Dating with an edge!

March 3, 2008 1:40 PM

Animal magnetism, or testiment to the stupidity of the male species. Rachel Marsden, the right-wing pundit better known in Canada for a series of scandals in her personal life, has apparently had a messy breakup with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. Marsden is currently selling off Wales' belongings on Ebay.

Sez the CBC:

Most recently, Marsden accused a former boyfriend, a counterterrorism officer for the Ontario Provincial Police, of leaking secret anti-terrorism documents to her.

Previously.

posted by KokuRyu (70 comments total)

Three words: Borderline Personality Disorder.
posted by notsnot at 1:45 PM on March 3 [8 favorites]

I think there's a tag missing here, yes?
posted by pineapple at 1:46 PM on March 3 [6 favorites]

It even has it's own wiki entry...
posted by Artw at 1:50 PM on March 3

Allegedly he got her attention when he had her wikipedia entry "cleaned up" for her. Valleywag is all over this one. Pure trashy gossip.
posted by GuyZero at 1:54 PM on March 3

OMFG NOT RACHEL MARSDEN AGAIN.
posted by jokeefe at 1:54 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

*laughs hysterically*
posted by jokeefe at 1:54 PM on March 3

Um, the bat shit called, it's not at all happy with what pineapple is alluding to.
posted by tommasz at 1:56 PM on March 3

Thank you, America, for taking her off our hands.
posted by ssg at 2:01 PM on March 3

Take her back, Canada. TAKE HER BACK
posted by zerolives at 2:05 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

Mate her with Hitchens!
posted by Artw at 2:05 PM on March 3 [4 favorites]

Too bad; they seemed like such a perfect match.
posted by tula at 2:09 PM on March 3

She hates it when people "big themselves up" in their bios.
posted by JaredSeth at 2:11 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

She fits in a little better in the USA than she does up here.
posted by ssg at 2:11 PM on March 3

Man, Wikipedia's getting to be as good as TMZ.
posted by WCityMike at 2:14 PM on March 3

Man.....I remember the SFU swim team thing from ten years ago. That was whacked. Why is this woman still news?

...second on the "batshitinsane" tag...
posted by salishsea at 2:18 PM on March 3

Man.....I remember the SFU swim team thing from ten years ago. That was whacked.

I was working at SFU when that happened. And you have no idea.
posted by jokeefe at 2:24 PM on March 3

testiment - is that something you need testies to appreciate?
posted by preparat at 2:24 PM on March 3

JaredSeth said: "She hates it when people "big themselves up" in their bios."

Holy cannoli. That bio. Sold eggs in her driveway! Whoo! Admired Wayne Gretsky! Whoooooo! Something something Pierre Trudeau! WHOOOOOOOOOO!

If by "big themselves up" she meant, "I hate it when people try to make themselves sound impressive by doing things that are actually impressive," then, Rachel FTW.

Because selling eggs from one's driveway, graduating from college, and being moved by the Terry Fox story doesn't actually make one entrepreneurial or interesting.

I'm not one for mocking Canada, usually... but is this really all you've got these days? Send us more Alanis, more Louis Mayer, more Lynn Johnston, Alexander Graham Bell, Barenaked Ladies. We're already pretty full up on "I've got no discernible talent or skill but I deserve to be famous anyway."
posted by pineapple at 2:31 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

Wow, Marsden is "fully bilingual in both French and English," which I guess makes her quadrilingual.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:31 PM on March 3 [7 favorites]

From the CBC article:

The story, complete with supposed transcripts of their instant message exchanges, set the blogosphere on fire.

Damn. If only we really could burn the "blogosphere". Oh, the sweet, sweet humanity.
posted by GuyZero at 2:38 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

What the fuck happened?

Used to be you split up with someone, chucked their belongings out the window and ranted to your mates about what a shitheel they were.

Now you flog their stuff on ebay with passive-aggressive item listings and rant about what a shitheel they are to the entire interweb.

I miss the old days.
posted by pinkbuttonanus at 2:39 PM on March 3

And we only have Janet Albrechtsen here in Australia ... yet again Australia is the poor cousin to the rest of the English speaking world.
posted by Megami at 2:44 PM on March 3

If Rachel Marsden doesn't IMMEDIATELY get a prime time network reality show I swear I will beat my TV to death with a hockey stick.
posted by Keith Talent at 2:46 PM on March 3

I'd never even heard if this Marsden chick before today, and I've lived in BC my whole life. Took me all of five seconds to never want to encounter her webpage or name again.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 2:46 PM on March 3 [3 favorites]

In support of my batshit insane rec...here she is in support of racial profiling. The only thing strange about her stuff is that she has all the profile of a C-List media darling and all the talent of a newby neocon Blogger user who runs Google ads on his first three posts.

