User talk:RobSmith

What is going on? World Blogs Clogs Elections The Bar (talk) (talk) (talk) (talk) (hic) Welcome to RationalWiki, RobSmith! Check out our guide for newcomers and our community standards! Tell us how you found RationalWiki here! If you are interested in contributing: Read what our articles are intended to be Check out the to-do list See our help page and Wikipedia's formatting cheatsheet If writing a new article, consider writing up a draft And most importantly: Pull up a goat and have some fun!

Welcome to the treasonous broom. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 21:52, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Unless this is the RobSmith we've come to know and ridicule, you may have to get a name change--I believe we have some RationalWiki:Community_Standards#Renaming_userssort of policy on user names that get to close to the names/i.d's of established users...TheoryOfPractice 22:28, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

So you are RobS? Why the new handle? TheoryOfPractice 23:36, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Yep, it's me. Lost my password (or some commie bastard stole it). RobSmith 23:39, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I'll take you at your word, comrade, and sysop you. All power to the soviets!!!! TheoryOfPractice 23:42, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

You know, you can just ask User:Nx to reset your password, and he'll do it. --The Emperor _{Kneel before Zod!} 23:52, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 01:53, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Click raw signatures

-- =w= 01:43, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

And vote for Mei.

Welcome to MeiWiki, RobSmith. Please see this political leaflet and this badge of support, which you should adopt as soon as possible. Vote for Mei.

-- =w= 01:43, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Gracias, Signor. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 01:48, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Senorita. -- =w= 02:23, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Awards

You do indeed, as suspected and observed, have a sense of humeur. (I am human, on sabbatical) In absentia 04:29, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

When Ronaldus Magnus was asked, "Isn't there enough blame to go around?" he responded, "Well, yes. i used to be a Democrat."

Hey, Human, as a well known defender of the sacred provisions guarding separtaion of church and state, [1] care to collaborate in exposing Bill Clinton's attempt to sieze our Constitutional liberties and force our children in public schools to participate in school prayer? Look at this reversion, [2] it was poperly cited to the Washington Compost, you know, the mainstream rag that destroyed Richard Nixon and exposed Ollie North. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 04:45, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Is that really you Rob? 04:48, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Yep'n it is. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 04:50, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Have you read

Mao - the Unknown Story. Very, very good biography of the man. You'd enjoy it. --PsygremlinПоговорите! 18:23, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you. I'm busy at work developing a subsection for CP's Obama article right now entitled, "Maoism". RobSmith^{don't bother me} 02:57, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Why not just put a heading at the top marked "Smears" and not bother with the rest. Seems that would cover the whole article. --Kels (talk) 03:07, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Here's a draft opening: "A deep strain of Maoist thought has pervaded Barack Obama's influences throughout his life." One problem I'm wrestling with is, during the Sino-Soviet split, cp:Frank Marshall Davis was acredited with remaining the sole true Stalinist voice on the Honolulu Record, while cp:Koji Ariyoshi and the rest were reprimanded as Maoist deviationists. But Obama's later contacts, Ayers, Dohrn, Jeff Jones, Anita Dunn, et al, all opening embraced Maoism. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 04:20, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

You done need do moar researchs. You haz no cluu wha youz is talking about. δ_ij$^{i.broke.it.}$ 04:26, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

I thought Prof. Ayers and Prof. Dohrn were more New Left, heterodox types than orthodox Maoists. ListenerX^TalkerX 04:47, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

For openers, we have the cp:PFOC, inspired by Chairman Mao. Jeff Jones was a co-author/organizer. Through Jeff Jones we have another Obama connection -- cp:Van Jones. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 20:29, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Obama and Mao share more than 99% of the same DNA, HOW CAN THAT BE A COINCIDENCE!?!?!?!? --Kels (talk) 21:00, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Good porn

Hey man, I liked that porn site you enjoy. Can you tell me of some others? Aceⁱ⁹ 00:45, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

You're a fucking liar!

I'd say this over at CP, but would probably get banned for it. Anyway, this is a total lie, and I'm calling you on it here and now.

Where exactly on "Rate My Professor" do the kids speculate about their prof's political views? I checked your link and saw nothing anywhere calling her a "socialist." Not even among the comments, among gems like "she's too hard and doesn't tell us what's on the test!"

