CITIZEN  VOCATION  AND  WIKIPEDIA  MISINFORMATION

I am a citizen writer of senior age. In earlier years, I took the trouble to educate myself on the premises of Cambridge University Library (CUL). This undertaking was entirely at my own expense. I maintain a vocation of citizen independence in study and composition. My project at CUL was concerned with learning, not career advancement or the acquisition of credentials.

For many years, I was strongly resistant to the internet, declining use of a computer. I am still a critic of that pervasive media. The predominantly commercial nature of the web seems to get worse every year. We live in a consumer society dominated by American capitalism and the exploitive values of advertising. The citizen is generally at the mercy of a commercial process seldom comprehended. There is an individual onus to perceive the extent of malformed social patterns and glib assumptions which govern lifestyle.

I have been visible online since 2007. I maintain eight websites, including Commentaries. A number of my articles refer to affliction from Wikipedia, an online project with a predominantly pseudonymous editorship. I have never been a Wikipedia contributor, having no wish to participate. I have never used a pseudonym, being in strong disagreement with that tactic on the internet. Some very suspicious identities have been concealed in this manner. I concur with the academic view that aggressive trolls on Wikipedia "discussion pages" are farcical for education purposes, contributing to unreliable articles in which a suspect monopoly interest can occur.

A documented episode on Wikipedia involved a real name academic editor who argued in my favour, and a pseudonymous administrator who wrongly associated my output with the "new age" scene. The former was Simon Kidd, and the latter was Smartse (a biologist). The Smartse stigma is disproven by reference to my websites and books, one reason being that I have expressed strong criticism of New Age organisations and exponents. Suspicion attaches to flawed Wikipedia judgments.

Smartse completely overlooked the presence of an influential User page, on Wikipedia, contributed by a pro-sectarian activist in 2006. Wikipedia editor SSS108 (Equalizer) created extensive misconceptions about myself and others, in the explicit cause of Sathya Sai Baba (d.2011). The controversial guru was purportedly beyond criticism; therefore any critic must be punished with censure and ridicule. This was the situation at the attack website of SSS108 (alias Gerald Joe Moreno). His saisathyasai.com declared a loaded agenda against all critics (that site is no longer visible). The pervasive motto was here "Exposing Critic's Smear-Campaigns Against Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba."

My crime was to have included three appendices in one of my books, appendices that comprised reports by ex-devotees of Sathya Sai Baba. The cult attitude is that no criticism can be valid, and must therefore be attacked. The internet terrorist was clearly using Wikipedia in the pursuit of a sectarian activist tactic; he was banned from Wikipedia in 2007. However, Moreno continued his prodigious output of attack blogs. I remained one of the many victims. Moreno (alias Equalizer) even launched a separate attack site against me. The pro-Sai activist claimed to "expose" me, as he did with so many others (mainly ex-devotees of his guru). His libels and distortions influenced some Wikipedia editors. See further the counter Not Exposed.

These slanders were improvised in an attempt to divert attention from the strongly alleged abuses of Sathya Sai Baba. All critics of the guru became "Anti-Sai" villains. Relatives of victims were also targeted, likewise persons who supported victims. Simon Kidd himself became a target, because he mentioned me favourably on Wikipedia. Moreno paraded images of victims, while suppressing his sole known image. Victims were represented as liars, conspirators, perverts, vanity publishers, and Anti-Sai fanatics. Moreno, as the angel of Pro-Sai vengeance, was the supreme judge in a proliferating web inquisition. Uninformed and questionable parties sometimes believed his libels, more especially cultists with a dubious agenda of their own.

The Wikipedia manager Jimmy Wales personally deleted the proscribing SSS108 User page in February 2012. This event was not acknowledged by the opponents of Simon Kidd, who included Smartse. The opponents numbered persons of sectarian association. A Noticeboard campaign featured attacks on myself. Jimmy Wales became aware of this development. The disgraceful situation of hostility (instigated by Smartse) occurred despite the pervasive Wikipedia banners warning against "potentially libellous or harmful" material about living persons.

Molesters who adopt misinformation tactics on Wikipedia can achieve influence that is often unsuspected. For the benefit of those who struggle with lengthy articles, what follows is a summary of some contents in my web article Wikipedia Anomalies. Observers say that I was correct to record the various events comprising this article, and also the Sequel.

Section 1: Reference to two cult situations on Wikipedia, the first being more well known, namely the controversial input of Jossi Fresco, who for a time succeeded in making sectarian biases seem perfectly legitimate. In fact, Jossi Fresco was also a component of the second and less well known instance. He appeared prominently on the disputed User page of SSS108 that Jimmy Wales deleted six years later.

Section 2: Refers to various criticisms of Wikipedia articles, editorship, and administration. The sources used include Wikipedia articles, well known academic judgments against Wikipedia, and the dissenting website Wikipediocracy.

