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Recommended reading;

Papillon,

by Henri Charrière

Paradise Lost: Smyrna, 1922:
The Destruction of Islam’s City of Tolerance

by Giles Milton

• amazon.com

reviews;

• nysun.com
• timesonline.co.uk
• brisbanetimes.com.au
• economist.com

Indonesian killings of 1965–66

Catherine Bonkbuster

On Slim virgins and arbcom dragons

Martyred Armenia

by Fâ’iz El-Ghusein

• Archive 1, 2

Blood and Roses was a trading game, along the lines of Monopoly. The Blood side played with human atrocities for the counters, atrocities on a large scale: individual rapes and murders didn't count, there had to have been a large number of people wiped out. Massacres, genocides, that sort of thing. The Roses side played with human achievements. Artworks, scientific breakthroughs, stellar works of architecture, helpful inventions. Monuments to the soul's magnificence, they were called in the game. There were sidebar buttons, so that if you didn't know what Crime and Punishment was, or the Theory of Relativity, or the Trail of Tears, or Madame Bovary, or the Hundred Years' War, or The Flight into Egypt, you could double-click and get an illustrated rundown, in two choices: R for children, PON for Profanity, Obscenity, and Nudity. That was the thing about history, said Crake: it had lots of all three.

The exchange rates — one Mona Lisa equalled Bergen-Belsen, one Armenian genocide equalled the Ninth Symphony plus three Great Pyramids — were suggested, but there was room for haggling. To do this you needed to know the numbers — the total number of corpses for the atrocities, the latest open-market price for the artworks; or, if the artworks had been stolen, the amount paid out by the insurance policy. It was a wicked game.

The sack of Troy, says a voice in his ear. The destruction of Carthage. The Vikings. The Crusades. Ghenghis Kahn. Attila the Hun. The massacre of the Cathars. The witch burnings. The destruction of the Aztec. Ditto the Maya. Ditto the Inca. The Inquisition. Vlad the Impaler. The massacre of the Huguenots. Cromwell in Ireland. The French Revolution. The Napoleonic Wars. The Irish Famine. Slavery in the American South. King Léopold in the Congo. The Russian Revolution. Stalin. Hitler. Hiroshima. Mao. Pol Pot. Idi Amin. Sri Lanka. East Timor. Saddam Hussein.

"Stop it," says Snowman.

Sorry, honey. Only trying to help.

That was the trouble with Blood and Roses: it was easier to remember the Blood stuff. The other trouble was that the Blood player usually won, but winning meant you inherited a wasteland. This was the point of the game, said Crake, when Jimmy complained. Jimmy said that if that was the point, it was pretty pointless. He didn't want to tell Crake that he was having some severe nightmares: the one where the Parthenon was decorated with cut-off heads was, for some reason, the worst.

— From Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood

your mission should you choose to accept it.....

I thought you may be amused by this:

I guess along the lines of pop culture, some editors were bemused at the obscurity of many hooks that appear on the main page. I have on my travels seen plenty of more notable stubs which could be expanded five-fold, which I thought would be interesting to expand and place on the main page. I think I will copy this archived stuff into my userspace anyway, but held a (largely aborted) competition to highlight/find some more notable material that is too stubby and too expanded. I guess this is my way of addressing systemic bias (though with carrots rather than sticks). Your own personal mission, should you choose to accept, it is to find the most notable indonesian/balinese stubs to expand 5-fold and get onto the main page. Your skill with prose and thoroughness with referencing should make this easy. It is funny to see how a selection of contributors modifies the brownian motion of article creation, so for a while, rather than a spread of random articles, there were overrepresented birds, fungi, medieval Chinese figures, miscellaneous North American synagogues, and lots of US historical houses. Definitely needs more third world mateiral. Also, there is systemic bias in the birds wikiproject with a definite anglophone preponderance, so if you run across anything interesting from a local perspective avianwise that might make a good DYK, GA or even FA. Anyway, all this is presuming the arb works out...Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:31, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/Jack Merridew ban review motion

The above-linked ban review has been closed and a motion passed. You have been unblocked, conditional to the restrictions and mentorship arrangement set out in the motion, available in full at this link. The three mentors assigned are Casliber (talk · contribs), Jayvdb (talk · contribs) and Moreschi (talk · contribs).

