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Wikipedia:Babel etc
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This user roots for all the bad girls, femmes fatales and antiheroines, and believes the James Bond nemeses are just misunderstood heroes. |
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This user is a member of one of the 500+ world Scouting or Guiding associations and contributes articles to preserve their history. |
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This user is from the planet Earth. |
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I've been around here since September 2005 and have now discovered those user-templates, mwahahahahaha, please excuse the mess.
[edit] About me
1) I am inordinately interested in all things related to Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Central Asia, having lived there two years.
2) I am a serious scholar of the rebirth of Scouting and Guiding in these countries, and have actively assisted in the creation of some of these movements. I am not a "company man", I do not believe membership in the World Organization of the Scout Movement defines who is a Scout, and I can look critically at the shortcomings where they appear.
3) I am that rarest of Americans these days, one that questions the motivations of _all_ politicians, including ones I favor. The same applies to faith and television and reporting a car accident. As we are in the neverending process of building an encyclopedia, please remember nobody has a monopoly on truth or fact, it's all just a matter of where you're standing at the time. That victors write the history doesn't necessarily make it so. What would the world look like if the Carthaginians had won? Wikipedia itself is kind of a microcosm of civilization itself, built on contributions of those that came earlier.
4) I am a Japanophile, a Germanophile, and an Australophile, and a big fan of the Rhodies and Afrikaners. My moniker is a now-extinct Japanese baseball team, I believe Americans should examine fights before we pick them, and I think the present success of the countries we fought and 'won' are the best measures of their own strengths of national character.
5) I believe that removing _any_ valid word from the language in the purported interest of Neutral Point of View is the worst form of bias and is in reality thought control. The reasons words like 'dictator', 'never', 'rarely' are in the language is because there was a need for them. If you target civilians, you are a "terrorist", not a "freedom fighter". Terms like "street-oriented youth" are useless, whereas "gang member" illustrates the situation entirely. Oversanitizing does not add to an article's value or interest. Orwell, anyone?
6) I am a really good listener, and I am big enough to concede valid points well-made. My biggest hatred (yes, I can say that, see point 5) is reserved for those who cannot do likewise. I have seen several of my articles tanked by tiny minds who could not understand what the purpose of the article was and ruined it with their own agenda. Such is the price of an open forum uncontrolled by any overseers (and I don't mean the good folk at Wikipedia, in either sense), sometimes the inmates run the asylum. Better than not having such a forum.
6a) ps-and I loathe busybodies with too much time on their hands, who spend more time being critical of the postings of others than they do posting their own knowledge.
6b) pps-and those who delete factual or useful contributions to an article, that are not vandalism, because it does not fit their own narrow view of what the article should be. If someone puts something on there that might not belong where it is, find a home for it, don't delete it outright.
7) I am really glad Wikipedia is here, and I'm glad you're here. Now I can dump out all that stuff that's been sitting in my sock-drawer mind.
[edit] Why I do this
[edit] ♀My Wife♀
My Wife is among the most brilliant, beautiful and funny ladies ever, a gun nut, a model train buff, a makeup artist and blows through thousands of rounds of ammunition a month. She has a PhD from Tōdai in Tokyo, and an ScD from Technische Universität Berlin, and I want our future children to benefit from her brains and ease of knowledge. She is also an ailurophile (cat lover) and has converted me to the church of Catism. ;) Think of us like Barney and Betty Rubble from the Flintstones, a tall, gorgeous brunette and a guy in a loincloth.
[edit] Central Asians and Belarus
The bulk of folks in Central Asia and Belarus still live under controlled governments, and have misplaced the promise they had with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. I want to help them regain that, and freely disseminate information to them for their benefit. I actually found articles about two of my friends from the old neighbor-yurt on here, Roza Otunbayeva and Kongar-ool Ondar!
[edit] Scouting history (and memorabilia needs)
My original interest is in the rebirth of Scouting in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Mongolia and Afghanistan, and elsewhere that totalitarian governments forbade or forbid Scouting, like Laos and Cuba. I am always seeking new information and relics on Scouting's history around the world, I have trades and needs of insignia and books. I am always on the lookout for goodies related to Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Central Asia (especially Belarus, Azerbaijan, and the constituent organizations in Ukraine), having lived there two years. And Japan. And colonial Africa. Which in turn, in the spirit of Wikipedia, will help me illustrate more articles. Please ask me, thanks!
[edit] Articles
I started most of the articles on the rebirth of Scouting and Guiding in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Central Asia, except Junák (Czech Republic) and Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego (Poland), which were already there, plus ones on Japan, Iran, Cuba and the Indochinese Scouting movements; and I contribute to ones about ancestors of note, i.e. Alva R. Fitch; places I have lived, i.e. Tupelo, Mississippi; music I can't stand, 
Try Redemption; and ancient history and archaeology.
Once I get to a computer that has Photoshop on it, plans are in progress to create maps for WOSM, WAGGGS and the Eurasian Region that are more in line with Wikipedia styles-that is, white bodies of water, grey land in periphery of article topic, and colored land for topic of the article; however I do not presently have access to a computer with Photoshop or a graphic-modification program.
[edit] To do, other 2006 resolutions
[edit] Seasonal rant
There are those overly-saccharine-cheery people who love winter, that look forward to the snow and the cold and the change of seasons. These people are blatantly deluded. Winter is the season of continual low-grade sniffles, black-ice accidents and darkness at 5 pm. No thank you. The only thing winter is good for is ladies' fashions, boots and gloves and furs and such. When I become dictator, we will do something about this hibernian aberration. You have now gotten the memo.
[edit] International Travels Brag Sheet
