While researching for the book I am writing — “Legendary Locals of Newton” — I came across the very interesting narrative of the history of Newton. It’s not exactly as I remember it but I didn’t do a lot more than vote back then.
There was a coup d’etat in Newton??
by Nathan Phillips | Jul 28, 2013 | Newton | 16 comments
Dear Gail,
The last link goes to a Wilkpedia summary of David Cohen’s careert\ What Coup d’etat are you referring to?
There was a so-called coup d’etat in the county of Newton and a real coup d’etat in the time of Newton and a re-defined coup d’etat in the mind of a Newton, but I don’t know of one in the city of Newton.
I looked at it earlier, and it looks like someone was having fun with Wikipedia. The line that now reads:
“In 1997, Cohen defeated incumbent Mayor Thomas Concannon, Jr. to win his first of three terms as mayor.”
Originally read:
“In 1997, Cohen defeated incumbent Mayor Thomas Concannon, Jr. in a bloody coup d’etat to win his first of three terms as mayor.”
Personally, I think our municipal history is interesting enough without introducing a little military adventurism.
Chris – I’m glad you saw it too. You must be right that someone was playing with David Cohen’s bio in Wikipedia, and — interestingly — whoever that someone is probably follows Village 14.
According to the first revision, Cohen served as Grand General of the Newtonian Armed Forces… Should be a great book Gail!
Gail, the Village 14 follower who corrected the article is not necessarily the same person who vandalized it. You can reference the revision like this. Unlike the infamous hate mail there’s an audit trail.
Thanks for the correction and the information Adam.
Gail, I tried to send you names of Legendary Locals of Newton but the email address you suggested in the TAB didn’t work for me. Check out Nathaniel Topliff Allen and Horace Mann, both lived in Newton. Nathaniel Topliff Allen lived on Webster Street in West Newton. If you want more information, feel free to contact me.
Gail,
The legendary golf course designer Donald Ross lived in Newton and is buried in the Newton Cemetery.
The prankster’s other edits tend towards topics of Judaism and Middle East (I only glanced, but that’s what it appears). Not sure the nature of those edits. Wikipedians do not take kindly to site vandalism (which for them carries a broad definition).
…assuming this IP lookup is accurate, the editor is located in Waban
http://www.my-ip-address-is.com/ip/108.7.220.0
That’s the extent of my sleuthing expertise.
Doug Haslam — That’s the IP of the person that changed things back, not the jokester (who is in Newtonville w an RCN account)
(It really wouldn’t take too much smarts to screw with someone’s modem w an unmasked ip and worse; a word of advice to anyone making Google updates — use an alias!)
Hoss, Doug’s right. The 108. address was the perp. However, based on other data, I can verify that the village identification is not accurate, only the service provider 😉
The moral of the story: if you see something wrong on Wikipedia, fix it!
@Adam – amen!
Terry – I have Donald Ross but I didn’t know that he was buried in Newton Cemetery. Thanks.
Kay – I didn’t know about Nathaniel Topliff Allen. Thanks.
Doug- Great detective work! I appreciate it.
Yeah, the village ID is always suspect – and I reserve the right to have read things wrong, but that’s how I read it (thanks Hoss and Adam)
The editor who fixed it seemed to work on a variety of topics, and has been around a while. The long-time editors tend to pounce on those things quickly. It’s something I have been interested in due to my profession (PR/Communications), as Wikipedia tends to keep a very tight rein on conflicts of interest, as well as pranks and vandalism.