How'd she get so famous? (he asks bewilderingly.)

(and rhetorically)

(and will she make an appearance in this thread, he further wonders)
posted by salishsea at 2:52 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

pineapple, there's inmate number [Lord] 18330-424.

Canada sucks all right, because Black would not have gone to prison if charged here in Canada. Notice to all white collar criminals, the door is wide fucking open. Great.

As for this person, Marsden¿ Who gives a shite¿ Never heard of her.
posted by alicesshoe at 2:54 PM on March 3

...set the blogosphere on fire.

I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like victory.
posted by never used baby shoes at 2:57 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

damn,
inmate number [Lord] 18330-424.

Colour of your blood counts, obviously still in Canada.
posted by alicesshoe at 2:58 PM on March 3

This is not something to brag about, really.

No, we brag about getting rid of her.

Send us more Alanis, more Louis Mayer, more Lynn Johnston, Alexander Graham Bell, Barenaked Ladies.

No. We want to keep them. You get Rachel Marsden, and with any luck Michael Coren.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 3:00 PM on March 3

I'm not one for mocking Canada, usually... but is this really all you've got these days? Send us more Alanis, more Louis Mayer, more Lynn Johnston, Alexander Graham Bell, Barenaked Ladies. We're already pretty full up on "I've got no discernible talent or skill but I deserve to be famous anyway."

Yeah, but try to look at it from our point of view. It's like we've got this absolute clunker of a car - I mean it coughs and sputters, no pick up, handles like a Soviet tank - but it's got a fresh coat of glittery paint and a racing fin, and right next door is the biggest used-car lot the world's ever seen, presided over by this vast army of wide-lapelled braying jackasses screaming nonsense into megaphones. And damned if those cars don't sell sell sell.

So, you know, where else we gonna park our piles of useless junk?
posted by gompa at 3:01 PM on March 3 [9 favorites]

So is a one-night stand with this chick kind of the straight version of barebacking or something?

"Yeah, I know what could happen, but the danger's just part of the thrill, man."
posted by Naberius at 3:12 PM on March 3 [2 favorites]

Best of the web? Really?
posted by zippy at 3:26 PM on March 3

So peripherally famous people get into a fight on the internet, and all of a sudden they can sell each other's t-shirts for $760?

I need to be smart willing to debase myself enough to come up with ideas like this.
posted by quin at 3:37 PM on March 3

Animal magnetism

AWESOME!

or testiment to the stupidity of the male species.

Oh. Not what I was expecting.
posted by Green With You at 3:38 PM on March 3

Also send us more Corner Gas. I freakin' love that show.
Let us hear no more about this Rachel somethingsomething and Jimbo somethingwikisomething.
posted by willmize at 3:40 PM on March 3

Given the original Wikibio that Jimbo fixed for her, he clearly subscribes to the philosophy of 'crazy in the head, crazy in the bed.' Why else would somebody date a serial stalker?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:56 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

she's like that radioactive shit they inject into cancer patients. whatever she's attracted to needs to be cut out and disposed of.
posted by klanawa at 3:58 PM on March 3

In her...uh, defense(?)...isn't a wikipedia breakup akin to a text message breakup?

You can't do that, man. It just fuels the crazy.
posted by squasha at 4:06 PM on March 3

In support of my batshit insane rec...here she is in support of racial profiling. The only thing strange about her stuff is that she has all the profile of a C-List media darling and all the talent of a newby neocon Blogger user who runs Google ads on his first three posts.

Here's the column that got her fired, finally, from the Sun. It's entitled "Torture? Sounds like a swimmingly good idea".

Here's a taste:

When asked about it during a recent CNN appearance, I suggested that "one man's torture is another's CIA-sponsored swim lesson." In case anyone thought I was being facetious -- I wasn't.

I suppose that those who object to terror suspects getting water up the nose would say that, as a young competitive swimmer, I was also tortured. It was called "hypoxic training" -- swimming underwater and holding our breath until we passed out. Our coaches didn't call it torture, just an exercise in "mental toughness." So think of it this way -- terror suspects are getting some free mental toughness training courtesy of the U.S. government.

