Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tznkai (talk | contribs) at 20:53, 3 December 2008 (→Moved discussion concerning Ryan Postlethwaite's vote comments: new section). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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Support

Cool Hand Luke is a very helpful and experienced editor. I'd like to support this nominee. As I'm the first person posting here, I might be posting in the wrong spot for a support vote. If so, someone please direct me to where would be the appropriate place to insert my support vote. Otherwise, good luck Cool Hand Luke! Blue Danube (talk) 21:00, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Voting begins on the first of December, a place to do so will appear automagically then. WilyD 16:34, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Edit Analysis

A detailed breakdown of this candidate's edits in article and Misplaced Pages spaces can be found here. Franamax (talk) 02:07, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

And thanks CHL for (partly) fixing my broken table! :) Franamax (talk) 02:28, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Comments

LessHeard vanU As I do not believe in a system where my support may be rendered ineffective by the considerations of Jimbo and the existing ArbCom I shall only be supporting Risker; however, had my vote potential been not been constrained by the apparatus employed I would have supported this candidate. LessHeard vanU (talk) 00:29, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. For what it's worth, if one could only vote for one candidate, I would vote for Risker myself. Cool Hand Luke 00:36, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

I am humbled by your support, Cool Hand Luke. If not for my statement during the run-up to the election that I would not be voting for or against any of my fellow candidates, you can rest assured that my four squiggles would be in your support column. Best, Risker (talk) 06:27, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

To Prodego's concern

To clarify, my answer to Lar says:

"Outing deters our volunteers, so it's usually a bad thing. If an identity is not already out, deletion, oversight, blocking, and other measures are appropriate when the editor is doing nothing wrong. However, preventing abuse to our project takes priority over anonymity. A good example of this is linking two or more accounts as sock puppets. When anonymity gets in the way of building an encyclopedia, it is not sacred. (See also WP:IAR)."

I wrote this with the Mantanmoreland case in mind. I think that sort of abuse should be curbed, and it can only be curbed if we are willing to decide that accounts are sockpuppets.

I do not believe that outing is some sort of vigilante punishment. Such reckless outing should be sanctioned in my view. I only mean that it's sometimes necessary to prove links between accounts to curb abuses like sockpuppeteering.

If anyone finds this elaboration helpful, I would appreciate if it were linked from the vote page as a reply. I do not intend to edit the page myself. Cool Hand Luke 04:27, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Coredesat

I didn't out this user. Scroll up. Oh, I realize non-members will not be able to do that. Let me tell you what happened:

A pissant called EricBarbour was trying to out Coredesat for voting "delete" in some debate, and they posted a flatly incorrect name and address. I linked to one of the links they posted (to Coredesat's website), which showed the name and showed that EricBarbour was wrong. This is important because real-world third parties should not have misinformation spread about them. I praised Coredesat:

Anyhow, what the hell did he do to deserve your terrible Google sleuthing? From what I can tell, he's pretty stand up as admins go. Cares about passionately about the content (roads and storms are his hobby) and doesn't play politics. You seem to be pissed off that he voted delete.

If I was behind the veil of ignorance, I would probably pick people like Coredesat to be in charge.

Ask Newyorkbrad (also a member of WR) for a list of people who defended him when Brandt et al. were on the attack. I will be on that list.

I'm also more responsible than any individual for shutting down Disillusioned Lackey, who the mods of WR were uninterested in. She continually spouted conspiracy theories about SlimVirgin, Durova, SWATjester, and others. In the end, she just started replacing her posts with mocking pictures about me. I didn't mind it one bit, because at least she wasn't attacking people here. This is all recounted in my answers to Lar.

