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Case opened on 20:56, 23 March 2015‎

Do not edit this page unless you are an arbitrator or clerk. Statements on this page are copies of the statements submitted in the original request to arbitrate this dispute, and serve as verbatim copies; therefore, they may not be edited or removed. (However, lengthy statements may be truncated – in which case the full statement will be copied to the talk page. Statements by uninvolved editors during the Requests phase will also be copied to the talk page.) Evidence which you wish to submit to the committee should be given at the /Evidence subpage, although permission must be sought by e-mail before you submit private, confidential, or sensitive evidence.

Arbitrators, the parties, and other editors may suggest proposed principles, findings, and remedies at /Workshop. The Workshop may also be used for you to submit general comments on the evidence, and for arbitrators to pose questions to the parties. Eventually, arbitrators will vote on a final decision in the case at /Proposed decision; only arbitrators may offer proposals as the Proposed Decision.

Once the case is closed, editors should edit the #Enforcement log as needed, but the other content of this page may not be edited except by clerks or arbitrators. Please raise any questions about this decision at Misplaced Pages:Arbitration/Requests/Clarification and Amendment, any general questions at Misplaced Pages talk:Arbitration Committee, and report violations of the remedies passed in the decision to Misplaced Pages:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement.

Case information

Involved parties

• MrX (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log), filing party
• Binksternet (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Collect (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Dear ODear ODear (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Fyddlestix (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Jbhunley (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• MastCell (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• MONGO (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Ubikwit (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Viriditas (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Prior dispute resolution

Preliminary statements

Statement by MrX

Collect's contribution history consists of constructive editing overshadowed by a long-term pattern of BATTLEGROUND behavior and Gaming the system. His user page, user talk page, subpages (User:Collect/BLP), and essays such as WP:Mutual admiration society, WP:Sledgehammer, Collect/Pissing on essays one does not like loudly testify to his combative approach. He has an extensive block log for edit warring, and has edit warred other times without consequence ( ). His comments during content disputes are typically acerbic, dismissive, misleading and unyielding. He has misrepresented facts ( ), made WP:POINTY edits ( ), forum shopped/canvassed ( ), made carefully worded personal attacks ( ), and compared editors' contributions with McCarthyism ( ).

Collect persistently claims BLP violations at various fora, but when asked to substantiate his claims, he frequently evades providing straightforward answers (), instead weaving convoluted semi-explanations and inapt analogies. Other times he simply doesn't answer legitimate questions. He insists on an unusually high, non-negotiable standards for BLP to including insisting on sources that verify other reliable sources (). Many times the concerns are not BLP policy concerns at all ( ). In many BLP/N discussion, consensus found that his assertions of BLP violations were unfounded, yet he often persists in filibustering, forum shopping, and "moving the goal posts"( ). Many of his BLP/N reports involve Ubikwit and apparently arise out a long-term conflict between the two.

There is a theory afloat that editors who have been critical of Collect are trying to eliminate a political opponent. While I acknowledge my own (US) liberal bias, I reject the thought-terminating notion that I, or any other editor, is trying to eliminate political opponents. A small percentage of my edits have been to political articles, but I have worked collaboratively with several conservative-leaning editors on political content (evidence available on request). I have also taken Collect's side on a number of occasions ( ).

Both Fyddlestix and Jbhunley made good faith efforts to request that the community examine Collect's conduct (not content) at ANI, with abundant evidence. Unfortunately they were attacked as POV pushers and radicals (), and the complaint was closed after eleven hours by an administrator.

We no longer have RFC/U. The extensive history, lack of receptiveness to discussion by Collect, and the dysfunctional environment at ANI, suggests that Arbcom is the last and only resort for a fair examination of Collect's conduct.

Dear ODear ODear/Is not a's conduct should also be scrutinized for unnecessarily inflaming disputes with comments like this.

(Note: I have included editors involved in the recent content dispute related to Project for the New American Century, however several of these users are not parties to the longer term conduct issues involving Collect.)