For the Arbitration Committee,
Daniel (talk) 10:03, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Terima kasih (id:thank you), Daniel. Others, too, of course. Cheers, Jack Merridew 10:08, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I can see what you mean about WP:AN, WP:AN/I etc and common boards (I would think it'd apply to threads rather than the whole board as such. Need to clarify that with the arb committee I think. Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 04:23, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Ya, me-thinks so; user talk page, too. Cheers, Jack Merridew 04:33, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Hello

Welcome back Jack. --Pixelface (talk) 15:33, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. Jack Merridew 15:37, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Welcome back. In the spirit of the upcoming season, I'm hoping for peace on Earth; hopefully we'll at least have peace with you this time? Hope springs eternal, you know. :) BOZ (talk) 16:47, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Thirded (if that's a word?). Also, as Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Learn from the mistakes of others, life's too short to make them all yourself," i.e. I have found that editing in new areas that I did not previously edit in seems to get positive feedback, whereas old whatever you want to call them have a tendency to be well you know in the areas I used to focus on. Best, --A Nobody 16:54, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Uh, the upcoming season here is the wet season… but I get it. BOZ, I am going to offer a view on Gavin's RfC, however I'm not going to focus on D&D nearly as much (unencyclopaedic, and all). I will vigorously oppose D&D's Notable Dick, if necessary; that's always been a key reason for my involvement there.

Nobody, I am focused on editing in a wider range of areas; see? I have not been 'gone', I have better than 10,000 edits while on holiday from en:wp; see?

Cheers, Jack Merridew 04:59, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Hey Jack. :) It's good that you would step in to help against "He Who Must Not Be Named Because He Loves To Hear His Name And That Makes Him Show Up"; however, I always assumed he was doing what he was doing to D&D articles more to annoy you (and to a lesser extent, Jeske and Gavin) than because he wanted the templates gone (although I'm sure he wanted that also). Regardless, I haven't seen any clear evidence (not the same as him not being there) of him getting involved in D&D articles in that same way while you were gone from here, whether or not that backs up my theory. I have seen evidence that he has been around, moving pages to nonsense titles before someone moves it back (this comes to mind, for example) so we all need to keep an eye out. The best way to handle that is, as always, revert the change if you can, then let an admin know so they can block and semi-protect. Carry on! :)

I see you've been doing a lot of good work. Carry on with that as well! :) (But yeah, I'm sure it's not as wet here as it is on an island, but we've got plenty of slush and snow, so wet it is.) BOZ (talk) 15:30, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

The nakal anak needs to get laid. If he thinks he's annoyed me, he's way off; he's kinda fun to beat-up on ;) See my history and compare the timing circa 2005 with his; I was reading the rfar pages quite assiduously back in the day. I also understand the entomology of his usersname. The D&D crowd needs to quite clearly disown their patron vandal. Comments like this one ("Giving him the Grawp treatment seems to be the only way to get anything done") amount to an endorsement of such disruptive behavior. As the meme goes, he's got over 9,000 cockpuppets; how sure are you that a few of them aren't of the WP:GOODHAND variety?

I have no idea where you are; I'd speculate that it would be the northern United States, but that's just what you seem to be implying. Here's it always about 27°C (a bit over 80°F) and breezy and not very humid, even in the heavy rains. It rains about every other afternoon for an hour or so; most often late at night and early in the morning. This is the season when stuff grows at an amazing rate. Cheers, Jack Merridew 05:55, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, partly to annoy you, and partly just to get his kicks. ;) If he hasn't been around to bother you lately, then that can only be a good thing (unless it just means he's moved on to someone else). I do remember JA fighting any little edit he didn't agree with to one of "his" articles, so that was certainly no fun. Advocating JA/G's (heh) seriously overt bad behavior is certainly not where I'm coming from, and I've been trying (god help me) to be as cool and calm and productive as I can to hopefully inspire others to do the same. Although before JA's block he was contributing some decent work to the project, he hasn't contributed anything useful since then and I would hope the majority opinion of our project reflects that. Anyway, sounds beautiful where you're at - want to trade? :) BOZ (talk) 16:49, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

No-trade; fuck winter. I wear sandals every day; Summer, Day 1307.

