Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Blind commitment to a theory is not an intellectual virtue; it is an intellectual crime
Reprinted from Environmental Science and Policy, Vol.3(1), 2000, 19-20.
Copyright 2000, with permission from Elsevier Science.
http://www.elsevier.com/locate/envsci/
http://www.sciencedirect.com
IN SUPPORT OF SKEPTICISM
"Most institutions demand unqualified faith;
but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue."
(Merton, 1962)
Most scientists acknowledge the importance of making science relevant and useful in policy making, while recognizing that policy is not, and should not be, based on science alone.
In recent decades, investigations of major environmental issues such as climate change, acid rain, smog, and hypoxia have resulted in the conduct of complex integrated assessments. Such assessments organize information for the purpose of improving the effectiveness of policy making.
In policy making, especially in a political arena, consensus building is a key ingredient. In attempts to make science relevant and useful, the politics of democracy tend to promote, even in some cases demand "scientific consensus." However, as a "community of belief" develops, skepticism is no longer regarded as a virtue. In a civilization that is founded on science, this is an unfortunate state of affairs and detrimental to our future.
In order to appreciate this concern, it is necessary to revisit the central role of skepticism in science. Let us start with a dictionary definition of skepticism. Webster's Dictionary defines skepticism as: "A critical attitude towards any theory, statement, experiment, or phenomenon, doubting the certainty of all things until adequate proof has been produced; the scientific spirit." The Greek root of skepticism is identified as "skepticos", which means "thoughtful, inquiring."
For centuries, science has been founded on well-established methods of scientific investigation, which include recognition that "A scientific theory must be tentative and always subject to revision or abandonment in light of facts that are inconsistent with, or falsify, the theory. A theory that is by its own terms dogmatic, absolutist and never subject to revision is not a scientific theory" (Judge William R. Overton, in Science, 1982). Thus, a basic tenet of science is for scientists to posit and test hypotheses and theories. Scientific progress is made by accepting or rejecting hypotheses at specified levels of confidence, thus embodying skepticism in the heart of scientific methodology.
There are two dominant and somewhat opposing philosophies on testing hypothesis and theories. One philosophy is that the purpose of hypothesis testing is to validate - to support or corroborate - a hypothesis. The other philosophy is that the purpose of hypothesis testing is to attempt to invalidate a hypothesis. And the same applies to model testing; there are scientists who attempt only to validate models, and others who state that the true application of the scientific method includes attempts to invalidate models and to show the limits of applicability of models. In science, attempts to invalidate hypotheses and models - hard-core skepticism, by any definition - should be viewed as a necessary positive step in the pursuit of truth. Rigorous hypotheses and models will emerge as triumphant - at least for the time being. In a problem-solving and policy-development mode, healthy skepticism is needed to ensure the rigor and effectiveness of proposed solutions. Another way of expressing the difference between these two philosophies is to state that "Blind commitment to a theory is not an intellectual virtue; it is an intellectual crime" (Lakatos, 1978).
This is why I regard consensus science and the demise of scientific skepticism as an unhealthy combination. Without the boldness and perseverance of earlier skeptics, who risked ridicule and being branded as heretics, we would still believe Earth to be the center of the Universe and continents to be motionless.
Taking the issue of climate change as an example, there are healthy signs of increasing recognition of the importance of dealing with important methodological uncertainties. Petersen (1999), in an inspiring article entitled "Philosophy of Climate Science", states that, "Climate science has to deal with important methodological problems concerning climate simulation. Among these are methodological problems related to climate model hierarchy and complexity, tuning and falsifiability, and uncertainty. All these subjects have only recently become topics of discussion within the climate science community." He finds that uncertainties are currently not thoroughly and methodologically assessed for the purposes of policy usefulness of climate science. Barnett et al. (1999), in a scholarly article summarizing the status of detection and attribution of an anthropogenic climate signal, also find that "Only recently has detection work paid serious attention to the variety of uncertainties that attend the observations and model projections of an anthropogenic signal."
We must find improved ways of preserving and strengthening the time-honored method of scientific investigation, which includes promoting skepticism in
How girl ELEVEN grabbed gun and shot dead cougar that was stalking her brother, 13, outside their house
- Shelby White, 11, killed her first cougar on her grandfather's ranch in Twisp, Washington, last week
- Female cougar had been spotted near family's home twice in the days prior to the shooting
- Shelby's 9-year-old brother, Cody, shot a 125-pound cougar earlier this month
- Tanner White, 13, Shelby and Cody's oldest brother, killed a big cat near the ranch around same time
- Shelby has been hunting since she was 8 or 9, and so far she has bagged herself three deer
- State officials and hunters killed 10 other cougars during the winter season
When Thomas White spotted a cougar approaching his teenage son outside their home in rural Washington state last week, there was only one thing to do - hand a gun to his 11-year-old daughter.
