Thursday, September 20, 2007

David Vitter's Page at Wikipedia: Acrimony or Objectivity?


Wikipedia.com--An interesting note: I perused the page and saw not one mention that Senator Vitter serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. There have been a number of disputes over "NPOV," or "Neutrality Point of View." I've joined and filed a request that the page for Senator Vitter be unlocked from "semi-protection." Also expedited was a post of a comment noting the fact on Vitter's committee post:

"Agreed Captain Annoying and Journalist1983. I believe it's time to end the semi-protection, incidentally. Why? Because nobody but long-term registered users can add information. This can effectively block new information that established users may be biased towards, yet is a solid, verifiable fact. For example: not one section contains the fact that Senator Vitter is a member of a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committe, and holds a security clearance [Ed.-Basically all elected representatives do, with few-exceptions.] It's verifiable with a quick search. As a result of Randall L. Tobias calling Ms. Palfrey's service, it's possible Vitter has committed an oversight failure. This can be proven eventually, but the basic facts are pertinent and deserve an airing. Individuals can challenge them after they've been posted for their veracity. ." [Final version, September 22nd, 2007]

It's @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:David_Vitter#Palfrey
Here's the request post to unlock David Vitter's page so that additional information is allowable to others besides "established users" and editors:

David Vitter (edittalkhistorylinkswatchlogs)
"Locked since July [10]. Lock is preventing the addition of crucial information on Senator Vitter's seat as a member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the fact that he was serving on it when calls were made by Randall L. Tobias to Deborah Jeane Palfrey's Pamela Martin and Associates. This is an oversight failure on Senator Vitter's part. Addition should be allowed to at least be challenged for veracity. User:MattJanovic/MattJanovic 3:09 EST, September 20, 2007." (both the 'talk' section post and unblock request were modestly edited again after midnight by the author. Final corrections, 22nd September, 2007.)

It was @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_page_protection (above the one for Che Guevara, how apropos)
I'm not drawing any conclusions yet, but look at the identities of some of the disputants, it's fairly telling in some areas. It's a hard call as to why Senate Ethics Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (R-Ca.) and Vice Chair Sen John Cornyn aren't moving on an ethics investigation of Sen. Vitter. Or are they? Usually ethics investigations are done "confidentially," so there could be one that's ongoing. We should be asking her and others in Congress why Sen. Vitter hasn't undergone an ethics investigation.

This is especially glaring when one considers that Sen. Larry E. Craig has been met by calls for an investigation from within his own party-ranks, even being induced to step-down from his committee and subcommittee positions. There hasn't been a peep on David Vitter being investigated.

Senator David Bruce Vitter, still being allowed to hear key testimony on September 11th, 2007 from General John Petraeus: http://vitter.senate.gov/?module=PressRoom/PressItem&ID=823a51f1-5a27-44af-82ef-87973fd52302

[Ed.-After checking Wikipedia around midnight tonight, the author discovered that a ruling has come from the board that has unblocked the article. Additions have been made, and only the facts known to the author at the time of the additions.]

[Ed., 09.13.2008--Again, I make no apologies for the additions. Bill Keisling should have made them himself, but I'm always ready to lend-a-hand in downing corrupt politicians. Politics makes for strange bedfellows. I leave it at that.]

8 comments:

  1. Matt, do you know HOW To unlock a wiki page.

    We have a former finance minister of Canada who has been investigated by the Serious Fraud offfice of Britain, cited by media and also being investigated by US authorites, the Germans and the Austrians about airbus scandals - the guy who did the money laundering in Czechoslovakia.

    Not a peep about this is mentioned in his wiki entry, and I cannot figure out how to make sure it gets entered.

    Do you know how? Sorry this is OT but I thought it's just ANOTHER sick example of Wiki on "certain" people.

    Another example I caught (and wish I'd saved the OLD entry) was the one on Henry Paulson! you know our vaulted Secretary of the Treasury. Now that entry has definitely been altered.

    Take the time folks and do this google "textanalytics"; it will show the precise software, sold by the CIA, that corporations and governments use to mess with wiki.

    Even the gamers have caught wiki out for this .. and nothing gets done about it.

    I put in an entry defining PRECISELY what cognitive dissonance is, and they took that out!! which is why I track these these alterations as I bump across them.

    More on that old theme: Your tax dollars at work. The CIA guys came up with a delicious tool to keep the crap flowing, the plutocracy at work.

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  2. Ms. Broadoak, you will need to join Wikipedia first if you haven't already. However, many editors who claim to be objective there are merely there to guard articles like the one you're mentioning. In Vitter's case, I would say that a certain professor who is a personal friend of Vitter's is guarding his page.

    My general advice: ignore Wikipedia as the Trojan Horse it most surely is, it's a joke. My opinion is that it was created purely as a front to manage and channel information on such topics. It would be unsurprising if they're a CIA-front of some sort. It's better to do raw searches anyway, the information will be unadulterated. Wikipedia is substantially worthless.