• @Writegeist:I'm hesitant to provide detailed clarifications for each diff because of the 500 word limit, and perhaps it should occur in the evidence phase anyway. It is almost impossible to understand the WP:GAME issues without reading the entire threads.- MrX 22:12, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

• @Capitalismojo: (and others): This case has nothing to do with merits of the list article that was brought to AfD. Had I cared enough to research the subject more thoroughly, I'm almost certain that I would have voted to delete it as an undesirable POV fork. The issue at hand is a pattern of user conduct over a long period of time. That some of the above diffs relate to the AfD discussion is merely because they are the most recent and coincide with my perception that Collect's conduct has reached a tipping point.- MrX 23:41, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

• @Courcelles: The case proposed is about Collect's long-term conduct, not politics, and not every editor under the sun. The other parties listed should be removed from the case if it is accepted.- MrX 02:36, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Collect

OK -- see Misplaced Pages:Articles_for_deletion/List_of_PNAC_Members_associated_with_the_Administration_of_George_W._Bush

Which is the actual sum total of the actual complaint here. See whether my position appears to be supported by consensus or whether the position of the complainants on that issue have been supported by community consensus. Note the amount of support for SYNTH and/or BLP issues being clear.

Note that I have been subjected to multiple AN/I threads - all having the same basic complaints and all having the same basic population.

Note that I had an SPI complaint - involving some of the same basic population.

Note that I have been Harassed repeatedly - including a "new section" on my user talk page:

Is Florida a "fringe" state filled with fringe politicians who believe in fringe ideas?

I am getting rather tired of all this stuff, the overt repeated attacks on me, and the absurd SPI complaint, etc. I provide no evidence - the evidence is around you - look at the remarks pasted concerning me by the same small group of editors. I make no complaint here about them - such statements as they make will likely duplicate statements made over and over in the belief of "proof by iteration" alas. But when a single editor posts over 40K of "complaints" about me personally in under three weeks, I think I should be terse indeed.

See with the close: Querulous complaint remitted to AfD and WP:DR if the OP refuses to drop the stick after that. Guy (Help!) 12:59, 17 March 2015 (UTC) JzG

Followed by a demand for a ban -- and this response: Oppose this sanction, support application of the WP:TROUT to the filing party. You want measured in-depth conversation? ANI is the last place you should go. And actually I think you know that perfectly well and are banking on the WP:BOOMERANG not coming back your way. Guy (Help!) 23:17, 17 March 2015 (UTC) and multiple agreements on that.

This current action is "vexatious litigation" and possibly harassment to boot. Kindly deal as needed. Collect (talk) 21:10, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Oh -- for the claim I accused others of McCarthyism - the only salient quote of mine I could find was

To the extent that it intrinsically and deliberately violates multiple policies, it should not be "merged" but should be salted thoroughly. A neighbor of my aunt was caught up in McCarthyism, I see no reason to endorse that same logic today. It is noted that personal anecdotes have no relationship to policy, and at least one editor interprets this as attacking him personally, even though it was given only to show my personal state of mind about such SYNTH usage Collect (talk) 14:55, 14 March 2015 (UTC) (emended to make clear the personal issue I have was historical, and not a personal accusation in any way, shape or form, about any editor on Misplaced Pages using such WP:SYNTH as such) Collect (talk) 11:58, 18 March 2015 (UTC) MrX seems to think my reasonable animus to what happened to a friend of a relative is in any way an attack on current editors. It is not, and was not, such. Collect (talk) 21:16, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

By the way, I shall limit my entire participation to my comments above in the belief that any further engagement on the PNAC BLP/SYNTH is not salubrious for Misplaced Pages. Let the AfD be settled, and let everyone abide by that result in peace. Collect (talk) 21:26, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Um -- Viriditas is the precise person who proposed calling Florida a "fringe state" and otherwise harassed me - and had been instructed to not do so in future. For him or her to assert he or she is "uninvolved" is a long stretch indeed. Misplaced Pages:Administrators'_noticeboard/IncidentArchive877#Harassment.2C_hounding_and_baiting_by_Viriditas_at_User_talk:Collect closed all of 9 days ago - which I suspect is telling about the harassment problem. Collect (talk) 23:11, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

I ask each "essay" be examined and discussed individually.

Also that the claims that my positions are politically biased be checked by actual examination of edits in context and not by "diffs", and examination of all the BLPs I have edited, and not by measuring repetition of accusations.

Again, I specifically decline to participate in a witch-hunt, and ask that the arbitrators examine all of my essays de novo, and not based on iterated opinions but on the original evidence. I feel I have been a net asset to Misplaced Pages, and that my removal will not in any way benefit the project, but that is my personal opinion only. If you feel that the project benefits from my departure, then that is the right of the committee.

For form's sake, I specifically ask that the committee examine the Editor Interaction tool results to see whether I have been "chasing" anyone at all over four thousand and more pages, and whether any editors providing comments have been, instead, chasing me. Also I suggest a general CU to ensure that all participants are, indeed, separate individuals as a matter of form rather than as any accusation of multiple personas.

