I've been wondering about that too. Didn't he claim fairly recently that it's not that the COLB was forged -- it's that the COLB never existed, that all of the posted photos are images constructed from scratch?

I mean, come on! Could he possibly make it more obvious that he's full of shit? He's not even pretending to be credible!

If Ron Polarik is a secret double agent man



what does this make Orly?

Is Polarik an Obot? Well, of course I will never tell...but...think about it for a minute.

What have the birfoons spent the last 10 months focusing on?? This idiotic, futile birfer wild goose chase. They have accomplished absolutely SQUAT since they began their idgit quest for the Kenyan BC. Given the fact that IT DOES NOT EXIST...well, the quest can simply continue forever. Where has the quest led them so far, let us consider...

While the birfoons are busy filing frivolous lawsuits with no chance of success, and make-pretend indicting all manner of people, and donating all their extra cash to the likes of Berg, Orly and Hale, what have the Obots been up to?

We have passed the stimulus, troops are coming home from Iraq, we are on the way to passing the energy bill and healthcare reform, we got Franken in so we have a fillibuster-proof Senate, and we have Boise cooking up a direct challenge to the ban on gay marriage (and that's just a few of our accomplishments).

We have also launched Organizing for America, we are staying involved and still recruiting/organizing like crazy on the ground, we are raising a warchest of $$ for 2010, and we also have begun the task of marginalizing and mocking any Repubs who are stupid enough to get involved with the birfoons. Of course, any Rebub who is involved with this birfoon idiocy better be prepared, as it WILL be used against them in their bids for re-election, so, the more that jump on this idiot bandwagon, the better...

Instead of donating to the RNC, specific candidates, or even causes, instead of working on/fighting for the causes/issues that matter to Repubs, the birfoons are spending all their energy, time and money chasing a unicorn (the illusive and non-existent Kenyan BC).

And, Polarik has encouraged and led this futile fight...so, again, I ask...Polarik, Obot?

Even more interesting:

Eligibility issue, best distraction EVAR? Yes/no? You decide.

Daily Kos posted the COLB on June 12, 2008.

By the next morning, June 13, "Polarik" appeared on BlogTownHall with a long article declaring the whole thing fake. In that article, he cites his claimed qualifications:

http://polarik.blogtownhall.com/2008/06/13/was_obamas_certificate_of_birth_manufactured.thtml

He can't spell analysis?????

He claims no degrees at all at that time. He invented his degrees after his bullshit had been challenged and debunked.

The very DAY the image of the Indonesian school record was posted, he suddenly became "a handwriting analyst".

In the midst of a debate with Dr. Neal Kwawetz, (genuine) PhD, Polarik suddenly came up with a "Masters in Statistics".

Even had he bought his degrees from a diploma mill, you'd think he'd know whether he bought a fake claim of "Instructional Media and Experimental Psychology (dual major)" doctorate or "a PhD in Instructional Systems" "and a Masters Degree in Educational Research, Design, and Testing".

"Polarik" did not exist on the internet until 6/13/2008.

The name joined Free Republic June 22, 2008. The contents of Polarik's entire profile on FR is: "The first (and only) authority on the Hawaiian Certification of Live Birth."

I do not think Polarik is deluded and thinks he has these degrees. Were he delusional, he would try to defend his bullshit nonsensical "reports" with further delusions. But when challenged, he goes into incredibly long insults and revolting diatribes against the questioner, and avoids ANY legitimate discussion at all. He is proven to use sock-puppetry to support his crap posts.

I don't know what his motivations are, but Polarik is a FAKE and a LIAR.

Not only that, he now says it doesn't even resemble a Hawaiian COLB.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-blo ... &;page=401

Seems to me that "Polarik" could put this all to rest by just getting himself a Hawaiian COLB. That's what I think all birthers should do, since they're so convinced that it's possible even without actually having been born in Hawaii.

Why on earth birthers believe that COLBs released now are going to look identical to those from the pre-computer days is baffling.

Here's another question I have: birfers go on and on about the President's sister Maya having a Hawaiian COLB. Has she ever indicated that she has such a thing? How would the birfers have procured a copy of it, even if she did (which I don't for a second believe she does)?