Here's another idea to make the concept more palatable to objectors: Call the place where waterboarding is performed "The CIA Centre For Aquatic Excellence," give all participants an "I survived training camp" T-shirt with the centre's logo on it, and treat them to a couple of carbo-loading pancake breakfasts. It worked for us.

She's more than an entertaining stalker trainwreck, she's certifiable.
posted by jokeefe at 4:07 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

It isn't mentioned in the media that I've seen, but after the OTRS intervention (apparently at least initially by Jimbo's own hand), the Rachel Marsden articles were the subject of one of the more wrenching arbitration cases (at least up to that point). Whatever involvement he had initially has long since been superseded by the ArbCom decision. It was known at the time of the ArbCom case that Marsden had personally contacted Wales. Among other things, her bio was subject to immediate stubbing if it were to violate the biographies of living persons policy, e.g. by the use of unreliable sources to introduce negative material (the original complaint). Marsden did not succeed in having the negative material removed, nor her an attempt to nominate it for deletion (there were also attempts to delete the article on the original harassment case). Her article was one of those that led to the concept of the BLP courtesy deletion for persons of marginal notability, although it was not deemed that she failed notability tests.
posted by dhartung at 4:16 PM on March 3

Her ex-boyfriend from the OPP anti-terrorism squad sued her for harassment. Let's see, I think that's her fourth such suit. (Only three are noted in her Wikipedia article now but one must have been lost when Jimmy Wales cleaned her up a little.)
And, America? You deserve this for inciting my government to idiocy. And you deserve David Frum, too. Keep it up. We have more we can send you. But thanks, great neighbour, for jailing Alan Eagleton and Conrad Black for us! We'll show our appreciation by keeping Celine Dion. (Except for her trips to Vegas.)
posted by CCBC at 4:21 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

Given the original Wikibio that Jimbo fixed for her

Given the bio, you really think he did anything for her? I mean, if you believe the bio, it's easy to believe that he's blameless.

Reading it again... DAMN. Just... DAMN.
posted by tarheelcoxn at 4:23 PM on March 3

Don't miss the Valleywag coverage!!!.

Man, Jimmy Wales is such an idiot.
posted by delmoi at 4:41 PM on March 3

time of my one meeting with Rachel Marsden on Feb. 9, 2008," he wrote.

[Checks calendar]

Sorry, but when did three weeks become a relationship? I mean, once you're an adult and passed the summer camp years?
posted by Zinger at 4:42 PM on March 3

Darnit, that should be past.
posted by Zinger at 4:43 PM on March 3

Jimmy Wales' T-shirt is currently at $12,100 on eBay, with 8 days to go. Is Larry Sanger going to burn it? Will the shirt carried to Beijing during the Olympic relay? Or will Homeland Security buy the shirt and extract the DNA? Stay tuned!
posted by lukemeister at 5:01 PM on March 3

lukemeister said: "Is Larry Sanger going to burn it? Will the shirt carried to Beijing during the Olympic relay? Or will Homeland Security buy the shirt and extract the DNA? Stay tuned!"

None of the above. Rachel the Unhinged is going to insist on delivering it to the seller personally -- at which point she's going to accuse him of inappropriate sexual contact while simultaneously begging him for loving attention. When he files a complaint with eBay and tries to get his money back, she's going to start sending nude photos of herself (wearing the t-shirt alternately as a turban and a diaper) to Pierre Omidyar -- who's going to promptly have her arrested, then explain to Rachel's attorney that he is rich and bored enough to hire him away, then fire him, then "put him on the street, then hire people to threaten anyone who wants to give him spare change, and finally hire a specially trained poodle whose sole purpose will be to whiz on him all day long, stopping only to rehydrate."™ Rachel will continue to find herself without suitable representation, oddly enough.

Then they'll deport her.

And y'all can put that in your toque and smoke it.

Yeah, go ahead, send over another glittery clunker to replace her. We'll take it. We're cheap and tacky and powerless to resist.

Also please send more Cirque du Soleil, and Rick Moranis.
posted by pineapple at 5:40 PM on March 3 [5 favorites]

She looks like she'd be in a stabby mood much of the time.
posted by aerotive at 5:53 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

I blame donuts - or rather, Tim Hortons withdrawal - for Ms. Marsden's actions. Jimmy Wales - living in Florida.
posted by lukemeister at 5:54 PM on March 3

[a few comments removed - no one asked about Ann Coulter and your tranny jokes are not appreciated, MetaTalk is your remedy]
posted by jessamyn at 6:00 PM on March 3

quin writes "So peripherally famous people get into a fight on the internet, and all of a sudden they can sell each other's t-shirts for $760? "

Whoa. Really?

