Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
...there are no tribes beyond us, nothing indeed but waves and rocks, and the yet more terrible Romans, from whose oppression escape is vainly sought by obedience and submission. Robbers of the world, having by their universal plunder exhausted the land, they rifle the deep. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to statisfy them. Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they sow desolation, and they call it peace.

— Caledonian general Calgacus
before the Battle of Mons Graupius
in Tacitus, The Life of Cnæus Julius Agricola

I started contributing to Wikipedia in June, 2003. Among my interests are opera, Latin America, and journalism. I was born in the United States, but I have lived most of my adult life in northern Europe.

I admire Wikipedia for its communal spirit and its non-hierarchical organization; I fear for its soft white underbelly, its vulnerablity to agenda-driven partisans.

Although I am not proud of it, I can be diplomacy-challenged when it comes to dealing with zealots of all stripes, attack poodles, POV militants, omphalocentric Americans, pedants, militarists, cultural imperialists, and abusers of the English language. In turn, I have been accused of being a sock puppet, a banned user, a vandal, and an antifujimorista.

A few of my favorite contributions: Les Troyens, El Mozote massacre, Rubén Blades, Fred Hampton, Benny Moré, Alexander Berkman, and John Negroponte. Also, I planted a seed for 1755 Lisbon earthquake and it blossomed into a lovely flower (thanks Muriel!). More contributions are here: contribs.