Without a moment's hesitation, Shelby White killed the female cougar, and wildlife officials suggested that the animal may have been sick.
The mountain cat was 4 years old and weighed about 50lbs, which is about half of what an animal that age should weigh.
My, what big teeth you have! Shelby is showing off the teeth of the predator that was stalking her 13-year-old brother
Family hobby: Shelby (left) has been hunting with her trusty .234 caliber gun since age 8 or 9, and her younger brother Cody (right) is also an enthusiast of the sport
'This cougar was very, very skinny,' State Fish and Wildlife Officer Cal Treser said.
The fearless 11-year-old took action when she saw the cougar following her 13-year-old brother as he was walking towards their home in the town of Twisp, population 940.
In a phone interview with MailOnline Wednesday night, Shelby’s grandfather, William White, revealed that it was a fourth cougar killed on his property in the past several weeks.
Mr White, 64, a cattle rancher, said that earlier this month, Shelby’s 13-year-old brother, Tanner, also shot a cougar that has been circling his farm.
‘We're real avid hunters,’ Mr White said of his clan, which he described as 'backwoodsy.' .
The rancher explained that until recently,
The Voynich manuscript, A 600 year old mystery manuscript decoded by University of Bedfordshire professor
Stephen Bax, Professor of Applied Linguistics, has just become the first professional linguist to crack the code of the Voynich manuscript using an analytical approach.
The world-renowned manuscript is full of illustrations of exotic plants, stars, and mysterious human figures, as well as many pages written in an unknown text.
Up until now the 15th century cryptic work has baffled scholars, cryptographers and codebreakers who have failed to read a single letter of the script or any word of the text.
Over time it has attained an infamous reputation, even featuring in the latest hit computer game Assassin’s Creed, as well as in the Indiana Jones novels, when Indiana decoded the Voynich and used it to find the ‘Philosopher's Stone’.
However in reality no one has come close to revealing the Voynich’s true messages.
Many grand theories have been proposed. Some suggest it was the work of Leonardo da Vinci as a boy, or secret Cathars, or the lost tribe of Israel, or most recently Aztecs … some have even proclaimed it was done by aliens!
Professor Bax however has begun to unlock the mystery meanings of the Voynich manuscript using his wide knowledge of mediaeval manuscripts and his familiarity with Semitic languages such as Arabic. Using careful linguistic analysis he is working on the script letter by letter.
“I hit on the idea of identifying proper names in the text, following historic approaches which successfully deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs and other mystery scripts, and I then used those names to work out part of the script,” explained Professor Bax, who is to give his inaugural lecture as a professor at the University later this month.
“The manuscript has a lot of illustrations of stars and plants. I was able to identify some of these, with their names, by looking at mediaeval herbal manuscripts in Arabic and other languages, and I then made a start on a decoding, with some exciting results.”
Someone Told Me That The DOJ Was In Cahoots With A Mosque In Minneapolis To Build Bombs For The Purpose Of Imposing Martial Law...
That would be a Conspiracy Theory. The DOJ would never allow criminals to have weapons in order to accomplish a deviously evil goal....But there is THIS story...
The Monica Lewinsky affair with President Clinton based on Lewinsky's grand jury testimony..
Affair Time Line
Following is a chronology of key events in the Monica S. Lewinsky saga based primarily on independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's report to Congress. The account of her affair with President Clinton is based on Lewinsky's grand jury testimony. Clinton in his testimony offered some conflicting information about their encounters.
1995
Early July: Monica S. Lewinsky begins work as an intern in the White House chief of staff's office.
Monica Lewinsky
(Reuters)
Nov. 13: Lewinsky accepts a paying job dealing with correspondence at the White House office of legislative affairs.
Nov. 15: During the government shutdown, Clinton visits the chief of staff's office for a birthday party. Lewinsky lifts her jacket and shows him the straps of her thong underwear. Then he invites Lewinsky to his private study, where they kiss. Later that evening, they have a more intimate sexual encounter during which he takes a call from a member of Congress.
Nov. 17: Lewinsky and the president have another sexual liaison during which he spoke to Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Ala.) on the phone.
Nov. 20: Lewinsky gave Clinton a tie, the first of 30 or so gifts from her. The president gave her about 18 small gifts during their relationship.
Nov. 26: Lewinsky started her paying job at the White House.
