1 [newspaper]: {headline} Martians claim to have already conquered Earth 1 [newspaper]: {subhead} Cite Wikipedia as reference 1 [newspaper]: {grainy photo of Martians in Ishmael's room, accompanying story in tiny text} 2 [newspaper]: {headline} Allosaurus begs to differ 2 [newspaper]: {subhead} Tags article with "citations needed" 1 [newspaper]: {photo of the Allosaurus giving a speech from behind a lectern adorned with the Seal of the President of the USA}

What gets my goat about Wikipedia is the darn "citation needed" tag.

Some Wikipedia readers seem to love going through articles on topics they know little about and adding "citation needed" after every second statement, when to anyone who knows the subject in question it's common knowledge that it is ludicrous to call into question:

Banana plants are of the family Musaceae[citation needed]. They are cultivated primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent for the production of fibre and as ornamental plants[citation needed]. They are native to tropical southeastern Asia but are widely cultivated in tropical regions[citation needed].

Queen Victoria subsisted on a diet of nothing but bananas[citation needed].

About the only thing more annoying than this is when someone finds a statement in a page that is completely and blatantly false, obviously been added by some vandal or something, and rather than justit they add "citation needed":As if some editor will go through and try to find a citation to support this "fact" and add it to the article.

Ugh... I have no further words for the pain this causes.

I'm just trying to work out what those elliptical things behind the Allosaurus are. They looked a bit like fingerprints when I first glanced at them now. Or maybe air traffic control radar screens. Or an astronomical map of intergalactic radio sources.

I think they're ceiling lights. I suppose that makes sense, as the press photographer shot this photo of the President looking almost straight up at his towering height.