Wikipedia: gagging the encyclopedia?

Juventud Rebelde
February 16, 2006

Wikipedia: gagging the encyclopedia?

A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.

http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs390.html

It came about as an open-content project for worldwide netsurfers,
this website's content is being targeted now by those trying to
'dress up' the image of US politicians or hush-up differing opinions.

In a partially-undercover operation worthy of the terrible
disinformation campaigns waged by Nazi Germany's Minister of
Instruction and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, the U.S. Congress visited
the Internet and modified the public biographies of a dozen senators
that were published in the Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia
(www.wikipedia.org).

A free multilingual encyclopedia based on the wiki system, the site
is written and rewritten collaboratively by volunteers from all over
the world, and its articles can be changed and replaced with new
content by anyone who so wishes.

The project began on January 15, 2001 as a complement to the
expert-written Nupedia and presently has more than 3,210,000
articles, including more than 945 000 in the English-language
version, and as of January 2006 it reached a number of 857,000
registered users.

This is the first time, however, that the U.S. government has been
found to be intentionally modifying the site's content to 'embellish'
its senators' biographies by trimming any 'dark angles' or
controversial elements from their past.

Wikipedia reported that Capitol Building-based computers deleted
facts from articles about senators, while other entries were
'vandalized'.

In fact, the scandal spread after some senators admitted to have
'polished' their own biographies, such as Massachusetts Democrat
Marty Meehan, whose confession gave rise to an investigation that has
brought to light similar actions by other American politicians.

ANY CONTENT

Wikipedia is a user-designed Internet site in which visitors can make
entries and edit any page. As a result, it has become a kind of
online reference website where readers can find almost any
information.

Furthermore, users can also edit words within the same article both
to add to their meaning and enrich each entry with new knowledge, so
its information at times exceeds that of other traditional
encyclopedias, either digital or in paper.

On the other hand, since it can be reviewed and enhanced free of
charge, many use it as a daily consultation tool mainly preferred by
students, who gain new knowledge and contribute with whatever
addition they deem useful to others.

For instance, the British journal Nature recently reported to have
examined a wide range of scientific information and concluded that
articles in Wikipedia are comparable in accuracy to those in the
Encyclopedia Britannica, after finding few differences between both
reference works.

Nevertheless, Wikipedia has been repeatedly criticized for a
perceived lack of reliability regarding its information, since by the
nature of its openness some people have introduced inaccuracies or
distorted its contents.

Consequently, Wikipedia was recently forced to request users to
register their generals before they proceed to modify anything so
that readers can be able to know who provided any new text.

'INACCURACIES' AND VANDALISM Owing to the scandal caused by the U.S.
senators who tampered with the online encyclopedia, site-manager
Wikimedia Foundation decided to take a look at previous edition works
made to Wikipedia, and to that end its investigators got the Senate's
computer protocol numbers and thus found out some changes made to
pages online.

According to the website, a dozen biographies of outstanding figures
were modified from Senate-based computers, including that of
Minnesota senator Norm Coleman.

Coleman's own office has already confirmed that its staff has made
some changes to their Internet files. Where it had been described as
a 'liberal' university student, it now says 'activist". Also deleted
was data saying that Coleman had voted for Bush 98% of the time in
2003, when a year before he had campaigned as a 'moderate'.

Coleman's chief of staff Erich Mische said such editing was made to
correct some inaccuracies and delete facts that failed to correctly
portray the politician.

But Wikipedia claims this is just a part of the problem, for there
have been cases of true information 'vandalism', namely in the case
of president George W. Bush's biography, now impossible to be edited
after being altered countless times by supporters and critics alike
as well as acceded to from the U.S. Congress.

ELIMINATING DISSENTING THOUGHTS

Much deeper interests than those of the Empire's makeup artists lie
behind the controversy surrounding these changes to Wikipedia
articles, as proven by pressures exerted on this website to prevent
its content from being modified by netsurfers.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate any thoughts dissenting from
hegemonic ideas disseminated by 'official' encyclopedias, because
Wikipedia has become a bulwark of all kinds of viewpoints, if leftist
ones for the most part.

