Wikipedia check book balanced by convicted felon - Register Options

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Wikipedia check book balanced by convicted felon
Register, UK -19 minutes ago
By Cade Metz in San Francisco → More by this author Exclusive For more than six months, beginning in January of this year, Wikipedia's million-dollar check ...


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[Moulton]

More unfavorable reporting by Cade Metz. They prolly hate this guy bigtime by now.

[jorge]

Woops

[GlassBeadGame]

Woops

Wow. I think that might to go down as an audit exception under "verification and financial controls." Godwin's response is shoving his index fingers in his ear and yelling "lah, lah, lah...I can't hear you." Unless Metz has made a serious factual error, which does not seem like his style, Godwin's response is only going to indicate a lack of due diligence and make him a target for the larger press.

[Moulton]

This has got to be a nightmare for Godwin, defending Wikimedia after spending all those years at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

It would be like leaving the American Civil Liberties Union to take a job at the CIA.

[Alkivar]

5$ says someone will be suing that temp agency for them sending Carolyn to WMF in the first place...

we know pass the buck is par for the course.

DUI x4
Check Fraud
Petty Larceny x2
Assault with a deadly weapon
Manslaughter
Probation violations including leaving the country

but seriously... she was in THE WASHINGTON POST for shooting her boyfriend...
she wont even pass a google test, let alone a background check...
so its clear one was never performed.

hell i'm no angel (i've got a felony conviction)...

but i'm also not handling the books for around $400,000 for my profession...

this wont be blowing over anytime soon.


PS digg this up: http://digg.com/world_news/Wikipedia_COO_was_convicted_felon

This post has been edited by Alkivar:

[Daniel Brandt]

Banned users may not edit. Their only alternative is to use OTRS. They should first forward a fifth of expensive bourbon to the Office, along with $100 cash for cab fares home, or their request will not be considered. In fact, it most likely won't be considered even after they do this.

San Francisco is going to be fun...

I found both of these by searching for "carolyn bothwell" in Google. If you knew her age and that she lived in Virginia at the time, it would have been a no-brainer to discover this through due diligence. There are only 21 hits total in Google if the name is inside quotation marks.

http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opncavtx/0864964.txt

Carolyn Bothwell, a friend of Hall's, assisted the police investigation by wearing a concealed recording device on six different occasions in a futile attempt to obtain incriminating statements from appellant. Bothwell testified that she, already a convicted felon, was the target of a felony prosecution in Loudoun County at the time of appellant's trial but that her case had been continued. She further testified that she had reached no agreement with the Loudoun County prosecutor's office regarding the effect her cooperation in appellant's case might have on her own prosecution.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1111959.html

Va. Shooting Case Typifies Domestic Violence Cycle
The Washington Post, February 22, 1990
by DeNeen L. Brown

As he lay in bed in their Herndon town house, she walked up to him, stood no more than three feet away, pointed a .357 magnum at him and pulled the trigger, according to court testimony.

The bullet cut through his chest and his back, lodging in a pillow. "I damn near died," Philip L. Brown, 47, said in an interview yesterday about the Aug. 25 shooting. "They flew me code blue to the trauma center."

Carolyn Bothwell, 27, his girlfriend of eight years, was charged with malicious wounding and use of a firearm. A day after she was indicted, Brown wrote a letter to Assistant Commonwealth's ...

The question is, "Why does The Register have to do this, and will it now be considered a BADSITE by Wikipedia?"

Is it "wikistalking" or is it "due diligence"? Only your unfriendly cabalist knows for sure, and he won't tell you.

[thekohser]

Note that in this note from Flo-Flo (who is living in my house, recall), it's obvious she knew what was going on. And, in the final paragraph, she segues into a discussion of replacing the Treasurer, Michael E. Davis.

I will be releasing a blog post soon, with a detailed analysis of his own history in court (including a contempt of court charge). The facts do not portray Davis in a good light. It won't stack up to this new Register piece, but it will be another nail in the coffin of Wikimedia Foundation leadership.

Greg

This post has been edited by thekohser:

[Saltimbanco]

Well, I hope Ms. Doran can get her life together.

Has Jimbo Wales ever done anything to suggest that he might be a good judge of character? Ever?

[Daniel Brandt]

Well, I hope Ms. Doran can get her life together.

Has Jimbo Wales ever done anything to suggest that he might be a good judge of character? Ever?