I ask that my list of blocks presented on my talk page be examined, with findings made on each block, as that appears to be one issue at hand. Any improper or marginal blocks should be then discounted.

I ask that the partial list of articles edited from my user page be examined to see how widespread any problems actually are out of several thousand articles.

Again I trust my requests will be met as otherwise there is to be no evidence at all to be presented by me, other than the words I have already written and my deeds already done.

I have been through this sort of witch hunt before when Ikip front-loaded an RFC/U with fourteen CANVASSed editors, and I do not care - just ask that the process be based on full and complete examination of my edits. I am currently beset on multiple sides - and some Arbs already do have possession of the Harassment evidence.

These should not be onerous requests as otherwise I shall be mute. As such is the case, I am done with this case, come what will. Here I stand. Collect (talk) 11:52, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Fyddlestix

I have gone into depth on this in the past here here and here. I thought it might be helpful to tell how I (as a relative neophyte) first encountered Collect:

I had no prior experience of Collect, Ubikwit, or the PNAC page prior to stumbling across these edits by Collect: 1234 5. This looked to me like WP:POINT and edit warring, so I tried to offer a compromise. Ubikwit responded nicely enough but I inferred that neither editor was going to be much interested in cleaning up the article, which was in a bad state.

I started some cleanup, but when I removed the 9/11 junk Collect replied to my talk page post, reinserted the questionable quote (which, by my count, 3 other editors had deemed wholly out of place in the article). I replied on the talk page with what I feel was a reasonable, well-thought out response, and removed the quote a second time, taking care to first add new, well-sourced text which I hoped might satisfy Collect.

Collect has treated me as an enemy ever since. He immediately filed this RFC, which as I told him, mischaracterized my position (but linked my edit). He refused to re-word it.

Since then I have observed that Collect sometimes calls for reinforcements on unrelated pages, and often cries "SYNTH" and "BLP" in situations where the violation is unclear. He refuses to reply when cornered with a request for specifics, only to reopen the debate elsewhere. Note those 2 diffs are exactly a month apart, and that the same issue is being discussed. Collect never replied to either post, but a day after the second one he did go to Jimmy Wales' UT page and posted the claim that the table was SYNTH again, without notifying any of the other parties in the debate. He then proceeded to badly mischaracterize the people debating him and his own actions. here for example he claims a group of us had "brought him" to drama boards, but Collect is the one who has made the most "board" posts by far: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. I made one.

The final straw for me, however was his suggestion that this was my "preferred" version of the PNAC article. This is a blatant falsehood, and Collect knows that - I've done more into improve that article than anyone else in recent weeks, removing much of the material that Collect himself objected to. I know that Collect knows this, because he thanked me for my edits. Yet now he accuses me of wanting to reverse my own edits, and to restore content which he knows I oppose.

Please Note that this drama and Collect's conduct issues long predate the AFD that I and others have been accused of trying to influence by making this complaint. The article @ AFD was created, I think, to bring an end to the conflict that started here one way or another. Fyddlestix (talk) 04:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Apologies if this puts me over my (heretofore carefully adhered to) word count, but briefly: Dear ODear's suggestion that this is about blaming PNAC for the Iraq War, or about unjustly labeling people "neoconservatives," as well as MONGO's suggestion that this is some kind of "radical" liberal crusade against collect are wholly without basis, and I will/would challenge them to produce diffs to back up their statements. Heck, I can't think of/remember a single other article in the American politics area that I'd edited before stumbling into this PNAC mess. My edits have also always been sourced with RS (usually academic monographs/journals), and been consistent with what the literature shows. Allegations of a relation to the Iraq war have always been clearly labelled as third party opinions, and countered through reference to literature that dismisses those assertions. PNAC was labelled neocon because an overwhelming majority of RS on the subject do the same.

If Collect is eventually found to have engaged in unacceptable behavior, I hope you will also take a glance at the people who have been constantly enabling and defending that behavior, despite it often being (in my opinion) clearly unacceptable. Fyddlestix (talk) 12:49, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Jbhunley

I wrote up the basics on my complaint in this ANI post. The ANI that material was meant for was closed in a matter of hours. I will break out highlights as time permits. I do not know how long I have to write my statement and I want to get this material in before it closes.

