PeterKa

Latest revision as of 06:42, November 7, 2023

This user is part of the CP Civility Association.

Here are my American Thinker articles: https://www.americanthinker.com/author/peterkauffner/

Back from Hong Kong

I'm back from Hong Kong and it was certainly quite a week to be there (Oct. 1-7). Hong Kong was once a British colony, but it has been ruled by China since 1997. The city has a unique "one country, two systems" form of government that allows a British-style legal system to flourish despite the fact that the local government now works for the Chinese Communist Party. There have been pro-democracy protests in the city since an extradition bill was proposed four months ago. The protests mushroomed after Carrie Lam, the city's hapless chief executive, issued a decree banning masks on Oct. 5. Vandalism was so intense that the entire subway system had to closed for the first time in its history. Not only that, but the city's High Court is likely to overturn the decree.
As if protests and tear gas weren't enough, Hong Kong faces another serious problem: The city is experiencing one of the largest housing bubbles in economic history. Rising land values make the rich richer and leaves young couples unable to afford homes of their own. Everyone wants a piece of the action, including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi has a villa in Hong Kong at Repulse Bay. When I talked to the protesters, I suggested that they take a look at that.

Dim sum is what Hong Kongers eat for breakfast.
Jenny Bakery in Mirador Mansion makes the city's favorite cookies.
You get a magnificent view of the harbor aboard the white and green Hong Kong ferry.
I stand in front of a pro-democracy march in Wanchai District, site of some of the most serious rioting. Masks provide protection against tear gas.
This barricade was built in Mongkok District on Oct. 5. Although defended by a catapult, the police had little trouble removing it.
This bilingual poster looks at the fraught relationship between the protesters and Mass Transit Railway, the city's subway provider. The Hong Kong language, which you can see on the left, is not intelligible to mainland Chinese.
The subway system has been overwhelmed by vandalism. This pane is at Mei Foo Station.
The "local government" headed by Carrie Lam is a front. This tower in Sai Ying Pun is the city's real center of power. It is the "secret" headquarters of the Communist Party.

