Jimbo shares a $1,000,000 award with Berners-Lee

EricBarbour · Unread post by **EricBarbour** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:14 am

HRIP7 wrote:
Vigilant wrote:I know one of these guys socially; they all know what Jimbo is.
Doesn't the evidence – in Larry's and Sergei's case at least – suggest he is useful to them?

Useful idiot (T-H-L)

Poetlister · Unread post by **Poetlister** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 11:20 am

Midsize Jake wrote:And to be fair, it might actually work - he's well-known enough to get people like Larry, Sergei, Zuckerberg, maybe even Bill Gates to respond to his e-mails, and for those guys a few million dollars is the kind of money they lose in the couch cushions without ever noticing it. The only question is whether or not they're familiar enough with Jimbo to know about his problems with honesty and not following through on things.

Maybe Larry knows the other Larry, you know, the one Jimbo also knows?

The Adversary · Unread post by **The Adversary** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 2:10 pm

Jim wrote:
Anthonyhcole wrote:
mac wrote: If he was truly concerned about human rights, he could have donated the funds to an established organization with a proven track record. The whole thing stinks.
Yep. It's about being a patron.
I thought it was about retaining the greatest possible control of the loot, while attempting to appease critics, no?

Yeah, agree.
Jimbo wrote on the 20th:

We are engaging in a series of meetings and conversations with existing NGOs in this space as well as with activists who have been arrested and/or imprisoned for political speech, in order to better understand directly from the victim's perspective what gaps there are in current efforts in this area. [..] As no actual money has been paid from the prize yet, there is currently only one full-time employee (CEO Orit Kopel, human rights lawyer).

For those of you unfamiliar with the Middle East: it is very common for the most repressive governments to brand all opposition to them as "agents of Israel". That is of course complete BS; there are plenty of reasons to protest agains leaders like Sisi in Egypt, other than being "agents of Israel"!

However, if I had been one of the people on trial in, say Egypt, presently for political speech/writing, then I would absolutely dread being supported by Jimbo/Orit Kopel: it would be a "kiss of death". Being supported by an Israeli national, former Israeli army soldier? It would be a God-given gift to the prosecution.

By appointing Orit Kopel as his "human rights lawyer" Jimbo has made sure he cannot support the opposition in the most dictatorial Arab states.
This would off course suit Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (T-H-L), the giver of the money, perfectly.

Unread post by **HRIP7** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:22 am

An instantly deleted edit on Jimmy Wales' talk page, by M.al-A.UAE (T-C-L).

== Update on that half a mill ==

Hi Jimmy, it's me Russavia. Firstly, let me apologise for trolling you into giving up that half million. Sometimes for the greater good, we have to do things we normally would never do; in this case trolling you But seriously, that half million is tainted given the source of it, and you have done the right thing by publicly declaring that you will put that money towards promoting human rights in the UAE and Arab world.

Anyway Jimmy, I have an issue. It is widely known that this is my account, and WMFOffice refuses outright to block. I even declared the account to be mine in #wikipedia-en, and {{u|gorillawarfare}} simply kicked me from the channel...but didn't block me.

Why oh why won't anyone block this account?

Regards,

Russavia

Unread post by **HRIP7** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:34 am

I note that the Jimmy Wales Foundation Twitter account has made exactly one tweet so far.

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:33 am

HRIP7 wrote:I note that the Jimmy Wales Foundation Twitter account has made exactly one tweet so far.

Yeah, but they also changed their tagline to "Fighting for freedom of expression", instead of "Fighting for freedom of expeession", so it's not like the Israeli girl managing the $500K hasn't been busy!

Unread post by **HRIP7** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:17 am

https://archive.today/R4Rys

Jayen466 just letting you know I saw your msg, but didn't respond. Anyway, as you can see not is all as it seems. BTW, I was also the IP editing from the American University in Sharjah. Anyway it's good to se that Dimmy has publicly committed to giving up that half million....funny that he's hired a pro-Israeli lawyer to do so...I wonder that will be received by potential organisations to receive funds. M.al-A.UAE (talk) 21:43, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for mentioning it. And yes, I wondered about that as well. Best, --Andreas JN466 00:12, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

https://archive.today/dFM76

Notvelty · Unread post by **Notvelty** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 10:23 pm

HRIP7 wrote:https://archive.today/R4Rys

Jayen466 just letting you know I saw your msg, but didn't respond. Anyway, as you can see not is all as it seems. BTW, I was also the IP editing from the American University in Sharjah. Anyway it's good to se that Dimmy has publicly committed to giving up that half million....funny that he's hired a pro-Israeli lawyer to do so...I wonder that will be received by potential organisations to receive funds. M.al-A.UAE (talk) 21:43, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for mentioning it. And yes, I wondered about that as well. Best, --Andreas JN466 00:12, 7 March 2015 (UTC)
https://archive.today/dFM76

You keep rolling in the mud, you'll end up dirty.

