By Derek Draper
You may have seen Paul Waugh's astonishing piece about the Tories changing Wiki following PMQs to make David Cameron look right.
Well, that's just the start of it. They've been at it before. You can see all of the changes made to Wikipedia from the Conservative Party IP address here.
Yesterday they added the following terms to the list of collective nouns:
A fistful of fingerpuppets
A troop of staples
While on February 6, one CCHQ staff changed the entry for Jennie Elias - who's she, you ask? Well, apparently, not as important as she thinks, according to CCHQ:
'''Jennie Elias''' is a notable political figure in the [[United Kingdom]].
They changed this to:
'''Jennie Elias''' is a political volunteer in the [[United Kingdom]].
They also changed:
David Cameron was born watching porn in London
To:
David Cameron was born in London
They also changed this entry on Peter Bone's page:
His first action was to try to accept praise for Paul Stinchcombe's work at PMQ's. PM Tony Blair slapped him down like the child that he is with his reply. He is one of the busiest MPs in the House, and is regularly one of the 10 most active, in terms of Questions asked and other contributions. Exactly how this makes him busy is anyone's guess. Most of the questions that he asks are a waste of parliament's time. He also works as a [[Sven Goran Eriksson]] lookalike.
To:
He is noted for a similarity in looks to [[Sven Goran Eriksson]].
Unluckily for CCHQ changing people's perceptions of the Tories as a bunch of lightweight charlatans is a little harder.
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Put simply they broke the 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt not get found out.”
Next time someone tells me they're thinking of voting for Cameroon, I'll say that a Tory changed his Wikipedia entry from "David Cameron was born watching porn in London" to "David Cameron was born in London." How pathetic. If we all do this, Labour will win in a landslide. And then we'll see some change at last!
The rest of the examples are a bit odd, wrong but unsurprising. I agree with Keir Stitt that the most bizarre bit was that the individuals responsible didn't mask their own IP address, I cannot help but wonder if there are far more serious abuses of wikipedia by individuals who actually have an understanding of proxies.
Facts have no place in modern conservatism, only lies and punchlines.
I think Labour are making some very strong gains on the internet.
Got it?
Would you like to be recorded as having been "born watching porn"? How is it wrong to change a mostly pointless rant about how ineffective a MP is (which is an opinion, not the facts which Wiki goes for). The Labour Party are just as much to blame for all the PR gimcrackery anyway. I mean, this entire website is a PR stunt.
At the end of the day, I'm not sure that many people actually care about party political entries on Wiki. I mean many people don't care full stop. So why are people wasting time on this? It's pathetic sniping. It's like two schoolgirls being vile to one another and serves no purpose.
The Labour Party is supposed to be innovative, why don't they grow up first?
Competitive behaviour promises a big short-term payoff but always narrows scope and drives things down to the bottom. The more desperate for power, status, and wealth the more competitive people become but this is a trap. I wouldn't bother.
The Tao is subtle, kind, and patient. This is why it's better to say nothing than say something stupid. I'd look more towards something useful and understanding than merely attacking the Tories. Harm only leads to more harm. This is what they want but not what they need.
Gee, Mr Draper - Hold the front page!
You sure are first with the news aren't you, matey?
Now tell me when did Blair cease being PM??
(June 27th 2007 in case you haven';t caught up yet)
How about ideas and policy rather than these puerile non-stories of yours?