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-Ever wondered how Wikipedia gets rid of unwanted conservatives? They have it down to a science. Liberal editors will harass the victim until he reacts. Then they use his reaction as the basis for a complaint to Administrator's Noticeboard/Incidents (ANI). Established liberal editors rarely get sanctioned for harassing a conservative, the situation has to be resolved somehow, so the result is often a "topic ban" for the conservative. At this point, Team Harassment smells blood, and more people get involved. They accuse the victim of violating the topic ban. He generally has to stop editing for an extended period, and he may even be banned altogether. If he doesn't fall for any of these gags, the matter can always be referred to a clique senior admins who act as feminist enforcers. This clique has extraordinary powers that are not documented anywhere in the guidelines, at least as far as I am aware. They hand out extended blocks without prior warning, make up their own rules, and skip ANI.
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-At one point, I was a top Wikipedia contributor with over 37,000 edits and a clean record. Then I was blocked by MSGJ, a newbie admin, for "your diacritics crusade," as he put it. The rationale for the block was so thin that Jenks24, another admin who was a friend of mine, immediately unblocked me. But having friends in high places turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. This "wheel warring" episode unleashed a wave of indignation from the brotherhood of the admins. I was brought before ANI several times. Each time, I argued circles around Team Harassment and escaped sanction. After all, I was implementing a guideline for Vietnamese titles which I had written myself. The guideline conformed to higher-level Wikipedia policies, as well as to the ''Chicago Manual of Style'', a widely followed style standard recommended in the guidelines. (I wrote [[User:PeterKa/Diacritics_proposal | an essay on the technical aspects of the issue]]. However, I can't say anybody involved was all that interested in diacritics themselves. I see the issue as a pretext for a political purge.)
+Here are my ''American Thinker'' articles: https://www.americanthinker.com/author/peterkauffner/
-A few months later, Jenks24 stopped editing and Team Harassment set up a trap for me. Someone started blanking articles I'd written. I reverted the blanking and was blocked for "edit warring" by Ponyo, a high ranking admin and oversighter. The accusation makes no sense under the edit warring guideline, which classifies article blanking as a form of "obvious vandalism." The message explaining the block refers back to the "diacritics crusade" block from a year earlier. So I don't think it was primarily about edit warring. My guess is that Ponyo is less interested in diacritics or edit warring than in [[User:PeterKa/Filipacchi | this essay]].
+==Back from Hong Kong==
+I'm back from Hong Kong and it was certainly quite a week to be there (Oct. 1-7). Hong Kong was once a British colony, but it has been ruled by China since 1997. The city has a unique "one country, two systems" form of government that allows a British-style legal system to flourish despite the fact that the local government now works for the Chinese Communist Party. There have been pro-democracy protests in the city since an extradition bill was proposed four months ago. The protests mushroomed after Carrie Lam, the city's hapless chief executive, issued a decree banning masks on Oct. 5. Vandalism was so intense that the entire subway system had to closed for the first time in its history. Not only that, but the city's High Court is likely to overturn the decree.<br/>As if protests and tear gas weren't enough, Hong Kong faces another serious problem: The city is experiencing one of the largest housing bubbles in economic history. Rising land values make the rich richer and leaves young couples unable to afford homes of their own. Everyone wants a piece of the action, including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi has a villa in Hong Kong at Repulse Bay. When I talked to the protesters, I suggested that they take a look at that.
-After I was blocked, an ANI discussion could be held without my participation. There is of course a rule against this sleazy tactic. To keep bringing up the same complaints again and again is called "forum shopping." In fact, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Archive252#Ban_proposal:_Kauffner the discussion which resulted in my being banned] consists almost entirely of references to previous discussions. There aren't even any specific accusations against me, much less diffs to support them. Proper procedure is to appeal ANI findings to Arbcom.
+<gallery>
+File:Dim sum.jpg|Dim sum is what Hong Kongers eat for breakfast.
-As an ex-Wikipedian, I am not protected by any policy. Other editors are now free to post vicious personal attacks and even give out my real name. In an Orwellian twist, the past is fair game too. Some oversighter has gone through the discussion archive and edited it. Apparently, I had defended myself too effectively. If you are interested in the play-by-play of what happened to me, check out [[User:PeterKa/Arbcom | my Arbcom appeal]].
+File:Cookies from Jenny Bakery.jpg|Jenny Bakery in Mirador Mansion makes the city's favorite cookies.
+File:Hong Kong Ferry.jpeg|You get a magnificent view of the harbor aboard the white and green Hong Kong ferry.
+File:Pro-democracy march in Wanchai, Hong Kong.jpeg|I stand in front of a pro-democracy march in Wanchai District, site of some of the most serious rioting. Masks provide protection against tear gas.
+File:V-Barracade across Nathan Road in Mongkok.jpg|This barricade was built in Mongkok District on Oct. 5. Although defended by a catapult, the police had little trouble removing it.
+File:Poster on why attack subway.jpg|This bilingual poster looks at the fraught relationship between the protesters and Mass Transit Railway, the city's subway provider. The Hong Kong language, which you can see on the left, is not intelligible to mainland Chinese.
+File:Glass broken in Hong Kong protests.jpeg|The subway system has been overwhelmed by vandalism. This pane is at Mei Foo Station.
+File:China_Liaison_Office,_Hong_Kong.jpeg|The "local government" headed by Carrie Lam is a front. This tower in Sai Ying Pun is the city's real center of power. It is the "secret" headquarters of the Communist Party.
+</gallery>
 ==What I have written==
-*[[Nazarene]]‎, [[J. Frank Norris]], [[Peter Ruckman]], [[Textus Receptus]], [[sensus plenior]], [[divine accommodation]], [[Yule]], [[Johannine Comma]], [[Codex Washingtonianus]], [[Star of Bethlehem]], [[Fundamentalism]], [[Andy McIntosh]]
+*[[Nazarene]]‎, [[J. Frank Norris]], [[Peter Ruckman]], [[Textus Receptus]], [[sensus plenior]], [[divine accommodation]], [[Yule]], [[Johannine Comma]], [[Codex Washingtonianus]], [[Star of Bethlehem]], [[Fundamentalism]], [[Tertiary]], [[Andy McIntosh]], [[Akhenaten]], [[Tutankhamun]], [[Nefertiti]]
-*[[Nuclear option]], [[Star_Trek_franchise#Political_themes]], [[Tang Tuyet Minh]], [[Roman Warm Period]], [[No Gun Ri]], [[Vietcong]], [[Republic of China]], [[YAD06]], [[Girls' Generation]], [[Xia dynasty]], [[Shang dynasty]].
+*[[Republicans (Jeffersonian)]],  [[Classical Chinese]], [[Empress Dowager Cixi]], [[diacritic]], [[Mandarin]], [[Nuclear option]], [[Star_Trek_franchise#Political_themes]], [[Tang Tuyet Minh]], [[Roman Warm Period]], [[No Gun Ri]], [[Vietcong]], [[Republic of China]], [[rule of law]], [[YAD06]], [[Girls' Generation]], [[Xia dynasty]], [[Shang dynasty]]