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I'm Art LaPella. Born in 1951. I live near [[Seattle]], U.S. When I was a kid I did well in most any class that didn't require an essay, but essays made me feel almost suicidal, because I didn't feel I had anything worth saying until I was about 30. Now it's a lot easier, although I haven't written any Wikipedia articles. I did write http://www.quantumonline.com/InvestmentRisks.cfm elsewhere. But mostly, I get a kick out of just skimming thru for typos, spelling etc., and many of the articles are fun to read anyway. When everyone else misses simple errors like [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_W._Bush&diff=58301063&oldid=58232384 these] on what was then Wikipedia's [[Special:Mostrevisions|most heavily edited page]], I almost feel as if I'm creating Wikipedia by myself. Doesn't someone have to make edits with as many details as [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Marine_Corps_Amphibious_Reconnaissance_Battalion&diff=302184252&oldid=296521777 this one]? I do as much, or more, than anyone else to keep simple errors off the Main Page.[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Art_LaPella&diff=224886977&oldid=222694722] [http://toolserver.org/~daniel/WikiSense/Contributors.php?wikilang=en&wikifam=.wikipedia.org&page=Wikipedia%3AMain+Page%2FErrors&since=&until=&grouped=on&order=-rev_timestamp&max=100&order=-rev_timestamp&format=html] Lately I've been doing [[WP:AWB|AutoWikiBrowser]] (AWB) edits, explained at [[User:Art LaPella/AWB explanation]], and copyediting [[Simple English Wikipedia]], which is probably the future for readers. But I should really be getting back to my real job. That's playing the stock market, controlled by a program I wrote and keep maintaining.
I'm Art LaPella. Born in 1951. I live near [[Seattle]], U.S. When I was a kid I did well in most any class that didn't require an essay, but essays made me feel almost suicidal, because I didn't feel I had anything worth saying until I was about 30. Now it's a lot easier, although I haven't written any Wikipedia articles. I did write [http://www.quantumonline.com/InvestmentRisks.cfm this financial article] elsewhere. But mostly, I get a kick out of just skimming thru for typos, spelling etc., and many of the articles are fun to read anyway. When everyone else misses simple errors like [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States&diff=prev&oldid=624490314 these] on what was then Wikipedia's [[User:Malerisch/views|most read Vital Article]], I almost feel as if I'm creating Wikipedia by myself. Doesn't someone have to make edits with as many details as [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Marine_Corps_Amphibious_Reconnaissance_Battalion&diff=302184252&oldid=296521777 this one]? I do as much, or more, than anyone else to keep simple errors off the Main Page.[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Art_LaPella&diff=224886977&oldid=222694722] [http://toolserver.org/~daniel/WikiSense/Contributors.php?wikilang=en&wikifam=.wikipedia.org&page=Wikipedia%3AMain+Page%2FErrors&since=&until=&grouped=on&order=-rev_timestamp&max=100&order=-rev_timestamp&format=html] But I should really be getting back to my real job. That's playing the stock market, controlled by a program I wrote and keep maintaining.


Here are my Points Of View on the screamier subjects no one ever agrees on: I lost my faith, but I still believe in traditional ethics, most anyone's traditional ethics, justified as [[kinship altruism]] rather than spirituality. So what you think is hostility could be what I think is justice. It would be nice if ethics could be taught rationally, but often one gets a better understanding of human interactions from the religious extremists than from the political correctness cult that has taken over the "social sciences". If we can't talk about racial differences honestly, we can't investigate what probably caused the current (2008) financial crisis for example, although the [[Community Reinvestment Act]] article hints at it. Conservatives should put less effort into persuading a majority of fools to vote for them. Instead, they should be organizing a new civilization where [[free lunch]] believers, and the demagogues who lead them, don't make the rules. See [[Seasteading]] for instance. Or even the [[Mars Colonial Transporter]]. Honesty is part of both religion and the scientific method, but dishonesty in religion is called faith, and dishonesty in science is called political correctness. I often agree with [[Ayn Rand]], but I don't call myself [[Objectivist]], mainly for fear of being mistaken for a dogmatic [[wikt:true believer|true believer]].
I occasionally notice something scientific that should be added or corrected, or some bad statistics. Every once in a while I come to a place where there's a Point Of View I've always wanted to express – within the rules of course. Here's one right now: I don't mean "POV". I hate most acronyms, because the time saved among those who understand them is often cancelled by the time lost by those who don't, and most acronyms are more driven by vanity than efficiency.