Just admit it, you pulled this directly out of your ass, didn't you? Junggai (talk) 21:15, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Okay, maybe I was a bit hard on you. After re-reading, it seems one student said so in a comment, where you can also read about her "She always dresses nice. She should stop trying to straighten her hair and go natural!" Even if this site were a valid enough resource to put her in the "socialist" category, you're still a fucking liar by using the plural. If you have any integrity, you'll change it to "one student." Junggai (talk) 21:25, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Ok, so she's a beougious socialist with a nifty hairdo. Is that better? RobSmith^{don't bother me} 02:01, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

you're weird, Rob. Aceⁱ⁹ 02:11, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Serious question

I have a history question or two for you, Rob: First, what do you think of the New Left? Do you see it as connected to communism/socialism? And what about the Democratic Party today? Any connection there? Just curious. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 02:55, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes indeed. Professor Isaac Deutscher rehabed communism in the 1950-60s by resurrecting Trotskyism and "not throwing the Marxist baby out with the Stalinst bathwater." Hence the children of Old Left Stalinists became New Left Trotskyites. A certain segment of these, victims of crimes perpetuated by Great Society spending programs ("mugged by reality") spun off to become the neo-conservative movement.

The major difference between Democrat and Republican is, the Democrats have never purged themselves of the subversive "blame America crowd." Ann Coulter was wrong when she stated in Treason, "McCarthy made it a disgrace to be a Communist. Domestic Communism could never recover;" [3] with the appointment of a Maoist as White House Communications Director for example, domestic communism has staged an impressive comeback. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 18:20, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Hardy Har

Oh, you're so witty. If only you weren't a fucking hypocrite at the same time. In other words, now you're acting like that evil witchdoctor Obama by engaging in discussion without actually changing your position. Wait a second!!! Are you a secret Communist Fascist Muslim too? Junggai (talk) 21:34, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Hey, is this a Godwinism? [4] Dr. Mengele can go straight back to hell along with this healthcare bill. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 22:18, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Technically, I think Godwin's Law applies to internet discussions, not crazy-ass blog postings. But in spirit, yes, comparing Obama's healthcare reform to a man who made human lampshades matches the insanity and dumb, cheap fear-mongering that Godwin represents. Junggai (talk) 22:43, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

The question is govenrment funding, and government control. Mengele worked under the direction of a central command and control, government funded project (believe it or not, designed to reduce unemployment among other things). Right-wing conservatives, then and now, oppose these socialist and statists schemes on principal. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 23:02, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I'm absolutely convinced that right-wing conservatives are shouting "Nazi!" in order to constructively state their position on fiscal conservatism with such nuance as you just described. Those darned liberals just can't take a sound historical comparison with good humor, can they? If only they could be good sports and accept being compared to mass-murderers, mutual respect and understanding would surely replace the current gridlock and petty name-calling that dominate political life in Washington.

Or did you actually believe the bullshit that you just typed? Junggai (talk) 23:22, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

RationalWiki:Community_Standards#Conduct says, . Accusations of fascism or comparisons to Hitler are also best avoided, yet we have Conservapedia:Fascism, and Essay:Conservapedia and Fascism, the latter written by the same author identified by name at wp:Conservapedia#Peter_Lipson. Do we have another instance of cp:Liberal deciet? RobSmith^{don't bother me} 00:39, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

Ahh, so we come full circle then. You're admitting that acting like a hypocrite is okay, because there are people of different political persuasions who also act like hypocrites. (At least that's what I could gather from the above word-salad.) If that's really how you feel, then invoke Hitler all you want, and by the "I'm rubber, you're glue" rule, you might even be making a valid point.

But let's get back to Obama and Mengele, shall we? Do you really believe that conservatives invoke Nazi doctors in their rhetoric to illustrate a nuanced historical point about "government funding and control"? Or are you just blowing smoke over turds to hide the identity of the ones who're laying them? Junggai (talk) 01:16, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

Mengele worked for a social/political system with govenrment funded and controlled healthcare. See cp:Hitler#Health_care_in_Nazi_Germany.

Remember the Golden Rule, He whose got the gold makes the rules. When the gubmint gots the gold, the gubmint makes the rules doctors who get paid by gubmint follow.