Unread post by **HRIP7** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:57 am

So far, the Jimmy Wales Foundation Twitter account has made two tweets: one about BBC Question Time, and one re-tweet about Jimmy Wales winning an award in Germany. Archive.

Orit Kopel's LinkedIn profile, which identified her as Wales' human rights adviser on matters relating to Google and the Right to be Forgotten, seems to have been deleted. I still shows up in Google right now (archive of Google search result), but the link is dead.

Where is all the "noise" Wales promised to make about the human rights situation in the UAE?

Where has the money gone?

Lukeno94 · Unread post by **Lukeno94** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:59 am

He had the right to forget about it. </s>

Unread post by **tarantino** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:24 pm

HRIP7 wrote: Orit Kopel's LinkedIn profile, which identified her as Wales' human rights adviser on matters relating to Google and the Right to be Forgotten, seems to have been deleted. I still shows up in Google right now (archive of Google search result), but the link is dead.

Where is all the "noise" Wales promised to make about the human rights situation in the UAE?

Where has the money gone?

Orit Kopel's profile was archived Jan 21 2015.

Edit:

Here FB account seems to have dissappeared, too, along with her likes and comments on other posts.

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... m%2Fooorit

Before After

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 10:53 am

If you realized what a mistake you made, teaming up to be Jimbo's money-hider, wouldn't you want to curl up in a ball and disappear, too?

SB_Johnny · Unread post by **SB_Johnny** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 3:11 am

tarantino wrote:Here FB account seems to have dissappeared, too, along with her likes and comments on other posts.

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... m%2Fooorit

Before After

I'm still seeing her "like"... maybe a temporary takedown?

Unread post by **tarantino** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 3:52 am

SB_Johnny wrote:
tarantino wrote:Here FB account seems to have dissappeared, too, along with her likes and comments on other posts.

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... m%2Fooorit

Before After
I'm still seeing her "like"... maybe a temporary takedown?

Her account is back. Don't know how or why.

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 2:08 pm

Orit supposedly helped Jimbo write this blather for Huffington Post.

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 4:30 pm

thekohser wrote:Orit supposedly helped Jimbo write this blather for Huffington Post.

Hey, my comment (which someone else replied to) seems to have disappeared! I guess Jimbo has HuffPo in his pocket, too. And it's the "Jimmy Wales Foundation for freedom of expression", right? Do I have that correct?

Unread post by **Midsize Jake** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 6:55 pm

thekohser wrote:Hey, my comment (which someone else replied to) seems to have disappeared! I guess Jimbo has HuffPo in his pocket, too. And it's the "Jimmy Wales Foundation for freedom of expression", right? Do I have that correct?

No, the Jimmy Wales Foundation is now fighting for "freedom of exprrression," so they must have found out we were discussing them and that you'd noticed their earlier typo in which they spelled it "expeession."

Either way, "expression" isn't what they're fighting for, at least not in the lexigraphically-correct sense. And I'm not sure it's a good idea to take such a cavalier approach to their Twitter profile, given that it's the only public front they have - their own website is still, after four months, nothing more than an untouched/unused Wordpress installation. It looks like they're just laughing at us at this point, and knowing him, they're probably doing exactly that.

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:16 pm

thekohser wrote:
thekohser wrote:Orit supposedly helped Jimbo write this blather for Huffington Post.

Hey, my comment (which someone else replied to) seems to have disappeared! I guess Jimbo has HuffPo in his pocket, too. And it's the "Jimmy Wales Foundation for freedom of expression", right? Do I have that correct?

I guess comments appear if you're in Internet Explorer, but they seem to get hung up in Firefox and Chrome.

Unread post by **tarantino** » Fri May 15, 2015 8:29 pm

Well, I suppose trying to free Raif Badawi is a worthy cause.