So was the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Both are pretty good at getting the children to follow them.
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That was a claim made by "TechDude", when he claimed he found Maya Soetoro's name in the Obama COLB posted on-line

Yes and no, depending on where it goes from here.

Arab Nationalism and political Islam were GREAT distractions from Soviet Socialism. The problem was/is unwinding them after having served their useful function.

The sense of illegitimacy that a relatively few citizens feel regarding President Obama is more concerning to me than is the Birfer eligibility issue. Some of that sense of illegitimacy is pure racism. Some is a feeling of (God-given?) right-wing entitlement to the White House. Some is a pathological hatred of Democrats. Some is a sense that only "True Christians" should lead the nation and that Obama is not one (many mainline Christian denominations are not "True Christians" in this view).

I think that sense of illegitimacy will linger on in some quarters after Berg, Taitz, Pidgeon, and the rest of the Birfers have disappeared back into their ratholes. Kreep will keep after Obama for his own agenda, and Martin will look for more ways to gain attention, but the Birfers will eventually have their last Epic Fail, probably involving sanctions and disbarment (which may be why Orly is so fixated on Obots today).

There was some of that questioning of legitimacy about Dubya, for (I think) good reason given the Palm Beach Butterfly Ballot fiasco and other Florida foibles. Many conservatives thought that Clinton was not entitled to serve because he had opposed the Vietnam War and "dodged the draft." I can't remember another president, however, for whom the attacks on his legitimacy were so vehement and crude, and they did not exist at all for many modern presidents. The Birfer nonsense may just be reinforcing a feeling that was already there, or it may be a publicly acceptable way of expressing a feeling based in racism and other hatreds.

EllieWyatt, you brought this on yourself.





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But "Polarik" is a lying sack of shit! Can't I get assigned to like, maybe somebody who only lies a lot?? I mean, doing somebody who is an expert handwriting analyst is gonna be reeely hard! Do you know what it's gonna be like to condense months of Koyaan's (on his blog) crushing smack-downs with "Polarik" (and his sock-puppet) to two paragraphs??!!! Do you have any idea what it will be like to have to read "Polarik's" crap again?!!! You won't even let me call him a lying sack of shit, will you?!

You inspired me a bit, ellie, so here goes.

Polarik's Creditionals:

June 13, 2008 - Polarik appears on Townhall, and describes his experience thusly: “I've been working with computers, printers, and typewriters for over 20 years, and given a set of printed letters, I can discern what kind of device made them.”

August 14, 2008 - “As a handwriting analyst, I can say with some certainty, that two people wrote on this record book.”

September 12, 2008 - "I’ve been working with computers for 40 years. I’ve been a graphic artist for 50 years. My first “personal computer” was an S-100 I built in 1977, followed by a TRS-80, a Commodore 64, Apple I & II, IBM PC, Original Macintosh, Timex/Sinclair 1000, and lots of IBM and Unix mainframes along the way. Ive done programming in CP-M, ASP, Basic, Visual Basic, C and its variants, Java, Javascript, VBScript, Plato, DB2, HTML, SPSS, SAS, Minitab, StatPro, and everything Microsoft.

"My PhD is in Instructional Media and Experimental Psychology (dual major)."

"Well, yes, I did lie about my experience. It’s so much greater than I initially reported. I figure that credentials don’t mean squat if you cannot use your brain."

(NOTE: Polarik offered up the above list of credentials specifically in response to elliewyatt, who just cited Krawetz's credentials.)

November 2008 - "I know everything there is to know about PCA, thanks to my Masters in Statistics,"

December 18, 2008 - Signed "Ron Polarik, PhD, MS"

"I am an expert in Hawaiian Certifications of Live Birth,"

December 21, 2008 - “Krawetz and his crowd like to taunt me with "Krawetz is a Real PhD with a Real Name and is a Real Expert," but I got my Masters degree before Krawetz was born, and my Doctorate while he was still in grade school.”

(NOTE: I believe Krawetz is about 40 years old.)

December 2008 - Declaration of XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I hold a PhD in Instructional Systems with 25+ years of
post-doctoral work experience, and a Masters Degree in Educational Research, Design, and Testing. I have worked with computers and computer printers, plotters, and optical/digital scanners, typesetting, offset printing, and automatic typewriters, for over thirty (30) years.

