User:MARussellPESE

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Greetings,

My name is Mike. Currently, I'm from metropolitan Cleveland, Ohio; but I've lived in many places in the United States: Chicago, Illinois where I went to university; Detroit, Michigan, where I went to high school; I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama; and was born in Reno, Nevada to expatriate Californians.

Contents 1 Perspective on Wikipedia 2 Background 3 Idiosyncracies 4 Quotes and Maxims 5 Favorite Wikipedia Articles 6 North American travels

[edit] Perspective on Wikipedia

Userboxes Background This user is interested in the Bahá'í Faith. This user is a Citizen of the World (Terra, ⊕). This user supports the United Nations. This user lives in the United States of America. This user lives in or hails from Cleveland. This user lives in or hails from Chicago. This user lives in or hails from Detroit. This user lives in or hails from Birmingham, Alabama. ISTJ This user's MBTI type is ISTJ. ESTJ This user's MBTI type is ESTJ. School and Professional NU This user attends or attended Northwestern University. ΤΒΠ This user is a member of Tau Beta Pi. BS This user has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. MS This user has a Master of Science degree in Project Management. SE This user is a licensed Structural Engineer. PE This user is a licensed Professional Engineer. ASCE This user is a member of ASCE. NSPE This user is a member of NSPE. O This user is a member of the Order of the Engineer. ΓΔΙ This user was a ΓΔΙ in college. AΣΣ This user has been mistaken for a AΣΣ repeatedly, and still doesn't have a clue why. Outlook and Positions This user understands biological evolution. evol-3 This user accepts the theory of evolution. life choice This user believes that the pro-life and pro-choice philosophies are not mutually exclusive. This user believes in the separation of church and state. infin¦itive This user chooses to sometimes split infinitives. A, B, and C This user prefers the serial comma. they This user considers singular they standard English usage. dis This user thinks that using "disrespect" as a verb is disrespectful, except informally. Wikipedia Related <ref> This user believes in the importance of citing sources. This user thinks that registration should be required to edit articles. exclu This user is a Wikipedia exclusionist. exo This user is a Wikipedia exopedianist. This user is a WikiGnome. Misc and Meaningless IQ This user's Intelligence Quotient is the subject of much heated debate.. SI This user uses the metric system of measurement. ft-lb This user uses American Measurements. trek This user is a Trekkie or Trekker. gk This user is a geek. Red Green This user is a fan of the Red Green show.

See the main articles: Criticism of Wikipedia, and Wikipedia:General disclaimer for additional details.

Out of the blocks: If you are using this as a reliable source then caveat emptor!

You should be aware that: "The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is whether material is attributable to a reliable published source, not whether it is true." [Emphasis is Wikipedia's!]

Seriously. There are editors here who are not at all interested in truth. If they can find a citation, in it goes; even if demonstrably false, banal, or represents a perspective shared by 0.1% of the population. Call them Wikisith because they are using the rules to defeat the rules' purpose.

Larry Sanger makes several cogent observations of the project, especially with respect to anything remotely controversial,[1] which are well worth considering.

Pop culture articles are generally good. (Who knew there were seven forms of lightsaber combat?) Militaria, math, science, history, and classical studies are not bad — but be careful in obscure places. And pseudoscience, and people grinding axes on even remotely controversial topics, run amok here.

However, there is a definite anti-expertise, "don't bother me with silly facts", and "how dare you ask me to produce my sources" bias among several editors I've run across. (Take a look at Chiropractic (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) for a really in-depth example.) The damage that only a few editors can do is astounding, and totally unseen by the casual reader.

And despite the belief, taken as axiomatic by some, that these contributions will all wash out in the end, I haven't really seen evidence of that. The best I've seen is that one can try to bury these with reliable and verifiable sources. The trouble is, is that I've seen many editors confuse a verifiable source for a reliable one. Some do so deliberately. And that difference means all the world to the veracity of what you'll find here. So don't take a "sourced" statement here as necessarily reliable. Remember, "attributable, not the truth" is the motto.

