I'm not convinced that many readers share my interest in Gerry Posner, so I won't post as much information about him as I would prefer. But don't be surprised if, very soon, you see an article (not written by me) detailing plagiarisms and quote alterations in his most recent book, Miami Babylon. I hope the piece will be published in a "real" periodical, because Wikipedia won't cite Cannonfire, even if the facts are inarguable.
So what is Gerry up to these days? Rumor has it that he has retreated into a deep seclusion, following advice given to him by his spiritual teacher, Yaqui shaman don Juan Matus. But don't worry -- he'll still keep busy on various projects. I hear he'll be editing the recently discovered autobiography of Howard Hughes and authenticating the diary of Jack the Ripper. He also plans to tell the story of his own harrowing boyhood experiences as a Holocaust survivor who walked 1900 miles in search of his parents and lived, for a time, with a pack of wolves. Word has it that a new film about Gerry's plagiarisms will blame the problem on hippies.
I'll confess it: Wikipedia's refusal to cite this blog sticks in my craw. The policy is new -- Wikipedia entries have referenced Cannonfire posts previously. And Wikipedia won't scrub citations of works by Gerry Posner, even though he is what he is.
Something strange seems to have happened behind the scenes at Wikipedia: See the tale of "Slim Virgin" here. Turns out that Wikipedia founder Jimbo Wales is an Ayn Randroid. Yet another libertarian! They're freaking everywhere!
7 comments:
I had a case of ayn randriods once, very painful to pinch a loaf.
At least three years ago, I was counseled by someone I trust to never use Wikipedia as a source for anything.
Though this might be old news to you, I found this article on Ayn Rand particularly interesting and terrifying.
Oddly enough, I was thinking about writing about that very article. Perhaps later today.
It's YOUR blog -- you (and only you) decide what goes in it. So post as much about Posner as you like. Many (like me) will read it; others will pass and wait for the next post.
Yes - hold the front page - the basic ideology of Wikipedia is right wing. As in, seriously right wing. Wales's ex-girlfriend has revealed how for a lengthy period of time he constantly ranted at her against the evil of altruism. Google ain't too lovely either.
Scarily, many people view Wikipedia as canonical. (Nothing is canonical, baby). I try to fight this by referring to it as "Jimmy Wales's website". When they say they haven't heard of it, I say oh, it's called "Wikipedia". I like to think some neurons fire in their heads at that point.
Some people just don't get it that Wikipedia is a website, Facebook is a website, Google is a website, Youtube is a website, etc. All of the actions and interactions that go on using these places are much easier to control than Usenet was (and still is, to the extent that it still exists - few ISPs run news servers nowadays).
Ain't this what Marx called centralisation (fuelled by, but not only by, concentration)?
b
Oh, dear....not sure one week will be enough time to capture all your ayn-randroid-spankings!!!
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