Misplaced Pages

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Spies appear to be editing on Misplaced Pages

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Yesterday, I alerted AN/I of a BBC News article reporting that Misplaced Pages has determined that the Democratic Party in the United States has been attacking its opponents on Misplaced Pages. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6947532.stm The CIA also has done the same thing.

Almost immediately, the AN/I warning was removed. I also placed a warning on 4 controversial articles (2 about Democratic Party members and 2 on Republican Party members). All except 1 was immediately removed. This suggests that there may be spies working for 3 of the 4 politicians.

One of the articles that have potential spies working for it is Barack Obama (warning was immediately removed from that talk page.) Ophrahwasontv was writing in that article.

It seems that spies have fooled an administrator into blocking an editor who was proven not to be a sock. See RFCU clearing Ophrahwasontv.

See where it says Unlikely for Oprahwasontv Collaborating with spies, even if by mistake, is bad for wikipedia. Remember, wikipedia determined that there are spies working against us according to the news article. I am shocked by the spies on Misplaced Pages. Orginally, I thought that there would be little controversy about the article since Misplaced Pages, itself, determined that there is spying.

Ophrah should be unblocked as she was blocked because of spies campaigning against her. More importantly, any content dispute should be examined for content, not number of editors editing because that is subject to manipulation by spies.

I don't care about Ophrah so much but people who reported to AN/I (causing her block) fail the duck test. They (the spies who attacked Ophrah) appear like socks and they were NOT cleared by the checkuser. The article they edit contentiously had my Misplaced Pages warning and the warning was removed within seconds.

The duck test is "If you complain about the spies being socks" then you must be a sock (because once a sock did make such complaint). With that flawed duck test, the spies are invincible (everyone who complains about the spies will be blocked indefinitely).

I am not so concerned about Barack Obama or Ophrah. I am concerned about the spy issue on Misplaced Pages. Since Hillary Clinton's article talk page still has my warning, I don't think she has active spies on her article.Warningwarningwarning 23:32, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

If you feel that there are editors pushing a POV for or against certain politicians, it would be best to name them and provide edit diffs. Otherwise we can't really do anything about it. --Hemlock Martinis 23:36, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

This little tool, http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/, will identify IP edits on wikipedia coming from a specific organization. seems to be down quite a bit (sever load) and slow, however its amazing what it uncovers. Happy hunting--Hu12 23:42, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

This user has been indefinitely blocked for disruption. They were blocked earlier for similar behavior on politician's WP articles, promised the blocking admin they would positively contribute, and then re-started this all as soon as the shortened 24 hr block expired.

I have indef blocked on the grounds that this is disruption and a single-purpose account. Georgewilliamherbert 23:45, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

Warningwarningwarning (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log) has just given himself away as being another sock of banned user Dereks1x. Oprahwasontv (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log) was just blocked as another one of his 30 socks. See this and above here. I would suggest that bhwin (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log) also be blocked as per this: not as a sock of myself, Bobblehead, Jersyko et al, but as another SPA sock of Dereks1x, established, again, in a lame attempt to legitimize the bogus RFCU on us. Tvoz |talk 23:52, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

"Spies" editing Misplaced Pages? That's a fresh new twist on the cabal conspiracy theories... Grandmasterka 00:25, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Actually no it's not. I heard on the radio just the other day about how government officials in the US have been tampering with the Iranian pages... Timeshift 00:30, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, and you don't have to just hear it on the radio, it is on the wikiscanner website, so you can see for yourself once it is back up. Not to say that the edits are bad, particularly from the CIA. Although it is a tad distressing this is how they are passing time. =) daveh4h 01:00, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

This is not about whether there is factual evidence of those edits by the CIA, other agencies, companies, etc... That's now widely known, and has been for some days now. There was no emergency or emergent situation that justified trying to plaster large sections of the encyclopedia with warnings like this. Georgewilliamherbert 01:05, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

If it weren't for the sockpuppet relation, I would say that indefinitely blocking this guy is a bit out of line. It is not unreasonable to imagine someone, not familiar with Misplaced Pages, hearing about this and trying to start discussion about it. I recall not too long ago a teacher being blocked because they posted a survey (about Misplaced Pages editing) to some user talk pages, without even getting a warning before the block. We shouldn't forget that many people will not know how we normally do things, and we shouldn't be quick to block like this. -- Ned Scott 00:39, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

In this case, the deciding factor for me was that they promised to change behavior to get the first block length reduced, and then immediately turned around and started the behavior once the block expired.

I am much more tolerant of troublesome editors who just don't get it than I am of ones who appear to intentionally decieve admins. There are many explanations for not getting it; there's only one for such deception: it's an account for which WP:AGF has been shown to be a mistake.

Anything is possible, and if this turns out somehow bizarrely to have been a misjudgement on my part then so be it, it can be reversed. But this person had several chances and has done pretty much the clearly worst thing they could after each one, short of outright baldly attacking other editors here.