I entered in to this at the 1st BLPN thread on Feb 10. My first edit to PNAC talk page March 2 2015. My first edit to PNAC article March 04 2015. My only other extended interaction with Collect was a collegial discussion on his talk page starting Mar 3 Jbh (talk) 00:12, 19 March 2015 (UTC)So I have no history of conflict with Collect or in this topic. Jbh (talk) 23:24, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

• Reply to A1candidate - Not offended by the WP:TROUT. Tastes a bit like crow though. Jbh (talk) 23:27, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Some particularly bad comments by Collect

• The purpose of this article is not to simply list people which is already done in the parent article, it is to connect them to the Bush administration per se, and to link them to a purported conspiracy to cause the Iraq War. - Imputing I had a bad motive for creating article .
• After telling Collect that personal anecdotes (about McCarthyism) are not a useful argument in AfD - Is your argument actually serious- or just meant to demean those who actually seek to avoid the errors of the past? Some other references to McCarthyism , , , , , and This is no longer analogy it is an attempt to frame the debate and conflate other editors with McCarthyism.
• Collect's claim "Apparently some feel compelled to point out its evility... when paired with this, in reply to a question of Whose idea was it, anyway?, Ubikwit, Jbhunley, Fyddlestix, MrX mainly. A few others join in from point to point. - All of the editors mentioned were mentioned in Plain text not code that would generate notifications and they had not been notified the thread was open. Jbh (talk) 23:46, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

A good example of some of the issues - from a post at AfD -

While this is ongoing, and an AN/I thread is ongoing, this has been filed Misplaced Pages:Arbitration/Requests/Case#Collect. "May we live in interesting times" - but the primary bone of contention appears to be whether the material in this list violates WP:BLP, WP:SYNTH, or any of the other reasons presented above which, at this point, I daresay agrees with my basic stance. As it is thus intimately connected to this precise AfD, it seems proper to tell folks here about it. Cheers to all. Collect (talk) 5:45 pm, Today (UTC−4)

I see no congruence between the above statement and the request made here by MrX. Jbh (talk) 00:36, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

• Reply to Floquenbeam Courcelles Jbh (talk) 02:33, 19 March 2015 (UTC) - My opinion is that we need to focus on the behavior issues of Collect. In my short interaction with him I have found that the behavior which is frustrating but OK in a user talk conversation with no import is extremely disruptive when trying to improve the encyclopedia. I have found that once he takes a position there is no compromise and no consensus is accepted unless it is his consensus. I have found no way to break through this. Sources are discounted or not addressed. Nothing will change his position, he keeps repeating hypotheticals and will not detail his actual complaint. When asked "What, precisely, do you consider to be SYNTH in this situation? What information do you want the sources to include so it will not, in your opinion be SYNTH? He simply disengages from the dispute resolution forum he started. " Only to bring the exact same issue up again, and again and again. This last one caused me to create, out of shear frustration at his unwillingness to engage in collaboritive editing, the article which ended up at AfD and precipitated the ANI complaint which led to this Arbcom request.

  To fail to address the behavioral issues would, in my opinion, simply push the problem into the future and result in ongoing damage to the creation of the encyclopedia. If American Politics needs to be addressed I request it be considered a seperate issue. This is a behavior issue not a content issue. Thank you for your consideration. Jbh (talk) 02:28, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

• Reply to Dear ODear ODear I have seen no statements or implications of PNAC "causing" the Iraq war in the time I have been editing in this subject area. Diffs, I believe, should be provided for such accusations so as to avoid taring all with the same brush. Also you should note that Collect was blocked for that same week Ubikwit was. While I have not always agreed with and often vehemently disagreed with Ubikwit I have found them open to compromise and I can have an intellectually honest discussion with them about the sources. Jbh (talk) 11:49, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
• Reply to Dear ODear ODear - In response to your email now provided to ArbCom - feel free to search through my contributions. MONGO has said he will do the same thing but did not offer a way to avoid it happening. It also makes me reconsider my opinion on this issue of threats I thought was closed. Jbh (talk) 18:16, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by MastCell

I think that there is a long-term, ongoing behavioral issue with Collect which warrants review by ArbCom. Briefly, by way of background:

• Collect has racked up 8 blocks for edit-warring, each time on a politically charged and ideologically divisive topic. (One of these was overturned by consensus, and on many other occasions he was unblocked early with a promise to behave).
• His block log understates the degree of edit-warring, as he has been let off with warnings for additional 3RR violations and instances of unrepentant edit-warring (e.g. here).
• In the Tea Party case, Collect was identified as being excessively dismissive and inflammatory in his interactions with other editors, and was topic-banned for 6 months as a result.
• Since the expiration of his topic ban, Collect's edit-warring has ramped up, most recently leading to a week-long block this month.
• Swarm (talk · contribs), the admin who placed the most recent edit-warring block on Collect, wrote:

... you seem to have a habit where you throw out arguments and excuses and blame left and right but act as if you can do no wrong, that you're right no matter what and that your opponent is hellbent on destroying the encyclopedia and you're only trying to prevent that. But your actions simply don't reflect that. I actually always had a positive impression of you and certainly didn't expect to be blocking you for a week, but after a couple hours reviewing your AN3 report I was pretty surprised by the behavior I found and came to the conclusion that this is what was necessary. And you've completely victimized yourself in reponse, admitting exactly no wrongdoing except "letting him have plenty of rope". You should know better, although maybe you do and this is just your strategy to get out of yet another block for edit warring. ()

... which I view as a good summary of Collect's pattern of problematic behavior and which, I think, will be detailed if or when a case is opened.

• Collect's approach to content disputes is fundamentally maddening and uncollaborative. He habitually misrepresents sources, refuses to engage other editors' arguments, employs strawmen, and stonewalls rather than admit error.
• Collect presents himself as a stalwart defender of WP:BLP. I think he misuses this policy opportunistically to excuse his own edit-warring and applies it thoughtlessly and carelessly. I will also (if this case is accepted) present at least 2 egregious BLP violations committed by Collect, which I cleaned up, and for which he refused to take responsibility. In general, I think he lacks an understanding of the letter and the spirit of BLP and his focus on this policy, while not always misguided, has done more harm than good.

At a minimum, I think there is evidence here to suggest that this is an editor with a history of suboptimal behavior (as identified and sanctioned previously by ArbCom) and a long-standing and escalating habit of edit-warring on ideologically charged topics. I think a case should be opened, because there is no other venue to deal with disruptive behavior from long-term, established editors. As should be evident from the statements here, this dispute is quite heated and involves a number of established editors. If not addressed, it will continue to fester and harm the encyclopedia. I think the charge of "forum-shopping" is sort of ridiculous, since with the closure of WP:RFC/U, there is no other forum to address such issues. MastCell  00:06, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by MONGO

Collect has been the object of attention by those that disagree with his politics for some time now and it is high time the witch hunt, baiting, harassment and personal attacks against him are put to an end. I have limited time to provide evidence for several days but will add at least one additional party to this case at that time.--MONGO 22:14, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

• Diff showing complaint about Viriditas harassing Collect--MONGO 00:47, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
• personal attack against me by Viriditas
• Viriditas warning to cease hounding me which happened in this thread
• MrX badgering JzG about closing a complaint about Collect in section "Your ANI close" MrX accuses Collect of forum shopping then proceeds to say he's taking further action (aka forum shopping) and finishes by insulting me after I advise him and others to disengage.
• Here, while successful, it should be noted that MrX has just recently asked for sanctions against another editor that is not liberal.
• MrX defends an editor with a similar political outlook to his own, even though that editor was using less then sensational references to support a sensational claim on a BLP. That same editor that MrX was defending has been blocked five times in the last year. Why is MrX so happy to defend what appears to be nothing more than a troublesome editor, but wants to come after Collect, over and over. Its really pretty easy to see the issue here if anyone looks at it with NPOV and justice in mind.
• In this discussion Collect is questioning the supporting evidence for labelling a BLP subject as a neoconservative or neocon. As I stated in the subsection that follows, liberals like to toss that label around like an epithet. Collect recognizes that as well and is in disagreement with Ubikwit who is searching for more evidence to support that label. Point is, since Ubikwit is liberal and liberals toss that label around like an epithet, the issue is that it becomes a BLP violation in the context it is being used. The talkpage is bogged down with liberals trying to figure out a way to discredit the BLP subject and little or no discussion about how to improve the rest of the article.
• I resent Ubikwit's commentary that I was trolling him as he makes below. I queried him why he, a liberal, is interested in only adding negative information to a BLP on a conservative. The entire talk page on that article is littered with repeated efforts by Ubikwit to find ways to disparage that subject. It's actually very ugly that he has no other apparent interest in that article. I referenced this in my last comment. Why does the website allow this misuse of BLP to stand. He has no business behaving in this manner on any BLP, and his block log seems to indicate this.

I expect this case to be accepted and will resume adding diffs of named parties during the evidence stage.--MONGO

• Ubikwit has resorted to once again labeling my sincerely questioning as "trolling". An injunction may be needed in this matter.