Also see the end of a page from [http://lapella.net/wordstorylapellaartkathy.doc my wife's genealogy website], and my [[User:Art LaPella/Devil's Dictionary of Wikipedia Policy|Devil's Dictionary of Wikipedia Policy]].
Here are my Points Of View on the screamier subjects no one ever agrees on: I lost my faith, but I still believe in traditional ethics, most anyone's traditional ethics, justified as [[kinship altruism]] rather than spirituality. So what you think is hostility could be what I think is justice. It would be nice if ethics could be taught rationally, but often one gets a better understanding of human interactions from the religious extremists than from the political correctness cult that has taken over the "social sciences". If we can't talk about racial differences honestly, we can't investigate what probably caused the current (2008) financial crisis for example, although the [[Community Reinvestment Act]] article hints at it. Conservatives should put less effort into persuading a majority of fools to vote for them. Instead, they should be organizing a new civilization where [[free lunch]] believers, and the demagogues who lead them, don't make the rules. See [[Seasteading]] for instance. Honesty is part of both religion and the scientific method, but dishonesty in religion is called faith, and dishonesty in science is called political correctness. I often agree with [[Ayn Rand]], but I don't call myself [[Objectivist]], mainly for fear of being mistaken for a dogmatic [[wikt:true believer|true believer]].


If Wikipedia dies, it will be because: 1) An influential faction, and close to a consensus, has decided that experienced Wikipedians don't need to be as civil as newcomers. What's worse, is that so many otherwise respectable Wikipedians are pretending that we have the opposite problem, which makes a constructive discussion impossible, as well as making it hard to believe them about anything else. Or 2) [[Wikipedia:Link rot]]. [[Wikipedia:Verifiability]] is a joke when half our references are dead links. And elaborate instructions for how we can fix one link at a time are not a serious solution to millions of dead links. Nothing should be considered really referenced until we can come up with a reference that doesn't self-destruct.
Also see the end of a page from my wife's genealogy website, http://lapella.net/wordstorylapellaartkathy.doc , and my [[User:Art LaPella/Devil's Dictionary of Wikipedia Policy|Devil's Dictionary of Wikipedia Policy]].