If you want to give them another chance, I won't stop you, but I suspect you'll be dissapointed. Georgewilliamherbert 00:46, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, a good point. Given that he said he would change his behavior, it would be at that point that we know he was aware of how we do things. -- Ned Scott 01:09, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

You can submit your findings here as well. By the way, your thread title is misleading. I don't think a NYT editor can be described as a spy when editing wikipedia from h/er office. -- FayssalF - 10:30, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

A quick aside about the CIA editing wikipedia

Although cyberspace has no national boundaries, Misplaced Pages's servers are based in Florida, USA, and the domain name ".org" is a US registration. If my reading of Tom Clancy novels - and other sources of folklore - are correct isn't the CIA prohibited from operating within US territory? I don't suppose it matters much to the Foundation, but it may have implications for the Agency. LessHeard vanU 13:03, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

AFAIK (and I too am a fan of Clancy) they can't carry out illegal actions on US soil, or operations such as surveillance or wiretaps. I don't see that this would stop them editing Misplaced Pages, which anyone is entitled to do. However, I'm not an expert. Walton 13:28, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

According to a CIA spokesperson, "the US Intelligence agency is editing Misplaced Pages pages in order to save Americans lives". Of course they are entitled to edit but i just find their reasons odd. Editors here are not entitled to defend anyone's interests. -- FayssalF - 14:34, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, if they put outside interests ahead of Misplaced Pages's interests, that's a conflict. There's nothing special about the CIA as far as we are concerned. I'm not aware of any law that says website operators must allow the CIA to review and modify content as they see fit. Somehow I don't think many Congress people will vote for CIA censorship of websites, given that we have the First Amendment and the Constitution. - Jehochman 14:42, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes WP:COI but sneaky vandalism as well at Ahmadinejad's article. ;) -- FayssalF - 14:52, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I can imagine a number of BLP violations that could put lives at risk. THF 14:50, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

(Reply to Jehochman) So you're saying that our internal policy of neutrality is more important than saving lives? For the record, I'm not American, and I certainly don't endorse routine censorship of websites. However, it's established that the intelligence and security services of the free, Western world have a right and a duty to do what is necessary to protect citizens' lives. Misplaced Pages's policies are important to us, but they are not the most important thing in the world. Morally, we should not be fighting against the intelligence services (whether American, British or otherwise) who are daily risking their lives to protect citizens. The situation would be totally different if a dictatorship such as North Korea or Iran, or a terrorist group, was editing Misplaced Pages to advance their agenda - they should be stopped. But not the people whose mission is to defend the free world. My moral commitment to freedom and protection of lives trumps my commitment to Misplaced Pages policies any day, and I hope others feel the same. Walton 14:56, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree w/ you about it is important to know what comes first (saving lives) but i believe your analysis is totally biased. What about CIA covert operations all over the world? (i.e Project FUBELT and tens of others) Saving lives? What about lies and misleading info about Iraq WMD? How many people died because of that war? -- FayssalF - 15:08, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

As an aside to an aside, I don't think OhmyNews is a terribly reliable source of information. The article FayssalF references above has several highly questionable, unsourced claims. I could be wrong, but until I see something more trustworthy, I sort of doubt that's a direct quote by a "CIA spokesperson". And did Wikipeida really "hire" Virgil Griffith? --barneca (talk) 15:05, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

It is on the BBC link above. And did Wikipeida really "hire" Virgil Griffith? Is this a conspiracy theory? So Misplaced Pages may only have recruited Virgil to trap the CIA. What about SONY, The Vatican, Al Jazeera, etc... editting? Is this a joke? -- FayssalF - 15:16, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

No, not a joke. The OhmyNews link you provided says, specifically, that Misplaced Pages "hired" Virgil Griffith. I don't think that is true. I use that as evidence that this particular source is questionable. The BBC article does not quote the CIA spokesperson as saying "the US Intelligence agency is editing Misplaced Pages pages in order to save Americans lives". That appears to be a paraphrase made up by the OhmyNews reporter. --barneca (talk) 15:21, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Maybe but that's irrelevant as Walton was implying that CIA people are editing to save people's lives. How? He was also implying that CIA can edit but not the Iranian govt! This is insane. The important thing here are wikipedia policies and not charity. We are not a law enforcement body. If CIA has to edit here then it should abide by Misplaced Pages rules. If you think otherwise than CIA editing Misplaced Pages would not have appeared in most mainstream media around the world. And please tell me how come CIA editing would save lives? -- FayssalF - 15:32, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I think you think I have some agenda here. All I was pointing out is that I don't think a CIA spokesperson actually said the CIA is "editing Misplaced Pages pages in order to save Americans lives", and that the whole OhmyNews article should be taken with a giant grain of salt. Anything else you read into my comment is either confusing me with Walton, putting words in my mouth, or I suppose possibly my lack of clarity. That's why I called it an aside to an aside. I'll leave you and Walton to continue your discussion, and move on to other things. --barneca (talk) 15:48, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