Photo protest of some of those attending our Free Raif liaison meeting in London today. We are planning a national protest on Saturday, June 27th in London. In photo Orit Kopel of Jimmy Wales Foundation, Omar Raii of Workers Liberty Students, Cat Lucas of English PEN, Imad Iddine Habib - of Council of ex Muslims of Morocco, Melanie Gingell of the Gulf Center for Human Rights and at front Maryam Namazie of One Law For All Campaign and Pete Radcliff of FreeRaif UK

[/center]

EricBarbour · Unread post by **EricBarbour** » Fri May 15, 2015 8:34 pm

tarantino wrote:Well, I suppose trying to free Raif Badawi is a worthy cause.

So, now Jimmy is a patron saint of lost causes? Saudi prisons are full of people like Badawi. The house of Saud is a useful ally to the United States, and "must be supported" no matter how brutal and suppressive it is.

The Adversary · Unread post by **The Adversary** » Mon May 18, 2015 11:33 pm

tarantino wrote:Well, I suppose trying to free Raif Badawi is a worthy cause.

Photo protest of some of those attending our Free Raif liaison meeting in London today. We are planning a national protest on Saturday, June 27th in London. In photo Orit Kopel of Jimmy Wales Foundation, Omar Raii of Workers Liberty Students, Cat Lucas of English PEN, Imad Iddine Habib - of Council of ex Muslims of Morocco, Melanie Gingell of the Gulf Center for Human Rights and at front Maryam Namazie of One Law For All Campaign and Pete Radcliff of FreeRaif UK
[/center]

The Saudis will be absolutely delighted to find out that Badawi is supported by a former member of the Israeli army, and one who has taken actively part in Israels "hasbara" campaign with StandWithUs (T-H-L).

1000 new lashed for Bedawi, at least.

And in other news:

The information revolution has changed the face of the world. Knowledge is no longer shared exclusively with the strong and powerful as a tool of control, but widely distributed, acquired and shared globally by the general public. The Internet has become the most fundamental means to achieve and distribute current information, while increasingly diminishing unfair restrictive domination...

...... this, from one who spread false information about the Palestinian prisoner Khaled Jarradat.

Rich.

SB_Johnny · Unread post by **SB_Johnny** » Mon May 18, 2015 11:43 pm

tarantino wrote:

Is that an encyclopedia I see on the bookshelf behind them?

Neotarf · Unread post by **Neotarf** » Tue May 19, 2015 1:25 am

tarantino wrote:Well, I suppose trying to free Raif Badawi is a worthy cause.

It is.

EricBarbour wrote: So, now Jimmy is a patron saint of lost causes? Saudi prisons are full of people like Badawi.

Not necessarily. The late King Abdullah pardoned a few people, some others were quietly tried in other courts, after the initial fervor died down. Sometimes it's a matter of favors to tribal/family leaders. It's anyone's guess what the new king will do, and when.
A lot of the imprisoned dissidents are Shia, from the Eastern provinces. It probably makes a difference. Badawi's WP article doesn't say what he is.

EricBarbour wrote: The house of Saud is a useful ally to the United States, and "must be supported" no matter how brutal and suppressive it is.

It's not that cut and dried. The Salafists have embarrassed the House of Saud time and time again, yet it is the religious police that keeps them in power and maintains political stability when the rest of the Arab world has suffered the "Arab Spring". It's an uneasy relationship. The late king was masterful, waiting for them to slip, and immediately tightening the leash every time they did. The new king.....

But why on God's green earth does the WP Badawi article name his children?????!@!? His wife gets anonymous death threats, so Wikipedia publishes the NAMES OF HIS CHILDREN? Not just in the article, but in a SEPARATE SPECIAL CHART to set it off. Do the people who write these things even THINK about what they're writing.

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Tue May 19, 2015 2:19 am

Neotarf wrote:Do the people who write these things even THINK about what they're writing.

For much of Wikipedia, very little.

Notvelty · Unread post by **Notvelty** » Tue May 19, 2015 2:24 am

Neotarf wrote:
But why on God's green earth does the WP Badawi article name his children?????!@!? His wife gets anonymous death threats, so Wikipedia publishes the NAMES OF HIS CHILDREN? Not just in the article, but in a SEPARATE SPECIAL CHART to set it off. Do the people who write these things even THINK about what they're writing.

They probably don't realise that his enemies don't already know the names of his children. After, it would be a difficult, dangerous and arduous task to ask someone who knows the family. And the very idea of accessing birth records that they themselves control? Laughable.