I believe in candor, and I think it's important for voters to know. Cool Hand Luke 14:17, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Regardless of your intentions, you were involved in outing him. You link to his account to his homepage which gave his real name, you were involved in his discussion about him there before he had chance to defend himself. Sorry, but as I said - I don't expect any editor to do that, let alone one wishing to be an arbitrator. Ryan Postlethwaite 14:22, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

I was defending him and defending a recklessly swept-up third party. I hope that he took the opportunity to start a new truly anonymous account; that's the only way to get around WR stalkers like EricBarbour. Cool Hand Luke 14:34, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

CHL, could you clarify how the link to Coredesat's website came to be known? From the discussion above it sounds like Coredesat's WP user page contained that link originally. Am I mistaken? alanyst 14:47, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

There was a Wikia page for "User:Coredesat" containing his name, and also a link to his homepage which contained his beautiful highways photos. Cool Hand Luke 14:52, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

So, Eric outs him and you then go ahead to give further details such as his homepage that contains his name and his Wikia page? Ryan Postlethwaite 16:10, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

No, EricBarbour failed to read the links he posted and went on to implicate a totally unrelated third party. He's the one that outed him, for petty reasons (as I pointed out). I told EricBarbour he was wrong. At any rate, as Coredesat said, he didn't even leave due to this. I do hope that he returns, if he hasn't already, with an account safe from petty users like EricBarbour. Cool Hand Luke 16:17, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah - you told him he was wrong, then supplied him with the right details, which is almost as bad as doing the original outing. Ryan Postlethwaite 17:02, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Here are Coredesat's own words on the matter: "Yes, Eric outed me on WR; after all, it's not very difficult as I've been fairly well-known since before I ever came here, but still" - he was clearly unhappy with Eric for "outing" him, even though he acknowledges that his identity was not much of a secret anyways. But he never mentions CHL, and there's no indication that he believes CHL was at fault here. Ryan, what evidence do you have that Coredesat blames CHL for any wrongdoing here? ATren (talk) 16:31, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Indeed, Eric tried to out him, got it ever so slightly wrong so Cool Hand Luke set him straight with the correct details linking to his account - he finished off the outing and put the cherry on top. Regardless of what Cordesat believes - He gave personal information out that should not have been given out ever. I don't trust this guy with the information he'll have as an arbitrator. Ryan Postlethwaite 17:01, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Cordesat gave out the information himself on the face of his accounts. Barbour got in a petty spat, so he attacked an unrelated third party. That was wrong, so I spoke up. Cool Hand Luke 17:09, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Ryan, what would you have done? Let the incorrect info stand and thus perhaps enable harrassment of some innocent bystander? I think you should be happy to have folk like Cool Hand Luke (and, oh, New York Brad, and Alison, and, dare I say it, myself) participating on WR to keep the crazies in line. I'm assuming that's why you yourself post there from time to time, right? I just don't understand why you are opposing over this. One might think that you have overlooked the huge number of other factors, all positive, that argue strongly in favor of CHL being elected to ArbCom. We really need honest, caring, thorough and hardworking ArbCom members such as CHL will be when he is elected... I would ask you strongly to reconsider your position here in light of the larger picture. ++Lar: t/c 18:09, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

When a user is attacked, I defend them. That's what I do. It's the right thing to do. I've cursed Brandt on WR, along with Alison, SirFozzie, and other Misplaced Pages admins there. I'll almost certainly wind up on Brandt's list because I volunteered the connection myself—something Misplaced Pages admins are hesitant to do because of Brandt and the FUD spread by some users here. I believe candor is important for an arbitrator, and it's also important to defend people who are wrongly attacked. I've done that at WR and will continue to do it. Cool Hand Luke 17:09, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Maybe, in hindsight, it would have been better to rebut the erroneous claim without giving evidence for the rebuttal publicly, but rather to privately send the link to the homepage to Eric (or, probably better, to a mutually trusted third party who could vouch for it publicly). Seems that in a case of mistaken outing, it's important to disprove the claim; but the evidence disproving the claim need not be made public. In this case CHL did indeed publicly connect dots that hadn't been explicitly connected by Coredesat himself, and this seems to be the core of Ryan's objection. alanyst 17:32, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

In hindsight, I agree that disputing the mistake and sending to a third party for verification would have been better (although not sending it to Eric—that would have been even worse). I was concerned for the third party who was maligned by Eric. Cool Hand Luke 17:39, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

In cases where editors themselves have revealed their identities (as Coredesat apparently had), it's not unreasonable to believe that they are not sensitive about their identity. So when faced with a mistaken identitification, as CHL was, would it have been better to allow the misconception to stand, thereby implicating an unrelated third party? CHL made a judgement call to correct the misconception, and that judgement was reasonable given Coredesat's previous self-identification.