Dec. 31: On New Year's Eve, Lewinsky spoke to the president in his private dining room. She reminded him of her name because she had the impression he had forgotten it in the intervening six weeks. They then have their third sexual encounter.
1996
Bill Clinton
(AP)
Jan. 7: Clinton called Lewinsky at her home in the afternoon. He invited her to visit him at the Oval Office, where they spoke for 10 minutes. Then they went into the bathroom, where they had a sexual encounter.
Jan. 21: Clinton spotted Lewinsky near a White House elevator, and invited her to the Oval Office. Nearby, while she was in mid-sentence, he lifted her shirt and they had another sexual encounter.
Feb. 4: Clinton telephoned Lewinsky at her desk, and they planned a rendezvous. After a sexual encounter, they talked in the Oval Office for 45 minutes, their first substantive conversation.
Feb. 19: Clinton calls her at her apartment and she goes to see him. He tells her how uncomfortable he is about their relationship, and he terminates it.
March 29: Clinton called Lewinsky to propose she see a movie with him and some friends at the White House theater, but she declined.
March 31: Clinton calls Lewinsky, suggesting she visit the Oval Office on the pretext of delivering papers. They have a sexual encounter.
April 5: Lewinsky is removed from her White House job and transferred to a public affairs position at the Pentagon, because of her superiors' perception that she was spending too much time around the president.
April 7: On Easter Sunday, Lewinsky told the president that she was being transferred. He promised to bring her back to the White House after the 1996 election. Then they had a sexual rendezvous during which he spoke on the telephone with political consultant Dick Morris. They were interrupted again when Clinton aide Harold M. Ickes called out for him from the Oval Office. Clinton rushed to see Ickes, and Lewinsky left.
1997
Feb. 14: The Washington Post published an anonymous Valentine's Day note placed by Lewinsky, addressed to "Handsome."
Feb. 28: After she attended the taping of Clinton's radio show, she had her picture taken with him. He told her to see his secretary Betty Currie because he had something for her. Currie accompanied Lewinsky into the study next to the Oval Office. Then Currie walked into the nearby pantry, where she waited for about 15 minutes while Lewinsky and the president had a sexual encounter -- their first in 11 months. Then he gave her a hat pin and Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." Lewinsky later discovered that the blue dress she had worn that day was stained with his semen.
March 29: Currie arranged a meeting after Clinton said he had something important to tell Lewinsky. When Lewinsky arrived, Currie took her to the study, and Lewinsky had a sexual encounter with the president. It would be their final sexual liaison.
May 24: Currie called Lewinsky and asked her to come to the White House. Lewinsky brought gifts, which she gave Clinton in the pantry. Then he told her he had to end their affair.
May 27: The Supreme Court unanimously rejected Clinton's claim that he should be immunized from civil lawsuits. That allowed the Paula Jones case to proceed.
June 16: Lewinsky meets with top Clinton aide Marsha Scott about returning to White House.
July 3: Lewinsky writes president, taking him to task for not keeping promise to help her return to White House job, and warns she might "explain to my parents" why she wasn't getting one.
July 4: Lewinsky has "emotional" visit with president around 9 a.m. Lewinsky tells Clinton that Newsweek is working on an article about Kathleen E. Willey, who alleges that the president groped her in the White House. Lewinsky had found out about it from her Pentagon colleague, Linda R. Tripp. Clinton reprimands Lewinsky for sending him a letter that obliquely threatened to disclose their relationship if he failed to get her transferred from her Pentagon job back to the White House.
July 14: Clinton has Lewinsky return to the White House to further discuss Tripp and Newsweek. Clinton asks if Lewinsky has confided their relationship to Tripp and Lewinsky falsely says no. Clinton wants Lewinsky to tell Tripp to contact deputy counsel Bruce R. Lindsey and give Currie a "mission accomplished" call if that is done.
July 15: Lewinsky talks to Tripp, then calls Clinton to say Tripp was not receptive to contacting Lindsey.
July 24: Lewinsky goes to White House and chats with president for five to 10 minutes. He gives her an antique pin as birthday present.
Aug. 11: Newsweek story is published in which Tripp says Willey told her Clinton made a pass at her; Clinton lawyer Robert S. Bennett publicly questions Tripp's credibility.
Aug. 16: Lewinsky visits president and gives him birthday gifts in mid-morning. She kisses him and moves to perform oral sex, but the president rebuffs her.
Sept. 3: Lewinsky and Marsha Scott talk for 47 minutes. Scott says the job slot in her office has been eliminated.
Early September: Currie passes on to Lewinsky several items from the Black Dog restaurant on Martha's Vineyard as gifts from the president.
