Kevin.159.53

Hi there!

My name is Kevin and I access the WikiWorld from a corporate laptop. As an official minion of The Mega-Corp That Must Not Be Named (TMCTMNBN), I am unable to persist account logins across browser sessions. Hence, I typically post anonymously with an IP address of 159.53.xxx.xxxx tagged with a parenthetical that includes my first name. I've been asked to create an account to which such posts can be tied, and here it is.

To answer a few questions:

• Yes, I do have other logins that I use from home/phone/tablet when contributing to wikimedia projects and sites.
• No, I am not linking them to this account because it could (in some bizarre Legalism Universe inhabited by denizens of TMCTMNBN) violate our rather intricate rules for online activities.
• Yes, I know that a clever bunny could, indeed, figure out the identity of TMCTMNBN, but the physical laws of the Legalism Universe apparently make that irrelevant as long as I, myself, do not divulge the identity (or even the existence) of the aforementioned TMCTMNBN.
• No, TMCTMNBN does not actually exist and neither do I. Any appearance or implication that I exist, or that they exist, or that there is some hypothetical employment relationship between my non-self and their non-entity is entirely imaginary on the part of the reader and, indeed, suggests the need for pharmacological intervention on your behalf by qualified mental health professionals, or possibly by a shaman with a pipe-full of salvation at the ready and the ability to interpret all the pretty colours resulting therefrom.
• Yes, colour includes a 'u' when spelt correctly (and the past tense of 'to spell' ends in a 't'). I do know how to speak American but I refuse to write in anything other than English.
• Yes, I am pedantic, verbose and unhealthily devoted to highly-precise but obscure words and phrases.
• No, even though I am pedantic, verbose and unhealthily devoted to highly-precise but obscure words and phrases (and know how to spell things like flavour and fulfil and neighbourhood), I am not in actual fact British. I'm just a grammar snob with a stubborn streak a bit wider than the Chunnel. I'm actually from the American South (and therefore also know the correct spelling of y'all, kinda and gonna).
• Yes, bringing this full-circle, a really bright bunny could figure out from my uniquely twisted linguistic OCD which accounts I use when logged in as myself. If you have that much time, skill and perseverance, please leave a post on my Talk Page; I know companies looking to pay for people with that set of talents!

Cheers! (that translates to "Bye Y'all" in Southern and "Have a Nice Day" in Yankee)

Favourite Articles

There are a few articles that I adore, not because they are good but because they are horrid and remain so due to the brave, dedicated attention of a cadre (shh! don't say cabal) of enthusiasts who use rhetoric brilliantly to prevent a truly encyclopaedic article. A more-complete list cane be found at WP:LAME Here are some of my faves:

1. Burma No Myanmar no Burma no Myanmar- WARNING: Never, ever ever try to use common sense or any WP statements on the talk page. However, if you ever need a case study in the utter dysfunction of "consensus", this is your article. GLORY BE! On is bajillionth attempt, the clear consensus of the English-speaking world was acknowledged and the anachronistic, colonial and bizarre title of Burma was changed to the actual name of the country, Myanmar. Now, I would still use the article as a case study in the utter dysfunction of "consensus", but would have to point you to the archives.
2. Articles savaged by the Citation Jabberwock are legion. As a good example, try 1968 Democratic National Convention protest activity. At some point, an evil conspiracy of hippie potheads removed perfectly legitimate edits like "Somewhere in the drug induced haze" and replaced them with so-called "reliably-sourced" info. BAH! The Citation Jabberwock therefore descended and replaced every full stop with a full stop[Citation Needed]. That'll teach those commies! Seriously, a sad percentage of articles have been burbled by that particular Jabberwok.
3. Any article related to the Jesus Wars, but most especially the Historicity of Jesus. The passion with which defenders plead for you to believe that anyone who doubts the existence of an historical figure named Jesus is a kook, liar, fraud or fringe-scholar is hysterical. Count the number of times in the article that weasel-word phrases like, "virtually all mainstream scholars" and "near universal consensus" appear. If it were that clear cut, why would there even be an article instead of a footnote in the Jesus article, much less a never-ending edit war? When people have the temerity to post WP:RS material that disagrees, flame wars ensure and they add yet another tag to a book that essentially says, "We are right because all the people who agree with me tell me we're right. PFFFT!" It is a joy to stroll through the talk pages if for no other reason than to find classroom examples for a dozen of the most common rhetorical fallacies.
4. Any article related to something that both Israelis and Palestinians claim -- and more specifically the Old City (Jerusalem). In an article of nearly 2000 words, reference to Palestine is non-existent and "Palestinian territory" appears twice. Israel appears ~15 times, including the claim that it is a World Heritage Site in Israel when UNESCO explicitly rejected that location tag! Ya gotta love fanatics. Same thing at Vipera palaestinae, a snake named for the region that for years did not include the word, Palestine. I am not a Palestinian; I am not an Israeli; I am not a member of any Abrahamic religion; I've never been to the region and don't intend to; but for the sake of heaven (whichever one you prefer), keep your politics out of our encyclopaedia!
5. Gasoline. As an unapologetic Anglophile, even I was stunned at the virulence over Petrol-v-Gasoline naming rights. Check the archives. Heady stuff.