In addition to how questionable some of the online encyclopedia's
content may be, the truth is no one doubts it has become an essential
reference tool, to the extreme that many prefer it over Encarta or
the abovementioned Encyclopedia Britannica, notwithstanding their
share of mistakes, some accidental. others not.

http://www.jrebelde.cu/secciones/informatica/html/wikipedia.HTML

The Forgery of the 'Lenin Testament'

V.A. Sakharov
Candidate of Historical Sciences


Below we publish an analysis of documents which are said to have been written or dictated by V.I. Lenin before he died and which were critical of J.V. Stalin. The following article was first published in the newspaper 'Molniya', organ of the Trudovaya Rossiya mass movement, translated by Michael Lucas and published in the collection of articles 'The Lie of the 'Lenin Testament' (Toronto, 1997). The article is prefaced by extracts from 'Letter to the Congress', which has been stated to have been dictated by Lenin. V.A. Sakharov raises the question of the authorship of this and related documents.


Read the complete article.

Lies concerning the history of the Soviet Union

From Hitler to Hearst, from Conquest to Solzhenitsyn: the history of the millions of people who allegedly were incarcerated and died in the labour camps of the Soviet Union and as a result of starvation during Stalin's time.
Speech by Mario Sousa, KPML (r) Sweden
Translated and presented to the Stalin Society by Ella Rule March 1999.

In this world we live in, who can avoid hearing the terrible stories of suspected death and murders in the gulag labour camps of the Soviet Union? Who can avoid the stories of the millions who starved to death and the millions of oppositionists executed in the Soviet Union during Stalin's time? In the capitalist world these stories are repeated over and over again in books, newspapers, on the radio and television, and in films, and the mythical numbers of millions of victims of socialism have increased by leaps and bounds in the last 50 years.
But where in fact do these stories, and these figures, come from? Who is behind all this?

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Our Revolution (Apropos of N. Sukhanov's Notes) - V. I. Lenin

I have lately been glancing through Sukhanov's notes on the revolution. What strikes one most is the pedantry of all our petty-bourgeois Democrats and of all heroes of the Second International. Apart from the fact that they are all extremely fainthearted, that when it comes to the minutest deviation from the German model [of Socialism] even the best of them fortified themselves with reservations — apart from this characteristic, which is common to all petty-bourgeois Democrats and has been abundantly manifested by them throughout the revolution, what strikes one is their slavish imitation of the past.

They all call themselves Marxists, but their conception of Marxism is impossibly pedantic. They have completely failed to understand what is decisive in Marxism, namely, its revolutionary dialectics. They have even absolutely failed to understand Marx's plain statements that in times of revolution the utmost flexibility is demanded,[A] and have even failed to notice, for instance, the statements Marx made in his letters — I think it was in 1856 — expressing the hope of combining the peasant war in Germany, which might create a revolutionary situation, with the working-class movement[B] — they avoid even this plain statement and walk around and about it like a cat around a bowl of hot porridge.

To read the rest of the article, click HERE.

US Bombing of Pakistani Villages

CMKP Condemns US Bombing of Pakistani VillagesIn a flagrant display of imperial arrogance the US army has openlyviolated the sovereignty of Pakistan by bombing Pakistani villagestwice in the last week. The Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party condemnsthese brutal acts and extends its heartfelt condolences to thefamilies of the innocent people who were murdered by these brutalattacks. The incredibly mild and weak objections raised by thegovernment to this clear violation of our national sovereigntyreveals to the people the utter spinelessness of the illegitimatemilitary dictatorship imposed by imperialism on the people ofPakistan. Right-wing parties, the former fiercest allies ofimperialism, have acted as great pressure valves in order only toallow people to let off steam. They have always acted as a loyalopposition to the military regime. The people need real change.

Real change can come about only with the recognition that this act ofviolation of the national sovereignty of our country is a product ofthe imperialist war system. Therefore, the only way the people cancreate meaningful national sovereignty is by opposing the imperialistsystem that in turn is a product of the monopoly stage of capitalism.Communists are the only political force in the last century to haveconsistently opposed imperialism and won significant victories. Thisis because only communists recognize the intricate connection betweenthe class system and the system of imperialist war. Whether we lookat Vietnam, Cuba, Korea, or China, societies that have successfullychallenged imperialism and liberated themselves have done so onlyunder the leadership of scientific socialism and Marxist-Leninistparties.