"In my professional career I have held positions as a Computer Programmer, Web Designer, Media Consultant, Research Director and Statistician. I have testified as a Statistical Expert in Governmental hearings over the last twenty (20) years.

"I began working with computers on or about 1969 and with graphic arts since 1965. I have
worked with document image scanners since 1982 and with digital images and digital editing
software since 1987. I have received professional training in the use of Adobe Photoshop and Image Ready software with a particular focus on creating web graphics. I have also worked with laser
printers since 1986."

Polarik's Name:

August 12, 2008 - "Take it from someone who has also been harassed by Obama supporters, that writing under a screen name may be the only thing that saves your ass from these insane Obamanites.
Those who criticize other people for using a screen nickname instead of their actual name need to crawl back under the rock that's been on their heads since the Internet first became a social network.
Good gosh, without pseudonyms, people would have online handles like johnsmith2004387, and who has to spend all day deleting his SPAM mailbox of emails for the other two million John Smiths in the world.
My take on some of these bloggers that I know who use their real names is that they are such egotistical narcissists that they get off anytime others write to them, using their real names.
Having THEIR blog referenced by another, more well-known blogger is simply nirvana to them."

August 25, 2008 - Signed "Ron Polarik."

October 30, 2008 = "My first name is Ronald. Polarik is my father's last name and also is my "screen name."

November 22, 2008 - Signed "Ron Polarik, PhD"

November 29, 2008 - “Ron is my real first name, and Polarik is what I got from my Father's real last name. I don't sign sworn and witnessed TWO Affidavits if I am a fraud or don't exist.”

December 18, 2008 - Signed "Ron Polarik, PhD, MS"

""Anonymous pseudonym" is an oxymoron, and given that my name, Dr. Ron Polarik, is known around the world, I am hardly "anonymous." Krawetz uses the term, pseudonym, as a pejorative to imply that I am a "fraud." The truth is that "Dr. Ron Polarik" is the first person to blow the whistle on Obama and Factcheck"

April 4, 2009 - "I never said that Polarik was a pseudonym. My critics and detractors did, and you can join the club."

April 16, 2009 - "For kicks, I did a search of "Polarik" on the Daily Kos website, and the only things it turned up were two comments of about ten words each -- one, in Dec 2008, by Corvo (whom I believe is actually Jay McKinnon) noting my apparent anonymity and use of a pseudonym (which, presumably, no one else does on the Internet)"

----

So a few questions of my own:

1) When did "Polarik" first become "Ron Polarik"? He was calling himself that in late August '08, and I found at least one passing reference by some other poster earlier in August, but I'm curious when he got a first name.

2) Did Polarik *ever* mention a PhD, or any higher education, before his TexasDarlin post on September 12? 'Cause that would be exactly three full months before "Polarik" became "Polarik, PhD," and he did so suddenly and immediately after being confronted with the extensive credentials of his leading critic.

3) Polarik said "I don't sign sworn and witnessed TWO Affidavits if I am a fraud or don't exist." Putting aside the bad grammar, what's the second affidavit? I assume the first is the "Declaration of XXXXXXX" (which isn't technically signed, isn't witnessed at all, isn't notarized, and isn't labeled an affidavit), but what does he mean by a second? Did he submit another paper signed with Xs, or did he try to sign an affidavit with a pseudonym?

And that was the first, and only time that he said something truthful (which was ignored by birfers anyway).

Note the use of "with some certainty". That is precisely what a real specialist would always add. Perhaps the guy dabbles in graphology? And, since he uses a computer and is able to edit photographs with PaintShop Pro, perhaps even manipulate signatures (perhaps he has even given evening classes to computer illiterates at one time?) that makes him a specialist with honorary BA/MA in all these other things?

Sure, babydoll. Choose whatever you like.


Painful. But, for a good cause.





Outstanding. With links to all of it. Who needs ellie?

Jeez, Loren, you only have five posts, and you can do that? Will you consider contributing to the wiki?

Loren is the mastermind behind [linkbtn]Barackryphal,http://barackryphal.blogspot.com/[/linkbtn]

I found my way to PJs from a birfer site by a guy called itooktheredpill. Loren posted there a bit early on, and laid the smackdown on this guy nicely. I followed the link to his site, through to YtD, then on to PJs. So yay to Loren!

