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Revision as of 06:02, 6 March 2015

Comment committee

You had previously commented on the possibility of a "comment" committee at the idea lab. At Talk:Landmark Worldwide, I have started a discussion regarding possibly starting a "trial run" of such an idea. Your input in the discussion would of course be welcome. John Carter (talk) 21:46, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

A drive-by thank you...

Your description of RS was superb in its generality, specifically....A second misconception is that a source can be declared "reliable", and that declaration is a fixed, absolute judgement. Reliability depends both on the source itself and on how it is used. This board cannot provide a blanket approval that a source is reliable for all purposes. Some of the most important guidelines for evaluating the use of specific sources to support specific claims can be found in WP:MEDRS. (Of course, a source can be reliable for a particular claim and yet still be omitted from an article for reasons of (ir)relevance, undue weight, or to avoid implying conclusions not actually supported. The greater context of the article matters.) Is it ok with you if I modify it to achieve a tad more generality so that it doesn't apply only to MEDRS? Just wondering what other important guidelines we could use? I think you've presented the most intelligible, comprehensive and succinctly presented response that I've ever read. Atsme☯ 22:08, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

ancient (and recurring) RD history

Hi, Ten. In this edit (in a thread seven years ago, which was already titled "Medical and legal questions (for the nth time)"; I wonder which time we're up to by now?), you wrote: "Mike Godwin was asked for comments on the guideline back in August 2007; as far as I know he has offered no objection then or since." By any chance do you remember where that discussion took place? I couldn't find any mention of it in the RD talk page archives; the closest I could find was this edit of Theresa Knott's a few months later, in which she mentions Brad Patrick. (But please don't spend a lot of time looking. The current discussion, if you haven't come across it and if you care, is here.) —Steve Summit (talk) 18:51, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

Poking quickly through the respective talk pages, it looks like Mike Godwin was invited (User talk:MGodwin#Medical advice guideline) to comment on the medical advice guidelines in August 2007. As far as I am aware, he offered no response or objection in that thread (Misplaced Pages talk:Reference desk/Guidelines/Medical advice/Archive 1#Serious concerns with this content) or anywhere else. I'm afraid that's all I can come up with.

To be honest, I took WT:RD off my watchlist ages ago, and I'm seldom active on the Desks themselves. The Science desk used to be a remarkable resource, where editors made a serious effort to find useful sources and references and citations. Now it's mostly just StuRat bullshitting off the top of his head. (The problem with StuRat is that he's almost as smart as he thinks he is, and he trusts his own best guesses a little too much. His answers are often correct, but it's impossible for the poor sods reading his 'wisdom' to tell what's based on real knowledge, what's a guess, and what's a wildly inaccurate but clever-sounding stab in the dark. And prolific as he is, he sets a bad example for the ever-decreasing number of new editors who might volunteer there.)

Meanwhile, the talk page is a cesspit of bickering among certain 'regulars', interspersed with libertarian bleating about having a right to spout whatever nonsense dribbles out of people's imagination, actual references be damned. Just not worth it anymore, and it's little wonder that the traffic on the Desks is so much slower than it used to be. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 19:16, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

Thanks! (Can't argue with much you've said; the decline of the RDs since their golden age has certainly been sizeable and sad.) —Steve Summit (talk) 21:44, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

I appreciate your honesty, thanks.

While we often disagree about things, I appreciate your honesty when you stated:

I will, in the interest of full disclosure, acknowledge that I've run into Insertcleverphrasehere recently at these articles, and been impressed by his thoroughly disingenuous approach

in the recent arbitration case. This comment actually means a lot to me, as I have really made an effort to be as nonpartisan as possible, especially recently as I have begun editing, I'm actually quite honoured that you noticed. Insertcleverphrasehere (talk) 08:53, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

To avoid any misunderstanding, "disingenuous" is not a compliment. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 14:07, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Dammit, I guess people don't like me as much as I thought. Another good word is mendacious. You can say that to somebody's face and they won't know they've been insulted until they have had time to look it up. Jehochman 14:41, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

For some reason, I'm reminded of my favorite George W. Bush press conference, where, in the course of explaining why waterboarding people is an essential component of freedom, he reminded us that we were dealing with people who had "been trained, in some instances, to disassemble!" Perceiving the audience's confusion, Bush helpfully explained: "That means not tell the truth." Ah, here it is. MastCell  17:23, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Let's go

Come on, take it to ArbCom, let's see how far we can go. Dreadstar ☥ 02:21, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Going around shopping for fights is no way to be. You made a really ill-considered unblock to try to override a clear community-imposed ban, and it reflects poorly on you. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 02:24, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Then take it to ArbCom. Dreadstar ☥ 02:27, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Do you genuinely believe that if a poorly-judged act isn't taken immediately to ArbCom, it can't be criticized? TenOfAllTrades(talk) 02:30, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

No, I don't know where you're getting that. I'm saying if my judgment is so poor as you indicate, then removal of the bit and banning by ArbCom is the real path. Dreadstar ☥ 02:37, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Good god, get a grip. Wait until tomorrow or next week, and re-read this thread. I'm not going to spend any more time on you. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 02:50, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

I think you spent enough time digging up an old diff from an article I accidentally recreated in your attempt to undermine what I was trying to do. Read your own diffs bucko. Dreadstar ☥ 02:53, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

. Childish and embarrassing. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 04:19, 6 March 2015 (UTC)