We appeal to the people of Pakistan to channel their anger into theformation of an organized progressive anti-imperialist liberationmovement. That is the only way forward towards real and meaningfulchange.

Balochistan on fire

Balochistan is once again going through an intense civil war as Baloch population is fighting for their rights against pro-Punjab Pakistan government. We damand the right of self-determinaton of Baloch nation including succession.

Down with national oppression!!!

For more information, please follow following links:

Marxism and National Question - J. V. Stalin
Gwader and China angle
Communists and Baloch Nationalism
Balochvoice.com

Cuba to the rescue

I am posting an article that was written by Kamila Hyat for the DAWN Magazine and was published by them on January 15, 2006. My remarks are present in brackets.

Visitors from across the divide

AT present, some 900 Cuban medical personnel, including over 500 doctors and 400 paramedics, continue to offer their services to quake victims in Azad Kashmir and affected areas of the North West Frontier Province. The Cubans, known around the world for their expertise in emergency situations and in trauma care, had volunteered 500 doctors within hours of the October 8 quake. The offer from Havana, according to reports from Islamabad, created something akin to panic in the corridors of decision-making, and Pakistan eventually agreed to accept only 200. The number was raised to 500 several weeks later, as the true scale of the crisis became known, and President Pervez Musharraf held a 30-minute telephonic conversation with President Fidel Castro, who was apparently able to persuade him to accept the Cuban medics.

[Henry Reeve Interanational Madical Contingent is a brigade of doctors ready to participate in relief work of humanitarian crises. Moreover, Cuban doctors are serving in more than 67 countries around the globe.]

While the work of the Cuban teams, who swiftly established field hospitals after arriving, has been widely praised by the locals, the presence of the 900-plus Cubans has also exposed the extent to which communism still strikes terror in the heart of the State. The Cubans, whose presence on the ground was reportedly opposed by Washington, have in many cases been closely monitored by literally dozens of intelligence operatives. Some report being closely scrutinized almost round the clock by personnel, who apparently feared they could incite a revolution despite their difficulties in communicating with the locals.

[These doctors, in their true professional spirit, said that they are in Pakistan to serve the earth-quake victims and have no political motives.]

In places, such as Balakot, where interaction between English-speaking locals and volunteers, and the Cubans, apparently increased after the frenetic initial days of the quake, the Cubans were in some cases forced by authorities to pack their camps and move to more remote, mountain areas, where, perhaps, it was thought there was less potential for an exchange of views.

The almost farcical situation reflects the plight of a State which is well aware that it has done little for its people, and terrified at the prospect that they may become more conscious of this through dialogue with the citizens of a State that has done a great deal more.

While Cuba’s healthcare system has suffered in recent years from resource shortages, it remains the envy of the developing world. Even developed countries such as Britain have studied the system as part of attempts to improve their own. With 5.3 doctors available per every 1,000 people — compared to 2.7 per 1,000 in the US — Cuba’s health statistics, especially in preventing diseases, rank as some of the best on the globe. Its literacy rate of 96 per cent is only one point lower than that of the US. The infant mortality rate, at seven per 1,000 births, is equal to that of the US, while on all other health indicators, Cuba finishes either ahead of the US or equal to it. This is no mean achievement for a country that has for decades faced harsh economic sanctions from the US and its allies.

[Some inaccuracies in the data: infant mortality rate in Cuba is 5 per children, even lesser than that of USA; there is one doctor for every 177 people; the literacy rate, I will have to check, is also higher than 96 percent.]

Crucially, 50 per cent of the Cuban medics in Pakistan are women, and as such have been able to offer treatment to female patients in a society where traditionally male doctors do not attend to women. Local people have described the Cubans as being sympathetic, good humoured, extremely efficient and willing to work in the most arduous conditions. In some places, such as the village of Danna, 40km from Muzaffarabad, the 50 or so Cubans running a field hospital gained quite a fan following amongst the people they treated.

