"Rules of Engagement"

Evidence versus Proof


In the search for evidence of SMOM membership of some candidate I use the following guidelines:

• The more evidence the merrier. And unless I find satisfactory proof of membership for one particular candidate I will stick to the virtue of multiplicity. The more evidence I am able to find, the more likely membership will be. The reason I am not satisfied with only a couple of references claiming membership is that these sources may not be independent from each other. Two sources are independent if their respective authors are not the same and one is not derivative of the other. The likelihood of something being true increases with the number of independent affirming sources. Therefore, unless unshakable proof can be found, in order to maximize the certainty of SMOM membership, it is necessary to find as much evidence as possible, supported by as many independent sources as possible. Another reason for striving to find as many sources as possible is that Internet references are not as robust as book references since websites tend to be taken down after a while, all the more so if it concerns listing incriminating evidence regarding certain powerful parties.
  
  Since it is typically not known how reliable any set of sources is, the game is to find as many, ideally independent, sources as possible.
  
  
• If I find satisfactory proof of membership, the need to find more evidence ceases of course. The amount of evidence I will have gathered to that point in time will thus be corroborated by the proof found. Therefore I will not omit any already procured evidence as it lends credibility to the articles in which they were found, a virtue which may come in useful regarding establishing membership of other candidates. It would also be a waste to throw away research already done.
  

What is admissible proof for membership?

• Admission of membership on official SMOM websites or through official SMOM documents. In addition, I will also admit proof brought forward by other official Catholic channels.
  
  Example:
  

  Quote

  Korte geschiedenis van de Orde Rang van Grootkruis van Eer en Devotie van de Nederlandse Afdeling van de SMH Orde van Malta (tot 1970) (klik op de namen voor foto's) 1911 J.J.G. baron van Voorst tot Voorst, Baljuw, Voorzitter 1911-1931 1911 H.M. Koningin Wilhelmina 1911 Z.K.H. Prins Hendrik, Hertog van Mecklenburg, Baljuw 1931 Mr E.O.J.M. baron van Hövell van Wezeveld en Westerflier, Baljuw, Voorzitter 1931-1936 1936 L.F.J.M. baron van Voorst tot Voorst, Baljuw, Voorzitter 1936-1939 1943 Z.T.J.F. baron van Dorth tot Medler, Baljuw, Voorzitter 1942-1953, Wnd Voorzitter 1939-1942 1946 Zijne eminentie dr J Kardinaal de Jong, Baljuw 1949 S.K.H. Prins Bernhard, Prins van Lippe Biesterfeld, Baljuw 1952 Mr E.H.J. baron van Voorst tot Voorst, Baljuw, Voorzitter 1953-1964 1952 Ir J.B.G.M. ridder de van der Schueren, Baljuw, Kanselier, Voorzitter 1964-1970 1953 Mr E.L.M.H. baron Speyart van Woerden, Coadjutor, Baljuw 1960 Zijne Eminentie dr B. Kardinaal Alfrink, Aartsbisschop, Baljuw, Grootkruis van Magistrale Gratie 1960 H.K.H. Beatrix, Prinses der Nederlanden, (>1980; H.M. de Koningin) 1970 Mr E.T.M. baron van Voorst tot Voorst, Baljuw, Voorzitter 1970-1992

  
  http://www.maltezerorde.nl/gesch_rang_grootkruis.htm
  
• Admission of membership on official government websites (or affiliated, or government sanctioned).
  

Example:

Quote

Emilio T. González Under Secretary of Homeland Security Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) [...] A graduate of the University of South Florida in Tampa with a B.A. in International Studies, Dr. González also earned MA degrees in Latin American Studies from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana and in Strategic Studies and National Security Affairs from the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He was awarded a Ph.D. degree in International Relations from the Graduate School of International Studies, University of Miami, where he also received the Graduate School Award for Academic Achievement. He has been awarded numerous decorations from the United States and has also been decorated by the governments of El Salvador, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua. Dr. González is a Knight of Malta.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/egonzalez-bio.html

Admission of SMOM membership of some candidate on official company websites or documents to which the candidate is confirmed to belong to or be affiliated with.

Example:

http://www.hsifilms.com/steven-saxton.html

Pictures of Knights or Dames wearing official SMOM regalia or ornamentation.


Charles Burke Elbrick


Benito Mussolini

Any listing of incontrovertible proof of the above four kinds will be provided with the addendum: (Proof Positive), so as to indeed confirm SMOM membership with certainty.

All other citations I will regard as evidence and thus ideally, in order to minimize uncertainty, require verification of as many independent sources as possible. Unless I can establish proof of SMOM membership of some nominee, the threshold for publishing will be set at two ideally independent sources of evidence.

Sometimes I will include evidence that does not directly claim SMOM membership but, given the context is alludes to, (strongly) suggests it. I will introduce these passages with the phrase circumstantial evidence.

Searching the Internet

I use the following basic format for seeking the Internet:

Search String = (OR (OR ...))

where is any name that refers to the SMOM candidate at hand,
and where denotes the string of a user specified OR-connected combination of the following search terms:
"knights of malta" SMOM "knight of malta" "Order of Malta" "Ordo di Malta" "Ritter von Malta" "Ridder van Malta" "Caballeros de Malta" "Cabellero de Malta" "Dame of Malta" "Dames of Malta"

Examples:

Gustavo A Cisneros:
Search String = "Gustavo A. Cisneros" OR "gustavo cisneros" OR "G A Cisneros" "knights of malta" OR SMOM OR "knight of malta" OR "Order of Malta" OR "Ordo di Malta" OR "Chevaliers de Malte" OR "Cavalieri di Malta" OR "Ritter von Malta" OR "Ridder van Malta" OR "Caballeros de Malta" OR "Cabellero de Malta" OR "cavaliere di Malta" OR "Cavaler de Malta"

Clare Boothe Luce:
Search String = "Clare Boothe Luce" OR "Clare B Luce" OR "Clare Luce" OR "C B Luce" "Knights of Malta" OR SMOM OR "Order of Malta" OR "Ordo di Malta" OR "Chevaliers de Malte" OR "Cavalieri di Malta" OR "Dame of Malta" OR "Dames of Malta"

N.B. Although until recently my favorite search engine had been Google, it now turns out that Yahoo comes up with significantly more usable hits than Google. Since Yahoo nowadays is pretty much a Google clone in a lot of respects, I had little trouble in making the switch to Yahoo. In addition, and this is at least as annoying, Google had this stroke of brilliance to limit any search query to 32 terms - thus pretty much rendering incapacitated the bulky queries as submitted using the procedure listed above.

These were enough reasons for me to believe Google has been compromised and so I decided to trade it for Yahoo.