Therefore, despite my having edited here since September of 2005, and made what I think are good contributions, I would never consider Wikipedia an acceptable source for academic work. (I'm not alone.) In a lot of ways wikipedia is tantamount to a readable Google search. If you are going to use wikipedia for research, try the article's sources and start from there. Better yet, go to the libes and ask your librarian.

These articles on evaluating primary and secondary sources are well worth your time.

• How to Read a Primary Source, Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students, Patrick Rael, 2004.
• How to Read a Secondary Source, Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students, Patrick Rael, 2004.

So dear reader, like everything you find on the internet, if you don't know the source to be trustworthy, don't trust what you're reading — even if I wrote it.

[edit] Background

If you're here you're probably looking to see if you can pick out my point-of-view. In the interest of full-disclosure, and recognizing that the first way to overcome bias is to name it:

• I am a Bahá'í, and have been one since birth. I seem to be following these articles with interest.
• I am an Anglo-American, male, middle-aged, family man; and a masters-degreed, licensed civil and structural engineer. My specialties are project management and bridge design, particularly movable bridges.
• Academics run very deep in my family. Both grandfathers, my father and my only aunt hold doctorates. (I have no uncles.) My mother, one grandmother, sister, wife, and I all are underachievers and only hold master's degrees.
• Military service ran in my family. Both Grandfathers were career officers.

• Dad's Dad retired a Captain from the United States Navy Medical Corps. He was also the youngest Petty Officer in the Navy for a time.
• Mom's Dad retired a Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Army Field Artillery.
• My late Father-in-Law was an infantryman during WWII and saw extensive action in the South Pacific Theatre. (With five campaign stars to show for it.) He rests at Arlington National Cemetery.
• Taps makes me cry every time.
• I consider the CIB, CMB, and the CAB to be valorous decorations, especially when they have stars around them. (I do respect the badges of all the services, and the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor of the Marines; but you do have to get shot at to earn those three of the Army's.)
• Military honors are not trite.
• The Arlington Ladies is one of the most touching institutions in the country, although you've probably never heard of it.
• However, the flag is not sacred — the Constitution is.

• I watch U.S. PBS almost exclusively, particularly: Nova, Frontline, Frontline World, Mystery!, BBC World News and The Red Green Show.
• I am a voracious reader.

• An open dictionary can cost me half-an-hour.
• An open encyclopedia can cost me an entire afternoon.
• I arange visits to the mall to avoid Borders if I'm (or She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed is) in a hurry.

• My family and I are members of:

• Cleveland Museum of Natural History [2]

(For its depth of research programs and calibre of educational resources I'd hold CMNH up to the Field Museum of Natural History (Of which I'm a former member.), the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. (Both of which I have visited.))

• Cleveland Metroparks Zoo [3]

• Sloppy logic, fuzzy journalism, and innumeracy make my teeth itch. (If inflation in the past quarter rose from 1.0% to 2.0%, this is not a 1% increase — it's a 100% increase, or one percentage point increase.)
• On the other hand, elegant logic, clear and well-documented journalism, and precision are things of beauty.

• I understand significance arithmetic and use it;
• which means that I understand uncertainty

• I claim no expertise other than what I've earned and is recognized by my peers. I generally do not recognize others claims unless they can demonstrate likewise. That doesn't mean I won't listen to a well-researched and cogent argument — in fact I rely on that when I'm outside of my areas of expertise. But please don't stand alone on a claim of expertise. That's argument from authority and a logical fallacy.
• I consider chocolate to be a food-group — and the darker the better. White chocolate, on the other hand, is evidence of the existence of evil.

[edit] Idiosyncracies

Everybody's got them. It's the variety that makes life interesting.