===="Encyclopedic" obscurity====
===="Encyclopedic" obscurity====
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<div class="NavHead" style="text-align: left; background-color: Lightsteelblue; color:navy;">Awards</div>
<div class="NavHead" style="text-align: left; background-color: Lightsteelblue; color:navy;">Awards</div>
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{| style="border: 1px solid {{{border|gray}}}; background-color: {{{color|#fdffe7}}};"
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|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Original Barnstar'''
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Original Barnstar'''
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|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | ''A token of gratitude for your helping hand with the following [[WP:DYK|DYK]] level articles: [[Kupa Synagogue]], [[Augustów Canal]], [[Niedzica Castle]], [[Dunajec River Gorge]], [[St. Florian's Church]], [[Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska]] and [[Florian Gate]]''. Thank you. -- [[User:Poeticbent|Poeticbent]] [[User_talk:Poeticbent|<small><font style="color:#FFFFFF;background:#FF88AF;"><span style="border:1px solid #DF2929;">&nbsp;talk&nbsp;</span></font></small>]] 18:34, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | ''A token of gratitude for your helping hand with the following [[WP:DYK|DYK]] level articles: [[Kupa Synagogue]], [[Augustów Canal]], [[Niedzica Castle]], [[Dunajec River Gorge]], [[St. Florian's Church]], [[Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska]] and [[Florian Gate]]''. Thank you. -- [[User:Poeticbent|Poeticbent]] [[User_talk:Poeticbent|<small><span style="color:#FFFFFF;background:#FF88AF;"><span style="border:1px solid #DF2929;">&nbsp;talk&nbsp;</span></span></small>]] 18:34, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
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|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Copyeditor's Barnstar'''
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Copyeditor's Barnstar'''
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|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Please accept my sincere thanks, Art, for helping to bring the following articles to the front page of Wikipedia as [[Wikipedia:Did you know|'''DYK''']]s: [[Lucjan Dobroszycki]], [[Collegium Novum]], [[Church of St. Wojciech]], [[Henryk Jordan]], [[Agricultural University of Kraków]], [[Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts]], [[The Pontifical Academy of Theology]], [[Jordan Park]], and [[Polish Jura Chain]]. I hope this little barnstar will be able to express my gratitude. --[[User:Poeticbent|<font face="Papyrus" color="darkblue"><b>Poeticbent</b></font>]] [[User_talk:Poeticbent|<small><font style="color:#FFFFFF;background:#FF88AF;border:1px solid #DF2929;padding:0.0em 0.2em;">talk</font></small>]] 04:33, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Please accept my sincere thanks, Art, for helping to bring the following articles to the front page of Wikipedia as [[Wikipedia:Did you know|'''DYK''']]s: [[Lucjan Dobroszycki]], [[Collegium Novum]], [[Church of St. Wojciech]], [[Henryk Jordan]], [[Agricultural University of Kraków]], [[Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts]], [[The Pontifical Academy of Theology]], [[Jordan Park]], and [[Polish Jura Chain]]. I hope this little barnstar will be able to express my gratitude. --[[User:Poeticbent|<b style="font-family:Papyrus; color:darkblue;">Poeticbent</b>]] [[User_talk:Poeticbent|<small><span style="color:#FFFFFF;background:#FF88AF;border:1px solid #DF2929;padding:0.0em 0.2em;">talk</span></small>]] 04:33, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
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|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Anti-Flame Barnstar'''
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Anti-Flame Barnstar'''
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|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Dear Art LaPella, please accept this Anti-Flame Barnstar for keeping cool in a prolonged [[WP:COIN|conflict of interest debate]], as well as your exemplary attempts at resolving it with Wiki best interest in mind. [[User:Poeticbent|<font face="Papyrus" color="darkblue"><b>Poeticbent</b></font>]] [[User_talk:Poeticbent|<small><font style="color:#FFFFFF;background:#FF88AF;border:1px solid #DF2929;padding:0.0em 0.2em;">talk</font></small>]] 16:22, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Dear Art LaPella, please accept this Anti-Flame Barnstar for keeping cool in a prolonged [[WP:COIN|conflict of interest debate]], as well as your exemplary attempts at resolving it with Wiki best interest in mind. [[User:Poeticbent|<b style="font-family:Papyrus; color:darkblue;">Poeticbent</b>]] [[User_talk:Poeticbent|<small><span style="color:#FFFFFF;background:#FF88AF;border:1px solid #DF2929;padding:0.0em 0.2em;">talk</span></small>]] 16:22, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
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|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Barnstar of Recovery'''
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Barnstar of Recovery'''
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|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Dear Art LaPella. Please accept this Recovery Barnstar in gratitude for your work at helping to save [[Anna Borkowska]] from [[W:CP]] report. Thank you!<br>[[User:Poeticbent|<font face="Papyrus" color="darkblue"><b>Poeticbent</b></font>]] [[User_talk:Poeticbent|<small><font style="color:#FFFFFF;background:#FF88AF;border:1px solid #DF2929;padding:0.0em 0.2em;">talk</font></small>]] 15:41, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Dear Art LaPella. Please accept this Recovery Barnstar in gratitude for your work at helping to save [[Anna Borkowska]] from [[W:CP]] report. Thank you!<br>[[User:Poeticbent|<b style="font-family:Papyrus; color:darkblue;">Poeticbent</b>]] [[User_talk:Poeticbent|<small><span style="color:#FFFFFF;background:#FF88AF;border:1px solid #DF2929;padding:0.0em 0.2em;">talk</span></small>]] 15:41, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
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===Thanks===
===Thanks===
..for keeping an eye on me {{smile}} --[[User:Ida Shaw|Ida Shaw]] ([[User talk:Ida Shaw|talk]]) 13:11, 5 February 2010 (UTC)
..for keeping an eye on me {{smiley}} --[[User:Ida Shaw|Ida Shaw]] ([[User talk:Ida Shaw|talk]]) 13:11, 5 February 2010 (UTC)




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== Precious again ==

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'''corrections'''<br />
Thank you for quality educational correction of mistakes in spelling, grammar and {{diff|Wikipedia:Today's featured_article/October 11, 2012|516933224|516755563|meaning}}, to make articles look their best on the Main page, - repeating: you are an [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Quality Article Improvement/PumpkinSky Prize|awesome Wikipedian]] (4 June 2010)! --[[User:Gerda Arendt|Gerda Arendt]] ([[User talk:Gerda Arendt|talk]]) 07:54, 10 October 2012 (UTC)
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Two years ago, you were the 269th recipient of my '''[[User:PumpkinSky|<span style="color:orange;">Pumpkin</span>]][[User talk:PumpkinSky|Sky]]''' [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Quality Article Improvement/PumpkinSky Prize|Prize]], repeated in [[User talk:Br'er Rabbit/Archive|br'er]]ly style, --[[User:Gerda Arendt|Gerda Arendt]] ([[User talk:Gerda Arendt|talk]]) 08:52, 10 October 2014 (UTC)