Linda Tripp
(Reuters)
Late September: Tripp begins secretly recording her conversations with Lewinsky about the affair. She later said she did so at the suggestion of New York literary agent Lucianne Goldberg.
Sept. 30/Oct. 1: Clinton calls Lewinsky in middle of night. Around this time, Clinton asks White House staff to help with a job search.
Oct. 6: Lewinsky speaks to Currie about possibility of getting job in New York. Currie quotes president as having said, "We can place her in the U.N. like that." Later that day she writes a letter to president and asks for meeting to discuss job situation.
Oct. 10: Clinton calls Lewinsky and they argue, and Lewinsky complains Clinton hasn't done enough to help her.
Also in October: The Rutherford Institute funding the Jones lawsuit receives three anonymous phone calls from a woman tipping them off about a possible Lewinsky-Clinton affair, sources have said. Goldberg, her son Jonah, Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff and Tripp meet to discuss tapes.
Oct. 11: Clinton sends for Lewinsky. Lewinsky asks if his friend Vernon E. Jordan Jr. might be able to help her and Clinton is receptive.
Oct. 31: U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson and two assistants interview Lewinsky at Watergate.
Nov. 3: Lewinsky receives U.N. job offer.
Vernon E. Jordan
(AP)
Nov. 5: Jordan speaks with president by phone, and later that morning meets Lewinsky in his office for 20 minutes. Lewinsky shows him a job "wish list." During the day, Jordan calls Currie once and Clinton aide Nancy Hernreich four times. He meets with president at 2 p.m.
Nov. 13: During the White House visit of Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo, Lewinsky visits Clinton in his private study. Currie sneaks her up the back stairs to avoid White House employees. She gives him several gifts. After a quick kiss, he rushes off for a state dinner.
Nov. 24: Tripp subpoenaed in Jones case.
Dec. 5: Jones's attorneys name Lewinsky as potential witness. Lewinsky exchanges words with Clinton at White House Christmas party and drafts a letter to him, saying she had more gifts for him.
Dec. 6: Lewinsky goes to White House to deliver letter and gifts. She waits at Northwest Gate after Currie informs her Clinton is meeting with his lawyers. But Lewinsky storms off after learning he is meeting with Eleanor Mondale. Clinton and Lewinsky speak on the phone; she visits him at the White House.
Dec. 11: Lewinsky meets again with Jordan. He places calls that day to Young & Rubicam, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings and American Express about jobs. Jordan tells her: "You're in love, that's what your problem is."
Paula Jones
(AP)
Dec. 15: Jones's lawyers serve Clinton with request to "produce documents related to communications between the President and Monica Lewinsky."
Dec. 17: At about 2 a.m., Clinton calls Lewinsky and informs her she is on Jones case witness list. He tells her to call Currie if subpoenaed. Clinton tells Lewinsky to say she came to White House to visit Currie.
Dec. 18: Lewinsky has job interviews in New York with MacAndrews & Forbes and Burson-Marsteller.
Dec. 19: Lewinsky served with subpoena in Jones case, calls Jordan and goes to his office. Jordan speaks to Clinton in afternoon and evening. Clinton tells Jordan he has "never" had a sexual relationship with Lewinsky.
Dec. 22: Jordan arranges for Lewinsky to meet with attorney Francis D. Carter. Jordan drives her to Carter's office.
Dec. 26: Lewinsky leaves Pentagon job.
Dec. 28: Lewinsky meets with Clinton in Oval Office. In adjoining study, Clinton gives her several Christmas presents, including a stuffed animal from the Black Dog, chocolates and a pair of joke sunglasses. They kiss. That afternoon, Currie contacts Lewinsky and later drives to her apartment and collects a box containing some of the gifts. Currie hides the box under her bed at home.
Dec. 30: Lewinsky has interviews in New York, arranged by Jordan, with Revlon and Burson-Marsteller.
Dec. 31: Lewinsky has breakfast with Jordan at Park Hyatt Hotel. Later in the day, she discards about 50 draft notes to the president.
1998
Jan. 4: Lewinsky drops off final gifts to the president at Currie's home: a book entitled "The Presidents of the United States," and a love note inspired by the movie "Titanic."
Jan. 5: Clinton returns a call from Lewinsky, who is worried about questions in the Jones case about the circumstances of her transfer from the White House. Clinton suggests that she could say that persons in Legislative Affairs had helped her obtain the Pentagon job. In what would be their last conversation, they also talk about what Lewinsky called "an embarrassing mushy note" that Lewinsky had sent Clinton. He says she shouldn't send notes that suggest they were intimate. The same day Lewinsky turns down the U.N. job.
