This Week in Wikipedia: A (Fake?) Male Beauty Pageant, Communists, and Reince Priebus' Voice

When the faceless editors of Wikipedia decide an article is not fit for public consumption, it’s gone, only accessible to the site’s top editors—at least, it was. But now we’re keeping track of all the articles Wikipedia doesn’t see fit to print, to present you with very best of the site’s weirdest and worst. (Plus: An extra special audio bonus this week only.) Please, enjoy.

Manhunt International 2014

Manhunt International 2014 is a male beauty pageant that seems to have never actually happened and may or may not be postponed indefinitely. It does seem to have been a real thing in the past with actual winners, as its website will attest:

A reverse image search reveals that these are, in fact, real contestants who have actually won this contest. After 2012, though, things start to get weird.

Best line:

Or rather, best section:

And while Sy Lee most likely did not win Mr. Internet Popularity in 2014 because no Manhunt competition took place in 2014, the title would have unquestionably been his. Please, observe:

Side note: That is not where champagne goes, Sy Lee.

Why it got deleted:

All the information in this article appears to be referencing either the 2012 or the 2011 competition. An exact replica of the article had, however, at one point existed under the name Manhunt International 2013 (which is now also being considered for deletion). What’s more, this is actually the second or third time this particular incarnation has been put out of its misery.

An though the Manhunt International website does have a list of contestants for 2014, none of those people are actually listed on the Wikipedia page. As you can see from the image above, much to Sy Lee’s chagrin, Manhunt International 2014 is postponed.

Why it shouldn’t have:

Because you made Sy Lee sad:

Party of Communists USA

The Party of Communists USA is exactly what it sounds like. More than just being communists, though, they are also staunchly pro-former Soviet Union. For instance, here’s a post they recently shared to their Facebook page:

And here is another:

Best line:

The whole article is short and to the point:

The Party of Communists USA is a Marxist-Leninist organization formed from a split of Communist Party USA. The party takes an anti-revisionist line and upholds the former Soviet Union.

Why it got deleted:

Because “the only source found on the web is the organization’s website,” said the capitalist fascist pigs of Wikipedia.

Why it shouldn’t have:

They seem fun!

2012 Olympics curse

Apparently, after the 2012 Olympics there was “an unusual rate of deaths” among participating athletes. The idea that this translated to a curse first started up in France after two French Olympians died in a helicopter crash March 9, 2015 while filming a survivor-esque TV show last year.

The theory has been picking up steam ever since.

Best line:

The last line in the article’s description states that “analysis has indicated that this number of deaths amongst the 10,568 participants is not statistically significant.” Which effectively disproves the entire article itself.

Unless, of course, someone is just trying to cover their tracks.

Why it got deleted:

Keeping the above in mind, user The Rambling Man points out that it is “actually less than significant” and “nonsensical tabloid garbage.”

On the other hand, does The Rambling Man does seem awfully keen on minimizing the evidence at hand. Why are you so afraid, Rambling Man? And what are you trying to hide? Or should I say—who?

All of which isn’t to say that The Rambling Man necessarily has anything to do with the curse, of course. We’re just asking questions.

Why it shouldn’t have:

The people deserve the truth, Rambling Man. Tell us what you know.

United Airlines Flight 6

This entry purports to tell the tale of a relatively uneventful emergency landing. This particular emergency landing will be taking place next Monday.

Best line:

This is another short one, so we present the article in full:

Passengers: Crew: Date:May 16,2016 Fatalities:0 Injuries:0 Aircraft:737-8 MAX Survivors: Operator:United airlines United airlines flight 006 was a flight that made an emegency [sic] landing in May of 2016. The emergency landing took place in Seattle,Washington after the left engine started to make a groaning noise the plane started to dip to the left. Everyone on board the 737-8 MAX survived.

Why it got deleted:

Wikipedia’s editors say that “a google news search shows nothing in the news for an incident as described in the article. The article is totally unreferenced also. Even if the incident happened, delete as not notable aviation incident.”

The other issue, of course, is that what we’re dealing with here is more of a prophecy than anything else—all the more reason it must be preserved.

Why it shouldn’t have:

The people deserve to know! Please, if you have any plans to fly on United Airlines Flight 006 this coming Monday, do not—I repeat, do not—get on that plane. You’ll survive, sure. But making your connecting flight is going to be a bitch.

File:I’m Reince Priebus.ogg

Here at Wikipedia Watch, we generally focus on Wikipedia pages themselves, not the content housed within the overwhelmingly wide world of the Wikimedia Foundation. This is because A) the code written by the brilliant Adam Pash is only set to save Wikipedia pages and B) I want to live my life. However! Today we make an exception.

Thanks to writer Josh Fruhlinger, it’s come to our attention that what is perhaps the single most important audio file on Wikipedia is, at this very moment, in danger of being deleted. It is this file of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus saying, “I am Reince Preibus.”

Best line:

“I am Reince Preibus.”

Why it might get deleted:

So far, the sole argument in favor of deleting the beloved and classic line comes from an editor who calls himself Magog the Ogre. Magog writes:

The GOP is the copyright holder on this, not the uploader.

Why it shouldn’t:

Not only is Mr. Ogre’s reasoning objectively false, but Reince, buddy, if you’re going to make a fake account to try to get the file taken down, at least put a little effort into it. Magog’s user page notes that he lives is Pennyslvania. And as we all know, Reince Preibus has been to Pennsylvania before. You do the math.

Just in case Wikipedia does acquiesce to Reince’s demands and decide to do the unthinkable, we’ve saved the file ourselves, which you’re free to revisit anytime you need a little Reince in your day.

[There was a video here]

You’re welcome.