[Wikipedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Internal Radio

[Ray Saintonge]

Mark Williamson wrote:

>But I hope you will agree that there is a huge difference between a
>joke about all homosexuals should be executed (I don't even get the
>joke there... where is it?) and a joke that includes some mild
>elements which might liken Jimbo to Jim Jong Il.
>
Regrettably irony is not always an effective tool in this crowd.  Jim 
Dong Ill doesn't always carry a big stick when he can't get it up.

>While I don't personally believe Jimbo can be considered a dictator
>(and most certainly not a self-obsessed one), I think that there is a
>sort of personality cult about him, and certainly on IRC I have seen
>people who seem more interested in him than perhaps I would be
>comfortable with in Jimbo's position. Of course this isn't "approved
>by Jimbo" - on the contrary, AFAIK he doesn't like that sort of thing
>- but I have definitely seen some people who it would only be going a
>little bit further for them to watch a television broadcast of his
>birthday, and even I would watch his biography if it were on
>television.
>
This kind of hero-worship begins with Christians who find it more chic 
to parrot Christ's words than to live them.  In our context this 
translates into using "Jimbo said ..." as an argument that would stop 
all debate.  I can understand perfectly when his enterring a discussion 
would have the effect of stopping the discussion even when that his not 
his intent.

Ec