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  3. PS: Would you marry an American so he can flee this shit hole? ;0) Know any bachelorettes around 39, thereabouts?

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  4. You can unlock a Wiki page--theoretically--by factually challenging the assertions for the lock. I managed to get Vitter's unlocked, but that was IT. Fuck Wiki.

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  5. How cute ARE you??

    To be honest, the time to come to Canada was before The Harper came to power. He's SO busy destroying the place.

    Did you give textanalytics a try?

    Fascinating how the CIA will sell ANYTHING, and keep the profit$ from products that tax money paid to develop, isn't it.

    Back to Canada - this place will have a revolution before the US, the average Canuck is far more furious at the current situation!! but I assure you, this is a very different culture. I lived in the UK for many years, too, so I know all three really well. Canada is DIFFERENT.

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  6. Oh, I'm fairly good-looking, not any worse looking than David Cronenberg at my age (39). ;0) I was awestruck at how beautiful Canadian women are, and so friendly and congenial. American women have a tendency to be about as friendly as a slum dweller in 1880s Whitechappel, London or NYC. Ah well...

    I don't know, I would imagine even with that idiot Stephen Harper, you folks have the brains to undo everything he's done, you're take action people. In America, if it doesn't affect you, you don't usually care since you have no concept of the common good, the social contract, etc. . Americans are basically pigs. Just look at how many of them ever bother discussing the real issues in comments on this site...virtually nil.

    However, Chomsky has stated in September that he felt revolution is boiling just underneath the surface here too, we might both be surprised, and people are beginning to get active here again. We'll see. Also: you guys are still overdue for revolution. ;0)

    I will check that textanalytics out, it sounds like its right up my alley, which tends towards analysis of potential intelligence activities (nefarious once, naturally).

    Canada's a much more human friendly culture than America, but I believe that's well established. There are some great things here, but they're simply not enough. The reasons for that are complicated, but it can be summarized in how it was originally colonized, and how the aftermath of the American Revolution played-out legalistically.

    It might have been a better idea to stay in the Commonwealth after all, since law was followed more closely. It's hard to say, though, history isn't about 'what ifs,' but what happened. However, being in Toronto made me realize life would have been happier in Canada, and I probably wouldn't look back if I left here. That's not in-the-cards, however. This was never my country.

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  7. I live in exile as a prisoner of the War on Drugs - CLINTON directly interfered with my case. I am no fan of US justice, but then not of Canadian justice either. I was fortunate in finding the allies I did up here. The courts themselves surely did NOT take my side - and that includes the new Pres. of Amnesty International, Alex Neve, btw. Honest RCMP guys, a government prosecuter, and my Immigration Canada officials were great though.

    I am STILL American, down to my bones .. a MINNESNOWDAN, really. But the son who is with me is DEFINITELY a Canuck. So I have a loyalty here now . just like many draft dodgers of the 60s do.

    If you post me via email, I'll tell you how I got onto textanalytics and put you on my emails on intelligence, bioterror, eugenics, all the filthy little secrets.

    We cannot go on meeting like THIS forever!!

    The Toronto Star is NOT known for its cultural imperative, btw. And David Cronenberg is much admired by most. I have friends who were in his movies ... I do the blockbusters as a background extra from time to time. But getting in a Cronenberg gets you REAL points up here.

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  8. Email from my profile, I can't find your email link! ;0) I had a feeling you were American, and Minnesota is one of those states that's better than where I am--Indiana. At some point, I'll probably have to flee here over my views and actions, particularly relating to my work on covering the Palfrey scandal.

    Nothing strange has happened yet, but as I never intend to stop hammering these fuckers--including phony 'progressives' like Moveon, et. al.--getting into trouble is likely assured, and I'm not even remotely breaking any laws here. If Americans don't start waking-up, they might find themselves in a total police state before they know it, brought to us by smiling Democrats and all the rest of the whores who service the system here.

    I would leave tomorrow if another developed nation granted me citizenship, but the struggle to survive likely wouldn't change much. The fact that Clinton interfered with your case is unsurprising, and most Americans who think he was much better than either Bush are complete fools...as is the wont of most Americans.

    Yeah, Amnesty International is a crock, go-figure. I'd rather be an American writer in-exile, something like the next Vonnegut, only expatriated. I don't have his experiences, but I'm about to write some semi-autobiographical that will include my deceased grandfather's experiences in them.

    I have every expectation that my fiction is going to be very solid. My viewpoint and experiences are unique in this era, particularly for a native of Indiana, just like Kurt's was. I'm a socialist, philosophically, and one of my all-time heroes is Eugene Debs.

    Very cool about the Cronenberg info, I've dreamed of meeting him since I was 12, sigh...

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