I oppose gubmint control of healthcare. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 02:11, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

And when the Republicans get the gubmint, well, nothing to see here, comrades! --Kels (talk) 03:47, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

Bulltwinkies. You got the Prescription Drug Benefit and another couple a trillion added to the debt. [5] GOPers can spend with the best of them and be just as irresponsible. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 05:14, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

You're a funny guy, Rob. Don't ever change, or take your medications as directed. --Kels (talk) 05:29, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

Bernardine Dohrn

Hi Rob, I'm directing this to you since you have a morbid fascination for leftists you can call terrorists and you've been editing this article the most, although it still more or less resembles the source TK lifted it from without attribution in December 2008. I guess that would explain why it's still thin on citations, right? Anyway, there are a few things I'm curious about that perhaps you'd be so good as to source. The article repeatedly refers to Dohrn as a disbarred attorney. What's the source for this? What state? I'll look it up for you if you know. I realize it's tough to source stuff that someone else wrote. Also, footnote 4 doesn't remotely support the claim that she's suspected of committing a murder in San Francisco. I'm pretty sure Conservapedia doesn't care about repeating defamatory statements against people Andy and his pals dislike, but you might as well source them if you can because Conservapedia is the trusworth encyclopedia. Look forward to hearing from you. 14:03, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

Will look into these. Shooting from the hip, she pleaded (or pled) guilty to bail jumping, was convicted, so can't hold a law licence in any state, AFAIK. The FBI informer, Larry Gratwohl, published a book in 1976 that says Ayers told him Bernardine planted the bomb. No one's ever discredited Gratwohl's sworn testimony before Congressional Committees. only recently did the SF cop union ask to reopen a cold case investigation, and rumors are they may be some physical evidence available thatg could not be processed back than. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 20:07, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

Unfortunately, conviction of most crimes isn't grounds for disbarment. Only crimes involving dishonest or a person's integrity. I don't think bail jumping counts, but since I don't know what state she was barred up in initially I can't check. She apparently was never an Illinois lawyer, as the records go back before Lincoln and don't get purged merely because someone is convicted of a crime (viz. Ed Vrdolyak). What state was she barred in? You should source the bombing statement in that article if you've got one. 23:03, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

wp:Bernardine_Dohrn#Later_life_and_career says, "was turned down by the Illinois ethics committee because of her criminal record," but of curse, I don't know how good a source WP is. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 03:25, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

I'd slap a fact tag on that one only because unless she or someone with personal knowledge said so, there aren't going to be public records of her application to the Illinois bar being rejected, which is what I take you to be saying. 22:20, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

It depends on what the common meaning or understanding of thbe word disbarment means. If we were to take WP's editors statement, there was a formal process and rendering of judgement that barred her from the practice of law, no? RobSmith^{don't bother me} 01:35, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

In Other News

You finally learned how to spell "bourgeois." I'm proud of you, man. Junggai (talk) 22:07, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

ty. I'm finally part of the educated classes. Highbrow. Upper crust. Ivory tower. The intellegensia. No mas stoopitsheet por mi. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 01:35, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Just don't start exhibiting professor values, or I'm afraid we'll have to convince TK to block you for "inserting liberal multiculturalism into articles." Junggai (talk) 13:23, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

It was all part of Rob's cunning plan to become CP's professor in situ, now that Rob & TK have succeeded in effectively driving off RJJensen, and with it the last shred of credibility CP had. --PsygremlinTala! 13:31, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Cartoons

Please have a whisper in Brian's ear and ask him to reinstate the weekly toon. We had so much fun with them and I, for one, kinda miss them. I'm not sure why he stopped, it seems Terry hasn't released that Blues Room discussion to the public yet - we're still hovering around December at the moment. --PsygremlinHable! 16:03, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Dear Ken... I mean Rob.

Just a hint, but when you post, how about using the preview button. And you make a gazillion changes al a Ken, how about using the minor edit button. Just think of all the poor electrons that are being scrambled unnecessarily, due to your thoughtless actions. --PsygremlinZungumza! 18:05, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

Just a friendly reminder

This was out-of-date before you posted it. If you read my response (and-a-half), neither am I young, nor have I avoided giving you a "rational" answer. I bothered to answer your question (in tedious detail), now bother to answer mine. And I ask you one thing, who would "tuck away a memento" of their own vandalism and then show up as a different user bragging about the vandalism?

By the way, that law you posted was hilarious. More nanny-statism by that liberal George Bush. Junggai (talk) 00:30, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

No, it was Arlen Specter, the GOPer who jumped shipped to the Democrats to provide a filibuster proof Senate, who wrote that law. And hey, Specter's back in the news today. [6] Better hope the opposition doesn't take back Congress, cause then (like Nixon & Watergate, Reagan & Iran/Contra or Clinton/Lewinsky) we know how an immobilized president will serve out the remainder of his term under investigation. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 00:53, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Nice Work!