I have a dim view of WikiProjects; all of them. When you say 'project' you mean WP:D&D, when I use the word 'project' I mean an encyclopaedia that doesn't suck. In an even broader sense, I mean all of the WMF projects. I have more edits elsewhere than here. You're a Single Project Account. Think about it. WikiProjects are a self-selecting group and often they have WP:OWNership agendas, and amount to attempts to seceed from the real project. A lot of WikiProject will morph into WikiaProjects. That's what Pixel's so afreaid of. Cheers, Jack Merridew 13:55, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Jack, please do not use any variation or allusion to my old username (please see the note on the top of my talk page why). Anyway, yes, I see that you have been doing some other good stuff and I believe that is why you are back. I am hoping to help Durova bring some rock articles out of stub status and maybe even get some good article contributions as well as my usual welcoming and rescue efforts. All the best! Sincerely, --A Nobody 00:51, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Done; see my userpage and the Category: Misplaced Pages sockpuppets of Davenbelle at the bottom. I believe in acknowledging one's history. I can see that some RL issue may be at play here, in you case. I've not missed your history of late; let me offer a bit of advice: read WP:TEND and WP:DISRUPT. You really need to accept that your approach to AfDs and RfAs is problematic. The wiki does discriminate against WP:NOT#INFO all the time. Judging an admin candidate solely on your perception of their views on inclusion criteria is a colossal assumption of bad faith. I, for example, would not close an AfD on an article about cruft as delete, I'd let someone else do it, as my doing it would only inspire others to go disrupt DRV.

Want a project? Get encyclopedia up to FA status. _{terima kasih, John} Cheers, Jack Merridew 05:55, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

New Assignments

Given your unique perspective of being (a) intelligent (b) bahasa-speaking, you may have some opinion on the balance of articles such as this one. Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:02, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Also, maybe constructively reviewing articles at Misplaced Pages:Good_article_nominations or WP:PR maybe good. Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:03, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

My talk page is too fat

Weird - it looked fine yesterday but has now gone too wide for some reason - can you see what is amiss? Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:07, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Fixed; page widening. Cheers, Jack Merridew 07:06, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Regarding Wikia

I do recall reading several of your comments about Wikia at the E&C2 workshop, but I also recall several mentions of Wikia at the E&C1 workshop and particularly at Talk:List of Scrubs episodes before E&C2 opened. I also recall being contacted last December about the Wikia Annex, along with several other editors, including you — although it was later determined that that editor was a sockpuppet of Grawp. And yes, the Wikia Annex was mentioned in E&C2.

I'm sure your comments had some influence on me, but I've been looking into the matter more and more. You may be interested in reading this comment from me on my talk page, which refers to an email by the CEO of Wikia, Inc in June as well as an article in The Guardian. Basically, Jimbo Wales (User:Jimbo Wales) and Angela Beesley (User:Angela) founded Wikicities, a for-profit wiki, in late 2004. In March 2005, the Misplaced Pages Board of Trustees, which Angela was on, suggested a user create a Star Wars wiki there. Angela has edited several Wikia templates on Misplaced Pages. In March 2006, Wikicities was renamed Wikia and the official press release on March 27, 2006 mentioned Wookieepedia. Also on March 27, 2006, WP:WAF was created, and it plugged Wookieepedia. On June 16, 2006, WAF was marked a guideline, and WAF continues to plug Wookieepedia to this day — including several other Wikia sites. Thirteen days later, WP:NOT#PLOT was proposed based on WP:WAF. WP:PLOT was added to NOT on July 9, 2006, and PLOT encourages the deletion of articles that are just plot summaries — which includes articles about scores of fictional characters. WP:FICT mentioned Wikia from August 2007 to March 2008 — during the span of E&C1 and E&C2. I've already noted that TTN, a central figure in E&C1 and E&C2, is apparently an editor at xiaolinshowdown.wikia.com as well as gaming.wikia.com.