Sure he has. Look at these four two characters.
(IMG:http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/gifs/jimbo3.gif)

[GlassBeadGame]

Note that in this note from Flo-Flo (who is living in my house, recall), it's obvious she knew what was going on. And, in the final paragraph, she segues into a discussion of replacing the Treasurer, Michael E. Davis.

I will be releasing a blog post soon, with a detailed analysis of his own history in court (including a contempt of court charge). The facts do not portray Davis in a good light. It won't stack up to this new Register piece, but it will be another nail in the coffin of Wikimedia Foundation leadership.

Greg

It seems likely from the wikien-l post that Flo knew. So the question is: Did they not tell Godwin or did he lie to Metz? Either way it is interesting and implication laden.

[thekohser]

Wait a minute. Read this.

Am I correctly reading that Carolyn Bothwell shot her boyfriend in the chest in 1990, then in 1999 her husband drowned in the Cayman Islands while on their honeymoon?

Not trying to play forensic psychologist here -- I'm just confirming that these two points are facts?

Greg

[Jonny Cache]

Godwin also said that he and the Foundation are still unaware of Doran's criminal record: "We've never had any documentation of any criminal record on Carolyn Doran's part at all", he told us. "As far as I'm concerned, I have no direct knowledge of [her criminal record] yet … We have, in our records, no evidence of any such thing."

I'm guessing it was just an oversight.

Jonny (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/cool.gif)

[Daniel Brandt]

Wait a minute. Read this.

Am I correctly reading that Carolyn Bothwell shot her boyfriend in the chest in 1990, then in 1999 her husband drowned in the Cayman Islands while on their honeymoon?

Not trying to play forensic psychologist here -- I'm just confirming that these two points are facts?

Greg

Yes, it looks like the same Carolyn. The Washington Times snippet right below that one in your Google search says, "Doran is predeceased by his father, William T. Doran. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn, and a stepson, Philip Bothwell, both of Potomac Falls; ... " The Post piece linked in the Register article says, "She said she did not want to risk losing custody of her 3-year-old son." So if the Carolyn we're talking about has a son named Philip Bothwell, now about 21 years old, then it must be the same one. Potomac Falls MD is only about 15 miles from Herndon VA, and the time difference is nine years.

Oops, sorry, I'm wikistalking again... I'm a BADBOY.

[Somey]

Frankly, I doubt the Wikimedia Foundation would have cared if they had known that Doran was a convicted felon who had been involved in a shooting incident.

It just stands to reason that if you open up a website, along with the structures built to support it, to the entire world with no background checks, no verifiable identities, and no accountability, you're going to get some people with criminal records - along with a wide variety of other people with, shall we say, interesting stories.

And while I know full well that fetishism is no crime (in most states), let's not forget that the WMF's current spokesman, Cary "Bastique" Bass, is a former (or who knows, maybe current?) treasurer of the Southeast Conference of Clubs - or more specifically, Leather Clubs. Don't bother clicking on the link unless you're over 18!

[Aloft]

Not trying to play forensic psychologist here -- I'm just confirming that these two points are facts?

Someone email Durova. Sounds like we have a complex investigation on our hands.

[WordBomb]

Wikipedia check book balanced by convicted felon
Register, UK -19 minutes ago
By Cade Metz in San Francisco → More by this author Exclusive For more than six months, beginning in January of this year, Wikipedia's million-dollar check ...


View the article

Maybe this, as opposed to Essjay, was the reason Danny Wool and Brad Patrick left in such a hurry in March.

[Jonny Cache]

Caption Contest — We Have A Wiener !!!

Why would you do a background check for a pretty standard office job?

Warning — The Attorney General has determined that AGF can be dangerous to your wealth.

Jonny (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/cool.gif)

[Saltimbanco]

I wonder what she brought to the table when she was interviewing?

[imgx]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/16/Cd2.jpg[/imgx]

(Should this be merged with the JustTitsGuy list thread?)

(It would have been funnier had the image come up correctly. Try this link and imagine the timing and setup flowed better.)

(Fixed by Uncle Somey)

This post has been edited by Somey:

[GlassBeadGame]

Wikipedia check book balanced by convicted felon
Register, UK -19 minutes ago
By Cade Metz in San Francisco → More by this author Exclusive For more than six months, beginning in January of this year, Wikipedia's million-dollar check ...


View the article

Maybe this, as opposed to Essjay, was the reason Danny Wool and Brad Patrick left in such a hurry in March.