I just discovered your Liberal Hate Speech article over at CP, but your work is somewhat incomplete. When are you going to start a Conservative Hate Speech article?--WJThomas (talk) 12:12, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

I have sent you an urgent email!

...or a talk page message rather, under the erroneous belief that you were still editing as User:RobS. It's over here. DickTurpis (talk) 22:27, 23 March 2010 (UTC)

Back to WP/Wales/Brandt/Berlet and all that

[Moved from other pages. Thanks Dick, I beleive this discussion is useful. Below your latest comment is my last posting I wished for you to review. At a minimum, please review BADSITES link, in its context, at a minimum. Thanks again. RobSmith]
I'm back from my trip and, being a bit of a masochist, I thought I'd have one final go at the earlier thread (now archived). I didn't look at many of the links you provided because frankly I don't see the point, and it doesn't seem worth my time. The original question put to you was pretty simple: how are the way WP and CP run in any way similar? You've as much as admitted they are not. Maybe someday, if I feel like wading through hundreds of WP pages, I'll look at the Berlet/Brandt issue some more, but I wouldn't count on it. The main issue of our discussion seemed to center on Jimbo's statement saying Brandt is not a reliable source. I read that and see a basic, factual statement (one even Brandt, if he is the private individual he claims to be, would agree with, it would seem). You read that and see it as a fatwa, or some sort of call to arms that WP editors have to fuck Brandt and fuck him so hard he never makes a peep again. I don't see it. Like all conspiracy theorists I've encountered, you're very good at projecting between the lines. Of course, I haven't seen the context in which Jimbo was speaking. Maybe that changes everything, but somehow I doubt it. DickTurpis (talk) 21:09, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Look at wp:Roots_of_anti-Semitism, it redirects to "Anti-semitism." All the material was either merged or deleted redirected. The only two sources were Karl Marx, and Chip Berlet. [7] After an extensive discussion on that talk page, wp:Talk:Roots_of_anti-Semitism#What counts as reputable? the concenesus among high level sysops was Merge & redirect. [8] Rangerdude proved Berlet was not a reputable source about anything other than himself. The problem was WP, in combating the LaRouche editors, and Jayjg to support his West Bank articles, and SlimVirgin in a myriad of disputes, all heavily relied on Berlet. Berlet's critics needed to be silenced as "marginal, fringe and extreme," so Daniel Brandt was attacked. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 16:10, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Addendum I: Much of this material was rehashed in the BADSITES case. We finally got a larger segment of the WP community to review that discussion at Talk/Roots of Anti-semitism and see the fraud. It was not long after that Berlet quit, SV & Jayjg were disciplined. Will Beback (User:Willmcw) also has had problems, I understand. But I'm now an editor in good standing, despite the fact SV said the BADSITES policy only targeted 5 websites: me, Brandt, Bagley, Michealmoore.com WikipediaReview (where me, Brandt, and Bagley talk) and Encyclopedia Dramatica. [9] RobSmith^{don't bother me} 17:09, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Addendum II: The best representative sample of response from the WP community over the Essjay scandal can be found here, wp:User talk:Essjay/There's a special circle of Hell reserved for duplicitous sacks of shit like you. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 18:15, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

I saw this when you posted it before, and it still doesn't really address anything I'm interested in. I looked at the badsites page, but without researching the background more it isn't easy to follow everything. I notice your website is the only one not mentioned by name. Might I ask what it is and if it still exists? I guess those were singled out by SlimVirgin as being the only one's she knew of that targeted specific WP sysops, is that basically true? (I know at least Brandt's site had some sort of wall of shame, which profiled certain sysops and gave as much personal information about them as he could find.) And was the verboten status those 5 websites a policy or just a proposal by SV?

The other stuff I'm just not interested in. You still haven't addressed my question about Jimbo's statement on Brandt. How is saying he is not a reliable source a personal attack, let alone a call to arms against him?