Now, in retrospect it's pretty clear that Coredesat was unhappy about the "outing", but at the time there was no evidence he was trying to hide his identity in the first place, so how could CHL have known? Besides, I get the impression that Coredesat was mainly concerned about EricBarbour and the fact that Barbour was trying to locate Coredesat's identity out of apparent anger and vengeance - the "outing" per se was secondary to the aggression exhibited by Barbour.

If Coredesat had explicity requested that his identity be kept hidden, I have no doubt that CHL would have respected that, but given what was known at the time, I see nothing wrong with what he did. ATren (talk) 18:27, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

That certainly went into it; Coredesat was open about his identity, while the third party was a pure bystander. However, Alanyst's point is well-taken. In hindsight, I could have handled better. Under the circumstances it seemed important to first correct the misinformation. The potential of third-party harm is the main reason I'm so passionate about BLP. Cool Hand Luke 18:57, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Nobody, but nobody comes close to me when it comes to cussing out Daniel Brandt. In fact, he's tried to have me banned from WR for having a 'potty-mouth'. He's such a sensitive soul ^__^ - Alison 04:20, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Arbitrary NYB break

As a sitting arbitrator I am not making endorsements or voting in the election, but my attention has been drawn to the fact that I am mentioned in this discussion. I have reviewed the thread on Misplaced Pages Review, in which I participated at the time, but which is currently posted on a non-public portion of that site (although a few lines have been removed from it at Coredesat's request). Because most voters in this election cannot read the WR thread for themselves, I will confirm that to the best of my understanding (both from re-reading the thread now and having participated in it at the time), CHL's explanation above of what occurred in the thread is accurate. Not commenting on any other aspect of this or any other candidacy. Newyorkbrad (talk) 00:36, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

I think given this confirmation, the issue is being blown out of proportion, and I think CHL is absolved. David Shankbone 00:46, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Coredesat's statement

Seeing as this whole thing is about me, and I have been sent an email about it (I thought I had disabled emails, guess not), I might as well say something. No, I was not harassed/stalked into retirement. I retired for a number of reasons - drama was one of them. Life outside Misplaced Pages was the other. As a result, I simply no longer had the patience or time to deal with things here. That was the case then, and that is still the case now. The whole situation with my being "outed" and the drama that caused was icing on the cake. After the whole incident I reconciled things with Eric and some of the people on WR, and as far as I know everything was fine. Granted, I was unaware of exactly how Eric had gotten this information, but it really isn't that hard, seeing as this isn't the only place I've used this name (I've used it for years). I never once tried to keep my identity a secret, and I simply didn't think anyone would bother going to some length in order to gather as much dirt about me as possible. I suppose that was somewhat naive of me, but whatever. While I didn't exactly like the reasoning for the whole incident at the time, I personally don't fault anyone for what happened, except myself for being so naive as to allow something like this to happen. All I want is for everyone to move on. It's bad enough that being too stressed to deal with drama contributed to my departure from Misplaced Pages, but it's another for me to be the source of even more drama. --Coredesat (talk) 08:11, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages Review

I would have voted for you if it weren't for your involvement with Misplaced Pages Review, not that I'm really aware of the substance of your involvement there. You probably don't recall our history together, but I do think you're a decent guy. Renounce the dark side and maybe next year? Grace Note (talk) 06:40, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Are you willing and able to ask every single Misplaced Pages editor/admin/arbitrator in good standing who participates in WR to "renounce this dark side?" If so, you better get busy, it might take you awhile. Cla68 (talk) 08:02, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

LMAO. Oh, you're with that evil group - ok, I've not bothered to see what you have done, but you must be evil by association... talk about badsites! Minkythecat (talk) 08:55, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm....looks like Newyorkbrad, FT2, Jehochman, Giggy, and less worhty folks like me are certainly in a pickle Fritzpoll (talk) 10:06, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

I find the anti-WR sentiment here somewhat ironic. At WR, the worst offenders are those who take the dogmatic "everything about Misplaced Pages is bad" view. I can remember Brandt justifying his harassment of Newyorkbrad by saying NYB was guilty simply by association with Misplaced Pages, which he viewed as irredeemable. Incidentally Brandt was largely criticised on WR for that view.