This press release from 2007 by the Wikimedia Foundation states that Wikia, Inc. is not the commercial counterpart to Misplaced Pages or the Wikimedia Foundation. However, several Misplaced Pages policies and guidelines currently promote Wikia, and have for some time. So Wikia has leverage. I am thinking of proposing a Misplaced Pages policy on how to deal with Wikia at WP:WIKIA. If that ever happens, your input would be welcome. --Pixelface (talk) 20:11, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Countering systemic bias #65 - bird folklore

One thing that might be kinda fun, I have been trying to counteract the anglosaxon bias of bird folklore (I love how various cultures have interpreted their little critters)

• So European Robin has the obligatory material, as do many other english birds etc. I have hunted some aboriginal material to embellish aussie birds such as Willie Wagtail and others, but thought it may be good if you found anything in bahasa or knew of some local folklore, I have some books on parrots of the world and some SE asian birds, so whipping up a DYK from a stub is easy-peasy, plus we get some 3rd world folklore into it - if you find something interesting....let me know the species/bird. Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:07, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

1. my bahasa sucks; I recognize maybe one in 20 words.
2. 'burung' is bird, as in flu burung; also a nasty computer virus from Ambonese separatists.
3. most of the birds I see here, and hear here, are chickens.

1. 'ayam' is chicken; tastes like chicken, too.
2. a very common pastime is…

Balinese men sure do love their cocks!

In the early evening they take them out, stroke and fondle them, croon to them and sometimes play “my cock’s better than your cock″ by the side of the road along with their Balinese companions. To a visitor from the west, one cock looks pretty much like another cock. After all, to most westerners, a rooster’s just a hen with a bad attitude.

Cockfighting (or at least the betting on them) is illegal in Indonesia. At least there’s a law against it someplace on some law book. Nobody seems to know where that place is or what law book. It has something to do with practicing one’s religion. If you need to throw a rooster at another rooster and good money after bad in your quest for a better relationship with god(s), you’re golden. You can do roosters. And wagering.

Roosters are kept separated from each other (so they don’t do freelance fighting when you have no money on the outcome) in cock cages. You’ll see them everywhere, often right outside your room. Cocks in cages awaken as early as cocks ranging free, and they are just as enthusiastic in announcing the dawn. When choosing a place to sleep, keep a sharp eye out for hive-shaped baskets with grown-up chickens inside.

— a tale from a website that never launched

I can get pictures ;)

I also have a dove that lives just outside my bathroom window; there's a bit of roof over it and the nest is perched on the support.

Cheers, Jack Merridew 12:41, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Aha --> Cockfight ( they don't look balinese in the top image though) a agood place to embellish the SE asian bit (and fix some foramtting gaffes). Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:58, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Puputan

This topic is an interesting one and your addition of it to Misplaced Pages is welcome. However I notice that you have peremptorily removed the merge proposal which I suggested without allowing time for other editors to comment and with the edit summary "silliness sorted". As I understand it, you seem to be describing the merge proposal as silliness. This seems improper in that it obscures the nature of your edit and is uncivil to boot. Please explain or retract your imputation.

Having engaged with this topic, I may well make further contributions to it, as discussed on the article's talk page. My main concerns at the moment are that we should be using English to describe this topic, rather than using the Balinese language, and that the presentation should be neutral in describing the clash between the Dutch and the Balinese. Such issues of nationalist NPOV can be tricky to resolve and so we should strive to proceed in an open and amicable way. Colonel Warden (talk) 12:18, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

(sigh) yeah, be careful Jack...keep it all positive :) Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:27, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

reverting Moulton

Hi... I strongly suggest you leave reverting Moulton to others... at least for now anyway. Your best course of action (after coming off a recent indef block) is to stay away from all drama as much as possible. Being involved with Giano is a high drama activity regardless of what "side" you are on... it's MAD in there if you ask me. ++Lar: t/c 16:29, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Yep, I can vouch for that recently (now to rummage round for linkies). Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:53, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

• Point taken; thank you, guys. I'll go read it all without comment. I'm on the wiki's side ;) Cheers, Jack Merridew 06:27, 15 December 2008 (UTC)