On 1/18/07, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
On 1/19/07, Fred Bauder fredbaud@waterwiki.info wrote:
-----Original Message----- From: Ray Saintonge [mailto:saintonge@telus.net] Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 05:44 PM To: 'English Wikipedia' Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Troubling news on Citizendium
I agree in general, but deference to lawyers continues. "IANAL" appears far more frequently that any similar phrase for other professions.
Ec
And well it should. Listening to someone give legal advice that doesn't know squat is very painful. A good lawyer knows you have to be familiar with the facts and research the law before you start in with the advice, and even then it is likely to be wrong unless a judge agrees.
Fred
Problem is that applies to almost any given subject. People do no say "I am not a chemist" even though I can probably find an exception to almost any stamtent about chemisty made by someone without a degree.
This is a question of whether we're talking about WP articles ON the law, in which case the "are you an attorney or not?" question doesn't really matter much, or talking about how the law affects WP, in which case the question is much more significant and less academic...
I don't mind if Fred edits an article on heart surgery, but if I need a bypass, with all due respect to Fred, I want someone who does them for a living 8-)