Jan. 6: Lewinsky and Jordan discuss her affidavit. Jordan talks with president less than 30 minutes later.
Jan. 7: Lewinsky signs an affidavit in the Jones case declaring she "never had a sexual relationship with the president." Her lawyer does not, however, submit the affidavit yet. Lewinsky goes to Jordan's office with it. Jordan calls White House three times.
Jan. 8: Lewinsky interviews at MacAndrews & Forbes in New York. She tells Jordan the interview went poorly and he calls the chairman, Ronald Perelman. Jordan makes three calls to White House, including two to the counsel's office.
Jan. 9: Lewinsky interviews again with MacAndrews & Forbes, and with Revlon. She informally accepts a Revlon job. She calls Jordan with news. Jordan informs president, who responds: "Thank you very much."
Kenneth Starr
(AP)
Jan. 12: Tripp brings independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr the tapes of her conversations with Lewinsky. Lewinsky's lawyer, Carter, faxes Jones's team a copy of her statement denying a sexual affair with Clinton.
Jan. 13: FBI agents equip Tripp with a hidden microphone and record her conversation with Lewinsky at the Pentagon City Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Clinton talks with Chief of Staff Erskine B. Bowles about a reference for Lewinsky, required by Revlon. Currie calls Lewinsky that day and tells her it had been "[taken] care of."
Jan. 14: Lewinsky gives Tripp a "talking points" paper about what to say in her Jones testimony.
Jan. 15: Starr requests permission from the Justice Department to expand his authority so he can investigate Lewinsky allegations. Not knowing of these events, Lewinsky encourages Tripp not to disclose her relationship with Clinton and tells her others will tell the same story as she will under oath. When Tripp asks who, Lewinsky answers, "He will," referring to Clinton.
Janet Reno
(AP)
Jan. 16: A three-judge panel approves Attorney General Janet Reno's request to expand Starr's mandate. Starr's deputies have Tripp lure Lewinsky into meeting again at the Ritz-Carlton. They intercept Lewinsky. FBI agents and U.S. attorneys question her. Michael Emmick, one of Starr's assistants, tells Lewinsky she could be indicted for perjury, witness tampering and obstruction of justice, and should cooperate. An immunity deal is offered, but it runs out at midnight. Carter files Lewinsky's affidavit with a motion to quash the Jones subpoena. William H. Ginsburg takes over from Carter as Lewinsky's attorney.
Jan. 17: Clinton is deposed in the Jones suit. He denies having "sexual relations" with Lewinsky under a definition provided by her lawyers, and says he can't recall whether he was ever alone with her.
Jan. 18: Clinton meets with Currie to compare her memory of his interactions with Lewinsky with his own.
William H. Ginsburg
(AFP)
Jan. 19: Ginsburg seeks immunity for Lewinsky, but Starr's office demands to know the content of her testimony before discussing any deal. Currie makes repeated, unsuccessful attempts to contact Lewinsky.
Jan. 20 or 21: Currie and Clinton met again to discuss his testimony about Lewinsky, according to Currie's testimony.
Jan. 21: The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and ABC News report on Starr's Lewinsky investigation. In media interviews, Clinton denies a "sexual relationship" with Lewinsky and says he did not urge her to lie. Revlon withdraws its job offer.
April 1: The Jones suit is dismissed by U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright.
July 27: Lewinsky submits to a detailed proffer interview with Starr's office. She then was questioned extensively over the next 15 days, by Starr's office and the grand jury.
July 28: Starr grants Lewinsky immunity.
July 29: Clinton says he will testify, after being subpoenaed.
Aug. 3: Clinton is asked for a blood sample for DNA testing.
Aug. 17: Clinton testifies in the grand jury. He acknowledged "inappropriate intimate contact" with Lewinsky, but insisted his January deposition in the Jones suit had been accurate. He refused to answer questions about the nature of his physical contact with Lewinsky.
Sept. 9: Starr delivers report to Congress, citing 11 possible impeachable offenses.
Sept. 11: Congress makes the report public.
SOURCE: The Starr Report
h/t http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/timeline.htm
Following is a chronology of key events in the Monica S. Lewinsky saga based primarily on independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's report to Congress. The account of her affair with President Clinton is based on Lewinsky's grand jury testimony. Clinton in his testimony offered some conflicting information about their encounters.
1995
Early July: Monica S. Lewinsky begins work as an intern in the White House chief of staff's office.
Monica Lewinsky
(Reuters)
Nov. 13: Lewinsky accepts a paying job dealing with correspondence at the White House office of legislative affairs.
