Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

Bud:
  

No. Oswald did astonishing on the test to all those with a rational bent.
>
> John Armstrong interviewed Oswald's Marine buddies from Japan. Granted it
>
> was only 6. But every one of those 6 said that the Oswald they knew, never
>
> spoke Russian, never expressed a desire to speak Russian, never was in
>
> possession of any Russian learning materials, never had a lesson in
>
> Russian, never had a Russian-speaking friend. Are you getting the drift of
>
> this.

  Yes, you seem to be doing your best to reinforce my point that you are a
hobbyist. Why must Oswald try to impress his fellow soldiers with the
little Russian he knew? I have friends my whole life who have never seen
me add numbers together, that doesn`t mean I don`t have the ability.

>
>
> So, he returns to the US by ship in October 1958. No evidence of any
>
> Russian going on on it. He takes the month of November off. Then, in early
>
> December, he reports for duty in Santa Ana, CA. And from the start there,
>
> he was talking in Russian,

  What Russian speaking person said Oswald spoke Russian properly at this
time?

> reading in Russian,

  Who checked to see if Oswald was reading and comprehending Russian at this time?

  You have to realize that when you make empty claims like this you are
saying nothing. Of course hobbyists shoot off blanks because they like the
sound.

> listening in Russian,

  Ah, you think if I hear a dog bark that means I can converse with dogs.

> and
>
> even teaching some in Russian.

  I can teach someone to count to ten in Spanish. Can`t speak Spanish,
though.

> Then in January 1959, a month later, he
>
> passes a Russian proficiency exam, getting more answers right than wrong.

  This might not be so impressive if it was multiple choice. Just chance
would garner him 25% correct, so all he might need is enough Russian to
narrow down some choices.

> Those with an unbiased, non-delusional bent know that that doesn't
>
> compute. You can't learn Russian without studying Russian. You can't study
>
> Russian in secret because it takes books and tapes and practice sessions
>
> where you are reciting out loud. In Japan, they were living on remote
>
> islands, sleeping in tents, and setting up radar stations. If Oswald was
>
> doing anything to learn Russian in Japan, his friends would have seen
>
> it.

  Or so a hobbyist figures, but this counts for nothing.

> Perhaps you'd like to conjecture that Oswald undertook a one month
>
> intensive in November 1958 and in that one month he acquired the
>
> impressive ability he displayed in Santa Ana. But, that would be
>
> delusional because there is no evidence of that. Absolutely nothing of a
>
> Russian-learning modality has ever been linked to Oswald.

  The test results indicate he did do some study, at least enough to score
poorly.

>
>
> And note that when he was at Santa Ana, no one ever said he was studying
>
> Russian there either. They just said he spoke Russian and read it and used
>
> it. He had Russian records- music records.

  Who checked his record collection to see if there were any Russian
language records?

> He had Russian newspapers which
>
> he read.

  Looked at.

> How far do you think you'd get if your study of Russian consisted
>
> of breezing through Russian newspapers and trying to make sense of them?

  You make the typical hobbyist mistake of assuming that if something
happened, or if something existed, it would be known and in evidence. We
don`t know whether Oswald practiced with the Carcano, but he might have.
We don`t know where he bought the bullets, but his owning bullets
indicates he acquired them somehow. In what real meaningful way can you
rule out Oswald owning a small Russian/English dictionary? Why would a
poor practitioner of Russian be reading newspapers without one? Who
watched Oswald so carefully and took inventory of his possessions?

> No textbook to learn Russian was ever found in Oswald's possession in the
>
> United States or in Japan.

  Who searched his possessions during this time and where is the inventory
list?

> It would be stupendous if Oswald had actually taught himself Russian well
>
> enough to pass a proficiency exam with more answers right than wrong.

  He didn`t pass, he scored poorly.

> But,
>
> there is no evidence that he did that. There is no evidence that he taught
>
> himself Russian at all. Period.

  Him scoring poorly on the Russian language test indicates he acquired
enough Russian to score poorly on the test.

> You keep calling me a hobbyist, but that isn't true.

  But it is accurate.

> Hobbies are things
>
> that people do to relax, to have fun, to escape from stress, to socialize,
>
> but none of that applies to what I'm doing.

  Typical of a hobbyist to construct a flawed criteria. Some people are
compelled by their hobbies.

> Hobbies don't usually involve
>
> struggles; at least, they don't involve struggles like this one.

  They all do, unless your hobby is napping. It`s the hunt, whether you
are tracking down a rare coin or stamp or some clue you believe will help
indicate that Oswald is innocent. Hobbyist refer to this as "research" to
lend legitimacy to the activity, but it`s just a silly hobby.

> Perhaps
>
> you don't take it as seriously as I do.

  No, I don`t take your efforts seriously.

> Well, suit yourself.

  I try.

Ralph Cinque:

It's not a matter of Oswald impressing anybody with his Russian skills. It's a matter of him having the time and the resources to learn Russian. If he was working on learning Russian, he could not have hidden it, not when you consider the time that it takes to do it and how closely he and the other Marines were living and working together. 

And the ability to count is universal. It has no correlation whatsoever with acquiring the ability to speak Russian, which is not only not universal but exceedingly rare (for Americans).  

And you also brought up counting in Spanish, which is irrelevant. Tens of millions of Americans speak Spanish, and the vast majority of Americans know about uno, dos, tres. But, how many Americans can count to three in Russian? And if you put aside the ones who are Russians who came from Russia, then you're left with an infinitesimal number of Americans who can do it. 

These are false analogies, Bud. They are egregiously false analogies. 

What Russian-speaking person said that Oswald spoke Russian well in Santa Ana? Rosslyn Quinn, a woman he dated, who was formerly studying Russian at the Berlitz School. She was amazed with his Russian-speaking ability. She raved about it.

What is the evidence that the Russian proficiency exam was entirely multiple choice? And he got more answers right than wrong. 

And now you take the liberty to assume that Oswald subscribed to Russian newspapers just to look at them with no ability to read them? 

What it really comes down to, Bud, is that you just BEND to accommodate the official story. You'll assume whatever you have to- no matter how unlikely or unrealistic- to make it work. You just force that square peg into that round hole and then say, "You see. It fits." 

There is NO EVIDENCE that Oswald had any help to learn Russian in the United States or Japan. There is NO EVIDENCE that Oswald had any Russian-learning materials in the United States or Japan. There is NO EVIDENCE that Oswald had the kind of time available to him to learn Russian in the United States or Japan. 

And then you blatantly say that such evidence isn't necessary, that you can work backwards from the result and just presume the evidence you need- which is a classic case of circular reasoning! It's so typical for a xxxxx (I have to be careful about calling you anything or else McAdams trashes my post) to use such a corrupt and invalid argument. 

And no, this is NOT like stamp-collecting. That's just another false analogy.

You are not just wrong, Bud; you are diametrically wrong. And the very voicing of your opinions belies the barren emptiness of them. You're not a hobbyist; you're a shill.