But here we have the same attitude among many editors: they view WR as inherently evil and view any editor associated with WR as evil regardless of their intent. So in their blanket criticism of WR, anti-WR Misplaced Pages editors are no different than the most strident anti-Misplaced Pages WR members. ATren (talk) 11:56, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

If this sort of thinking carries the day, what a wasted opportunity for Arbcom to move forward. Alas, sereotyping, bigotry, guilt-by-association, US-vs-THEM, and similar prejudices seems to be a flaw in the human mind, and even the best of us fall victim to such errors.

One pf the things that is truly inspiring about CHL is how he's been able to break down some of the partisanship. When Slim Virgin and Lar are both agreeing to support the same candidate, it's clear something very special is happening. When a retired editor comes out of retirement to endorse the candidate who was wrongfully accused of misdeeds, it's clear something very special is happening. --Alecmconroy (talk) 13:25, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

• I understand where Grace Note is coming from, but I think Alecmconroy hit the nail on the head. --David Shankbone 14:59, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
  • Yes, Misplaced Pages Review isn't as bad as it first was, his participation doesn't include ousting editors and such attacks, it's more about giving valid criticism towards the project. I agree with ATren, we can't give criticism towards the project anymore? Secret 15:28, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
    • Unfortunately, some feel that way, and are opposing here on "WR grounds" despite the fact they themselves post on WR, such as Ryan does. It's very confusing how that standard can apply, given the number of sitting and former Arbs with active WR accounts. rootology (C)(T) 15:34, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

The oppose by Ryan (and all the opposes per him) are quite a disappointment. I have no strong feelings on CHL, as I've not had a lot of interaction with him, but I believe he's a good candidate. Regardless, this oppose is quite ridiculous. It would make more sense to me were it coming from one of the anti-WR Wikipedians who hate the site because they've never actually been there and have no idea what it is actually about, or how it has changed from it's early days... the ones that don't realize that WR is not a Brandt site and, in fact, many on WR strongly object to Brandt's tactics, but to see this coming from Ryan, who is a member of WR himself, make these misleading accusations, and without linking to "evidence"... quite disappointing indeed. لennavecia 16:21, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

My involvement with Misplaced Pages Review

Thanks for the kind words, Grace Note. I should explain my involvement with Misplaced Pages Review.

I naively believed that this wouldn't be the campaign issue. I hoped that my involvement with Misplaced Pages Review would generate no more interest than my participating in any other off-site activity. I am aware of the controversy surrounding the site, but I thought the participation of well-regarded figures like Newyorkbrad and other arbitrators (including FT2, Deskana, and Thebainer) would de-stigmatize Misplaced Pages Review. That's why I voluntarily linked my WR account; some of our most-respected editors post there, and it is in keeping with my value of candor, transparency, and honesty in arbitrators.

WR is a very diverse place. It's true that some people there actively hope for the failure of Misplaced Pages. There's a sort of cultural war between those who want reform, and those who want destruction. I can tell you with a smile that the reformers are winning. Many earnest Wikipedians have shown up—people like Newyorkbrad. Many of us agree with some problems highlighted on WR, and we would like to creatively discuss them. I am there to participate in this productive discussion.

I do criticize Misplaced Pages when our processes go awry (as with BLP failures, dragging arbitrations, and secret hearings), but I'm also there to defend Wikipedians when I feel they are unfairly maligned. I try to correct urban legends. I oppose idle slander, as I've already recounted.

I often disagree with the management. I'm not fond of WR's owner, and I don't appreciate how the mods and admins capriciously allow speculative and potentially damaging threads to fester in plain sight. That said, I'm certain that it would be worse without the participation of users like Newyorkbrad, SirFozzie, Alison, Sarcasticidealist, and many others—including many who are anonymous (like I was until recently). I hear that there is an effort to make a new site, maybe like the Wikback with more transparent management. I would move to such a site if it allowed the vigorous debate between Wikipedians—current, former, and new members. In fact, I was quite active in the original WikBack, which courageously allowed even banned Wikipedians. The debate and analysis on Misplaced Pages Review is valuable (as some say, it's like a meta-watchlist).