Nov. 15: During the government shutdown, Clinton visits the chief of staff's office for a birthday party. Lewinsky lifts her jacket and shows him the straps of her thong underwear. Then he invites Lewinsky to his private study, where they kiss. Later that evening, they have a more intimate sexual encounter during which he takes a call from a member of Congress.
Nov. 17: Lewinsky and the president have another sexual liaison during which he spoke to Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Ala.) on the phone.
Nov. 20: Lewinsky gave Clinton a tie, the first of 30 or so gifts from her. The president gave her about 18 small gifts during their relationship.
Nov. 26: Lewinsky started her paying job at the White House.
Dec. 31: On New Year's Eve, Lewinsky spoke to the president in his private dining room. She reminded him of her name because she had the impression he had forgotten it in the intervening six weeks. They then have their third sexual encounter.
1996
Bill Clinton(AP)
Jan. 7: Clinton called Lewinsky at her home in the afternoon. He invited her to visit him at the Oval Office, where they spoke for 10 minutes. Then they went into the bathroom, where they had a sexual encounter.
Jan. 21: Clinton spotted Lewinsky near a White House elevator, and invited her to the Oval Office. Nearby, while she was in mid-sentence, he lifted her shirt and they had another sexual encounter.
Feb. 4: Clinton telephoned Lewinsky at her desk, and they planned a rendezvous. After a sexual encounter, they talked in the Oval Office for 45 minutes, their first substantive conversation.
Feb. 19: Clinton calls her at her apartment and she goes to see him. He tells her how uncomfortable he is about their relationship, and he terminates it.
March 29: Clinton called Lewinsky to propose she see a movie with him and some friends at the White House theater, but she declined.
March 31: Clinton calls Lewinsky, suggesting she visit the Oval Office on the pretext of delivering papers. They have a sexual encounter.
April 5: Lewinsky is removed from her White House job and transferred to a public affairs position at the Pentagon, because of her superiors' perception that she was spending too much time around the president.
April 7: On Easter Sunday, Lewinsky told the president that she was being transferred. He promised to bring her back to the White House after the 1996 election. Then they had a sexual rendezvous during which he spoke on the telephone with political consultant Dick Morris. They were interrupted again when Clinton aide Harold M. Ickes called out for him from the Oval Office. Clinton rushed to see Ickes, and Lewinsky left.
1997
Feb. 14: The Washington Post published an anonymous Valentine's Day note placed by Lewinsky, addressed to "Handsome."
Feb. 28: After she attended the taping of Clinton's radio show, she had her picture taken with him. He told her to see his secretary Betty Currie because he had something for her. Currie accompanied Lewinsky into the study next to the Oval Office. Then Currie walked into the nearby pantry, where she waited for about 15 minutes while Lewinsky and the president had a sexual encounter -- their first in 11 months. Then he gave her a hat pin and Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." Lewinsky later discovered that the blue dress she had worn that day was stained with his semen.
March 29: Currie arranged a meeting after Clinton said he had something important to tell Lewinsky. When Lewinsky arrived, Currie took her to the study, and Lewinsky had a sexual encounter with the president. It would be their final sexual liaison.
May 24: Currie called Lewinsky and asked her to come to the White House. Lewinsky brought gifts, which she gave Clinton in the pantry. Then he told her he had to end their affair.
May 27: The Supreme Court unanimously rejected Clinton's claim that he should be immunized from civil lawsuits. That allowed the Paula Jones case to proceed.
June 16: Lewinsky meets with top Clinton aide Marsha Scott about returning to White House.
July 3: Lewinsky writes president, taking him to task for not keeping promise to help her return to White House job, and warns she might "explain to my parents" why she wasn't getting one.
July 4: Lewinsky has "emotional" visit with president around 9 a.m. Lewinsky tells Clinton that Newsweek is working on an article about Kathleen E. Willey, who alleges that the president groped her in the White House. Lewinsky had found out about it from her Pentagon colleague, Linda R. Tripp. Clinton reprimands Lewinsky for sending him a letter that obliquely threatened to disclose their relationship if he failed to get her transferred from her Pentagon job back to the White House.
July 14: Clinton has Lewinsky return to the White House to further discuss Tripp and Newsweek. Clinton asks if Lewinsky has confided their relationship to Tripp and Lewinsky falsely says no. Clinton wants Lewinsky to tell Tripp to contact deputy counsel Bruce R. Lindsey and give Currie a "mission accomplished" call if that is done.
July 15: Lewinsky talks to Tripp, then calls Clinton to say Tripp was not receptive to contacting Lindsey.
July 24: Lewinsky goes to White House and chats with president for five to 10 minutes. He gives her an antique pin as birthday present.