Courcelles, my argument is that Collect has been hounded, baited and harassed by multiple editors, which are named. There are likely others, so while it may appear to be about politics, its about harassment by a clique that want to eliminate Collect because he makes it more difficult for them to violate BLP and misuse this website to POV push.--MONGO 02:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

The case should be about Collect and those that have been in disagreements with him. If we have had two other arbcom cases then no reason for a third if DS can be implemented. Why is arbcom creating more work for everyone?--MONGO 00:06, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Still cannot understand why the need for an American Politics case overall. Especially difficult to grasp why we toss in Tea Party and Gun Control...why not also include Climate Change, alledged Police Militarization, the Occupy Movement and every other hit button topic. If you want a secondary case, then make it about BLP, and use it to implement BLP bans on editors that edit BLPs of persons they disagree with and filibuster adding only negative stuff to those articles.--MONGO 19:36, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Ubikwit

I'm going to keep this brief by incorporating the pertinent matter from a recently declined request I filed here involving Collect.
@Courcelles: I agree with Floquenbeam and NE Ent regarding the scope of the case. I also think that the preventative measures implemented should include the imposition of discretionary sanctions across the entirety of American politics. The current status of only have recourse to AN/I seems to be too permissive and some editors take that as a license for abuse, and groups can game that system.

In addition to the mention I made at the recently closed An\N/I of Collect's complaining about my edits at the PNAC article to Swarm, including the expected unsubstantiated claims of BLP violations, etc:

1. PNAC
2. "PNAC: FGS do something"
3. "PNAC: and yes - he keeps on!"
   

Only one other editor commented in that thread“Yup”

He also tried to provoke me at another article to which he followed my edits, and then complained to Callanecc here.

Even with this request under consideration, MONGO has tried to trollbait and provoke me with personal attacks, etc., at a page he's not been active on before.

Note that I do not recall having interacted with MONGO significantly on any article on Misplaced Pages.

Accordingly, while I think that the central issue of the case should be Collect's conduct, the question as to the scope of the case may require some deliberation so as not to be overly constrained, yet not unwieldy. Incorporating "Neoconservativism", as per EvergreenFir's suggestion might accommodate that. Perhaps something along the lines of "American Politics III, User:Collect and Neoconservativism, broadly construed".

I understand that the scope of Collect's misconduct would thereby be constrained, but there is no doubt sufficient misconduct there to keep the Committee busy for a month or two.--Ubikwit_{見学/迷惑} 06:49, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

• Just a note that I've seen the statement of LM2000, and would reiterate that many of the RfC's started by Collect at various venues have been pointy diversions from the task of drafting wording corresponding to reliably sourced statements and the positions described thereby. I believe that the misrepresentations of my edits by LM2000's statement have been adequately addressed in other threads, including (Sam Harris AN/I 2), so I won't go through that again here. Suffice it to say, that insofar as the political implications of the writings and public statements of Sam Harris have resulted in his being described as espousing right-wing, neoconservative views, etc., the material falls under the scope of American politics.--Ubikwit_{見学/迷惑} 03:39, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Note on scope If two cases are to be opened and one is to be on American politics, broadly construed, then it would seem that practically the entirety of the case I requested with respect to the problems on the Sam Harris article should be addressed. Aside from adding LM2000 as a party, others would certainly include Xenophrenic, etc. It would have been preventative to have dealt with the issues then, but here we are again with an even bigger problem.
Although this request was filed against Collect, a couple of editors are trying to make a scapegoat of me, diverting from the egregious misconduct of Collect.
Accordingly, there would seem to be further issues regarding delimiting the parties of the second case that the Committee has to deliberate.
Aside from Mongo's personal attacks and inflammatory remarkstrolling, Capitalismojo has also appeared out of the blue at a couple of articles/talk pages and edited in a disruptive manner. I should note that he was also a party to the Tea Party case, but dropped out of sight during the case, and avoided sanctions.

2. After I reply “WP:NOTBATTLE”, he thanked me and deleted offending material, then I thanked him.

Then, he shows up at another article he'd never edited, as follows.

1. first ever edit here, no participation in discussion/RfC at Talk, but moves sentence from lead, questions whether it is due at all
2. apparently hasn’t read the sources and doesn’t even understand that the letter was not a personal letter, yet claims text is pointy and tendentious, after acknowledging that the sentence inserted by Collect “looks inane”, and doesn't respond to replies by JBH and me.