Section 3: A Wikipedia article about myself was favoured by Simon Kidd, who applied the description of Good Article. Some other editors opposed this development; the article was nominated for deletion. Investigation of Wikipedia pages revealed that some pseudonymous opponents were closely associated with sectarian/devotee movements, namely those of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Adi Da Samraj, and Meher Baba.

Section 4: The real name editor Simon Kidd had formerly used a pseudonym, like most other Wikipedia editors. He had been wrongly represented by SSS108 (Equalizer, Moreno) as a mock entity of no relevance (because he had given deference to my books, which he had read). When Kidd revealed his true identity as an academic philosopher in Australia, Moreno continued to attack him. The cult apologist had asserted that I was attempting "to con the general public" by identifying two Wikipedia editors (Jedermann and The Communicator) as academics, which in fact they were (as proven by Citizendium and Wikipedia files). A pro-sectarian Wikipedia editor subsequently ignored Kidd's own testimony, instead confusing me with the former pseudonymous identity of the real name academic. To repeat, I am not an academic in Australia, but a citizen in England. The mode of logic involved in some Wikipedia deductions is so crude that, by comparison, "rule of thumb" is a charter of precision.

Section 5: In the train of confusion and incompetence, the error capacity of pseudonymous editors was demonstrated by a Noticeboard fiasco in 2009. Participants were unable to assess the importance of Encyclopaedia Iranica. The discussion depreciated this authoritative academic source as a peripheral work of no consequence. There followed suggestions that this work might be more relevant; the general ignorance was nevertheless substantial. The moral is that unread works should not be judged adversely. Such bad judgement is a common practice on Wikipedia.

Section 6: In 2009, an Article for Deletion (AfD) page bore tangible witness to sectarian interests. An affiliate of the Meher Baba movement (Dazedbythebell, real name Christopher Ott) resorted to libellous blogs of SSS108 in an attempt to defame me. This influential tactic openly displayed links to Equalizer (Moreno) blogs on the Kevin R. D. Shepherd AfD page. The same sectarian affiliate placed a banner on the AfD page giving the impression that I was the author of the article he wished to delete. The real author (Alex Jamieson, alias Stephen Castro) complained, but to no avail. The administrator Smartse did eventually point out the discrepancy involved, meaning that attack blogs were on view via links on the AfD page. However, Smartse did nothing to stop the offensive banner, despite the request of Jamieson. Smartse admitted that he had formerly never heard of Sathya Sai Baba or Meher Baba. The compromised Smartse was here supervising on an AfD page saturated with sectarian biases relating to those two entities, a page that had so flagrantly displayed links to libels of a Pro-Sai blogger via the prejudiced attitude of a Meher Baba supporter.

Section 7: The real name academic editor Simon Kidd contributed a lengthy defence of the Kevin R. D. Shepherd article that was in prospect for deletion. He made a case for extending the Wikipedia guidelines, which he considered too rigid in this instance.

Section 8: Simon Kidd was over-ruled by an opposition featuring Smartse, Dazedbythebell, and others. Kidd was clearly concerned at the general situation, informing that Moreno was already declaring on the web his hostile version of the deletion, again to my detriment. Kidd suspected a form of collusion with some Wikipedia personnel. Moreno blogs had certainly been favoured by Dazedbythebell. Kidd also stated: "I do genuinely suspect that the motivation for the AfD nomination, as well as several of the submissions, were sectarian."

Section 9: Information is here supplied about SSS108 (alias Equalizer, alias G. J. Moreno), the American defender of Sathya Sai Baba who gained the reputation of being a cyberstalker. The ex-devotee and other reports of Moreno reveal his extremist agitations that have shocked many readers. Lawyers in three different countries considered his attacks to comprise serious defamation.

Section 10: In early 2010, a new editor called WikiUserTalk was observed to harbour a strong antipathy towards myself and Simon Kidd. His hostile arguments and attitude closely reflected the disposition of SSS108. The concensus of informed observer opinion identified WikiUserTalk as the banned SSS108, alias Gerald Joe Moreno of New Mexico. The cyberstalker was now intent upon a daring mission to sabotage Wikipedia links to my web output and to harass Simon Kidd, who was here seen (by the attacker) as my supporter. Kidd himself expressed a view that the menacing newcomer was very probably G. J. Moreno. The implications for Wikipedia are sobering. The attacking newcomer was gratified when the administrator DGG conceded his request to delete links; WikiUserTalk was able to dialogue with DGG on Wikipedia, although he did not totally succeed in his objective.

Section 11: An almost comical demonstration of error came from Dazedbythebell, a Meher Baba devotee, whose real name is Christopher Ott. This editor mistakenly identified me with the former pseudonym of Simon Kidd. He also became obsessed with the idea that I was the real name Wikipedia editor Stephen J. Castro. I have called this peculiarity "triple incarnation theory." Others have agreed that the conflation is memorable as an extreme example of what the cultists can do on Wikipedia.