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Tue May 19, 2015 2:31 pm

More PR from the Dan David junket tour:

In Tel Aviv, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales likes Israel but stays neutral
JTA.org
By Ben Sales
May 18, 2015 12:22pm

“The right thing to do, if you’re new to the issue, is you should be told what is this debate about,” Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, told JTA on Sunday during an interview here. “That’s a struggle. You have to be taught about those issues. You don’t want to, in an unclear way, use language that carries with it a hidden conclusion.”

Wales was in Israel — he’s been here more than 10 times, he says — to accept the Dan David Prize, an international award of $1 million given yearly at Tel Aviv University. Wales was chosen for spearheading what the prize committee called the “information revolution.”

Also a mirror story at Times of Israel, here, with more comments.

The Adversary · Unread post by **The Adversary** » Tue May 19, 2015 6:47 pm

Notvelty wrote:
Neotarf wrote:
But why on God's green earth does the WP Badawi article name his children?????!@!? His wife gets anonymous death threats, so Wikipedia publishes the NAMES OF HIS CHILDREN? Not just in the article, but in a SEPARATE SPECIAL CHART to set it off. Do the people who write these things even THINK about what they're writing.
They probably don't realise that his enemies don't already know the names of his children. After, it would be a difficult, dangerous and arduous task to ask someone who knows the family. And the very idea of accessing birth records that they themselves control? Laughable.

Well, for once I cannot really blame WP.
His Canada-based wife, ms Ensaf Haidar, is very actively campaigning for her husband. Today she was in Norway, and joined the weekly demonstrators outside the Saudi embassy. She also uses their children in her fight to get her husband free; reading letters from them to their father about how much they miss him, etc.

I just hope she succeeds, in spite of the "support" by people like Orit Kopel.

Neotarf · Unread post by **Neotarf** » Tue May 19, 2015 11:39 pm

The Adversary wrote: His Canada-based wife, ms Ensaf Haidar, is very actively campaigning for her husband. Today she was in Norway, and joined the weekly demonstrators outside the Saudi embassy. She also uses their children in her fight to get her husband free; reading letters from them to their father about how much they miss him, etc.

I just hope she succeeds, in spite of the "support" by people like Orit Kopel.

I see Amnesty International is using their photos on Twitter as well. And that Raif now has a book out in German. The message on the photos has been translated into at least four languages; clearly the family is okay with this. You can't really blame them, considering the stakes.

I haven't seen this posted before, and my apologies if someone has already posted it, but I see Jimbo has a personal message of support for Raif as well, from Twitter I believe.

Does anyone know how to make the image less gigantic?

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Wed May 20, 2015 2:01 am

So, the very same image that Jimbo used to hock Maurice Lacroix wristwatches, is now being used to make a political appeal?

Do you think Jimbo gave permission to use that photo, or did the Badawi family just grab it for their own purposes?

Anyway, the point here is that "Maurice Lacroix" is a pseudonym -- a fake name to evoke fake elegance. Perfect for Jimbo.

The Adversary · Unread post by **The Adversary** » Sat May 23, 2015 5:10 am

I wonder if Jimbo and Orit will campaign for the freedom of speech for Shachar Berrin?

Hmm. Guess not.

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Sat May 23, 2015 1:15 pm

The Adversary wrote:I wonder if Jimbo and Orit will campaign for the freedom of speech for Shachar Berrin?

Hmm. Guess not.

I tweeted @JWalesF to see what their position is on that. I predict a deathly silence.

The Adversary · Unread post by **The Adversary** » Sun May 24, 2015 7:14 pm

Jimbo should have a talk with Sayed Kashua (T-H-L) link.

EricBarbour · Unread post by **EricBarbour** » Mon May 25, 2015 6:52 am

The Adversary wrote:Jimbo should have a talk with Sayed Kashua (T-H-L)

Heh, I've seen Arab Labor (T-H-L), it's actually brilliant. And it amazes me that it's still being produced, and run on Israeli TV. (I guess.) The guy who plays Amjad is a genius.

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Fri May 29, 2015 7:21 pm

Jimbo needs to step up his game and learn to do money transfers this way.

Vigilant · Unread post by **Vigilant** » Fri May 29, 2015 7:26 pm

thekohser wrote:Jimbo needs to step up his game and learn to do money transfers this way.

Jimbo's more of a this way type of guy.