Aug. 11: Newsweek story is published in which Tripp says Willey told her Clinton made a pass at her; Clinton lawyer Robert S. Bennett publicly questions Tripp's credibility.
Aug. 16: Lewinsky visits president and gives him birthday gifts in mid-morning. She kisses him and moves to perform oral sex, but the president rebuffs her.
Sept. 3: Lewinsky and Marsha Scott talk for 47 minutes. Scott says the job slot in her office has been eliminated.
Early September: Currie passes on to Lewinsky several items from the Black Dog restaurant on Martha's Vineyard as gifts from the president.
Linda Tripp
(Reuters)
Late September: Tripp begins secretly recording her conversations with Lewinsky about the affair. She later said she did so at the suggestion of New York literary agent Lucianne Goldberg.
Sept. 30/Oct. 1: Clinton calls Lewinsky in middle of night. Around this time, Clinton asks White House staff to help with a job search.
Oct. 6: Lewinsky speaks to Currie about possibility of getting job in New York. Currie quotes president as having said, "We can place her in the U.N. like that." Later that day she writes a letter to president and asks for meeting to discuss job situation.
Oct. 10: Clinton calls Lewinsky and they argue, and Lewinsky complains Clinton hasn't done enough to help her.
Also in October: The Rutherford Institute funding the Jones lawsuit receives three anonymous phone calls from a woman tipping them off about a possible Lewinsky-Clinton affair, sources have said. Goldberg, her son Jonah, Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff and Tripp meet to discuss tapes.
Oct. 11: Clinton sends for Lewinsky. Lewinsky asks if his friend Vernon E. Jordan Jr. might be able to help her and Clinton is receptive.
Oct. 31: U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson and two assistants interview Lewinsky at Watergate.
Nov. 3: Lewinsky receives U.N. job offer.
Vernon E. Jordan
(AP)
Nov. 5: Jordan speaks with president by phone, and later that morning meets Lewinsky in his office for 20 minutes. Lewinsky shows him a job "wish list." During the day, Jordan calls Currie once and Clinton aide Nancy Hernreich four times. He meets with president at 2 p.m.
Nov. 13: During the White House visit of Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo, Lewinsky visits Clinton in his private study. Currie sneaks her up the back stairs to avoid White House employees. She gives him several gifts. After a quick kiss, he rushes off for a state dinner.
Nov. 24: Tripp subpoenaed in Jones case.
Dec. 5: Jones's attorneys name Lewinsky as potential witness. Lewinsky exchanges words with Clinton at White House Christmas party and drafts a letter to him, saying she had more gifts for him.
Dec. 6: Lewinsky goes to White House to deliver letter and gifts. She waits at Northwest Gate after Currie informs her Clinton is meeting with his lawyers. But Lewinsky storms off after learning he is meeting with Eleanor Mondale. Clinton and Lewinsky speak on the phone; she visits him at the White House.
Dec. 11: Lewinsky meets again with Jordan. He places calls that day to Young & Rubicam, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings and American Express about jobs. Jordan tells her: "You're in love, that's what your problem is."
Paula Jones
(AP)
Dec. 15: Jones's lawyers serve Clinton with request to "produce documents related to communications between the President and Monica Lewinsky."
Dec. 17: At about 2 a.m., Clinton calls Lewinsky and informs her she is on Jones case witness list. He tells her to call Currie if subpoenaed. Clinton tells Lewinsky to say she came to White House to visit Currie.
Dec. 18: Lewinsky has job interviews in New York with MacAndrews & Forbes and Burson-Marsteller.
Dec. 19: Lewinsky served with subpoena in Jones case, calls Jordan and goes to his office. Jordan speaks to Clinton in afternoon and evening. Clinton tells Jordan he has "never" had a sexual relationship with Lewinsky.
Dec. 22: Jordan arranges for Lewinsky to meet with attorney Francis D. Carter. Jordan drives her to Carter's office.
Dec. 26: Lewinsky leaves Pentagon job.
Dec. 28: Lewinsky meets with Clinton in Oval Office. In adjoining study, Clinton gives her several Christmas presents, including a stuffed animal from the Black Dog, chocolates and a pair of joke sunglasses. They kiss. That afternoon, Currie contacts Lewinsky and later drives to her apartment and collects a box containing some of the gifts. Currie hides the box under her bed at home.
Dec. 30: Lewinsky has interviews in New York, arranged by Jordan, with Revlon and Burson-Marsteller.
Dec. 31: Lewinsky has breakfast with Jordan at Park Hyatt Hotel. Later in the day, she discards about 50 draft notes to the president.
