Thursday, August 26, 2010

Michael Enright (filmmaker) - Wikipedia article

This is the text of the wikipedia article for Michael Enright as it appeared maybe an hour ago. Various iterations of the same article have been serially deleted from Wikipedia today, even a deletion discussion was rapidly aborted.

Michael Enright (filmmaker) is an American film student.

==Childhood and education==

Enright grew up in [[Brewster, New York]]1 and is 2007 graduate of Brewster High School. Enright studies film at the [[School of Visual Arts]] in Manhattan.1 As a film student, he arranged to be embedded with the First Battalion, Third Marine Regiment in Afghanistan by working as an upaid intern with the online video company, Worldwide TV. He joined the marine unit on April 5, 2010, in Helmand Province. He departed on May 10. Although there were no casualties while Enright was with the unit, there had been 5 men killed shortly before he arrived.1

==Embedded with troops in Afghanistan==

==Taxi incident==

Enright was arrested on August 25, 2010 and charged with a hate crime after attacking a New York City taxi driver.1 According to the taxi driver, Ahmed Sharif, Enright inquired whether he was Muslim and offered him the traditional Arabic greeting, “salaam aleikum,” ( “peace be upon you.”)1 He enquired whether Mr. Sharif was observing Ramadan, then began ro curse and slashed Sharif's face with a knife, saying the he, Enright, had to stop the King of Saudi Arabia at a checkpoint.1

Arresting officers believed that Enright was inebriated.2 Enright told the police that he had begun drinking at 2pm, 4 hours before the attack.1 According to the New York Times, Enright has been in counseling for alcohol problems.1

==Public response==

The attack drew wide public attention because it occurred in the midst of a national controversy over the construction of the Cordoba House mosque.1

==References==
1. "Man in Cab Stabbing Showed Zeal for Veterans,", Ray Rivera, Aug. 26, 2010, New York Times.
2. "Rider Asks if Cabby Is Muslim, Then Stabs Him,", N. R. Kleinfeld, Aug. 25, 2010, New York Times,

Analysis of deletion (for wikigeeks only):


At least four versions of a Michael Enright article were created in the last 24 hours. Each were rapidly deleted. A deletion discussion aimed to have a discussion on the subject was also rapidly closed. The theory behind the deletions it that Michael Enright is only famous for something bad, and only one event, and that these kinds of articles "disparage" the subject. I disagree in this case because I have found that in cases like this, the subject's wikipedia article is usually the least biased source of information out there, because it is so highly watched, etc., by wiki editors while its a big news event. Without a wiki article, googlers will be directed to any number of wacko blogposts that are much more biased, less comprehensive, and likely inaccurate.

No comments: