Jimbo & Rachel Marsden : Scandalous, can you say WP:COItus? Options

In case you were wondering why Rachel Marsden got such special treatment on Wikipedia the secret is now out in the Valleywag. They also link here too!

Jimmy Wales loves to talk about "transparency" and "a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge." Unless it's about his scandal-prone girlfriend. Wales, who is divorcing his second wife Christine, has been secretly seeing conservative TV commentator Rachel Marsden since last fall, friends say.

And something for JzG: a steamy chat log is included.

These chats turned my "stub" into a full wiki page

This seems to be almost too good to be true. The reactions to this will be very telling.

Is this for real?

If so, those transcripts will keep us in one-liners for months:

Jimbo Wales : "I am supposed to be designing a google killing search engine so I can buy a jet"

There isn't the slightest chance that stuff is legit.

Is there?

Meanwhile, abusive sockpuppeteer JoshuaZ - who previously used his secret account to help keep Marsden's BLP - fights the Jimbo corner to keep this new tale off WP as long as possible.

Meanwhile, abusive sockpuppeteer JoshuaZ - who previously used his secret account to help keep Marsden's BLP - fights the Jimbo corner to keep this new tale off WP as long as possible.

Rachel Marsden will fail to keep these rumors out of the article. Then she'll want to blame someone for it and wonder "which goddam idiot created an "encyclopedia" which acts as resume at the top of every internet search, but which any clown anywhere can use to propagate any rumor or opinion about me". Here is the idiot she seeks:
(IMG:http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/Kato90125/jimbocake.jpg)

Wow. He's not kidding when he says that BLP's should be handled in a loving manner.

I think this is probably the beginning of the end for Jimbo's role in the WMF. The typical donor will start to wonder just how his money is being used. It doesn't matter that Jimbo pays his own travel; the mere perception of impropriety will be enough for the WMF to want to distance itself from him.

"I'm doing this for the child chicks in Africa Canada..."

This post has been edited by Aloft:

Meanwhile, abusive sockpuppeteer JoshuaZ - who previously used his secret account to help keep Marsden's BLP - fights the Jimbo corner to keep this new tale off WP as long as possible.

And they will keep it off Jimbo's Talk page, too.

I'll check in with my friend Jimbo on Facebook and see if any of it has even a grain of truth.

Greg

There isn't the slightest chance that stuff is legit.

Is there?

All I can tell you is that if they weren't, Jimbo would own Valleywag, the homes of each of its contributors, and the homes of their children, too.

The only way any publisher would consider running something like those transcripts is if they were certain that they (the transcripts) were legitimate.

Also, I have it on good authority that there's more to come...not necessarily chat transcripts, but other "evidences" of Jimbo's dalliances.

Complete tangent, but I was reading the Wikipedia article about Jimmy Wales, to see if they mention that he's been married twice already (anybody know that, or is that just more satire?). Lo and behold, Jimbo and I were both married in Monroe County, Florida -- thankfully, not to each other!

(IMG:http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/gifs/yacht.jpg)

you people seem surprised...

jimbo is an untrustworthy man who is well practiced at being two-faced.

he should run for congress he'd fit in real well!

I'm guessing, judging by Marsden's horrendous record with men...

Marsden was next charged with criminally harassing former Vancouver radio host Michael Morgan in 2002. According to the statement of facts in the case, Marsden and Morgan met in 2001; soon after, he called the police

...that they've had a break up, and the leaked correspondence is from Marsden herself, seeking revenge on Der Jimbo. If that Salon article is anything to go by, Jimbo's going to have to deal with a lot worse to come from Marsden.

I received a fairly prompt reply from Jimbo on Facebook, with him certain I can understand why he can't comment on it.

Interesting.

Ain't no stoppin' this now...

Should this thread be languishing in the lounge? Seems pretty on-topic to me.

Time to dust off the word 'salacious' here.

Someone move this out of the lounge please.

This blog post by Danny Wool has more "salacious" details and Jimboisms

http://allswool.blogspot.com/2008/03/money...s-for-free.html

Here's Jimbo to Bono of U2

I remember how, in Mexico City, Bono explained to us how the band leaves the arena after a concert by running through a long plastic tunnel stretching from the stage to their limos. "I need one of those," Jimbeau responded, "because I am like a rockstar too." That may be. He certainly gets to have sex with groupies. It is just unfortunate that for the longest time, some of this was funded by well-meaning donors, who really thought that their $5.00 would pay for hardware and bandwidth.

<moderator note> Thread moved to General discussion from Lounge, as it is about WP. Renamed from "Scandalous" to "Jimbo & Rachel Marsden : Scandalous"

Not only is it scandalous and salacious, it also brings Wikipedia further into disrepute.

This has got to be close to Jimbo's worst nightmare.

This has got to be close to Jimbo's worst nightmare.

It needs to be the end of his association with the WMF.

