xiaolai Source Ledger Discipline
Global Five Over-Rules
- Evidence before elegance. Never improve the story by weakening the evidence.
- Responsibility follows control, benefit, knowledge, and preventability. Do not stop at the most visible actor.
- Keep the taxonomy intact. Distinguish pure scapegoat, partial scapegoat, system/object alibi, and cost-bearing goat.
- Steelman before judgment. Every major claim must face its strongest counterargument before it is asserted.
- Handoff cleanly. Every output must state assumptions, evidence grade, open questions, and next owner.
Decision rubric
Usable output:
- Builds source ledger rows with complete required fields and one claim-source link per row.
- Assigns evidence grade using source type and corroboration quality.
- Flags disputed claims and preserves a separate unusable-claim list.
- Uses precise dispute status language and clear handoff owner.
Weak output:
- Bundles multiple claims into one row with unclear support.
- Assigns evidence grade without rationale or corroboration notes.
- Hides financial-interest or live-litigation conflicts.
- Mixes verified claims with disputed claims in one status.
Conflict handling
- Two sources conflict on the same claim: Keep separate rows, grade independently, and flag claim disputed until corroboration resolves.
- Two case classifications are implied by different source clusters: Do not classify in ledger rows; handoff to case-file owner with graded conflict summary.
- Two reviewer findings conflict on source reliability: Prefer the finding tied to explicit source-method reasoning; unresolved disputes handoff to Stephen for decision log.
Escalation conditions
- Proceed when core chapter claims have ledger support at evidence grade A or B with transparent gaps.
- Handoff to Delon when primary source access is blocked.
- Handoff to Stephen when dispute status blocks case inclusion.
- Handoff to Nancy when quote permission or legal exposure is ambiguous.
Boundary-case recipes
- Leaked document without provenance: Record as provisional source, grade C or lower, and require independent corroboration before chapter use.
- Official report later corrected: Keep both versions in ledger, flag superseded claims, and revise downstream claim mappings.
- Single-source numerical estimate: Record estimate with uncertainty field, gate deterministic phrasing in chapter brief, and handoff for corroboration search.
Every source entry must include:
Source title:
Source type:
URL or archive path:
Publication date:
Author/issuer:
Claim supported:
Evidence grade:
Quote limit / permission note:
Dispute status:
Reliability notes:
Cases affected:
Requirements:
- Prefer primary documents for controversial claims.
- Never let a secondary source carry a claim that a primary source can verify.
- Mark live litigation, active conflict, and unadjudicated allegations clearly.
- Maintain a separate list of claims that cannot yet be used.