He did some good stuff on the DHHL program which would be good for the wiki

On Saturday, Ryan Church on Free Republic summed it up nicely:

To: Polarik
Your post speaks volumes. You're a lunatic.
Politifact, a project of the St. Petersburg Times, is not a sister site of Factcheck, a division of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. You're wrong.

Obama's COLB says it is a revised form, not an introduction. You're wrong again.

Your contention that Hawaii's State Registrar couldn't confirm the COLB to you means nothing.

If you ever cross the line from fantasyland into the real world and attach "Dr." or "PhD" to your name, I will make it my personal business to assure that you are prosecuted and brought to justice.
461 posted on Saturday, July 04, 2009 1:35:44 PM by Ryan Church
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 445 | View Replies]

I suggest that the focus on Polarik's supposed degrees is not useful. Poking holes in those claims is like poking holes in whipped cream. Until he appears for a deposition or in a court, or perhaps until he sells his services under false pretenses, those claims do not matter. What does matter is the accuracy of what he claims about documents and software. He has already amply demonstrated that he knows little about any of these things. He can be destroyed both empirically and theoretically. His first self-description
made me think of the old guy who used to stand behind a counter in a typewriter repair shop. Polarik might have once been a typewriter repairman, but I think even someone whose training stopped with the IBM Selectric would not have made the egregious errors that he has made with scanned documents. I think he is a conscious fraud who has successfully led Birfers on a wild goose chase. Why he did so is an entirely different question. Perhaps he is just mean.

If I falsely write "MD" or "DDS" after my name, I could be prosecuted unless it is clearly a spoof. If I am a blogger posting "wellness" news with the title "MD," nobody may prosecute me unless I try to sell something as an MD. Offering a diagnosis that a person is suffering from chemtrails-induced Morgellon's Disease demonstrably does not get people in trouble. If I falsely write "PsyD" or "MSW" after my name in the context of offering counseling, I can be prosecuted in at least some states. If I obtain a dental license by falsely claiming to hold the DDS from a foreign university, I can be relieved of my license and then some. Orly, show us the vault copy of your DDS diploma from Hebrew University.

But if I falsely write PhD or MS or MA or EdD after my name simply as a presentation of myself and not as an offer of services, my impression is that all that I have done is lie. Lying is not a crime; otherwise, most of earth's population would have been incarcerated at some point. It's a different matter when I "cross the line from fantasyland into the real world" where my claim to a degree matters. I'm sure that attorneys could state when the boundary is crossed between lying for self-aggrandizement and a material misrepresentation of my qualifications to do something that I claim to be able to do. All that would probably happen is that I would not be accepted as an expert witness.

Simply writing PhD after my name is not illegal. If I apply for a university job claiming to hold a PhD, I would lose that job once the people in the back office discover that no such degree has been awarded -- but no one would prosecute me, although they might sue me to recover salary earned under false pretenses. It is not even illegal for me to proclaim to the entire world that I am the world's leading expert in neonanotechnologicalanimatussangriamammatus based upon my PhD degree in the field from the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople.


Incidentally, PhD's are on special today on the Web. Some of these programs have requirements that go beyond your being alive at the moment of application, while others are not too rigorous on that point. See [linkbtn]Online Doctorate Degree Programs,http://www.onlineeducationfacts.com/life-experience-degree-majors/accredited-online-phd-degrees.htm[/linkbtn]. For a personal account involving one of the institutions listed on that site, see [linkbtn]PhD the easy way,http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/aug/09/nation/chi-phony-degreesaug10[/linkbtn], "Tribune reporter Russell Working tells about his adventures with diploma mills, where $699 and ‘life experience’ would earn him a degree in just about anything." The price has plummeted as the competition has risen. In some cases, the price even includes shipping for your framed diploma, although teak is extra. Polarik would have paid more than today's rate had he purchased his degrees.

The only state that appears to take diploma mills seriously is Oregon. The U.S. Department of Education will accept accreditation for purposes of validation for loan programs from accrediting agencies that were specifically established to accredit institutions without a campus, a library, or a permanent faculty. They do have mailing addresses and bank accounts, however. Maybe Justin and Foggy could get us all a bulk rate for the degree of our dreams. I always wanted a degree as a vulcanologist, otherwise known as a VD.

