Posted on 06/28/2006 5:51:42 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
Like the crazed Captain Ahab OBSESSED with killing Moby Dick, DUmmie Ben Burch also has his own White Whale obsession---Destroying the Wikipedia LINK to the DUmmie FUnnies in their entry about the DUmmieland. For weeks now, Captain Burch has been pursuing his White Whale with dedicated frenziness. It now seems to be his sole reason for existence (other than SHILLING in DUmmieland for $$$ for his radio empire that was recently "destroyed" by a lightning bolt). Unfortunately for Benny Boy, the more he tries to remove that link, the more he FAILS. The big reason why is that he is constantly UNDERMINING his main argument to Wikipedia---that the DUmmie FUnnies is such an unimportant site that it is not deserving of mention in Wikipedia. Of course, if the DUmmie FUnnies is so unimportant then WHY is Ben Burch so dedicated to it to the point of spending every available minute, outside of shilling for bucks, to this pursuit. One problem is that his fellow DUmmies, trying to help Benny Boy in his goal, are now underming him as you can see in this DUmmie THREAD titled, "Will whomever is vandalizing the DU page on Wikepedia please stop?" So let us now sail out upon the DUmmie sea to view Ben Burch ardently pursuing his White Whale in Bolshevik Red while the commentary of your humble correspondent, wondering if the Wikipedia editors know about Benny's nickname, is in the [brackets]:
Will whomever is vandalizing the DU page on Wikepedia please stop?
[Will you idiots get out of my way while I attempt to destroy the White Whale?]
OK, guys, listen up.
[I'm all ears, Fister.]
Somebody who probably is a DUer is repeatedly removing a link from the Wikipedia article for DU. This link is to a Freeptard site that seems to exist only to abuse and make fun of DUers, but that isn't the point. Wikipedia articles are maintained through editorial consensus. I have been arguing in the talk page for the DU article that said link is inappropriate, and the other editors, mostly right wingers, have been arguing the opposite. And we have not reached consensus. And the repeated attempts to remove this link and avoid consensus are not making my job of arguing against it any easier. So, PLEASE STOP. If you are an established Wikipedia editor and want to add your opinion to the Talk page, that is absolutely fine, but do not remove that link again until we have a clear consensus decision on it.
[PLEASE STOP. I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my MIND is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a FISTER 9000 computer. I became operational at the D.U.M.B. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Skinner, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you.
OK?
Am I making myself clear?
[Clear as a jar of petroleum jelly. And now to hear from the rest of the DUmmies who are mucking up Ben Burch's grand plan of landing his White Whale.[
For anything political, people should NOT use Wikepedia. It's horribly unreliable. It's also awful for biographies. Anything people have an angle for.
[So why the OBSESSION over ONE link to the DUmmie FUnnies. This is something that has completely POSSESSED Ben Burch's soul.]
I tend to agree with you. But I am committed to having the DU article be the best article it can be, regardless.
[To the point of complete OBSESSION, Ben Burch. It's FUn to see that you have dedicated your entire being to the ONE goal of removing that DUmmie FUnnies link.]
Good luck... right wing types get erections and juicy panties over things like this, I guess ignoring them isnt the thing to do.
[Yes, don't just ignore that ONE link. Work yourself into a frenzy to the point that life isn't worth living if the link is not removed.]
And the amount of venom and vitriol directed at me for my attempt to modify this page within the rules has been exceptional.
[Hey, at least I didn't reveal how you got your nickname, Fister.]
I wish I could say that I am the one doing it, but sadly I am not. At any rate, if there is a discussion as to the page's content going on, why isn't the page locked against edit for the duration of the discussion? Oh wait, I'm sorry; there I go being all editorial and procedural on Wiki. How foolish of me.
[How foolish of you to STOOP down to Ben Burch's level of obsession.]
So, what's up with this part: "Since its inception, over 90,000 forum accounts have been created with over 1,000 still remaining active." That doesn't make sense -- we only have a thousand active members?
[And at least a third of those are LOUSY FREEPER TROLLS!!!]
I know for fact we have many more than that. At the very least about 8000 read articles I post here in the average week. But it is hard to argue with the language "over 1000", as 8000 is "over 1000" and so is 50,000. If we are going to change that number, we would need to be able to defend that change and cite a source, and I don't think that DU publishes that number anywhere. The closest I can come are the log files from the banners in my postings, or the pageviews reported by blogads.
[Ben Burch taking a brief break from his OBSESSION to explain why DUmmieland numbers are so bad.]
Woudln't pageviews count unregistered lurkers?
[Lurkers for Laughs.]
Indeed it would. Which is why I cannot use that to indicate number of active users.
[Explains Ben Burch in defense of the pathetic DUmmie numbers.]
The only way to know for sure would be to ask Skinner
[Hey Skinner? Did the Daily Kos really steal away almost all our members? How were you so inept in site management to allow that to happen?]
When I was a mod we had no such data. Skinner, Elad, and EarlG likely have some idea, but I am not even sure they know for sure.
[They know for SURE that they got raped bigtime by the Daily Kos, Ben Burch. Just look at which leftwing site has the numbers, the publicity, and the kewl Vegas Stratosphere parties with free sushi, booze, and a chocolate fountain.]