Lastly, @Courcelles: If Collect is not to be named as a party in the second case, that might save work for him, but will probably result in increasing the burden on me, and my conduct is not the subject of this request, though many of Collect's partisan collaborators are trying to make it one. That would result in a patently an unacceptable demand on my time.
And I repeat, I am not the subject of this request.
Therefore, I'm going to have to insist that my concerns be taken into consideration as well.
--Ubikwit_{見学/迷惑} 04:55, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
OK, I've added the diffs, and submit that the editing of Mongo and Capitalismojo (most of it after this request was underway) is representative of a group dynamic among partisans that edit paying no attention to the sources in a manner focused on "the opponent" and attempting to obstruct the introduction of all sourced content that they find negative with respect to their ideology and associated figures.

And one other point, though I haven't been around here long enough to have the perspective of Cla68, among the administrators here, the use of the tools by MastCell could use scrutiny, particularly with respect to User:Is not a/User:Dear ODear ODear, whom was indeffed as a result of this AN/I I filed. MastCell revealed his partisan sympathies with this comment Ubikwit has edit-warred to restore extremely dubious external links, while Collect has repeated unsubstantiated and irresponsible accusations of anti-Semitism against Ubikwit. There was an open RfC on one link and the claim of edit warring questionableas I described here in reply, and that was closed in favor of restoring the link, a tertiary source without a single objectionable source linked in it. There was nothing "extremely dubious" about that link, or the other one, for that matter. I don't care what MastCell's politics are, only that they maintain their bias(pov) within NPOV an in relation to the sources, like everyone else, and not denigrate (in this case, a form of misrepresentation as "not RS") sources they don't agree with when making an administrative statement.

It would seem to me that such act facilitated the continual disruption at the same articles/topics, when a topic ban proposal would seem to have been in order, because it is not clear why he would acknowledge misconduct but then state, in a manner such as to preempt even the pursuit of a topic ban, etc., "the owner of the account is free to use his or her main account if s/he wishes to contribute to contentious topics"(same diff). Moreover, the account under which the user resumed editing has few edits, while the editor earlier demonstrated substantial Misplaced Pages knowledge, and had refused to respond to a question I posed at his UT page as to the existence of a possible COI. I understand that there is a disclosure system regarding alternative accounts so as to protect privacy, but that seems subject to being abused/gamed. In this case, it resulted in a second SPI being filed against the same user, wasting everybody's time, basically, yet MastCell was not around to perform any preemptive administrative action to prevent that in relation to the user that had apparently pre-disclosed to him. In short, I'm not sure whether he abused the tools, but his actions as an administrator in that case--as well as in at least one other mentioned in the request for arbitration I filed (he closed an AN/I thread on Collect prematurely, perhaps)--bears scrutiny.--Ubikwit_{見学/迷惑} 10:59, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

• • Note, I am aware that my statement exceeds the limit, but there seems to be no alternative in addressing the proposed scope of the(se) cases due to the obvious extenuating circumstances, including the request I filed a short while ago that was declined but is now being reintroduced in conjunction with the extraordinary suggestion of opening two overlapping, related cases in parallel, etc. Of course, I will reduce the text upon request by the Committee.--Ubikwit_{見学/迷惑} 15:16, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Preliminary decision

Clerk notes

This area is used for notes by the clerks (including clerk recusals).

• @Guy Macon and John Carter: The arbitrators are discussing their options on the mailing lists and the case opening will probably be dealt with by motion instead of by vote count below. --L235 (t / c / ping in reply) 04:17, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
• @Dear ODear ODear: I've added a </blockquote> to the place in your section where I thought you wanted it to end. The open blockquote with no close was messing with the indent in all the other sections. --L235 (t / c / ping in reply) 18:45, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
• A reminder: Professional behavior is expected in arbitration, as elsewhere in Misplaced Pages. Conduct issues during arbitration (incivility, personal attacks) are taken into account by the arbitrators in drafting decisions. Robert McClenon (talk) 23:28, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Collect: Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter <11/0/0/0>-Preliminary_decision-2015-03-19T01:42:00.000Z">

Vote key: (Accept/decline/recuse/other)

• Accept. There are a heck of a lot of accusations and counter accusations flying backwards and forwards here, including of involved/biased admin actions on ANI threads. I think there is enough here that the claims warrant looking at to determine whether there is any substance to them, and, if there is, what remedies will restore order and prevent re-occurrence. I also think the formal structure of an arbitration case is probably the best way to go about doing that with the minimum drama. Thryduulf (talk) 01:42, 19 March 2015 (UTC)"> ">