Maybe. She sounds pretty badassed. Maybe she scared them. So do you think they told Godwin and Gardner?

[Daniel Brandt]

Maybe the person who hired her, or one or two others after she was innocently hired, knew more than others did in the office. They could have leveraged this into extra-fat expense-account reimbursements. I'd say Godwin should either insist on an internal review of this situation, or resign to protect his good name.

[Jonny Cache]

Caption Contest — We Have A Wiener !!!

Why would you do a background check for a pretty standard office job?

Warning !!! The Attorney General has determined that AGF can be dangerous to your wealth.

Jonny (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/cool.gif)

Or maybe this one —

Wikipedia embarrasses you in front of your cellmates.

Jonny (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/cool.gif)

[Daniel Brandt]

Contest: Who can come up with the most absurd and/or funniest apologetic one-liner from a cabalista over this scandal? The winner gets an expense-paid trip to San Francisco to work as a temp in the new office. My entry is a quote from Ray Saintonge:

http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikie...ber/087334.html

It's disappointing that she didn't get the financial statements put together before she went to her secure government employment, but we should avoid obsessing over the problem.

[tarantino]

Frankly, I doubt the Wikimedia Foundation would have cared if they had known that Doran was a convicted felon who had been involved in a shooting incident.

It just stands to reason that if you open up a website, along with the structures built to support it, to the entire world with no background checks, no verifiable identities, and no accountability, you're going to get some people with criminal records - along with a wide variety of other people with, shall we say, interesting stories.

And while I know full well that fetishism is no crime (in most states), let's not forget that the WMF's current spokesman, Cary "Bastique" Bass, is a former (or who knows, maybe current?) treasurer of the Southeast Conference of Clubs - or more specifically, Leather Clubs. Don't bother clicking on the link unless you're over 18!

It's unlikely they ever ran a background on Cary, either.
While looking through FeloniousMonk's edits, I ran across his warning of Deodar for filing a checkuser request against SlimVirgin. Deodar was concerned no one person could edit for 27 hours straight.

Cary posits an alternate explanation, prior to TM's warning-

Back in my old days...2000 and before, I found crystal methamphetamine could keep me online for periods 24 hours and longer...sometimes wayyyy longer. Just saying, it doesn't have to be multiple people. Bastiqueâ–¼parler voir 03:27, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

The RFCU was subsequently deleted by JzG because it was "vexatious".

[Jonny Cache]

I wonder what she brought to the table when she was interviewing?

And here I was guessing a .357 Magnum …

Jonny (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/cool.gif)

[Castle Rock]

Here's mine Daniel
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikie...ber/087345.html

Based on who appears to be feeding information to Metz, he has sources
that have falsified information before both for press and community
attacks on Wikipedia before.

This is not an indication that the particular information is wrong.
But one should be wary, and fact check.

[Somey]

http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikie...ber/087328.html

And now all the Register's previous material looks correct because they broke this nonsense... Are we trying to implode?

Hey, there are worse things than "implosion." Let me tell you about that time I went to Ryan's Steakhouse for the all-you-can-eat buffet...

http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikie...ember/date.html

Why would you do a background check for a pretty standard office job? ... You can't go around refusing to trust anything anybody says.

Unless they're Wikipedia Review members, or tech-sector journalists...

http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikie...ber/087332.html

People forget that the WMF is a charitable organization and has some pretty stringent fiduciary responsibilities in law.

People on Wikipedia, maybe...

http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikie...ber/087345.html

Based on who appears to be feeding information to Metz, he has sources that have falsified information before both for press and community attacks on Wikipedia before.

Such as...? And...proof? But wait! This is Wikipedia, where proof is irrelevant!

[Derktar]

Extended quote by saintonge at telus.net (the one Mr. Brandt linked above):

Shit happens. She is no longer working with WMF. Any large
organization will get these people from time to time, and unless she did
real direct damage to WMF while she was working why should this be
treated as such a big problem? It's disappointing that she didn't get
the financial statements put together before she went to her secure
government employment, but we should avoid obsessing over the problem.
The obsessing can be more damaging than the original problem.

Ec

Yeah hiring convicted felons into senior positions isn't a problem whatsoever. This kind of stuff happens everyday after all.

[WordBomb]

Contest: Who can come up with the most absurd and/or funniest apologetic one-liner from a cabalista over this scandal? The winner gets an expense-paid trip to San Francisco to work as a temp in the new office.

