So it's finally happened. No, Conservapedia hasn't closed shop, but probably the next best thing to it.
Now it's been noticed that for the past few weeks "account creation" has been switched off for almost the entire day, and when it is on, it's usually during the times that Conservapedia is in "night mode" - those late night US hours, when only those with editing rights can contribute.
Now there was a certainly logic behind this. It would give admins like Terry Koeckritz the ability to run checkuser against the new sign-up's IP address, to see if somebody using the same address had been blocked on CP before. Of course, this resulted in virtually every new user being blocked. One can only assume that this method was some sort of compromise to Terry's ongoing demands to have flagged revisions - i.e. edits would only become visible after being approved by an admin - installed. Needless to say, incidents of vandalism have fallen away, but so has the number of editors. At present, that stands at 37 individuals having made edits in the last 7 days.
Well, in the latest development, Andrew Schlafly has been convinced to turn off automatic account creation all together. Now, Conservapedia's main page boasts the following:
email us at conservapedia@zoho.com with your request for an account
Yes, now you have to e-mail an account (presumably managed by Terry Koeckritz) before you're allowed to edit on CP. So much for the Best of the Public. I'm willing to bet - I haven't put their registration process to the test yet - that it won't just be a matter of e-mailing them. No, they are going to require some proof of their bona fides before passing muster.
Either way, it's final proof that instead of being the bastion of conservative thought, Conservapedia has become a laughing stock, manned by a small clutch of delusional morons, and a scattering of parodists.
It might not be time for the Last Post just yet, but you can start polishing your bugle.
Nice. One day of operation, three new accounts. Shouldn't be too long before the trickle to drys up.
ReplyDeleteObviously we need a new Bugler
ReplyDeleteOne of which has already been blocked if memory serves me. By Ken for being "overzealous". What ever next?
ReplyDeleteCertainly it'll probably stop the spree of 4chaners and EDers who sign up to "vandalise," but seeing as they're the only people who do sign up lately, it's not going to make much difference.
Bugler was a one-of-a-kind, although there are several others worthy of an honourable mention. It might be quite likely that there are one or two potential Buglers lurking there.
ReplyDeleteIf the remaining socks do come out in a blaze of glory, it'll be interesting to see just who is left there. I'm guessing the 6 or 7 admins.
Perhaps I'm overestimating Terry, but he's a master at what he's doing.
ReplyDeleteHe's really not. He just got lucky with the combination of Andy's stupidity, troubling inability to admit he's wrong, and bizarre faith in "conservatives," which of course Terry is not, and the other goon's utter powerlessness. I've often wondered just how much of the big picture those guys see and come to the conclusion that they probably see a fair bit and that it doesn't matter. Andy, Karaturd, Terry Hurlbut and others had Terry Koeckritz' number years ago and did nothing. They all read this blog and other resources and know, in addition to Terry's being a shameless liar about all his "conservative" achievements, fancy cars, famous friends, large number of employees, military security clearance, etc., exactly what Terry's been hiding from them about his private life. I'd bet Terry privately claims the screenshots of those pickup posts were forgeries and that the few posts with URLs anyone could follow and view were put there by saboteurs who figured out how to get them to look like they were made years before Conservapedia ever existed. But it doesn't matter. I'm sure this will be borne out when Terry leaks the next set of TZB emails. And to me it says that Andy was never comfortable with anyone other than his chosen few pets posting on his blog. With that view there's no irony at all in the fact that they literally cannot trust a single non-sysop over there - because they never treated anyone as trustworthy in the first place. Only the chosen goons are above having their posts reverted with hateful messages. On they aren't indiscriminately blocked. And so with the absence of any editors but them Andy will finally have peace and all will be right with his blog.
ReplyDeleteWell now, it looks like I'm not the only one Terry Koeckritz has plied with lies of his famous connections, wealth and status. An audacious liar. As far as CP, it may be that Andy is not so much blind or stupid, but knows what TK is, and chooses to keep him at CP rather than unleash his wrath and feel the brunt of it in his private life. The time to put TK in check was long ago and Andy is now held hostage, so his best option to let his blog die.
ReplyDeleteExcellent summation there, Ghost. Including the fact that the other sysops have figured Terry out. There's references to Kara calling him aliar, TerryH and Ed have expressed misgivings, at the sysop promotion in 2008, PJR and CPAdmin spoke up against him.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there's 2 things at play here. Firstly, and I don't know how, but Andy has welcomed Terry back into the fold. Not only that, but it seems as if he's not only forgotten about Terry's leaking the SDG and ZB mails, but somehow believes that Terry did it to benefit CP. As such, he's back as Andy's right hand man.
Which brings us to point 2. Andy hates to be proven wrong and is a vindictive little bugger to go with it. All the sysops who openly challenged Terry are gone: PJR, LearnTogether, CPAdmin, Jallen, Jessica, , RJJensen, Dean. Those that remain are either mindless drones like Jpatt and Geo.plrd, who are cowed by Terry's "authority", or are so scared of losing the one bit of power they've ever had in their lives, not to mention having a yellow streak a mile wide (Kara and Ed) that they would rather turn tail, than risk offending Andy.
Thus, Terry has free reign to do as he likes. He failed on Hot or Not, because there the community finally ganged up on him and drove him out.
And yes, "forged" or "heavily edited" screenshots are Terry's favourite excuse. He even posted on his userpage once that RW was producing forged screen caps, to cover up his oversighting of everything in sight.
Pretty easy to get a million socks if you want to. My email exchange went somewhat like this:
ReplyDeleteMe: "Hi there. I'd like an account please."
Terry: "Are you a conservative christian?"
Me: "Yup."
Terry: "Here are your login details. Have fun!"
Don't worry, they'll still use checkuser on you, the minute you make an edit there. Still, at least they aren't asking for personal info, that'll be next.
ReplyDelete