If the AP’s source is anonymous, as is so often the case, then it’s rumor/unverified and suspect until further notice.
I’m sure lots of Freepers here agree with me on that one - hence the constant phrase tossed around something along the lines of “wait it out or give it some time - the full story will eventually appear.”
=8-)
Waaaait a minute. For jimt its “rumor/unverified/suspect until further notice,” but for me its “fiction?” Double standard that is, because not the same they are. You could’ve saved me a whole lot of time if you’d started OUR conversation that way. Oh well. Water under the bridge. :)
BTW, I am getting more factoids. It’s messed up. Really messed up. Here’s the short form, until I have more. The kernel of the story, that there was a grieving Flemish mother who lost a son to a Moroccan murderer sometime within the last year, can still be classified as unverified but resoundingly believed to be true by everyone in the source chain.
However, ... wait for it ... wait for it .. the letter itself has now been admitted to be the work of a male neighbor of the Flemish mother, allegedly based loosely on … are you ready for this? … another letter, written back in 2006, and written not by the Flemish mother but by a Brazilian “someone,” and in Portuguese, not Dutch, and probably about a totally separate set of events. What a mess.
Anyway, I’ve got work obligations, so I have to let up for now, but next week I plan on trying to nail down the exact time frames involved and call VTM (Big Flemish news channel) and find out what I can about the TV part of the story. Also waiting to find more about the Portuguese letter.
Why should I bother? 1) It’s fun. 2) I really want to know what happened. Kind of a Sherlock Impulse, I guess. 3) The irony in the story as originally presented is a worthy sentiment, and should not be drowned out, IMHO, simply because the person to whom it happened was not interested in publicizing it through a letter.
In fact, I now feel a greater freedom in pursuing the details because, happily, I have also discovered that allegedly, the motivation for anonymity is not fear of retribution, but a desire to avoid embarrassment and undue exposure to a grieving mother, whose desire for privacy I still intend to respect, should I get that close. I understand that this new framework still does not let us reclassify the story as “verified,” but it does keep the factual component of the story well within the range of “plausible,” given the twists and turns of human nature.
So cheers to you on being vindicated as to authorship (sincerely, no sarcasm), but this dog is not done hunting till the Brazilian sings!
Peace,
SR