You can all quit playing. I have the winner. That putz George Herbert takes it hands down:

Based on who appears to be feeding information to Metz, he has sources that have falsified information before both for press and community attacks on Wikipedia before.

(This message brought to you by the National Redundancy Association of Redundancy)

Yes, George "Android Dungeon" Herbert is a real prince. I've emailed twice asking him to back up a public claim that I've not told the truth on AntiSocialMedia.net but have been twice ignored. It's nice to have tidbits like this one to put the rest of his blah blah in context.

EDIT: Garbage! Castle Rock beat me with the same reference by four minutes. Well I'm willing to job-share with you CR, if our entry ends up winning.

This post has been edited by WordBomb:

[Alkivar]

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/shdoran.htm

her deceased husband was Air Force.

"He had served in the Air Force for 18 years, working in the field of weapons development and evaluation. In addition to stations in Florida, he served with the U.S. On-Site Inspection Team in Russia in support of the SALT agreements. He had served in the Washington area for the past five years and transferred to MIMA last year after being with the Central Intelligence Agency."

so his drowning death got her survivor's benefits for an 18-year veteran....

jumping to conclusions is ok in my book... theres certainly enough fishy shit going on.

the more scrutiny I put on wikipedia... the more the CIA appears tangentially... creepy.


PS: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Chief_Operatin...convicted_felon

This post has been edited by Alkivar:

[Jonny Cache]

Contest: Who can come up with the most absurd and/or funniest apologetic one-liner from a cabalista over this scandal? The winner gets an expense-paid trip to San Francisco to work as a temp in the new office.

You can all quit playing. [url=http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-December/087345.html]
I have the winner[/url]. That putz George Herbert takes it hands down:

Based on who appears to be feeding information to Metz, he has sources that have falsified information before both for press and community attacks on Wikipedia before.

(This message brought to you by the National Redundancy Association of Redundancy)

Yes, George "Android Dungeon" Herbert is a real prince. I've emailed twice asking him to back up a public claim that I've not told the truth on AntiSocialMedia.net but have been twice ignored. It's nice to have tidbits like this one to put the rest of his blah blah in context.

EDIT: Garbage! Castle Rock beat me with the same reference by four minutes. Well I'm willing to job-share with you CR, if our entry ends up winning.

There was once a Wikipedia Bio on GWH, who is notable for his Wiki-Platitudes, but it got deleted, 'cause you know what a status symbol it is these days to have a Deleted Wikipedia Bio, but I think we have an old copy of it in the Articles forum.

Yup, here it is —

George William Herbert

Jonny (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/cool.gif)

This post has been edited by Jonny Cache:

[Piperdown]

word, they'd rather call you a liar and give you *crickets*, 'cuz the wikikids believe everything the respected admins tell them, and pretend that the wikikiddies aren't going to ASM and checking it all out for themselves...then shutting up so they don't lose their accounts.

DB's crazy, WB's odious, Byrne's whacky, Gary's a critic, Slimmy's a victim, Durova they're not so sure anymore, Jayjg's a ...wait, who? we don't know nobody here by that name..., etc

So now this Carolyn scandal can't be referenced in WP anywhere. Cuz The Register UK is a bad BADSITE. Although lil 'GW and his stuntcat Sami had no problem with El Reg when they could use it to diss Grandmaster Byrne.

Byrne owned Wales on his own talk page. Owned. LOL.

This post has been edited by Piperdown:

[GlassBeadGame]

Why would you do a background check for a pretty standard office job?

She was the organization's COO during a period of time it lacked an Executive Director. Which would make it seem like she was in charge of day to day operations. Not exactly a receptionist.

Maybe all of those fancy corporate acronyms (ED, COO, GC, GK) are just, you know, pseudonyms to stop harassment from, you know, stalkers and abusers, like those in the law enforcement communities of Maryland, Texas and Virgina. After all this was the point of Essjays phony PhDs. Just to throw them off the trail.

[Daniel Brandt]

It might be time to entertain A Wacky Conspiracy Theory.

Factoid 1: At least two key people were hired in the Office who had, shall we say, résumés that meant they were not in a position to play whistleblower. I'm referring to Carolyn Doran and Cary Bass.

Factoid 2: There were massive amounts of travelling to silly meetings where they had nothing to discuss, with expenses paid. The reason they don't have anything to discuss is because they've been trying very hard to pretend that they aren't responsible for the content on Wikipedia.