Section 12: In early 2012, Smartse initiated a Noticeboard campaign against my books, which he very mistakenly associated with Larson Publications of New York. The insinuated stigma here was that I am a New Age writer/publisher. This erroneous recourse was in evident support of strong opposition coming from two Meher Baba devotees, namely Dazedbythebell and Hoverfish, who had very recently reacted hysterically to my inclusion in the annotations of a new Wikipedia article which they sabotaged (Critics of Meher Baba, by Stephen J. Castro, since amplified elsewhere). None of these attackers had read my books, including Smartse, who was not convincing to observers more familiar with my output. I take strong exception to his miscasting of my output, which is not New Age. The ideal of NPOV (Neutral Point of View) becomes a ridiculous joke on Wikipedia. Hoverfish even contributed (on the Noticeboard) a strong aspersion against me, originating from the Meher Baba movement in America, even while denying that he had any sectarian (or devotee) orientation. I replied to this outburst in Meher Baba Movement. An investigator discovered the real name of Hoverfish, alias Stelios Karavias, whose Facebook page evidenced contacts and links revealing him to be a Meher Baba devotee.

This Noticeboard attack was resisted by Simon Kidd. He proved to observers that the accusers were not familiar with the books they attacked (my own), also that their arguments were misleading and irrational. Kidd even composed a lengthy 40-point document to clarify his position. This was treated as a long-winded invasion upon editorial time, which preferred a single paragraph for easy read in the general atmosphere of semi-literacy. Simon Kidd's reward for diligence was a snub; the books he defended were prohibited by another belligerent troll called Fifelfoo.

Section 13: While the Noticeboard campaign was in process, Jimmy Wales personally deleted the hostile User page of SSS108, dating to 2006, which had militated against my books. While Fifelfoo converged with the Moreno prohibition, Wales offset the cyberstalker influence. In private correspondence, Wales acknowledged that undue hostilities and errors can easily arise on Wikipedia. He placed a caution on the User talk page of editor Hoverfish, who nevertheless continued to express insidious animosity (in relation to me) at the Meher Baba discussion page.

Additional information:

Jimmy Wales also intervened on the discussion page of Sheriar Mundegar Irani, now strongly associated with two American sectarian contingents. Observers had noticed that a disparaging comment (about myself) had appeared on this Wikipedia page, along with a link to an accusing Moreno blog (bearing his pseudonym Equalizer). The editor involved here implied that I was the calculating author of the Sheriar Mundegar Irani article, because one of my books was cited. The Moreno blog was linked as evidence of my iniquity. Simon Kidd complained on the same page about this hostile comment, which had no basis. The allegation was totally disproven by an entry at Citizendium, where the real author of Sheriar Mundegar Irani had transplanted his original format, along with the complaint that his contribution on Wikipedia had been altered by Meher Baba devotees.

The real author of the article was a British academic, as Citizendium disclosed in March 2007. Formerly using the pseudonym of Jedermann, Dr. M. Emmans Dean made his statement on Citizendium six months before Moreno asserted on his website that my reference to Jedermann as an academic was a con. This genuine academic had read a book of mine concerning his subject, and duly acknowledged the source of his inspiration. See Fifelfoo ignores Citizendium, and section 4 above. See also Wikipedia Biases and Sectarian Strategies.

In February 2012, Jimmy Wales deleted the misleading commentary on the discussion page for the article Sheriar Mundegar Irani. This action was ignored by opponents of Simon Kidd, who soon afterwards removed the citation of my book From Oppression to Freedom (at that same article). However, observers also noted that the diverse remedying actions of Jimmy Wales went some way towards validating the efforts of editor Simon Kidd to rectify troll misinformation and administrator aggression.

Six years later, the Ott-dominated Sheriar Mundegar Irani article was deleted by a Wikipedia resistance exasperated with devotee strategy moving at a tangent to Neutral Point of View. Sheriar Mundegar Irani, the father of Meher Baba, is now a figure of interest to historians of Iran and Zoroastrianism. To satisfy academic standards, the coverage must be comprehensive, moving outside partisan ideology of the Meher Baba movement.

Conclusion: As the recipient of various forms of troll attack described above, I insist upon the right to fair representation, in the face of misinformation contrived by irresponsible Wikipedia personnel.

I PASS ON THIS PAGE AS A WARNING TO ALL POTENTIAL VICTIMS OF WIKIPEDIA, WHICH CAN SIGNIFY ABUSE AND CULT HARASSMENT.

Kevin R. D. Shepherd

March 2013 (modified April 2020)

Copyright © 2020 Kevin R.D. Shepherd. All Rights Reserved. Page uploaded March 2013, last modified April 2020.