UK Politicians Bicker Via Wikipedia

Feb 13, 2008
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UK Politicians Bicker Via Wikipedia


It turns out members of the UK government aren't above a bit of snarky Wikipedia editing to make themselves look better.

Gordon Brown was at the World Economic Forum in Davos when he made the following speech:
I'm reminded of the story of Titian, who's the great painter who reached the age of 90, finished the last of his nearly 100 brilliant paintings, and he said at the end of it, "I'm finally beginning to learn how to paint," and that is where we are.
During Prime Minister's question time, David Cameron, the leader of the Opposition, mocked him openly, saying that Titian had died at 86, adding "The Prime Minister never gets his facts right". Classy. And wrong. Well, near as anyone can tell, anyway. Though no-one is 100% certain, 91 is the painter's accepted age at his death.

Embarrassing for Cameron, certainly. Not one to let the facts get in the way of saving face, a user registered at Conservative HQ swiftly edited Titians's Wikipedia page, pushing his death back a few years.

Since then, the page has been altered, corrected, re-corrected and re-altered at such a rate that Titian is spinning in his page, so to speak.

Of course, as with all trolls, someone is likely to call them out. Labour MP Peter Kilfoyle asked the deputy Speaker of the House of Commons: "I wonder whether you could tell the House whether you have had representations from the leader of the opposition so that he might correct the comments that he made about Titian. Or is it enough in this modern age for the leader of the opposition's staff simply to alter Wikipedia?"

Source: BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7884121.stm] (Cookies not included) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/89244-BBC-Admits-To-Website-Snooping]

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Eagle Est1986

That One Guy
Nov 21, 2007
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Haha, already saw this, really made me laugh. Slightly worrying though, these people run my country.
 

Brokkr

New member
Nov 25, 2008
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Pretty amusing. It's always funny when they catch biased people editing Wikipedia.
 

bue519

New member
Oct 3, 2007
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Pretty funny stuff. Who knew that guys who wear powdered wigs had such technological prowess.
 

Break

And you are?
Sep 10, 2007
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Isn't that missing the point fairly hard? Brown was turning a phrase, and Cameron was making a snarky comment. In either case, the actual date of death of the painter - which, as has been said, isn't known for sure - is beside the point.

I can't tell whether this is more childish than it is pedantic.
 

Nimbus

Token Irish Guy
Oct 22, 2008
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British people, my heart goes out to you. You are about to have, running your country, the first government to be banned from a website.
 

Specter_

New member
Dec 24, 2008
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Nimbus said:
British people, my heart goes out to you. You are about to have, running your country, the first government to be banned from a website.
What this guy said.
 

Scorched_Cascade

Innocence proves nothing
Sep 26, 2008
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Hehe thanks for the heads up and checking the edit history its not just the government having fun with this page:

"''Titian''' ({{IPA-en|ˈtɪʃən}}), is the world's oldest man, believed to be between 536 and 539 years old. He also did some drawings once, but they weren't very good."
 

AceDiamond

New member
Jul 7, 2008
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...You know, I didn't think it was possible to make American politicians look mature by comparison especially after the '08 Election, but damn if Britain isn't trying their hardest.
 

Somethingfake

New member
Oct 22, 2008
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Eagle Est1986 said:
Haha, already saw this, really made me laugh. Slightly worrying though, these people run my country.
We should always be worried, no matter what they are doing.
 

PieMaker

New member
Oct 7, 2008
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It astounds me the lengths the opposition goes to ridicule the other side... It makes me think if they are ever constructive in critiques.
 

scotth266

Wait when did I get a sub
Jan 10, 2009
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Hehehe... Funny, yet disturbing. Do these guys really have that much free time?