This post has been edited by Aloft:

This has got to be close to Jimbo's worst nightmare.

It needs to be the end of his association with the WMF.

I noticed Seth Finkelstein's comments that it is not really serious? I completely disagree- it clearly shows that Wales provides favourable treatment, either by direct intervention or by proxies to people with whom he is associated. Why should we believe that he does also not accept bribes, gifts, holidays etc from people who want the power to control their own biographies and other articles with sockpuppets as Gary Weiss has done? The man should resign from the Wikimedia foundation immediately and the project should completely break all ties with him.

I see there is now a thread on Wales' page, started by Cla68, mentioning that Wales supposedly commented on the sooper seekrit mailing list that he:

"felt unable, because of COI reasons, to participate in the BLP of certain Canadian journalist"

Why should we believe that JzG and JoshuaZ did not merely act as his proxies in fixing the article according to Wales/Marsden's preference?

"I'm fucking Jimbo Wales" ?

I see there is now a thread on Wales' page, started by Cla68, mentioning that Wales supposedly commented on the sooper seekrit mailing list that he:

"felt unable, because of COI reasons, to participate in the BLP of certain Canadian journalist"

Why should we believe that JzG and JoshuaZ did not merely act as his proxies in fixing the article according to Wales/Marsden's preference?

It is almost certain that JzG was under orders from Wales as outlined here:

Most recently, a tipster tells us, Wales "sent a mass email to a 'special' Wikipedia list of admins at the beginning of February, right before he was set to spend the weekend with Marsden in DC. Said he wanted her page cleaned up.

http://valleywag.com/362511/how-wikipedia-...immy-wales-laid

Here's the type of thing JzG was doing early February:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=189783275

This ties into the JzG / Jimbo Wales relationship. Where Jimbo is using a willing JzG, a man who seems on the edge of a complete breakdown, to act as a fixer / bully on content. Anyone can tell that JzG has lost the plot completely -- surely even Wales -- but as I've stated elsewhere, Wales doesn't seem to care about that as long as JzG is doing the dirty work.

As JzG says : You're either with his friend Mr. Wales or with the enemy
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=176590424

(IMG:http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/pics/movies/casablanca-louis-clauderains.jpg)

I don't understand why everyone is so SHOCKED, SHOCKED that he cheats on his wife, cheats with a journalist, or even (heaven forfend!) sends sexy chat msgs.

He was a porn dealer for God's sake.

And if those listserver msgs are correct, he was more or less bragging about his affair, so he's probably not all that upset it is public. Hey, if it eclipses his bad Wikia press, it's gotta be good news... (with regrets for his poor wife. I hope she gets a decent settlement, and he doesn't rip her off)

Anyways, why would this render him liable to removal?

I'm thinking the lost funds might be grounds (gold washingmachine? Go Florence!).

But even then, I doubt it.

This post has been edited by Disillusioned Lackey:

Poor Jimmy. If only he'd read the uncensored Rachel Marsden article he would have known he was heading for serious trouble.

(IMG:http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/pics/movies/casablanca-louis-clauderains.jpg)

I don't understand why everyone is so SHOCKED, SHOCKED that he cheats on his wife, cheats with a journalist, or even (heaven forfend!) sends sexy chat msgs.

He was a porn dealer for God's sake.

And if those listserver msgs are correct, he was more or less bragging about his affair, so he's probably not all that upset it is public. Hey, if it eclipses his bad Wikia press, it's gotta be good news... (with regrets for his poor wife. I hope she gets a decent settlement, and he doesn't rip her off)

Anyways, why would this render him liable to removal?

I'm thinking the lost funds might be grounds (gold washingmachine? Go Florence!).

But even then, I doubt it.

He has to go because he can't be trusted not to intervene, or to get others to do so for him in biographies of people with whom he is connected.

Anyways, why would this render him liable to removal?

It is yet another example of Wikipedia's useless processes allowing for another blatant case of ...

CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

...alongside a reiteration of WPs multi-tiered editorial practices. Meaning that if you are a "friend of Jimbo Wales" and if you are on some secret list, you are given...

PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT?

whereas if you are an outsider, through no fault of your own, you get humiliated and are subject to the most efficient revenge platform ever devised.

And as Danny Wool notes all this gallivanting meant that "At one point he owed the Foundation some $30,000 in receipts, and this while we were preparing for the audit." Meaning a...

MISUSE OF FOUNDATION FUNDS?

And as Danny Wool notes all this gallivanting meant that "At one point he owed the Foundation some $30,000 in receipts, and this while we were preparing for the audit." Meaning a...

MISUSE OF FOUNDATION FUNDS?

Danny best be careful and back this up with evidence. It's borderline libel territory, if untrue. If true... well, shit. Bye-bye contributions, bye-bye Wikipedia.

