I came across today an article written by Robert McHenry, the former editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia Brittannica, about his reactions to the Wikipedia, or what he calls the "faith-based encyclopedia":
...The Wikipedia project is flourishing. As of November 2004, according to the project's own counts, nearly 30,000 contributors had written about 1.1 million articles in 109 different languages, though some of these language versions of Wikipedia remained quite small. The Manx Gaelic version, for example, had only 3 articles, the Guarani 10, and the Klingon (yes, from the Star Trek series) 48. The largest, the English language version, contained over 382,000 pages that were thought "probably" to be encyclopedic articles. (The "probably" tells as much about the limits of Wikipedia's oversight as any single word possibly could.)
But that's not really the point of wikis. They're not meant to be perfect right out of the box. They're "open source," collaborative, and iterative knowledge, just like the heart of the internet. They represent millions of people coming together and pooling their talents towards a greater (non-commercial) goal. Wikis are an exercise in the shared humanity of the world, and that's something you're never going to get out of a "closed source" solution like Encyclopedia Brittannica.
What's more interesting, though? If you go to the Alexander Hamilton entry that McHenry specifically picked apart, you'll see that the errors he pointed out have already been fixed. I don't know whether he fixed them or someone else did after reading his article, but the wiki world is self-correcting and it's always possible to edit away.
No, the wikipedia isn't perfect, but every day it is getting better. Just look at how far it's come in three years, and imagine what it'll be like in ten years. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the massive Encyclopedia Brittannica's first editions in 1768 weren't the be-all-and-end-all of knowledge then either.
(If you're looking for more information on wikis, this is as good a time as any to unveil the EchoDitto Wiki page. If you have a favorite wiki, let us know and we'll add it below.)
I haven't been blogging as best I should in this post-election malaise, but I figured that I suddenly had as good a reason as any to blog:
Today, randomly enough, turns out to the birthdays of three important people I know. First and foremost, my dad turns a year older today. Second, Howard Dean turns a year older. And, as I was reading my blogs just now, I realize that our blogmaster's son turned two today. Proud Papa Terrance's blog post today was a very thoughtful discourse on family and love. I recommend it.
Thus, Happy Birthday Chris, Howard, and Parker (and, yes, to Martin Scorsese too).
Another one for the wall:
"As democracy is perfected, the office of President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."--H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Some inspirational quotes today from The Writer's Almanac:
George Bernard Shaw said, "Democracy is a form of government that substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few."
W.C. Fields said, "I never vote for anyone. I always vote against."
Gore Vidal said, "Half of the American people never read a newspaper. Half never vote for President. One hopes it is the same half."
Ambrose Bierce said, "[A] vote [is] the instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country."
Mark Twain said, "If there is any valuable difference between a monarchist and an American, it lies in the theory that the American can decide for himself what is patriotic and what isn't. I claim that difference. I am the only person in the sixty millions that is privileged to dictate my patriotism."
I've spent the last 18 months working towards today. I nearly started hyperventilating last night when I realized what was going on today and everything in my life that it impacted. I've had defeating George W. Bush and all of his sinister cabal as my primary occupation since June 2003 and it's now come down to today.
Every single aspect of my life has been affected by this worthwhile quest, and indeed every aspect of my life is contingent in some way upon today's results. Let's hope everything goes smoothly, safely, and without incident.
It's come down to some (perhaps large?) number of people checking off the correct box today. I only hope that my enduring trust in the American people is not for want today.
Two songs are ringing in my head this morning, the first is John Mellencamp's ballad "Your Life is Now":
See the moon roll across the stars
See the seasons turn like a heart
Your father's days are lost to you
This is your time here to do what you will do
Your life is now your life is now your life is now
In this undiscovered moment
Lift your head up above the crowd
We could shake this world
If you would only show us how
Your life is now
The second is from Les Miserables:
Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? It is the music of a people Who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart Echos the beating of the drums There is a life about to start When tomorrow comes!
Perhaps there's one more song worth mentioning today. I've listened to this song more in the last two years than any other. It haunted me at work, on the trail, and even in Price Chopper. We Can. Well, let’s just see about that. I think we can.
It's game time. Just one more. By Us.
I help put this together for the DCCC blog today, but there's no harm in posting it here too. In fact, the more people who see this information tomorrow the better:
There's been a ton of media coverage about Republican attempts to suppress voter turnout and challenge the rights of ordinary working Americans (i.e. the GOP's non-base) to exercise their most basic right tomorrow. As a public service, we thought we'd pull together some information to help vote tomorrow -- and, to steal a phrase, to actually make a federal case about it if you need to.
The New York Times put together a nice briefing today on its editorial page about what you should know and do in order to vote successfully tomorrow. The key points:
The most important thing for voting? Remember to bring I.D. to the polls.
If you want more information, there are a number of good blogs out there tracking election "irregularities" and voter suppression news: link and link.
An Election Day hotline (1-866-OUR VOTE) will offer immediate, legal assistance to voters during the early voting period and on Election Day. That's 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683). Program those two numbers into your cell phone when you go vote tomorrow. Call from your polling place if you have trouble or if you see anything suspicious.
Another important number to know is the Voter Alert Line: 1-866-MYVOTE1, which a consortium of organizations (including Common Cause and NBC News) has set up to track election problems nationwide. It will connect you to local election officials if you run into problems, as well as track the geographic distribution of all calls throughout the day in order to detect emerging trouble spots.
Lastly, once you've called the other numbers above and registered your problem, you can call the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931 to report any discriminatory practices.
A Quick and Dirty Phone Number Summary:1-866-OUR-VOTE for immediate legal assistance
1-866-MYVOTE1 to report problems
Here's the bottom line:
Vote. Just vote. Over the last 200-odd years, millions of soldiers have died to protect your right to vote. Don't waste that. Don't let anyone-not even Tom Delay and Karl Rove-stop you from voting tomorrow. Don't leave your polling place without casting a ballot for the candidate you desire. It will be the most important thing you do this year.