EricBarbour · Unread post by **EricBarbour** » Fri May 29, 2015 10:50 pm

Vigilant wrote:
thekohser wrote:Jimbo needs to step up his game and learn to do money transfers this way.
Jimbo's more of a this way type of guy.

Which I was going to comment on in the BLP section.....
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6465

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 1:51 pm

Oh, my... Jimbo is not going to be pleased with Alastair Sloan's insightful piece today in Middle East Monitor.

Wales tweeted his reply, adopting a defensive tone in which he denied the claims. In fact, he claimed ignorance, asking, "Why don't we take this to email so you can explain exactly what the f*** you are talking about?" Though this was perhaps a ploy to prevent discussion of these embarrassing affairs in public (Wales admitted to me later that he had "mixed feelings" about his dealings in Kazakhstan), over emails it became pretty clear, pretty quickly, that Wales knew exactly what the "f***" I was talking about.

Vigilant · Unread post by **Vigilant** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:58 pm

thekohser wrote:Oh, my... Jimbo is not going to be pleased with Alastair Sloan's insightful piece today in Middle East Monitor.

Wales tweeted his reply, adopting a defensive tone in which he denied the claims. In fact, he claimed ignorance, asking, "Why don't we take this to email so you can explain exactly what the f*** you are talking about?" Though this was perhaps a ploy to prevent discussion of these embarrassing affairs in public (Wales admitted to me later that he had "mixed feelings" about his dealings in Kazakhstan), over emails it became pretty clear, pretty quickly, that Wales knew exactly what the "f***" I was talking about.

The money shot

Hence, Wales explanation to me of why he accepted money from the UAE beggars belief. "I showed up there for a speech at an education conference," Wales narrated, "and they informed me that I would be given a prize the next day. I was caught completely off-guard and made a quick decision that I think was completely genius."

Consulting with Israeli human rights lawyer Orit Kopel, with whom Wales had collaborated in the past, he asked her "If she would help me use the money to f*** with them."

"Yes, I could have declined the money," Wales explained, "but why give money back to horrible people? So they can use it to pay for more jails?"

Wales is obviously an intelligent man {{cite}}, so either his explanation is a complete lie or he is bright but wonderfully naïve. Denying the UAE govt of $500,000 is not going to stop it "building jails" or "f*** with them." The country's GDP is over half a trillion dollars, and government spending is over $100bn. If Wales didn't realise that the only reason the UAE would give money to human rights organisations isn't out of compassion, but to whitewash their own international reputation for state brutality, he's not a "genius" he's... well, something else.

Jimbo just got called a lying scumbag in the international press.
Glorious!

When pigs fly · Unread post by **When pigs fly** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 3:09 pm

Who is going to update his BLP?

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 3:13 pm

Vigilant wrote:Jimbo just got called a lying scumbag in the international press.
Glorious!

It's a reliable source, too. So, shouldn't Jimmy Wales (T-H-L) be updated to say:

In December 2014, Wales shared the inaugural $1-million Mohammed bin Rashid Knowledge Award with World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee.[158] However, one journalist discussed "the bizarre logic that Wales used to justify taking money from a regime that has nothing but disdain for free speech".[159]

Poetlister · Unread post by **Poetlister** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 8:34 pm

thekohser wrote:
Vigilant wrote:Jimbo just got called a lying scumbag in the international press.
Glorious!
It's a reliable source, too. So, shouldn't Jimmy Wales (T-H-L) be updated to say:

In December 2014, Wales shared the inaugural $1-million Mohammed bin Rashid Knowledge Award with World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee.[158] However, one journalist discussed "the bizarre logic that Wales used to justify taking money from a regime that has nothing but disdain for free speech".[159]

As a matter of interest, has Sir Tim had anything to say on the subject?

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 2:58 pm

Poetlister wrote:As a matter of interest, has Sir Tim had anything to say on the subject?

He's been too busy making self-satisfying, cute videos.

SB_Johnny · Unread post by **SB_Johnny** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:34 pm

thekohser wrote:
Vigilant wrote:Jimbo just got called a lying scumbag in the international press.
Glorious!
It's a reliable source, too. So, shouldn't Jimmy Wales (T-H-L) be updated to say:

In December 2014, Wales shared the inaugural $1-million Mohammed bin Rashid Knowledge Award with World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee.[158] However, one journalist discussed "the bizarre logic that Wales used to justify taking money from a regime that has nothing but disdain for free speech".[159]

I suppose it should!