{| style="background-color: #fdffe7; border: 1px solid #fceb92;"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 5px;" | [[File:Original Barnstar Hires.png|100px]]
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 3px 3px 0 3px; height: 1.5em;" | '''The Original Barnstar'''
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|style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 3px;" | For fixing my abominably bad English..SEcond langauge by me... Thanks Art [[User:BrianGroen|BrianGroen]] ([[User talk:BrianGroen|talk]]) 06:08, 14 November 2014 (UTC)
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{| style="border: 1px solid gray; background-color: #fdffe7;"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:middle;" | [[Image:Medic Barnstar Hires.png|100px]]
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|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Medic Barnstar'''
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|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | for your non-stop assistance on Ebola (west Africa) article [[User:Ozzie10aaaa|Ozzie10aaaa]] ([[User talk:Ozzie10aaaa|talk]]) 20:08, 19 November 2014 (UTC)
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and for putting up with my poor punctuation--[[User:Ozzie10aaaa|Ozzie10aaaa]] ([[User talk:Ozzie10aaaa|talk]]) 20:08, 19 November 2014 (UTC)

== A cup of coffee for you! ==

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|style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 5px;" | [[File:Cup-o-coffee-simple.svg|120px]]
|style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 3px;" | Hi Art this is a thank you to you for fixing my abominably bad English. Greeting Brian [[User:BrianGroen|BrianGroen]] ([[User talk:BrianGroen|talk]]) 06:16, 28 March 2015 (UTC)
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<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
:''please help translate this message into the local language''
{| style="background-color: #fdffe7; border: 1px solid #fceb92;"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 5px;" | [[File:Wiki Project Med Foundation logo.svg|100px]]
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 3px 3px 0 3px; height: 1.5em;" | '''The Cure Award'''
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| style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 3px;" | In 2015 you were one of the [[W:EN:Wikipedia:WikiProject_Medicine/Stats/Top_medical_editors_2015_(all)|top 300 medical editors]] across any language of Wikipedia. Thank you from [[m:WikiProject_Med|Wiki Project Med Foundation]] for helping bring free, complete, accurate, up-to-date health information to the public. We really appreciate you and the vital work you do! Wiki Project Med Foundation is a user group whose mission is to improve our health content. Consider joining '''[[meta:Wiki_Project_Med#People_interested|here]]''', there are no associated costs, and we would love to collaborate further.
|}


{{CopyEditor's BarnStar|message= Art, as the '''[[West African Ebola virus epidemic]]''', draws to an end[http://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.ebola-sitrep.ebola-summary-latest?lang=en] in regards to '''flare-ups''', I wanted to say its been a pleasure working with you (lets hope it doesn't come back)...ozzie...|S=-[[User:Ozzie10aaaa|Ozzie10aaaa]] ([[User talk:Ozzie10aaaa|talk]]) 13:10, 28 May 2016 (UTC)}}

{| style="background-color: #fdffe7; border: 1px solid #fceb92;"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 5px;" | [[File:Rosetta Barnstar Hires.png|100px]]
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 3px 3px 0 3px; height: 1.5em;" | '''The Rosetta Barnstar'''
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|style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 3px;" | thanks for the help on Panama Papers. Nobody currently working on the article speaks Spanish. [[User:Elinruby|Elinruby]] ([[User talk:Elinruby|talk]]) 18:23, 21 June 2016 (UTC)
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{| style="border: 1px solid gray; background-color: #F8EABA;"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:middle;" | [[File:Barnstar of Life.png|100px]]
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|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Medicine Barnstar'''
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|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Art, thank you for your copyediting on [[2018 Kivu Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola virus outbreak]],recent events[https://www.axios.com/democratic-republic-congo-ebola-virus-rebel-attacks-ed232f4f-4479-44e0-bbd2-c71452f579d8.html] indicate this will be a long one and Im thankful to have your help ...Oz [[User:Ozzie10aaaa|Ozzie10aaaa]] ([[User talk:Ozzie10aaaa|talk]]) 15:27, 22 October 2018 (UTC)
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{| style="background-color: #fdffe7; border: 1px solid #fceb92;"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 5px;" | [[File:Special Barnstar Hires.png|100px]]
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 3px 3px 0 3px; height: 1.5em;" | '''The Special Barnstar'''
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|style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 3px;" | Congratulations on being the most accurate predicter of the "billionth edit" [[User:Fuzheado|Fuzheado]] | [[User talk:Fuzheado|Talk]] 16:26, 13 January 2021 (UTC)
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<div class="NavHead" style="text-align: left; background-color: Lightsteelblue; color:navy;">Links</div>
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[[User:Art LaPella/AWB list]]
[[User:Art LaPella/AWB list]]
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[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Main_Page&diff=611623178&oldid=611622102 How to censor]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Main_Page&diff=611623178&oldid=611622102 How to censor]

