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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-Wikipedia Executive Director Sue Gardner and her favoured bullies couldn't figure out how to get a visual editor to work. But they did know how to drive off conservative users. Although I had eight years experience and 33,000 edits, I could still be dismissed with a "You're done here" and a form letter from Arbcom. (I'm "Kauffner" on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_Wikipedians_by_number_of_edits this list].) I knew the rules by that time and it's not like one day I decided to go on a rule-breaking rampage.
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-If Hollywood filmed this story, we would start with Gardner in her office reading [[User:PeterKa/Filipacchi | my send up of the gender categories controversy]], or one of my other amusing and insightful takes on Wikipedia goings on. Then she would roar, "Will no man rid me of this meddlesome editor!" Her minions would rush in, sharpening their laptops and girding their tablets. But that's the legend. Who knows how these grudge matches get started? At any rate, I was greatly relieved when Gardner finally left Wikipedia on June 1.
+Here are my ''American Thinker'' articles: https://www.americanthinker.com/author/peterkauffner/
-In June 2012, Arbcom decided to topic ban an editor named GoodDay after other editors harassed and provoked him. Editors who saw this decision as a vindication of bullying tried to extend it to me. One editor named In ictu oculi became obsessed with my case, spent the next year going through my editing history looking for people who might have grudges against me, and fashioning them into a team. I was brought before ANI several times. The complaints related to the issue of [[diacritics]] in Vietnamese titles, although I had written the guideline on this subject myself.
+==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.
-A few months later, Team Harassment started blanking articles that I'd written. I reverted the blanking and was blocked for "edit warring." The edit warring guideline classifies article blanking as a form of "obvious vandalism," so I don't see how what I did could be considered edit warring. Even if I was edit warring, it is most unusual for an admin to block an established user without warning.
+<gallery>
+File:Dim sum.jpg|Dim sum is what Hong Kongers eat for breakfast.
-After I was blocked, an ANI discussion could be held without my participation. There is of course a rule against this sleazy tactic. To bring up the same set of complaints repeatedly 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.
+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.
-One editor in the discussion suggests that I used multiple accounts to vote multiple times in Requested Move discussions. Although the post does not give the name of the RM in which this nefarious activity allegedly occurred, this is the closest thing I saw to a specific accusation. It is complete nonsense. In fact, the entire subject of multiple voting had never even come up earlier. The post was made by a drive-by editor who admits that he does not understand the situation. Yet it is now treated as a more or less official explanation of why I was banned.
+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.
-In an Orwellian twist, the past is fair game too. Some oversighter has removed a post a made concerning my essay on gender categories, obviously to make me look worse. When I took my story to Wikipediocracy, I was blocked almost immediately by Alison, the same admin who deleted my essay on Wikipedia. In other words, the same clique runs both sites. There has been plenty of gloating along the way, and my real name has been given out several times. Both of these are normally serious violations of Wikipedia etiquette. So somebody with the authority to override standard procedure had it in for me.
+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.
-Based on what Gardner has said and written, I gather that I personify everything she hates about Wikipedia. I'm certainly "the crusty old desk guy who knows the style guide backwards."[http://m.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/520446/the-decline-of-wikipedia/] I'm also the guy who favors "accuracy" over "kindness."[http://suegardner.org/2013/09/04/how-wikipedia-got-it-wrong-on-chelsea-manning-and-why/] On top of that, I'm the guy who thinks "Ganges" is an excellent name for a river in India.[http://www.fastcompany.com/1739776/wikipedias-librarian-world]
+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>
-==See also==
-* Read my [[User:PeterKa/Filipacchi | notorious parody of the gender categories bruhaha]]
-* [[User:PeterKa/Arbcom | My Arbcom appeal]] has a blow-by-blow account of what happened to me.
-* [[Diacritic]] — This is a zippy overview of the subject, if I do say so myself.
-* [[User:PeterKa/Diacritics_proposal |Diacritics proposal]] — You can find a detailed set of arguments here.
 ==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]]
-*[[Diacritic]], [[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]].
+*[[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]]