A fact from Office of Defense Mobilization appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 19 May 2007. The text of the entry was as follows:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions.
This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles
This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
"In all, 19 mobilization agencies were eventually created within ODM to control every aspect of the American economy."
The last phrase of that sentence is a HUGE claim, highlighted in the DYK. This huge claim is insufficiently backed up in the article with only by a single unlinked magazine reference that cannot be easily checked. Is this article saying that in 1952, a private individual who wanted to sell their car to another individual, or apply for a new job, or move into a new apartment etc etc etc or if a toothpaste company wanted to increase their main toothpaste R&D budget, or if a shoe store wanted to have a summer sale, or if a religious group wanted to build a new church etc etc etc... that all these activities would need official permits and oversight from the ODM? Really? Every or Almost Every aspect of the economy? This might be the shocking truth, but the article hardly proves it with one unlinked reference that is difficult to evaluate as well as little or no explanation of that sweeping phrase. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.111.80.57 (talk • contribs) 11:32, 19 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thankfully, good scholarly journals don't make their articles available for free; they charge money to view their articles, so that they can maintain high standards. So the supposed "missing link" is a good thing. However, a reference is supplied. The journal is a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal. And, as the article points out, even small aspects of the economy could be regulated by ODM. CBS, for example, had only a handful of scientists working on color television. But ODM almost ordered CBS to prevent the scientists from working on color TV because government officials believed they were urgently needed on other projects. Raw steel, for example, could not be sold anywhere in the U.S. by anyone, unless they had a permit from ODM. Private homes could not be built if they exceeded government limits on the use of wood, electrical wire, metal fixtures, glass, insulation or other common materials, and permits had to be obtained from ODM before a home could be planned, much less built (for example, see "Some Items Exempt for New Buildings," New York Times, September 2, 1951; "Builders and contractors need include the weights of only a limited number of commonly used products to determine whether a proposed home or other building can be completed under the National Production Authority's selfallotment plan..."). You may not believe the claim, but the claim is referenced. I would suggest that if you think the claim is disputed, then you should provide a reference which does disputes it rather than just say you don't believe it. - 1965Tim 00:35, 28 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]
