JonRichfield

I have just noticed that I don't exist, so, to remove the red link effect, here is my big bang.

Normally I don't have anything to say about myself that is likely to be of interest to anyone else, but as it happens I write this having just seen the circular on paid editing etc, so I might as well make this the occasion for the appropriate disclaimer.

In the years that I have contributed to wikis of any sort, up to the time of writing this, I have been retired and I never have accepted nor been offered any inducements, proper, improper or arguable, direct or indirect, for editing or authoring any articles or other materials such as photographs or copies. Nor have I committed any acts of plagiarism etc. In short what a good little boy have I been. I have neither knowledge of nor influence in my retirement investments in a large, dedicated company retirement scheme, nor any interest beyond a pious hope that it continues sound. Certainly nothing that I have done or been asked to do in such connections has a blind bit to do with any of my wiki work. I'll repeat this disclaimer wherever it occurs to me that it might be appropriate, but it had never occurred to me before that it might be of interest to man or beast, so this is the first time of saying.

Mind you, the inventiveness of some of the lower beasts can be startlingly intrusive; some semi-literate halfwit recently accused me of plagiarism purely on the grounds that many of the phrases I had used in a technical description of a certain taxon also occurred in one of my major sources. The fact that in such an article certain phrases are hardly avoidable simply made no dent in its mental zareba. For the copyright checker to react was quite understandable, but for the self-appointed Dogberry to be unable to appreciate that the likes of "in this taxon" or "many species of FGHJKK" (name changed to avoid blushes) taken out of context simply crop up in context argues shocking incompetence. Fortunately the authority appealed to accepted the facts of the matter and even offered helpful comments, but did so over the shrill admonitions of the original objector. So let me add in case any other cheaply zealous watchdogs get similar ideas, that I am happy to discuss such difficulties as they arise, but that I do not plagiarise and have no need to plagiarise.