ujvf8
Miami Herald reports Levi quits Oil Field Job;Palin denies she helped him get it
Hey everybody,
I posted an image a few days ago in which I thought that there were two different vanishing points in the Palin/Gusty photo.
I read some of the discussion since then, and re-did my work, trying to be more accurate by using a different program for drawing my lines, zooming in closer, going by the sides of the white dots or squares or whatever they are. The more time I spent on it the more I realized how hard it is to be accurate because of the image resolution.
On other hand, I think that my new image is more accurate, and it show a single vanishing point. There's some variability but basically all the lines do end up clustered or crossing (vanishing) near each other.
Sorry for any confusion.
I'm excited about what the filter analysis is showing. I think you're really on to something. Keep the heat on.
The Vanisher
http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=palingustyhallvanpointsoz4.jpg
on't know which would be the most appropriate thread to leave this on so I'll put it on the last 3 latest on the blog. Not to stir up any more controversy surrounding the birth of Tripp and no records at the hospital, BUT I just visited our local paper, The Frontiersman, and found this article (could Sarah's tentacles truly be this far reaching? Could she possibly have the influence to change the entire modus operandi for this entire hospital regarding birth announcements? Have their website hits been that high for birth announcements around 12/27 or 12/28 that they just had to decide to shut it all down? Following is the link to the article:
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2009/01/07/opinion/editorials/doc49630c228fd54273946705.txt
alicia in wasilla
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