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Revision as of 17:34, 16 October 2007 editATren (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers6,279 edits FloNight has indicated that the comment was not directed at me, so I've removed references to her quote.← Previous edit Revision as of 02:35, 18 October 2007 edit undoATren (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers6,279 edits Me and Misplaced PagesNext edit →
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I am a thirty-something software engineer from Western New York State. I am married with three children. I am a thirty-something software engineer from Western New York State. I am married with three children.

Full disclosure: I have a blog (written as "A Transportation Enthusiast") called "Weiner Watch" where I analyze and debunk the claims made by ] about ]. Some have erroneously claimed I am Avidor on this blog - I strongly disagree. I attack only his ''claims'', which are provably false, and his ''tactics'', which are just plain dirty. Nothing personal.


] ]

Revision as of 02:35, 18 October 2007

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An essay on civility

Me and Misplaced Pages

I am currently busy in real life, and therefore I've largly stopped editing anything substantial for the time being. The one exception is the THF arbcom case, which I got involved in 2 months ago when I wasn't busy. So a cursory check of my edit history will show only edits from that case, which has dragged on for months. One editor has used this recent edit history to accuse me of "obsessing" over this case, which is, at best, an unfair characterization.

In any event, I invite David to point me to which policy or guideline says that an editor may not focus on one issue for an extended period of time. He has relentlessly pursued THF, his ideological opponent, for nearly 4 months - and in the process has engaged in some pretty vile personal attacks - yet I'm the one who obsesses and "carries the torch". I have no ideological interest in this case, I came onto it as an uninvolved third party, yet I am attacked for seeing it through. I suspect this is more about THF than me - I am guilty by association with someone who has been run off the project not because of his edits or behaviors (which, for the most part, were in perfect compliance with Misplaced Pages policy), but because of his political views.

I am apolitical, and my personal beliefs are generally very moderate, so it repulses me when intellects from either side of the spectrum are hounded off the project. It nearly happened with User:Mr Grant, a progressive who became the target of a certain political opponent, and now it's happened with THF, a conservative who was similarly targeted by opponents. Mr Grant was exonerated, and rightly so, but here we have THF who has been successfully chased from the project even though he did everything possible to adhere to policy.

Perhaps THF is right and Misplaced Pages has a systemic liberal bias. I never believed that before (never wanted to believe it) but it's hard not to come to that conclusion when you have Raul654, an arbitrator, quoting Ralph Nader as an authoritative source on the activities of a conservative think tank - and doing so on the talk page of a case in which he is participating!

This case is dramatic evidence that Misplaced Pages has lost its way. It's one thing for political battles to occur on the talk pages of contentious topics - that's natural. But when you have the ultimate judicial authority endorsing one side of that battle in complete conflict with the evidence presented, that's a really bad sign. I came to Misplaced Pages because I thought this was a place where intellectual discourse would trump petty political battles. I can't believe I could have been so naive.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled user page. :-)


My former username was "A Transportation Enthusiast". That name was too long and restricting -- I have other interests besides transportation. :-)

So, my username is now ATren, which still references my old name (A Transportation Enthusiast) but is much less verbose and looks better in edit histories.

I am a thirty-something software engineer from Western New York State. I am married with three children.

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