1998
Jan. 4: Lewinsky drops off final gifts to the president at Currie's home: a book entitled "The Presidents of the United States," and a love note inspired by the movie "Titanic."
Jan. 5: Clinton returns a call from Lewinsky, who is worried about questions in the Jones case about the circumstances of her transfer from the White House. Clinton suggests that she could say that persons in Legislative Affairs had helped her obtain the Pentagon job. In what would be their last conversation, they also talk about what Lewinsky called "an embarrassing mushy note" that Lewinsky had sent Clinton. He says she shouldn't send notes that suggest they were intimate. The same day Lewinsky turns down the U.N. job.
Jan. 6: Lewinsky and Jordan discuss her affidavit. Jordan talks with president less than 30 minutes later.
Jan. 7: Lewinsky signs an affidavit in the Jones case declaring she "never had a sexual relationship with the president." Her lawyer does not, however, submit the affidavit yet. Lewinsky goes to Jordan's office with it. Jordan calls White House three times.
Jan. 8: Lewinsky interviews at MacAndrews & Forbes in New York. She tells Jordan the interview went poorly and he calls the chairman, Ronald Perelman. Jordan makes three calls to White House, including two to the counsel's office.
Jan. 9: Lewinsky interviews again with MacAndrews & Forbes, and with Revlon. She informally accepts a Revlon job. She calls Jordan with news. Jordan informs president, who responds: "Thank you very much."
Kenneth Starr
(AP)
Jan. 12: Tripp brings independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr the tapes of her conversations with Lewinsky. Lewinsky's lawyer, Carter, faxes Jones's team a copy of her statement denying a sexual affair with Clinton.
Jan. 13: FBI agents equip Tripp with a hidden microphone and record her conversation with Lewinsky at the Pentagon City Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Clinton talks with Chief of Staff Erskine B. Bowles about a reference for Lewinsky, required by Revlon. Currie calls Lewinsky that day and tells her it had been "[taken] care of."
Jan. 14: Lewinsky gives Tripp a "talking points" paper about what to say in her Jones testimony.
Jan. 15: Starr requests permission from the Justice Department to expand his authority so he can investigate Lewinsky allegations. Not knowing of these events, Lewinsky encourages Tripp not to disclose her relationship with Clinton and tells her others will tell the same story as she will under oath. When Tripp asks who, Lewinsky answers, "He will," referring to Clinton.
Janet Reno
(AP)
Jan. 16: A three-judge panel approves Attorney General Janet Reno's request to expand Starr's mandate. Starr's deputies have Tripp lure Lewinsky into meeting again at the Ritz-Carlton. They intercept Lewinsky. FBI agents and U.S. attorneys question her. Michael Emmick, one of Starr's assistants, tells Lewinsky she could be indicted for perjury, witness tampering and obstruction of justice, and should cooperate. An immunity deal is offered, but it runs out at midnight. Carter files Lewinsky's affidavit with a motion to quash the Jones subpoena. William H. Ginsburg takes over from Carter as Lewinsky's attorney.
Jan. 17: Clinton is deposed in the Jones suit. He denies having "sexual relations" with Lewinsky under a definition provided by her lawyers, and says he can't recall whether he was ever alone with her.
Jan. 18: Clinton meets with Currie to compare her memory of his interactions with Lewinsky with his own.
William H. Ginsburg
(AFP)
Jan. 19: Ginsburg seeks immunity for Lewinsky, but Starr's office demands to know the content of her testimony before discussing any deal. Currie makes repeated, unsuccessful attempts to contact Lewinsky.
Jan. 20 or 21: Currie and Clinton met again to discuss his testimony about Lewinsky, according to Currie's testimony.
Jan. 21: The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and ABC News report on Starr's Lewinsky investigation. In media interviews, Clinton denies a "sexual relationship" with Lewinsky and says he did not urge her to lie. Revlon withdraws its job offer.
April 1: The Jones suit is dismissed by U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright.
July 27: Lewinsky submits to a detailed proffer interview with Starr's office. She then was questioned extensively over the next 15 days, by Starr's office and the grand jury.
July 28: Starr grants Lewinsky immunity.
July 29: Clinton says he will testify, after being subpoenaed.
Aug. 3: Clinton is asked for a blood sample for DNA testing.
Aug. 17: Clinton testifies in the grand jury. He acknowledged "inappropriate intimate contact" with Lewinsky, but insisted his January deposition in the Jones suit had been accurate. He refused to answer questions about the nature of his physical contact with Lewinsky.
Sept. 9: Starr delivers report to Congress, citing 11 possible impeachable offenses.
Sept. 11: Congress makes the report public.
SOURCE: The Starr Report
h/t http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/timeline.htm
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