Re: Morf vs Horan on the radio 9/7/14
As a take on what I consider a variation on a conspiracy theme, I'd mention the following (if the opportunity presents itself): What the theorist almost always does is to attach undue significance to the inexplicable. If you put something - anything - under the microscope, there will be "holes" you cannot readily explain. This fact in itself doesn't indicate that an effort has been made to make it so. What we're looking at is a fifty year old jigsaw puzzle. Some pieces are missing. That doesn't mean someone has gone out of their way to deliberately hide these pieces.
A particular point I would focus on (again, if the opportunity arises) is that Horan depends on perceived discrepancies between reports in order to make his theory work. A discrepancy between a police report and a newspaper report isn't remarkable at all. Take a look at a randomly chosen article in the Chronicle (or the Examiner, or the Vallejo T-H) dealing with the Zodiac case. Chances are it's loaded with factual errors and inaccuracies. That is telling in itself - and speaks clearly against some of Horan's assumptions.
Anyway, I'm sure Morf will do just fine! Stick to the facts. And remind him that all the facts aren't known - the latter isn't suspicious in itself, quite to the contrary, it's precisely what an intelligent person would expect, not least given that plenty of the SFPD material (in particular) hasn't been released.
A particular point I would focus on (again, if the opportunity arises) is that Horan depends on perceived discrepancies between reports in order to make his theory work. A discrepancy between a police report and a newspaper report isn't remarkable at all. Take a look at a randomly chosen article in the Chronicle (or the Examiner, or the Vallejo T-H) dealing with the Zodiac case. Chances are it's loaded with factual errors and inaccuracies. That is telling in itself - and speaks clearly against some of Horan's assumptions.
Anyway, I'm sure Morf will do just fine! Stick to the facts. And remind him that all the facts aren't known - the latter isn't suspicious in itself, quite to the contrary, it's precisely what an intelligent person would expect, not least given that plenty of the SFPD material (in particular) hasn't been released.