[There are very interesting news from the earth-quake hit areas. Many people are naming their babies on the name of the Cuban doctor who helped in delivery of the baby. More interestingly, one baby was named 'Cuba']

The young NGO volunteers who have interacted with Cubans have also found the experience eye-opening, in more ways than one. Some of the young Cuban doctors have quite openly been dismayed at the conditions of life for ordinary Pakistani people — the lack of proper housing, sanitation, healthcare or schooling — even in ordinary times. In turn, the accounts given by the Cubans regarding services available in their country has forced Pakistanis to think longer and deeper as to why similar facilities are not available to them, given the fact that the tiny Caribbean island of Cuba is by no means a rich country.

It is as such no surprise that the State of Pakistan is anxious to prevent this information being disseminated, and has as such made every possible effort to restrict contact between the Cuban visitors and those they have come to assist in a time of crisis.

[UNICEF's director of operations in Pakistan, Indiana Gonzalez Mairena, told the Cuban newspaper Vanguardia, "I recognize this as valuable humanitarian aid which we would not expect from other countries possessing much more resources than Cuba. It's just a matter of will"]

History of Communist Movement in Pakistan

Please visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cmkp_pk/message/3971, to read an article about the history of communist movement of Pakistan.

This article was presented to Socialist Labour Party public meeting on 27/09/01.

APTUF Appeal

All Pakistan Trade Union Federation

Appeal

“APTUF call upon for the cancellation of the foreign debt of Pakistan which in fiscal year 2005 rose 23 047 billion dollars (8 times more than the total of new loans and grants which have been decided by the donors conference) the servicing of the debt was up to 2716 billion dollars for the same year (4 times the amount which the United Nations regard as necessary for immediate assistance). Today, in most the earthquake affected areas, cold, hunger, lack of childcare and health facilities, diseases are taking their toll. People are dying.

That’s why the APTUF calls for the cancellation of the foreign debt of Pakistan and for an immediate stop in the servicing of that debt. All the available money, instead of being absorbed by international speculation, should now be used to help the people, to save them, to start rebuilding the destroyed areas.

That campaign we regard as an international campaign concerning all the labour movement.

We specially call upon the trade union organisations in the creditors’ countries, the members of the so-called Paris Club: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Russian federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

In the last year only, Pakistan paid back 563 millions worth of the Paris Club loan.

We call upon you to associate with the APTUF to demand:

• The cancellation of the foreign debt which is not the debt of the people of Pakistan
• The immediate halt to the servicing of the debt.

To prevent the earthquake consequences from killing thousands and thousands of people, to save those who have lost their home and jobs, to rebuild the country needs a lot of money. That money exists: it is in the hands of the IMF, the World Bank and the world powers. It must go the people of Pakistan.”

Gulzar Ahmed Chaudhary

General Secretary

All Pakistan Trade Union Federation

14-N, Industrial Area, Gulberg, Lahore, Pakistan

Tel: 92-42-5755078/5755079

Fax: 92-42-6686382/6686519

Crimes of Capitalists

"When capital and the ruling classes apologise for: Colonialism, the 14 hour day, Class Privilege, the 7 day working week, children in coalmines, the opium wars, the massacre of the paris commune, slavery, the spanish-american war, the boer war, starvation, apartheid, anti-union laws, the first world war, flanders, trench warfare, mustard gas, aerial bombing, the soviet intervention, the armenian genocide, chemical weapons, fascism, the great depression, hunger marches, nazism, the spanish civil war, militarism, asbestosis, radiation death, the massacre of Nanking, the second world war, belsen, dresden, hiroshima, racism, the mafia, nuclear weapons, the korean war, DDT, McCarthyism, production lines, blacklists, thalidomide, the rape of the third world, poverty, the arms race, plastic surgery, the electric chair, environmental degradation, the vietnam war, the military suppression of greece, india, malaya, indonesia, chile, el salvador, nicaragua, panama and turkey, the gulf war, trade in human body parts, malnutrition, exxon valdez, deforestation, organised crime, the heroin and cocaine trade, tuberculosis, the destruction of the ozone layer, cancer, exploitation of labour and the deaths of 50,000,000 communists and trade unionists in this century alone, then - and only then - will I consider apologising for the errors of socialism." - J. V. Stalin