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Jack Attack
Oct. 12th, 2005 07:25 pmI got e-mail from Jack Sarfatti. I'm so chuffed.
Jack Sarfatti is a well-known USENET and Internet crank. He has a Ph.D. in physics, but he comes up with these very outlandish, very incomprehensible physics theories, mostly to do with FTL travel, that are considered by many to be completely unworkable. He also claims, among other things, to have received calls from the future, but that's a side issue. I used to read Jack's very bizarre occasional postings on rec.arts.startrek.tech, way back in the early 90s. It's like receiving mail from a celebrity.
Anyway, why he got in touch with me was because of Wikipedia. Jack's been viciously editing his own article there, claiming that it's slanderous, etc. In my capacity as an admin, I protected the page from being edited to stop the ongoing revert war — that is, the constantly switching versions. That led to a string of e-mails from Jack, where he copied the info he was trying to add to the article, a complaint against one of the editors who was "against" him, and my favourite, directed against myself:
He also claims to have filed a complaint with the Florida authorities against Wikipedia (the servers and the Wikimedia Foundation are in Florida). And he notes:
Jack Sarfatti is a well-known USENET and Internet crank. He has a Ph.D. in physics, but he comes up with these very outlandish, very incomprehensible physics theories, mostly to do with FTL travel, that are considered by many to be completely unworkable. He also claims, among other things, to have received calls from the future, but that's a side issue. I used to read Jack's very bizarre occasional postings on rec.arts.startrek.tech, way back in the early 90s. It's like receiving mail from a celebrity.
Anyway, why he got in touch with me was because of Wikipedia. Jack's been viciously editing his own article there, claiming that it's slanderous, etc. In my capacity as an admin, I protected the page from being edited to stop the ongoing revert war — that is, the constantly switching versions. That led to a string of e-mails from Jack, where he copied the info he was trying to add to the article, a complaint against one of the editors who was "against" him, and my favourite, directed against myself:
I love the fact that he appeared on the Star Trek IV DVD is supposed to either impress me or fill me with abject shame, and that the appearance is going to prompt me to acknowledge that he's right, unprotect the article and restore his edits without delay.I wonder how you would react if you were slandered and not allowed free speech to defend yourself? You assholes do not even allow other people to defend me with the facts! You are a prosecutor in Singapore? If that is so, SHAME ON YOU! BTW I appear in the Star Trek Film The Voyage Home DVD Special Collector's Edition Disk 2 "Time Travel: The Art of the Possible". Double shame on you.
He also claims to have filed a complaint with the Florida authorities against Wikipedia (the servers and the Wikimedia Foundation are in Florida). And he notes:
I presume USG stands for US Government and not United States Gypsum, or the University System of Georgia. Yes, Jack. Telling the world you're a crank is going to aid the terrorist clause. I'd write you a reality check, but think that has been bouncing for years, now.Please note I am involved in USG National Security work and what these people are doing is detrimental to US National Security. The Wikimedia Foundation, wittingly or unwittingly I do not know, is aiding the terrorist cause.