The Essjay saga I'm a bit more familiar with, and I think I can say pretty safely that you've blown the whole thing way out of proportion. Many people were mad at him for lying about who he was (and there were quite a few who defended him too) and in the end he was removed from his positions of authority and then retired from Wikipedia. He hasn't edited under that name since. Ironically, I seem to recall no one had issues with his edits themselves, before or after his true identity was revealed (to any large extent; you can always find some controversy with any editor). I believe his edits were by and large accurate and well sourced. He wasn't the expert he claimed to be, he was simply the best of the public. The controversy he created got some brief publicity, and angered some people, but did not lead to a mass exodus of quality WP editors. DickTurpis (talk) 05:35, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Here's the link. It is not my site. [10] SV thought it was, and we mediated it privately (w/MONGO as mediator). I have no intention or desire to out SV as the person identified there, and it will be noted cp:Wikipedia does not, nor ever has. And it was written before our private mediation. But this link provided does fill in much of the problems Brandt had w/WP which WP earnestly tried to prevent becoming public. Brandt woke up one day and discovered he was slandered in WP but didn't know why; my role was providing to Brandt the motive why, extensively repeated in CP's WP entry with all the diffs.

The BADSITES proposal failed. WP seriously frowns on "outing" true life identities of contributors, irregardless of content or issues. This is marked reversal of what WP claimed in the Siegenthaler incident, when an anonymous troll slandered someone and put WP on the map. Siegenthaler demanded accountability and catapulted WP from number 56 on Alexa to number 8. They pretended for awhile they were gonna become transparent & accountable, but slandering people made them famous. So you go with what works.

Slim named those 5 because 4, she beleived were trying to out her (she mistakenly accused me because my public conversations with Brandt at WR). The fifth was Encyclopedia Dramatica, already blacklisted in the MONGO arbcom case.

As to Jimbo & Brandt, the timeline worked like this: SV, me, Rangerdude & Berlet were in serious dispute on several pages over several issues. Rangerdude & me were subjected to serious sockpuppet, stalking, harassment and trolling cause Berlet, SV (and Will Beback) could not defeat us on the merits in content disputes. In the midst of one such dispute over "What is a credible source," Brandt was introduced. SV immediately created the Brandt bio. Berlet, allegedly a WP credible source per policies written by Slim, was used to call Brandt a fascist holocaust denier.

Brandt did not have clue what or why this was happening, and at first tried to moderate the content. But WP needed to protect Berlet because he was cited extensively to refute LaRouche editors. Brandt contacted Wales to get the entry changed or deleted and got no where. The Siegenthaler incident erupted simultaneously and Brandt ID the perp quickly. This all catapulted WP into the headlines and an interview with Editor & Pulbisher. When the magazine asked about Brandt (there was no BLP at the time), Wales parroted the party line, "I don't consider Brandt a credible source about anything at all." This was in the midst of both my & Rangerdude's arbitration (Rangerdude actually suffered through two cases, his own and named a co-defendent in mine), where a key point of contention between me, RD, SV, Berlet, and Will Beback was, What is a reputable source, Brandt or Berlet?" The policies Slim wrote said, "an extremist source can never be cited for anything other than itself." So which extemist source can be used to criticize the other, Brandt's criticism of Berlet, or Berlet's criticism of Brandt. Jimbo ruled in favor of Berlet and condemned Brandt as "not a valid critic of anything at all." Case closed. Me & RD lost. Berlet, SV, & Will Beback, with all thier policy violations and COIs, won. We got banned, and they got the go ahead to engage in the most outrageous conduct against others with no repercussions, slandering at will. Eventually it became too much and they had to be reigned in.

Essjay grew out of the Brandt dispute, and is closely related to BADSITES, i.e. "outing" CP editors. Brandt felt put upon because once Wales declared him persona non grata, together with all the suckup Admins willing to assist the Berlet/SlimVirgin/Will Beback jihad against dissenting views, was being slandered and attacked by literally hundreds in the WP Admin community, on site & offsite. Brandt fought back, started taking names and doing what he proved he could do in the Siegenthaler incident, ID abusers and hold people responsible. Brandt early on suspected Essjay was one such fraud and abuser, and after about 8 months, proved it was true. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 06:58, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Here's a first. You've managed to write several paragraphs of largely coherent material, basically staying on topic (and without once mentioning communism). I almost don't know how to react.

Some of this I was familiar with from back when this was going on and I peeked into it a bit. This is probably the first time I read a general summary of Brandt's side of the controversy. Missing is details of and links to SlimVirgin's abuse, but, really, I don't care enough to delve into that. I'd wager allegations against her are not entirely without foundation, but also I have to keep in mind I'm getting just one side of a controversy here.