I have a free subscription to the New Yorker because, very long story short, the magazine has given me the title of PhD, and I've never corrected them. I also have a free subscription to the New England Journal of Medicine because an actual MD included me on a list of names, and as far as the NEJM knows, I'm a Dr.

But I would never represent myself as a surgeon or scholar of a subject I know nothing about.

[linkbtn]Polarik's,http://goexcelglobal.com/share/Anonymous_Digitable_Expert_Declaration_signed.pdf[/linkbtn] claim "I have also worked with laser printers since 1986" is so absurd as to border on, as TollandRCR said, a "spoof".

Any teenager working at Kinkos in the mid 80s could say they have "worked with laser printers". It's like a clerk at a grocery store saying "I've been familiar with apples for 10 years" It's nonsense. But the Birfers cling to these statements, and won't accept a logical rebuttal.

Dr. Seuss and Dr Pepper would certainly agree with you. But I think Ryan Church's point was, if Polarik ever uses "Dr." or "PhD" in any official or legal capacity, he will leave himself open to issues of legality.

Seems to me, if Polarik uses such titles and one then relies upon his use and suffers some cognizable damage as a result of that reliance, well, Polarik may have himself a problem.

I think that both you and Elvis22 are correct about Polarik's legal liabilities, but my point is that a focus on his/her claims to degrees is a distraction from what Polarik is saying. Focusing on Polarik's qualifications to make these claims is a version of an ad hominem logical fallacy.

It does not matter to me if he holds the M.A. or M.S. degree in Statistics; that could simply show that even a good Statistics department can produce a bad statistician. Andy Martin supposedly has a real J.D. from the University of Illinois. Degrees of any kind are not a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for the truth of what the person says.

A parallel: it does not matter whether Joseph Mercola does or does not hold a D.O. from Midwestern University; what matters (including to the FDA) are the claims that he makes for his "wellness" products. In fact, there are physicians holding real M.D. degrees from accredited medical schools who make incredibly damaging statements on their Web sites. Some of these [linkbtn]Quacks,http://www.quackwatch.com/[/linkbtn] direct people to do or not to do specific things, such as refusing vaccinations, putting their readers and their readers' children in danger. They should not be believed because they hold the M.D.; they should be believed or disbelieved on the basis of their evidence. Believing them because of their supposed competence is itself a logical fallacy, the fallacy of appeal to authority. I recognize that this degree of skepticism demands a lot from anybody and that sometimes we simply have to trust a person who holds a degree -- but not necessarily for very long.

Even if Polarik had studied with Russell Kirsch at the National Bureau of Standards and been his star pupil in image scanning, Polarik's "evidence" is so transparently false that it might be that he is simply playing a mind game.

I halfway expect Polarik to now claim to have helped Kirsch invent the drum scanner.

I agree that Polarik's info is crap whether he holds 40 different advanced degrees or none at all. However, there is something to the argument that goes: The information is crap, and, knowing the info is crap he lied about his qualifications in order to dupe people into relying on/believing his crappy info. Especially so if people would not have relied on his crappy info if, say, for example, they found out the info came from someone who barely graduated high school and worked as a cashier at a fast-food restaurant.

And was cashiered from that fast-food restaurant.

I absolutely agree, it does not matter even IF the faker had the degrees he claims, if one reads his "analyses", one can see that it's nonsense.

Not only is it nonsense, it seems to be deliberately unreadable and lengthy, so that no birther will actually read it. They simply swallow his pronounced conclusions whole, cuz "he's a PhD!!!".

There are surley plenty of incompetent and loony PhDs out there, but one would think that someone with a doctorate in "Educational Media" or "Instructional Systems" (Depending on what day he's writing. Don't most people know what their degree is supposed to be? ) would have a slight clue as to how to present material in an organized, clear, concise and understandable manner. He does not want to. He has a Phd from the school of "If you cant dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit". Bullshit it is.

A "Masters in Statistics"? "A statistician"? Puhleeze. Here's an exchange on FreeRepublic on Saturday: