[Foundation-l] Jimmy Wales in the News

[Mike Godwin]

Delirium writes:

> I agree in general, but these allegations are getting some level of
> credence because it isn't just digital gossip from random people, but
> allegations from the second person hired by the Wikimedia Foundation,
> who was previously highly involved in day-to-day operations, and is  
> also
> familiar to many English-Wikipedia editors as the Foundation's former
> point man for WP:OFFICE actions. If it were some random person I doubt
> anyone around here would care. There are also allegedly leaked emails
> from Florence supporting some of the allegations. This doesn't
> necessarily mean any of them are correct, but it's not like they're
> coming from nowhere.

The response I offer above isn't "coming from nowhere" either. Sue is  
competent. You shouldn't dismiss her ability to come into an  
organization after the fact and draw reasonable inferences about what  
did or did not happen. (I should think the popularity of CSI shows  
alone should have gotten people used to the idea of forensics.)

At the end of the day, we each of us have decide whether we value  
gossip over our other values.  I hope most of us make the right  
decision.

Furthermore, gossip often doesn't come from "random people."  If  
you've been in public life long enough, you find that there are some  
people who'll say pretty much anything, not because they're random,  
but precisely because they *aren't* random, and, so, gossip allows  
them to make a splash of some sort. That doesn't make their actions  
any less gossip.

The question I routinely ask myself is this: "Is repeating an  
unsubstantiated charge improving the world and the things I care  
about?  Or is it causing agitation without leading to any real  
resolution?"  Usually the answers are self-evident.


--Mike