QUOTE(mnemonic @ Wed 4th January 2012, 11:24am)
I should add that I'm happy to talk about the nonprivileged aspects of the FBI matter (or non-privileged aspects of other issues I've worked on) as well. It's just that Eric Barbour opened this topic for the purpose of ridiculing me as a reporter, so it seems appropriate to reserve it for that topic. I wouldn't want to be the cause of topic drift.
If it helps: I posted that not because it's "bad reporting", it's actually good. Thing is, Mike, your stint
at the WMF has turned you into a lightning-rod for Wikipedia critics, and (sad to say) you've become
a slightly absurd figure because of it. You're now a "net-celebrity", partly because of the WMF and
partly because of your time at the EFF, and (of course) that "Godwin's Law" bit. Celebrities tend to
become targets of criticism, as you well know.
And as for Oakland: can't stand the place. I would not have bought real estate there, even if I had known
about the value explosion of the last 30 years, in advance. It's a nasty town. The treatment of the
Occupy people should underline that. I'd even call it the "Buffalo NY of the west coast", if there weren't
several equally-good candidates on the west coast. It's starting to develop the symptoms of a corrupt
former industrial city, even though it hasn't "died" yet, as Buffalo has. Complaints about the Oakland
police have become legion.
(Just btw: feel free to ignore Ottava. And again, if you'd like to learn things about Wikipedia that
no one has ever told you, PM me.)