Holy crap. His t-shirt is over $12,000. Clearly, I'm in the wrong business.

I wonder if the bidder intends on paying. Hmmm ... High bidder has a brand new account with a username sorta like the account with the high bid on his sweater, although that user has a history. Oddly enough, the sweater is only up to $530. I wonder if Ms. Marsden considered the idea that Wales might screw with her auctions, or that jokey people would bid it up to stratospheric heights, never intending to pay.
posted by krinklyfig at 6:03 PM on March 3

In case further action is needed, Jack Ruby's gun will be available right after the auction ends.
posted by lukemeister at 6:04 PM on March 3

Did we just find a new complainy group?
posted by Artw at 6:12 PM on March 3

or that jokey people would bid it up to stratospheric heights, never intending to pay.

Most of the bidders appear to be brand new users with no feedback, so I think that's it. I can only imagine what's running through the real bidders' heads. You get a dirty t-shirt, and she has all your personal information when she decides that she still loves him and needs the t-shirt for the sexual harassment lawsuit she's using to win him back.
posted by Gary at 6:23 PM on March 3

Bah. It's no Rollins/Shipley.
posted by phooky at 6:31 PM on March 3

She's a kook alright. I remember the SFU kerfuffle.

Bet she's dirty as hell though.
posted by illiad at 6:59 PM on March 3

I think we are enabling her with this thread.
posted by loiseau at 7:03 PM on March 3

The more I see of Wikipedia, the more I think I'm watching another CoS in the making. I mean, crazy founder, lots of believers from the marginally disaffected who believe they're actually the New grossly disaffected, vaguely spookly sub-organisations of tenuous accountability labelled with ominous acronyms and contractions, bannination and ostracism of heretics, etc, etc, ...

Does anybody else get that feeling?
posted by Pinback at 7:09 PM on March 3 [2 favorites]

I think it's funny that she thinks she's attractive.
posted by Ynoxas at 8:37 PM on March 3

Or will Homeland Security buy the shirt and extract the DNA?

On behalf of the glorious state of Utah, maybe.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:25 PM on March 3

Jimmy Wales? Isn't he the same guy who complained that his birthday was wrong on his Wiki profile, then some time after it was changed complained that there was no evidence that corrected date was his birthday?

Oh, yeah.

Crazy guy meets crazy girl, abuses his position for personal benefit, wears nasty clothes to her place, manages to poke her once before discovering that crazy stalker girl is crazy, once again employs Wikipedia to sort out his sad dating career. Now reduced to relying on her native wit, crazy stalker girl parries with bold eBay sale of funky garments. They don't live happily ever after. Surprise!
posted by taz at 10:47 PM on March 3 [3 favorites]

$15,000 for Jimbo Wales' t-shirt. There appears to be a jizz stain on the right shoulder, maybe some would consider that a bonus.

Nuke the Internet from orbit.
posted by DecemberBoy at 11:07 PM on March 3

We'll show our appreciation by keeping Celine Dion. (Except for her trips to Vegas.)

And Bette has just taken over Celine's stage in Vegas.
posted by ericb at 11:12 PM on March 3

Copycats now have "Jimmy Wales" socks and underwear up for sale. krinklyfig, is that you?
posted by Locative at 1:48 AM on March 4

SHILL. almost 8 days left in the auction and two new members with zero feedback are fighting over an tshirt which is currently at $15,000?
posted by gman at 3:43 AM on March 4

an a
posted by gman at 3:44 AM on March 4

So do you think that there were people that had "Jimmy Wales" as a favorite search in hopes of buying a piece of Wikipedia ephemera?
posted by drezdn at 2:42 PM on March 4

Is there anything to stop someone (or their friend) from bidding on their own sale? I mean, the transaction fee on $20k is about $300 and change. Meanwhile, you've been named in a million newspapers and blogs, generating links to your site and promoting your name. Past "bad press" has still resulted in work contracts, so this is an inexpensive endeavour. Kind of like Jesus cheese toast.
posted by acoutu at 11:09 PM on March 4

Allegations swirl around Wikipedia's Wales.
posted by ericb at 1:37 PM on March 5

Her auctions were pulled by ebay because she named Wales in them. She then relisted, set her reserves at $500; the auctions are now complete with no bids meeting her price.
posted by zarah at 3:49 PM on March 16