Participating there is consistent with my values. I was raised religiously. An expression I often heard from ecclesiastical leaders is that we should "be in the world, but not of the world." That is, we should not live a close-minded and cloistered existence. We should live and travel in the world, but we should not ourselves become worldly. "Even Jesus," they might say, "lived among robbers and prostitutes."

I'm not as religious anymore, but I try to live by that credo: there's good reason for it. People are hurt out in the world, and we should strive to help them—whether they are living people defamed here, or editors attacked on WR. Whatever you might believe about people like User:Alison, I know that she strives to help attacked people all over the internet, including people with whom she doesn't personally get along, and even on sites I dare not travel. Moreover, the world is a cacophonous marketplace—we can learn from it. At the moment, WR is the only site where Wikipedians and non-Wikipedians alike have a sustained conversation about this site.

I post on Misplaced Pages Review, but I am not of Misplaced Pages Review; I don't prioritize WR over Misplaced Pages, and my values are certainly different from the dwindling minority of anti-Wikipedians there. Misplaced Pages Review is a useful discussion board because criticism is an important tool. Critique and dialog can help improve one of the most remarkable volunteer projects ever attempted—my site, Misplaced Pages. Cool Hand Luke 19:24, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

"Prima Facie evidence"

Has it really reached the point where mere participation on WR is prima facie evidence of bad faith? That's what one of the voters here thinks. I'll repeat what I said above: a few months ago I saw Brandt take this same "guilty until proven innocent" approach towards our most respected editor, and he was roundly criticised on WR for his stance. Yet here on Misplaced Pages, the supposed antithesis to WR, we see the exact same kind of argument receive at least a dozen oppose votes here in support of the Brandt-like dogmatic view.

I wonder if the editor who views WR contributions as "prima facie" evidence realizes that his attitude is almost indistinguishable from the worst elements of the site he criticises? ATren (talk) 17:04, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

See my comments in support (currently #115). By this logic, half the candidates in this election, as well as at least fourof the current Arbs, are "guilty". – iridescent 17:15, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

I love my attitude about WR. People who participate there have no guts, they'd rather whine about Misplaced Pages there than actually do anything. You bore me. OrangeMarlin 00:16, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

A fair number of them are quite active admins and checkusers, so at least some of the people who participate at WR aren't just inactive whiners. I have 12 or 13 posts there, mostly defending and describing Wikimedia I think. I might fall into the "not actually doing anything" category, but hopefully not the whiner category. Avruch 00:26, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

OM is right in that some people who participate there have no guts, they attack mindlessly, or worse. And that's a real problem with that site. But others, I think, have quite a bit of guts... it takes guts to even participate there at all if you're at all well known at WP, because of the people who knee jerk reject any activity there, regardless of what it is or how beneficial it is to WP... Such as those folk opposing CHL with "per WR participation" and the like. ++Lar: t/c 12:10, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, the comment is not entirely inaccurate. One could say that people on Misplaced Pages are POV pushing trolls, and it wouldn't be inaccurate. He didn't say "All people", though it would appear that was what he probably meant, in which case he'd be wrong. Shocker. لennavecia 17:09, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

To EconomicsGuy

I would appreciate if you reconsider. This talk page has attracted a lot of attention, and views held by others cannot be attributed to me. Surely you've interacted on talk pages with users you disagree with—perhaps even users on "your side" who are being overly aggressive. I can tell you honestly that I strongly oppose Misplaced Pages being run by a cabal of an outside site. In fact, I oppose Misplaced Pages being run by any cabal. If you must oppose the candidates, I urge you to oppose on the basis of the candidates, and not perceived excesses of partisans on the talk page. Cool Hand Luke 18:37, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Sincere thanks. I'll do my best to earn your trust. Cool Hand Luke 19:41, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