• There are two sports seasons: Football Season and waiting for Football Season. (I am refering to the armored American variety; preferably that played by genuine college students.)
• I have a soft spot for Canada and Canadians (See the The Red Green Show.) but America must begin bombing Saskatchewan immediately. Our precious bodily fluids are at stake! (Personal Notes: My paternal grandmother was born in Saskatoon; and I spent my high-school years in Detroit — where the prettiest places were in Windsor.)
• I would love to convice the CBC in install a high-power transmitter in Chatham, Ontario. (We could use the "Voice of Canada" here in Cleveland.)
• Santiago Calatrava is indisputably a master; but Frank Gehry is over-rated and ridiculous. (I consider Deconstructivism an unmitigated disaster.)
• Frank Lloyd Wright was good; but Greene and Greene were better.
• I always find Tony Brown's Journal informative, challenging and thought-provoking; but I find Tavis Smiley shallow and annoying.
• I prefer the Chicago Manual of Style and Turabian to Harvard referencing and the APA style. Harvard and APA don't seem to require page numbers in parenthetical citations, where Chicago does. What's the use in an APA-style citation like: "Jesus said, 'Be nice to people.' (Jesus 30)"? How're you supposed to back-check that? (Personally, I think some here use this to obfuscate their edits, despite the Wikipedia guideline to do so.)

• I still have my copies of Strunk & White (3rd. Ed., 1979) and Turabian (13th Ef., 1982) from college.

• My sense of humor runs to the sarcastic, bizarre and thoughtful. (Check out any of the surprise links here for a taste.)
• I hit the Astronomy Picture of the Day page almost daily. (Home of some of the best desktop wallpapers on the planet ... or rather across the heavens, but you know what I mean.)
• I scored 27.81065% on this test.
• Current edit count
• Edit summary usage
• World view quiz I'm "Cultural Creative"

[edit] Quotes and Maxims

I'll leave it to you to figure out what I think are words to live by — or words to laugh by.

• "The unexamined life is not worth living." — Socrates [4] [5]
• "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. ..." — Frank Herbert's Bene Gesserit littany against fear in Dune
• "Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but nobody is entitled to the facts." — Various
• "Morning team. My name is Edmund Blackadder, and I'm the new minister for religious genocide." — Rowan Atkinson as Edmund, Lord Blackadder in Black Adder II
• "I have a cunning plan that can get you out of your problem." — Baldrick in various Blackadder episodes.
• "Quando omni flunkus moritati" — Possum Lodge motto.
• "Live, live, live! Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death." — Mame Dennis in Auntie Mame
• "I want you to lay down your life, Perkins. We need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of the war." — British Army Major to soldier in Beyond the Fringe
• The Man's Prayer: "I'm a man. But I can change. If I have to. I guess." The Possum Lodge Benediction.
• The Scout's Prayer: "I'm a scout. But I can lighten up. If I have to. I guess." The Possum Lodge Scout's Benediction.
• The Woman's Prayer: "I'm a woman. Hear me roar. I'm in charge. Get over it." The Possum Lodge Women's Auxiliary Benediction.
• "Good evening godless sodomites. … It (reality television) warps the minds of our children and weakens the resolve of our allies. … Kneel before your god, Babylon! … I lost to Barry Manilow!" — Stephen Colbert at the 2006 Emmys.

[edit] Favorite Wikipedia Articles

To get one thinking:

• Reductio ad Hitlerum
• Chewbacca defense
• Wikiality
• Truthiness

To make one laugh:

• Homey the Clown
• The Red Green Show
• This Hour Has 22 Minutes
• Talking to Americans - Hit the links and download some clips. They are howlingly funny.

Ones that I've made major contributions to, and to which I'm probably ego bound:

• Bahá'í/Bábí split
• Bahá'í divisions
• Bahá'í literature - From scratch
• Engineering ethics - Complete rewrite
• Fallingwater - Structural problems
• Subh-i-Azal
• Zeta Phi Rho - Helped save it from extinction

[edit] North American travels

Spent years:
Days to Months:
Hours:
	Idea and layout taken from User:jpgordon, who borrowed it from User:Calton, who appropriated it from User:Salsb, who stole it from User:Guettarda who borrowed it from User:Coolcat

All rights released to all text I agree to release all rights, unless otherwise stated, to all my text contributions to the English Wikipedia, enabling anyone to use them for any purpose. Please be aware that other contributors might not do the same, so if you want to use my contributions under free use terms, please check the Multi-licensing guide.