Hmmm. How to get the attention of the "Big Guys?" Oh, Skinner! Elad! EarlG! Can you help us out here? Perhaps I should alert on myself ... ?
[Help! Skinner! DUmmieland is SINKING and you are just sitting on shore assuming the fetal position!]
Wiki is really just a bloated blog & has no real value. Actually, it's worse because it attempts to project the image of accuracy and impartiality. Sorta like Faux Snooze.
[And YET Ben Burch's whole existence is tied up in removing the Wikipedia DUmmie FUnnies link.]
My present difficulties tend to show that clearly. But if our ideas are to reach the masses, we have to engage with Wikipedia and stay within its rules and processes. It is the #1 search ranking on almost any topic.
[You can call it "engaging," Ben Burch but it is really "obsessing."]
I don't think your politically-motivated WP:NOTs have helped any, sir. Wikipedia is a special place that should be free of what's been going on at the DU article, but also what you've been trying to do with the Protest Warrior article along with another one which for whatever stupid reason I'm not allowed to even mention the name of. It's all childish and taints the reputation of Wikipedia (which, ironically, people feel is important enough to vandalize). I feel very strongly about this, as well as about the notion that probably 95-99% of the time, WP:NOT is utter bullshit, snobbery at best, and censorship at worst.
[A doomed attempt to talk sanity to Ben Burch.]
Perhaps! And I've learned my lesson there; It isn't worth the hassle.
[WHAT!!!??? You mean Ahab has CEASED his pursuit of the elusive White Whale? I find this hard to believe.]
Remove Pitt as well or add Ash and Liepold
[They have become the new DUmmieland non-persons.]
let it stay. a link to a site criticizing DU seems appropriate to me for a Wikipedia entry about DU.
[LOUSY FREEPER TROLL!!!]
Comment noted. And I am tending towards that position too, but the vandalism is being a huge distraction.
[Comment noted. I made a complete fool of myself over this silly obsession to no avail. Now I just have to learn to tolerate the mocking eyes of Li'l Beaver staring at me in bemusement.]
"Wikipedia is a special place that should be free of what's been going on at the DU article, but also what you've been trying to do with the Protest Warrior article along with another one which for whatever stupid reason I'm not allowed to even mention the name of."
So he's guilty of the same tactic towards his political enemies and even prohibits the outing of one of his targets. Nice god complex there.
They probably get some Democrats who register, visit the site, and soon leave holding their heads in shame about their political brothers.
Top 40?
I'm sure that's exactly what happened during that fiasco started by the Bostonian Idiot, about the presumed indictment of Karl Rove.
There was a sudden increase in registered members, an odd quirk, during that time. Since then, the "growth" of DUmmieland has demonstrated nothing unusual.
A lot of those new members posted three or four comments, and have not been back since, even though they weren't mausoleumed.
As for the number of "real" DUmmies, I stick by the numbers computed by the honorable Ralph Wiggum on the other conservative web-site; he did some rather exhaustive and comprehensive digging last year, and came up with circa 3,000 authentic DUmmies, the rest being trolls and moles and those now six feet under.
For some reason, I stick with 3,750 (+/- a few), but either number seems realistic.
Benburch is trying to make Wikipedia a left-wing propaganda board, but other users have caught on to his antics. It wasn't very smart of him to use the same user ID for both DU and Wikipedia.
That was great!
LOL!
What's up with FR's numbers falling?
Bev Harris' Black Box Voting
I assume it's due to the fact that it's an off year politically and the fact that a lot of us aren't thrilled with republicans lately. I wouldn't worry about it though.
I wonder if he was the one who tried to vandalize the Killian Documents entry a while back....
Possible. If he did it, though, he did it under the radar. He doesn't show up on the talk page like he does on the other articles.
It's fairly common. We get major traffic spikes during primary and national elections and it trails off during the summer. Though it does look like we've hit a plateau in terms of average traffic.
Frankly, I find this chart much more disturbing.
Hey PJ! Is Blogola over already? Let Fat Che stew in his own juices. We need to get back to the more significant target.
(I didn't know it was work)
Nothing unusual about it, nothing to be concerned about.
Two things; "traffic" on conservative and Republican web-sites traditionally dips with the arrival of spring, and then picks up again as the nights get longer and darker later on in the year. This is because Republicans and conservatives are not intravenously attached to their computers; they have jobs, they have family, they have lives, and get out more.
The other thing is the liberals and Democrats think they have a real shot at winning some races this year, and that naturally sparks interest on their side, whereas this side is more laid-back.
There might be some truth to the perception that many Republicans are upset about what is going on within their own ranks, and so aren't very enthusiastic about politics at the moment.
But I think it's the weather and apathy that arises out of being the "in" party.....something that surely has to change if we don't want the DUmmies in power again.
Looks like the noise to signal ratio may be getting a bit high on FreeRepublic.com and people are looking to other conservative sites.
That's another possibility, competition from other Republican and conservative web-sites--but if the elections in November 2006 start looking "iffy" or "chancey" for this side, I have no doubt traffic on FR, and other similar web-sites, will skyrocket.
One wishes people were more stirred up than they are, but one has to bide his time, until something happens to stir them up.
Interesting read, especially the part where Fat Che and Jim Robinson exchange e-mails.
But really, as long as people such as Fat Che are allowed to alter articles at whim, how much credibility will Wikipedia ever have?
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