(EC) I can't oppose with a clean conscience based on your remarks here on talk after my post on the voting page. Let me clarify why. I don't support WR. I don't support the idea that any such review of what happens here should take place on an external site. The fact that there was a time when that was indeed needed due to rampant cabalism here is understandable but that isn't how it is anymore. People can disagree here as well and by doing so anyone, including those being discussed, can participate in the review of what happens here, on our site. That's not the case on WR. That said, your statement makes it clear that you do not share the believes of those whose involvment I oppose and I don't want to be part of any derailment of your candidacy on that basis. You obviously want what is best for Misplaced Pages even if I don't agree that WR is the right venue to work towards that goal. EconomicsGuy (talk) 19:46, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

I have a problem with that rationale. For me its the incredibly low standards for posting, the stalking, the sharing of information on website visitors, the bile, etc., that make WR objectionable. But if you are actually stating you do not believe that discussion and review of Misplaced Pages should happen anywhere else by the people involved, unless it happens on our servers, your view is extremist. Everyone blogs about Misplaced Pages, including the WP:OFFICE folks. Misplaced Pages is not a social network, and there are limits on our speech on-wiki for various reasons. I completely disagree with you, if that's what you're saying. --David Shankbone 19:53, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

That's not what I'm saying. I was choosing my words to avoid mentioning the stalking etc. in the same post as I was trying to find at least some common ground with those who participate there. I didn't say anything about blogs, I don't know where you got the idea that I oppose blogging about Misplaced Pages. EconomicsGuy (talk) 19:57, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

"I don't support the idea that any review of what happens here should take place on an external site." I review what happens here on my blog all the time, and shankbone.org is an external site. That's where I got that from. --David Shankbone 20:00, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

EconomicsGuy: I respect your position.

David Shankbone: I agree about low standards. I think the biggest problem with WR is under-moderation (as I said in my answers). Too much crap flies. If anyone would start a new forum open to all, but with transparent moderation and sane, prewritten ground rules, I'll be the first to sign up. Cool Hand Luke 20:01, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Inconsistency in singling out CHL

Hmmm, I'm troubled by the apparent bandwagon and unfair inconsistent votes here singling out CHL for posting at WR when several of the candidates regularly post at WR. I note that many voters (examples UninvitedCompany and Jossi among others) are opposing CHL with comments like "WR posters do not get my support", and yet contrarily are voting for other WR posters like Casliber and others. Can someone please tell me why is CHL being singled out? --MPerel 23:34, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

It's because other users haven't made "1051 posts on WR in the last year", which apparently is a big deal. 220.240.24.119 (talk) 23:43, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Let's just look at one of CHL's actual WR posts

Above, CHL provided some links to his activity. Looking through them, one link stands out enough that I want to just draw attention to it.

Talking about SandyGeorgia running for Arbcom, a WR user says:

 Couldn't think of many people worse frankly.  I 
 have my reasons. I'd rather not smear someone here.  
 Anyway, I doubt very much that she'd be running for 
 .

In response, Cool Hand Luke comes to SandyGeorgia's defense and he denounces WR-style smears:

Alex, there aren't a lot of editors I more consistently 
admire than . She has top-notch 
bona fides as a content creator, and is always a voice 
of reason when she weighs in on ArbCom proceedings.
"I'd rather not smear someone here," is bullshit, because 
you just did. If you're going to do a drive-by attack on
her, I ask that you explain why. Otherwise it's 
impossible for her or anyone to defend against your idle 
claim.

To me, this exchange really says it all. A WR poster attacks a Misplaced Pages user. In response, Cool Hand Luke defends the Misplaced Pages user, and he calls bullshit on the "drive-by attacks" that WR is despised for.

It is so, so sad that CHL's defense of Wikipedians on WR and his denouncing of WR "drive-by attacks" are now actually being used as to try to imply he actually supports those WR-style attacks.

Please Wikipedians, let's be better than this! Every candidate in this election has many valid reasons to be supported or to be opposed-- but let's not make this decision based on some knee-jerk guilt-by-association. After all, we've had many good candidates and good sitting arbs who, like CHL, post on WR without participating in WR-style attacks. Whether you ultimately decide to support CHL or oppose him, please don't let a domain name dictate your decision for you. --Alecmconroy (talk) 00:08, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Is that Alex also User:Majorly? --JayHenry (talk) 05:29, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Sarcasticidealist (talk) 05:34, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

(ec) I dunno. It was a little irresponsible of me to single out that WR user, because I have no idea what his pattern of editing is (either here or at WR).