[http://toolserver.org/~dispenser/cgi-bin/rdcheck.py RdCheck]

[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk%3AJayron32&type=revision&diff=795798088&oldid=794698180 Picture of the Day protected version]

[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Main_Page/Errors&diff=next&oldid=807314598 POTD sentence fragments]


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Latest revision as of 08:19, 2 March 2023

I'm Art LaPella. Born in 1951. I live near Seattle, U.S. When I was a kid I did well in most any class that didn't require an essay, but essays made me feel almost suicidal, because I didn't feel I had anything worth saying until I was about 30. Now it's a lot easier, although I haven't written any Wikipedia articles. I did write this financial article elsewhere. But mostly, I get a kick out of just skimming thru for typos, spelling etc., and many of the articles are fun to read anyway. When everyone else misses simple errors like these on what was then Wikipedia's most read Vital Article, I almost feel as if I'm creating Wikipedia by myself. Doesn't someone have to make edits with as many details as this one? I do as much, or more, than anyone else to keep simple errors off the Main Page.[1] [2] But I should really be getting back to my real job. That's playing the stock market, controlled by a program I wrote and keep maintaining.

Here are my Points Of View on the screamier subjects no one ever agrees on: I lost my faith, but I still believe in traditional ethics, most anyone's traditional ethics, justified as kinship altruism rather than spirituality. So what you think is hostility could be what I think is justice. It would be nice if ethics could be taught rationally, but often one gets a better understanding of human interactions from the religious extremists than from the political correctness cult that has taken over the "social sciences". If we can't talk about racial differences honestly, we can't investigate what probably caused the current (2008) financial crisis for example, although the Community Reinvestment Act article hints at it. Conservatives should put less effort into persuading a majority of fools to vote for them. Instead, they should be organizing a new civilization where free lunch believers, and the demagogues who lead them, don't make the rules. See Seasteading for instance. Or even the Mars Colonial Transporter. Honesty is part of both religion and the scientific method, but dishonesty in religion is called faith, and dishonesty in science is called political correctness. I often agree with Ayn Rand, but I don't call myself Objectivist, mainly for fear of being mistaken for a dogmatic true believer.

Also see the end of a page from my wife's genealogy website, and my Devil's Dictionary of Wikipedia Policy.

If Wikipedia dies, it will be because: 1) An influential faction, and close to a consensus, has decided that experienced Wikipedians don't need to be as civil as newcomers. What's worse, is that so many otherwise respectable Wikipedians are pretending that we have the opposite problem, which makes a constructive discussion impossible, as well as making it hard to believe them about anything else. Or 2) Wikipedia:Link rot. Wikipedia:Verifiability is a joke when half our references are dead links. And elaborate instructions for how we can fix one link at a time are not a serious solution to millions of dead links. Nothing should be considered really referenced until we can come up with a reference that doesn't self-destruct.

"Encyclopedic" obscurity

[edit]

Bill Gates died and went to the pearly gates. Saint Peter said "We've been waiting for you", presenting a key with the name "Bill Gates" on it. Gates confidently inserted his key into the gate to unlock it. His confidence fell suddenly to concern, as the key wouldn't turn. Concern yielded to panic as he wiggled the key and the gates, and frantically looked all over his key. The key had a help button that said: "I've got great news! Now for the first time with Key version 6.6.6, you have the power to choose your own interface between the key's tumbler pins, the encryption algorithm, and the QXZ! Enter your interface's identifier or its alias in the field below."

A man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho was beaten and robbed, and left half dead. A conservative came and said, "Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps", and passed by on the other side. Then a Good Samaritan came, bound the man's wounds, and paid to take him to an inn. The man said, "But you are the same person who beat and robbed me." The Good Samaritan answered, "Where do you think the government and the IRS get my program funding?"