“Do you think it is hard to identify anybody after 25 years?”
Your correspondent is going to a 25th or 35th reunion this fall and we are sure that we’ll make all kinds of mistakes (not!); you readers all know we recognize our old chums, whether with horror or jealousy or otherwise. We about split a gut while listening to Chris Matthews tonight cross-examine some former hostages from 1979, expressing skepticism about their recognition of the new Iranian president as one of the thugs who held them for 444 days (link when available). As MIT and Harvard professor Stephen Pinker and many others have noted, there is a specific area of the brain devoted to face recognition — essential to survival, even across decades. Yeah, Chris, they’re making this up because they are wascally wepublicans, or mentally incompetent, or both. Or maybe it has to do with this, from Matthews’ MSNBC bio:
Matthews spent 15 years in politics and government, working in the White House for four years under President Jimmy Carter as a Presidential speechwriter….
The Boston Globe famously titled some comments by Carter, “More Mush from the Wimp.” Perhaps that explains the Perry Mason act with our comrades identifying one of their tormentors.
July 1st, 2005 at 8:11 am
CNN is on the case with photo that may have been supplied by Bill
Burkett:
It would be awful for the MSM to have to admit that the new pres of Iran is
strongly radical with history of terror and violence. So expect to see Dan
Rather’s team presenting documents that he was in Qom for that 1 1/2 year
period.
CNN begins with an anaylist looking over 2 photos:
Comparing the pix of the scowling hostage taker to the university student
(now president of Iran) these points are made:
Space Between Eyebrows:
The university photo show wide space – but this is on face that
if not smiling,is trying to look pleasant. All hair is groomed.
Space between eyebrows looks shaved – unibrow is not sign of
intelligence.
The hostage taker, in the photo they have selected is scowling
squinting in the sun. I have a wide space between my eyebrows
but when I scowl or squint they are drawn together. (I ‘m not
botox’d)
Ear Lob
They use current photo of new pres. and show a rounded ear lobe.
The hostage taker with the wild hair in a very out of focus is shown
to have a squared off ear lobe. Other than the fact that this is
unnatural – it looks that a strand of his long hair has curved around
to obscure the lower ear lobe.
Nose
Pres has hook in nose.
Using the photo that is out of focus and with hostage taker in profile
looking into sun the line of the nose is distored by reflections from
probably perspiration and you cannot see neither a straight line
nor a hook to the shape of nose. It is blurred.
My observation is that the lips and shape of mouth are same.
I just find it another MSM move to try to pre-empt by putting into dispute
any evidence that prove these are same person Sure that there are better
photos for comparisons – and found it funny that they didn’t use one the
facial recognition companies to run the photos.
They used a guy with a ruler – wonder if they met at Kinko’s.
Regards,
July 2nd, 2005 at 7:42 pm
I dunno. Sure, I don’t remember many of my high school compadres after 30 years, but if any of them explicity tortured and confined me for 444 days, I might have cause to put them in a special place in my memory.
There are a few bullies from my high school days that may eventually get that huge meal of ice cold revenge I have been saving for them! I certainly remember their faces!