Peter Presland & Wikispooks: congratulations

[Peter Presland]

I think you may have come up with something rather special here, Peter. Initially I wasn’t sure what role this Wikispooks site was meant to play but I’ve just read the page on the sinking of the Cheonan and it hit me straight away: the fact-based, impersonal, encyclopaedia type approach with maps and links and no axes being ground...it’s exactly what the subject is crying out for. It’s so easy for the mainstream media to dismiss us as wild-eyed ranters, but presenting the evidence like this gives it an authority that demands to be taken seriously. I loved the page you link to in which the guy demolishes the claim about the ‘panel of International experts’. It would be great if the site develops into a central authority where such propaganda is routinely exposed. Well done!

Thanks Malcolm. The original idea was to emulate WikiPedia, but with an editorial policy that maintained a rigorous presumption AGAINST authority. That and to focus on the subject areas most affected by that 'Authority bias' - namely deep political issues - because WikiPedia remains a pretty impressive resource on pretty much everything else.

Not sure it will work out that way though because, whilst I've got about 60 registered users to date, only a handful have contributed anything serious as yet and you can't compile a bloody encyclopaedia all on your own.

Still, it's therapy, and I've learned (am still learning) one hell of a lot about Linux / Apache server management and security hardening too.

I'm toying with the idea of concentrating article production on critiques of corresponding WikiPedia ones where the official narrative bias is outrageous and obvious. It would give the appearance of overt confrontation with them which could produce a bit of interest; trouble with that approach is that it would immediately relegate the site to the fenced off loony-fringe corner, with the rest of the 'alternative' stuff.

We'll see how it goes as-is - for a while anyway