So Jimbeau cancelled an upcoming trip to Italy, Serbia, and Croatia, and got to work finding receipts. I helped process them. Subway ticket in Moscow: $0.50. Massage parlor in Moscow: priceless. Some were accepted; others were not, like the $650 spent on two bottles of wine during a dinner for four at Bern's—I remember that one because he submitted it twice, once with the tip scratched out. I wonder if the students who gave up their lunch money to donate to Wikipedia would have approved of that expense. In the end he reached a deal with Brad—details unknown—and paid the Foundation about $7000 in two checks. I don't know what happened with the rest, but the checks can be found in the list of donors.

http://allswool.blogspot.com/

And as Danny Wool notes all this gallivanting meant that "At one point he owed the Foundation some $30,000 in receipts, and this while we were preparing for the audit." Meaning a...

MISUSE OF FOUNDATION FUNDS?

Danny best be careful and back this up with evidence. It's borderline libel territory, if untrue. If true... well, shit. Bye-bye contributions, bye-bye Wikipedia.

I'm going to be surprised if Jimbo doesn't go around trying to sue the shit out of everybody. He's been a little "legal threat happy", recently, from what I hear. He's probably been anticipating this coming out and what he may do--maybe this was foreshadowing things to come.

How would it effect the project if Jimbo goes on a "sue the shit out of everybody" campaign? I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but it's fun to speculate. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/biggrin.gif)

So Jimbeau cancelled an upcoming trip to Italy, Serbia, and Croatia, and got to work finding receipts. I helped process them. Subway ticket in Moscow: $0.50. Massage parlor in Moscow: priceless. Some were accepted; others were not, like the $650 spent on two bottles of wine during a dinner for four at Bern's—I remember that one because he submitted it twice, once with the tip scratched out. I wonder if the students who gave up their lunch money to donate to Wikipedia would have approved of that expense. In the end he reached a deal with Brad—details unknown—and paid the Foundation about $7000 in two checks. I don't know what happened with the rest, but the checks can be found in the list of donors.

http://allswool.blogspot.com/

HOly cow...This story has legs. And coming out at such an time in the community, when it is more divided over Wikipedia's direction than it has ever been!

Is this for real?

How would we be able to tell?

But if it is true, the worst part isn't even in the transcript.

I wouldn't be shocked if it's true that he had any sort of dealings with Marsden - while "juicy," that's not the issue.

The issue is that Marsden got preferential - and quite possibly unfair, given my suspicions about the ArbCom case and her alleged relationship - treatment due to her, no pun intended, position.

That being in a relationship with Wikipedia leadership can actively affect content is worse than Essjay, quite frankly. Even if you think the Marsden ArbCom case was proper, you can't be proud of the road that it very likely took to get there.

If I send Jimbo a bottle of wine, can I get my bullshit Arbcom case renamed to "BLP?" Of course not. That's the real problem here.

I wouldn't be shocked if it's true that he had any sort of dealings with Marsden - while "juicy," that's not the issue.

The issue is that Marsden got preferential - and quite possibly unfair, given my suspicions about the ArbCom case and her alleged relationship - treatment due to her, no pun intended, position.

No, read the first paragraph on the transcript page. Not the
transcript itself, just the introductory paragraph. I don't want
to quote it since if it's not true, it's really defamatory. But, if it
is true, anything done on WP is a side issue, and I really hope
someone is helping RM out.


This post has been edited by AB:

(IMG:http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/gifs/yacht.jpg)

I think this one could be entered into wiki-commons?

Oh the humanity! (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/ohmy.gif)

http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=5196&st=0

Merge this thread about Rachel from 2006?

AB, that's now. What was happening in 2006 with this is what should concern some folks in terms of Wikipedia.

That Marsden's allegedly getting bullied by Jimbo is a different issue altogether.

I wouldn't call it an entirely separate issue, but,
if true, it's certainly a more serious issue. And,
if not true, it's a serious defamation.


This post has been edited by AB:

So Jimbeau cancelled an upcoming trip to Italy, Serbia, and Croatia, and got to work finding receipts. I helped process them. Subway ticket in Moscow: $0.50. Massage parlor in Moscow: priceless. Some were accepted; others were not, like the $650 spent on two bottles of wine during a dinner for four at Bern's—I remember that one because he submitted it twice, once with the tip scratched out. I wonder if the students who gave up their lunch money to donate to Wikipedia would have approved of that expense. In the end he reached a deal with Brad—details unknown—and paid the Foundation about $7000 in two checks. I don't know what happened with the rest, but the checks can be found in the list of donors.

http://allswool.blogspot.com/

Mr. Wales is a rich guy, right? Doesn't that mean no advance would be appropriate. Incur the expense, present the receipts, get reimbursed. He's not Florence for Christsake. By the way two checks? As in payment plan? I wonder if either he or WMF treated the payments as "donations" as Wool seems to suggest. That would be inappropriate on either/both ends.