The take-home message was just that CHL spends his time at WR defending Misplaced Pages and defending Wikipedians.

If you look at the people who have been most attacked by WR-- people like SlimVigin and Durova-- they've endorsed CHL. This is a major point: the people who have been most attacked by WR are _endorsing_ CHL!! That should tell us which team Luke is on. --Alecmconroy (talk) 05:48, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

We also have users in my support column who have been stalked at their workplace for their editing on Misplaced Pages. These people know the potential harm from outing first hand, but they also know that I'm one of the many good guys on WR. Cool Hand Luke 14:46, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Let me personally endorse that statement here. Been there, done that and I'm a so-called "WR regular" - Alison 15:56, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

You have the most posts of any Misplaced Pages admin, ever. And yeah, your endorsement should say a lot here. Majorly 16:10, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Comment by Ling.Nut

• My exp. with WR was indeed a long time ago, and indeed I have not been back since. Why should I? It was a vile place. It wasn't reasoned criticism (which is fine, even when it's sharp/pointed), it was a cornucopia of the lowest form of uncivilized pre-pubescent ad hominem attacks. The ad hominem article coulda had an external link there, IMO.
• People say it has changed. Well, good then.
• I take on board CHL's admission that the situation could've been handled better. I've read the long explanations etc., and I would not have done what CHL did. Correcting an attack by adding more accurate info is ill-advised, even if well-intended. Personal info issues are of tremendous importance.
• Will strike Oppose. Am considering Supporting, or simply saying nothing. Ling.Nut 05:01, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
  • Thank you Ling.Nut. Today is a busy day of class for me (one of my last two days before finals next week), so I won't be able to respond to concerns as rapidly today, but I genuinely appreciate that you've taken a second look. Cool Hand Luke 14:42, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Moved discussion concerning Ryan Postlethwaite's vote comments

1. Just to set the record straight, Coredesat did not leave because of this, as he himself indicated on two separate occasions: . In fact, he didn't even endorse blocking EricBarbour, who was the true aggressor here. Why is CHL getting blamed for something that was initiated by EricBarbour and which Coredesat himself denied was a factor in him leaving? ATren (talk) 15:53, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

   Please see the talkpage for this page for further information and comments from the candidate. Avruch 20:16, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

   Also note that Coredesat has voted for Cool Hand Luke for arbcom, along with giving him quite a ringing endorsement. Scroll up and see for yourself. At this point in time it's vote #105. ~ priyanath  18:19, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

   Some people are strongly against my opposition here, so I think it’s best to clarify things. Firstly, I was wrong in my belief that Coredesat left because of the incident – he’s now clarified things and it wasn’t down to that. Apologies to both CHL and Cord for that. Now, for the outing – I’ll try and explain the series of events first; EricBarbour got into a dispute with Coredesat and then went to find his details which he posted on WR. These details were not correct, and CHL then went and stated the correct details, which he found by looking at a link from coredesats wikia userpage to his own website. CHL's intentions were to remove the possibility of harassment to the random person Eric had posted to, but it still had the effect of outing Coredesat on Wikimedia projects, where he hadn't revealed his identity. The action that I find questionable is that Eric clearly had some beef with Coredesat, yet didn’t really know his real life identity. The information given by CHL was enough to reveal the identity to a person that was attempting to out him. If Eric had wanted to then harass Coredesat, he’d then have the information to do so. I respect that CHL was attempting to set the record straight and not put an innocent man under the spotlight, however there were far better ways of doing that than revealing Coredesats identity on WR to someone that would have been best without that information. Ryan Postlethwaite 23:19, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

   Let us still remember-- the user who was allegedly "outed against his will", Coredesat, has actually endorsed CHL above. Please read talk page before believing any allegations of "outing". --Alecmconroy (talk) 07:00, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Conversation moved off main page by --Tznkai (talk) 20:53, 3 December 2008 (UTC)