Kelly Martin · Unread post by **Kelly Martin** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 5:03 pm

thekohser wrote:I guess comments appear if you're in Internet Explorer, but they seem to get hung up in Firefox and Chrome.

Well, I guess only people who use Microsoft products are supposed to have the "freedom" to "express" (or is that "expeess") themselves.

Poetlister · Unread post by **Poetlister** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:57 pm

SB_Johnny wrote:
thekohser wrote:
Vigilant wrote:Jimbo just got called a lying scumbag in the international press.
Glorious!
It's a reliable source, too. So, shouldn't Jimmy Wales (T-H-L) be updated to say:

In December 2014, Wales shared the inaugural $1-million Mohammed bin Rashid Knowledge Award with World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee.[158] However, one journalist discussed "the bizarre logic that Wales used to justify taking money from a regime that has nothing but disdain for free speech".[159]
I suppose it should!

WP:SOFIXIT (T-H-L).

SB_Johnny · Unread post by **SB_Johnny** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:03 pm

Vigilant wrote:
thekohser wrote:Oh, my... Jimbo is not going to be pleased with Alastair Sloan's insightful piece today in Middle East Monitor.

Wales tweeted his reply, adopting a defensive tone in which he denied the claims. In fact, he claimed ignorance, asking, "Why don't we take this to email so you can explain exactly what the f*** you are talking about?" Though this was perhaps a ploy to prevent discussion of these embarrassing affairs in public (Wales admitted to me later that he had "mixed feelings" about his dealings in Kazakhstan), over emails it became pretty clear, pretty quickly, that Wales knew exactly what the "f***" I was talking about.
The money shot
Hence, Wales explanation to me of why he accepted money from the UAE beggars belief. "I showed up there for a speech at an education conference," Wales narrated, "and they informed me that I would be given a prize the next day. I was caught completely off-guard and made a quick decision that I think was completely genius."

Consulting with Israeli human rights lawyer Orit Kopel, with whom Wales had collaborated in the past, he asked her "If she would help me use the money to f*** with them."

"Yes, I could have declined the money," Wales explained, "but why give money back to horrible people? So they can use it to pay for more jails?"

Wales is obviously an intelligent man {{cite}}, so either his explanation is a complete lie or he is bright but wonderfully naïve. Denying the UAE govt of $500,000 is not going to stop it "building jails" or "f*** with them." The country's GDP is over half a trillion dollars, and government spending is over $100bn. If Wales didn't realise that the only reason the UAE would give money to human rights organisations isn't out of compassion, but to whitewash their own international reputation for state brutality, he's not a "genius" he's... well, something else.
Jimbo just got called a lying scumbag in the international press.
Glorious!

Actually the interesting bit is that he decided that creating drama was just the thing to do to help things along in the Middle East. It's like Wikipedia, except more dead bodies.

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:27 am

Look out, Saudi Arabia -- Jimbo looks straight at the camera and threatens your government with a global boycott if you don't shape up.

SB_Johnny · Unread post by **SB_Johnny** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 11:45 am

thekohser wrote:Look out, Saudi Arabia -- Jimbo looks straight at the camera and threatens your government with a global boycott if you don't shape up.

Why are they doing the interview in a closet?

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:57 pm

Meanwhile, zero-rated mobile access is on its way to the United Arab Emirates, according to the Emirates 24/7 (T-H-L) publication, whose Wikipedia article wasn't possibly authored by someone with a conflict of interest.

In a media statement, the telco said that the collaboration between Etisalat (T-H-L) and the Wikimedia Foundation will reduce barriers to information and knowledge by providing access to the mobile version of Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, in all languages, with no data charges.

Eliminating such cost barriers will offer local communities an amazing opportunity to access important information, and enable participation mechanisms to create and curate free and global content, it noted.

You know, looking at the edit history of the Wikipedia article about Etisalat, I think I see a few users who managed to "enable participation mechanisms" for the company itself. Examples include Wikiwriter1975 (T-C-L), Samuraisam (T-C-L), and especially Kinghunt (T-C-L).

thekohser · Unread post by **thekohser** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 2:55 am

Jimbo using that money to help bring freedom of expression to the Middle East is going really, really well. I mean, imagine if Jimbo's work hadn't been bringing pressure back onto the UAE government -- this woman may have been imprisoned for 54 or 55 hours, rather than the lenient 53 hours. I'm sure the Jimmy Wales Foundation will serve up a very sternly-worded tweet about this tomorrow.