Now, what I do have to balk at is that you seem to be creating a false dichotomy: either Brandt or Berlet was a reliable source in the eyes of WP and/or Jimbo. By Jimbo saying Brandt wasn't, he was saying Berlet was. I don't see how that follows. Usually the way these things at WP are handled are someone will point out "hey, this article relies a lot on citing some guy named Berlet. Is he a reliable source?" They'll be a discussion and eventually it will be taken somewhere for debate by the community, who may or may not reach a consensus on this. Maybe arbcom will get involved. Did that happen here? Was there a centralized discussion of Berlet as a reliable source? I'm sort of curious to see the arguments on both sides, though it is sort of water over the dam and this point.

Also, I think saying the Essjay controversy grew out of the Brandt dispute is a bit misleading, from what I recall about it. It seems to me Brandt's role was drawing attention to something Essjay had revealed himself when he got a job at Wikia (or whatever his new position was to be), that he was not who he had claimed to be. This might not have been a big deal at all, as at WP it doesn't matter who you are, it matters what you write (banned users being the exception), but he had claimed to be a professor in a field he worked extensively on. This proved quite controversial in a way that would not have been the case if his chosen persona had been a plumber or a real estate agent. So he retired. It is, of course entirely possible, maybe even likely, that he edits from a new account there, as a wikiaddiction of his caliber would probably be hard to quit cold turkey, but that doesn't matter. He was never banned, he editing itself seemed legit, and if he wants to start over he's free to. It would just behoove him not to claim expertise in a field he edits when he doesn't have any. DickTurpis (talk) 13:40, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

• Usually the way these things at WP are handled are someone will point out "hey, this article relies a lot on citing some guy named Berlet. Is he a reliable source?"

The link above that Slim mistakenly accused me of writing says,

"In late 2004, Chip entered the fray.

"He soon found an ally in "SlimVirgin", an editor that joined shortly after Chip in late 2004. Their politics were similar, and SlimVirgin quickly learned that the way to win debates at Wikipedia is not by presenting a reasoned argument, but by "gaming the system": one must familiarize oneself with the rules, loudly accuse one's opponent of violating them, and then get the opponent banned -- problem solved. SlimVirgin was so successful at playing this game that she quickly became an administrator or "admin," giving her the power to ban political opponents herself.

"Meanwhile, Chip also had something to offer to this symbiotic relationship. Wikipedia rules require that all opinions inserted into the articles must come from a previously published source. Voilà! Chip can write anything he likes, post it at the website of Political Research Associates, and it has been published! Suddenly Chip's writings were in demand, if not in the real world, at least in the nerd-obsessive battleground of Wikipedia."

The BADSITES link rehashes a discussion from WP:Roots of Anti-Semitism#What is a reliable source? Extracted:

SlimVirgin told ArbCom,

"'An extreme political website should never be used as a source for Wikipedia except in articles discussing the opinions of that organization or the opinions of a larger like-minded group,' a passage I (SlimVirgin) was the author of back in March. [466] What I meant by "extreme" was political groups like Stormfront, Hamas, or the Socialist Workers Party" [17]

The complainant [Rangerdude] in that case stated,

"Slim - Nothing you've quoted from NOR contradicts what I've quoted from WP:RS. In fact the section you cite giving the Socialist Worker's Party as an example of an extreme source actually seems to solidify my case against Mr. Berlet, as his biography openly boasts that he has done work with that group! If the Socialist Workers Party is not a reputable source as the section you quote states, would not the same be true of political activists who openly and proudly align with the Socialist Workers Party and dozens of other equally extremist organizations? [18]

Game, Set, Match, Rangerdude. Brandt then had to be destroyed as an "extremist" so he could not be used as "a source for anything other than himself." That's when Jimbo entered the fray, off wiki, in a reputable, reliable, verifiable, mainstream trade publication, (so as to avoid COI, which wasn't official policy then, nor UNDUE). And Jimbo's denying Brandt as an "expert on anything at all" supported Berlet, SV, Will Beback, Jayjg, and El_C's position.

Brandt first started the "Who is Essjay" thread in WikipediaReview in June 2006. Last I looked a few years ago, was WR most popular thread with 19,000 views. It probably still remains #1. The Essjay scandal became public in Feb- March 2007, the time you first heard about it. If you want good insights to what going on behind the scenes in the cabal, use WR. He's a link to thier site [11] Their bureacracy forum is always good scuttlebutt. RobSmith^{don't bother me} 17:36, 24 March 2010 (UTC l

A reminder

-- Nx / talk 17:48, 24 March 2010 (UTC)