Factoid 3: Brad and Danny resigned abruptly around nine months ago.

Factoid 4: I have heard stories, supposedly originating from one of the two above who resigned (I better not say which one), that there was funny business going on with the budget and expense accounts.

Factoid 5: Michael Davis is also not in a position to play whistleblower convincingly because of his own history of legal problems. These derived from alleged financial improprieties during his Chicago options-trading days.

Factoid 6: Tim Shell (CEO of Bomis) resigned from the Board one year ago.

Factoid 7: Davis and Shell are Jimbo cronies from the old days. Jimbo loves going around shmoozing with The Beautiful People, and doesn't have sufficient moral fiber to blow the whistle on anything — as long as he's having a good time.

Add all this up and what do you get? I dunno, but you'd be smarter to send your tax-deductible donation to help a kid in Latin America, rather than sending it to the Wikimedia Foundation. Maybe the kid will grow up without a Wikipedia-preinstalled laptop and become a responsible, productive citizen.

[Castle Rock]

I think I have a winner, this pretty much blows all of the others away.

His muck-raking is beneath contempt. Did you steal Cade Metz's wife or something, Jimbo? Rockpocket 05:08, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Some people just don't get it.

This post has been edited by Castle Rock:

[Derktar]

I think I have a winner, this pretty much blows all of the others away.

His muck-raking is beneath contempt. Did you steal Cade Metz's wife or something, Jimbo? Rockpocket 05:08, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Some people just don't get it.

There's the endorsement Jimbo needs to adopt a Wikipedia ex-con work program!
Oh and nice one Jimbo:

As Mike Godwin said to the reporter, ""We've never had any documentation
of any criminal record on Carolyn Doran's part at all." There was no
question of the board "disclosing" information that we did not have.

So they're either incompetent or corrupt...or both...that should help the fund raiser.

[Daniel Brandt]

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/shdoran.htm

her deceased husband was Air Force.

"He had served in the Air Force for 18 years, working in the field of weapons development and evaluation. In addition to stations in Florida, he served with the U.S. On-Site Inspection Team in Russia in support of the SALT agreements. He had served in the Washington area for the past five years and transferred to MIMA last year after being with the Central Intelligence Agency."

so his drowning death got her survivor's benefits for an 18-year veteran....

jumping to conclusions is ok in my book... theres certainly enough fishy shit going on.

the more scrutiny I put on wikipedia... the more the CIA appears tangentially... creepy.


PS: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Chief_Operatin...convicted_felon

Dammit, Alkivar, I really didn't want to bring this up because it's too late and too spooky. But you've forced my hand. I sincerely hope there's nothing to it. The first post I cited in this thread refers to an "Investigator Robinette" and I cannot find a first name for Robinette on that page. I understand that Glenn Robinette became a private investigator in that neck of the woods. He's also a CIA veteran. NameBase played a key role in exposing him to the media back in 1986, during the Iran/contra mess.

Is the "Investigator Robinette" one and the same as Glenn Robinette — another CIA veteran?

Of course, those nitwits in the cabal will claim that the CIA doesn't use people with "checkered" histories. They haven't studied the CIA for 40 years like I have.

[Piperdown]

derktar, WMF apparently as a "Don't ask, Don't Felony" hiring policy. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

If WMF was a publicly traded stock, Jimbo's old chums at the Chicago Exchange would have enabled some hedge funds to short more shares than available through options market maker exemptions, journalists who have previous business relationships and common CV intersections with those fund managers would be writing negative articles on it fortnightly. Some of them would even be spreading the bad cheers on the nets and the wikis.

Perhaps WMF shouldn't bang the gavel on a NY Stock Exchange debut any time soon.

[thekohser]

One of the great things about another of the Wikimedia Foundation's famous projects, Wikinews, is that news can be reported, literally at the same time it is breaking. In other words, through the miracle of social collaboration, news travels fast.

Greg

[Daniel Brandt]

Mike Godwin is in Cover Your Ass mode.

http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/found...ber/036007.html

Now I were you, I'd Assume Good Faith on the part of the Foundation (and on my part too, I hope) and ask instead what event or person gave this (oddly speculative and disconnected) story to our good friends at the Register.

And that is pretty much all I'm going to say on this list about the Register story or its subject matter.

Yeah, find the person who gave the message to the messenger, and kill him! That'll work!

This just in: Jimmy Wales appoints Carolyn Doran to ArbCom! (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/cool.gif) I'm kidding