  I agree with my colleagues that this is two separate cases, one regarding the behaviour of Collect and the other regarding the American Politics topic area. I'm not sure that one needs to wait for the other though as both are ready for arbitration now. Thryduulf (talk) 12:43, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Note Everyone choosing to comment on this request, or participate in a case if one is accepted, should be aware that standards of decorum will be strongly enforced, by blocks if necessary, and that misconduct by anyone is sanctionable. Thryduulf (talk) 01:42, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

• Floquenbeam has a very good point. Do we need a "Collect" case, one that would essentially be "American Politics III", or nothing? (I'm counting "Tea Party" there.) The scope of the request has wildly drifted from one about an editor to one about a massive topic area. Can we get statements focusing on whether we need one, both, or neither of those two distinct cases? Because what will not work is conflating the two different issues into one case. Not decided that we need any case yet, but we absolutely don't need a rolled-together mess. Courcelles (talk) 01:50, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

• Accept only as two distinct cases. Courcelles (talk) 11:44, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

• @Begoon: I have begum working on a motion to formally accept this, one of the provisions is that Collect would not be a named party, nor would evidence about him allowed in the American Politics case. Us deciding to split this should not result in more complications for them. Courcelles (talk) 02:52, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

• Don't we already have DS in this area anyways? --Guerillero | Parlez Moi 04:19, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
  • We have the option of DS being asked for, but in practice, that hasn't happened often and has been imposed even less so. Seraphimblade 04:47, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
    • Accept two cases per my colleagues.--Guerillero | Parlez Moi 17:55, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
• Accept. American politics is a perennially contentious topic area, and clearly that hasn't stopped since the last case. Things will only heat up more over the next year or two, so I think it's time for another look. Seraphimblade 04:47, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
  • Two cases is fine with me as well. Seraphimblade 19:09, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
  • @Short Brigade Harvester Boris: Also just as a quick note, you reversed Guerillero and my statements, though it doesn't affect the counts and they're essentially saying the same thing anyway. Thank you for compiling those, it's not presumptuous, it's just helpful. Seraphimblade 17:17, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
• Accept Collect case about that editor's behavioral issues. Postpone American Politics III, to be about behavioral issues on that topic generally, mainly to consider if we need to update of change topic sanctions. DGG ( talk ) 05:24, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

interpretation: Accept, focusing on Collect. Decline American Politics at this time. DGG ( talk ) 16:20, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

• Accept mostly per my learned colleague, Seraphimblade.  Roger Davies 05:27, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
  • Comment: I'm fine with this as two cases. One focusing on Collect; the other on American Politics,  Roger Davies 11:44, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
• Accept, assuming that the scope can be clarified somewhat, per Courcelles. Yunshui _水 08:36, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
  • To clarify, I would accept either a case on Collect, a case on American Politics, or both, but not a single case dealing with both topics. Somewhat ironic that my call for clarification required clarification... Yunshui _水 12:36, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
• Accept with caveat Sorry, that's not a standard vote, but at the moment I think this is best handled as two cases. I note that of the other 5 accepts, one states "Accept Collect case", which I don't think means the case as described so far, and an "Accept" from Yunshui which calls for a clarification of the scope. Dougweller (talk) 11:13, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
• Accept as two distinct cases. I agree that trying to combine the two topics here into one case is a terrible idea, but I think there are sufficient issues with both to warrant two cases instead of just a narrowing of scope. GorillaWarfare (talk) 16:18, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
• Accept a case on conduct issues surrounding Collect and those editors he is in regular dispute with, without prejudice to either "side." Decline a wider American Politics case. -- Euryalus (talk) 19:32, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

@Begoon:, good point, and one reason why I think we should only pursue one case.

@Short Brigade Harvester Boris:, thanks for the impromptu clerking which is a helpful tally. However, while you record my votes right, the quote on the right is incorrect.-- Euryalus2 (talk)

Inconsequential additions - Short Brigade Harvester Boris (great name by the way), thanks for the correction but you have forgotten to include GorillaWarfare in the table. Courcelles, you have a begum working on the motion? :)

Dear ODear ODear, your explanation for the emails remains unclear. Can you expand on it at all? --Euryalus (talk) 08:18, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

• @Dear ODear ODear: What was the intent on sending those emails in the first place, and am I missing any context? -- DQ (ʞlɐʇ) 21:39, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

• Accept two separate cases. -- DQ (ʞlɐʇ) 15:39, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

• Accept to examine Collect's conduct only. Decline in relation to American Politics. AGK 00:48, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Final decision (none yet)

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Principles

Findings of fact

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Enforcement

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Appeals and modifications

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