[WikiEN-l] JzG's banning Private Musings regarding BADSITES debate

[Wily D]

On 11/2/07, Fred Bauder <fredbaud at fairpoint.net> wrote:
> > Fred Bauder wrote:
> >>>
> >>> If I understand rightly, [[Robert Black (professor)]] is a respected
> >>> Scottish law prof who is from Lockerbie, who has taken a great
> >>> interest in the Lockerbie case, and was involved in setting up the
> >>> Lockerbie trials of the Libyan agents.
> >>>
> >>> In response to recent activity in the case, in early July he set up a
> >>> blog to discuss it. We briefly mentioned the blog and added a link to
> >>> it. That link stayed in place until a few days ago, when he gave a
> >>> one-sentence mention of the allegations that SV "systematically
> >>> altered"
> >>>  the Wikipedia Lockerbie articles, mentioning what some claim is her
> >>> true  name. He doesn't claim that they are true, just that they are
> >>> interesting.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Here's some more garbage from the page the respected professor linked
> >> to:
> >>
> >> "The most curious reaction to the news of SlimVirgin's identity was
> >> demonstrated by the English-language media: apart from personal blogs
> >> and web forums, not a single word appeared in any of the major media!
> >> Previous scandals such the Seigenthaler case, exposing Essjay, and the
> >> WikiScanner program by Virgil Griffith, received wide coverage. But
> >> there was silence about SlimVirgin, comparable to the silence on
> >> classic themes such as UFOs and the assassination of John F. Kennedy."
> >>
> >> [rest of quote snipped]
> >>
> >> How about them apples...? I've always wondered about that disc
> >> business.
> >>
> >
> > For those who haven't read the blog, just to be clear, Professor Black
> > only linked to the page containing this, and didn't mention UFOs or
> > JFK's assassination in his one-sentence summary. The only part that
> > appears to interest him is that a name already known to him in the
> > context of the Lockerbie investigation may also be a Wikipedia editor
> > involved in editing articles related to the Lockerbie bombing.
> >
> > Fred, are you seriously suggesting that we should only mention a
> > biography subject's blog when everything they link to meets your
> > standards? That seems like an unreasonably high bar.
> >
> > If you're suggesting something else, it would be helpful if you said
> > what it is.
> >
> > William
>
> However prominent Black is, we're dealing with a conspiracy theorist who
> deserves the usual bum's rush.
>
> Fred

Fred

The missed point here is that the way we're trying to apply the bum's
rush is what's convincing people these rumours might be true.

If people actually *read over* the case that's been presented by the
rumour mongers, they can easily conclude "Well, that's an unusually
tenuos case for one that's so circumstantial." with the same
expression I give a homeless man in $140 jeans, new Nike sneakers and
a gold watch asking for bus fair so he can get to the hospital when
Toronto West General is about 500 meters away.

But when we act like its true, and try to prevent people from actually
looking at the evidence and concluding its some lousy, we don't do
anyone a service except the rumour mongers.

Cheers
WilyD