The news story may well be junk. As pointed out above, it's on a single website and isn't corroborated by published sources. And I, too, doubt the accuracy of the statement they ascribe to an unnamed "CIA spokesperson". In response to FayssalF's earlier comments, yes, my analysis is slightly biased. 99.9% of the time, I, like other Wikipedians, abide by WP:NPOV and Misplaced Pages's other core content policies while editing Misplaced Pages. However, Misplaced Pages is in the real world, and there are fundamental values which, for me, supersede Misplaced Pages's internal policies. This is not intended as a partisan rant; I don't endorse all the actions of the CIA, and, as I said, I'm not even American. But we have to trust the people whose job it is to defend freedom and democracy, even if they (like everyone else) sometimes make mistakes, or take morally questionable actions for the greater good. Walton 15:26, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Why? --John 15:31, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Which part of my statement does your query refer to? Walton 15:33, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Why? But we have to trust the people whose job it is to defend freedom and democracy. Do you have to trust people who lied about WMD? It was the CIA who were responsible of a death of almost a million people in this shitty war. -- FayssalF - 15:35, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

As I understand it, the CIA was pretty much on target about the intelligence leading up to the shitty war. Their reports were skeptical of claims that Iraq had a meaningful nuclear development program (or chemical weapons other than relics from before the first Gulf War), and generally agreed with the international inspection teams' failure to find any evidence of an active nuclear program.

The blame, in other words, goes higher in the administration, which ignored the CIA's skepticism and sought out competing intelligence that supported their desire for a case for war. The CIA has some very ugly dirt in its past, but as far as the Iraq war is concerned it seems to be pretty clean.

That doesn't excuse them for messing with Misplaced Pages to push an agenda, however. If they're making edits that go against the customary rules, they deserve the same reverts and locks any other agenda-pushing editor deserves. (And I agree that the "saving lives" argument is bogus; if something is public information it belongs here. If it's a "saving lives" sort of secret, it doesn't belong here because secrets are unverified, pretty much by definition.) -- Steve Schonberger 10:29, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

(reset indent) Sorry I wasn't clear. Why do you believe we "have to trust" an intelligence agency, who, for all they may well be trying to "defend freedom and democracy", will also by definition be working according to their own priorities, one of which is probably not to improve this on-line encyclopedia? --John 15:38, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Given that the CIA's covert operations are not public knowledge, any alleged revelation of any alleged CIA operations are not possible to verify according to Misplaced Pages standards, and are thus inherently ineligible for inclusion in Misplaced Pages. Baseball Bugs 15:37, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Just because a government agancy uses "saving lives" as an excuse doesn't mean its true. I am sure people at the agency see their core goal as saving american lives so they could say that everything they do is to save lives. We could also probably save lives by rewriting history and writing out all the reasons for strife. We should not blindly trust "the people whose job it is to defend freedom," or we lose the freedom we are trying to protect. I am sure the KGB and the North Korean intelligence services also claim to be saving lives and protecting freedom. If the CIA wants to edit wikipedia articles let them follow the same rules that we all follow. -- Diletante 15:42, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

To answer various points. In response to John, yes, of course the CIA and other government agencies are working according to their own priorities, and not to improve the encyclopedia. However, what I was saying is that the priorities of security and intelligence agencies - saving lives and protecting freedom - are more important than improving Misplaced Pages. Don't get me wrong. I value Misplaced Pages, I think it's a great project, and I've dedicated hours of my life to it. But we should remember that there are things in the real world which are more important than the accuracy and completeness of our encyclopedia; security and freedom are among them. As to Baseball Bugs' point, no one is aiming to reveal alleged CIA operations or include them in Misplaced Pages; that's not what this discussion is about. Walton 15:43, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Oh, heavens. I am no fan of the new CIA, the political one, the one happy to undo the reforms of 1974, or any intelligence agency, but CIA editors are just editors. <shrug> It's possible that some wild-eyed editor writes, into an article, "Currently in a bunker at coordinates X by Y" and CIA editors know that that's actually a real position of troops, but the edit would be part of our usual process. If, on the other hand, they try to get Dick Cheney's house erased from photos on Misplaced Pages, that's another matter. They're just regular users, with regular rights, albeit with possibly specialized knowledge. Geogre 15:46, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree with most of that, but not all. If the CIA, MI6, or another relevant agency privately contacted Misplaced Pages admins or the Foundation and asked to have a piece of sourced information removed from Misplaced Pages on the grounds of national security, then I hope we would do it. As a loyal British citizen, I can assure you that if MI5 or MI6 contacted me and asked me to make certain edits to Misplaced Pages, or use my administrative tools for a certain purpose, on the grounds of national security, then I would do as they requested. (Not that this would ever be likely - they'd more likely contact the Foundation directly.) Walton 15:50, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

And if there was an indication that you had done the latter, I would ask that you be desysopped. Hornplease 20:20, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

To put it another way, if a reliable, published source has some information about CIA operations, then it is eligible for inclusion. And if it's already published, then the "saving lives" argument goes down the drain. Baseball Bugs 15:54, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

No, that's not at all what I was saying. I was saying that if, in theory, the CIA were to ask us to remove something that was cited to a reliable published source (whether about CIA operations or any other topic) on the grounds of national security, then we should do so. Bear in mind that even if something has already been published, putting it on Misplaced Pages (a high traffic site) is likely to significantly increase its exposure. If the CIA, MI6, or another relevant agency asks us to change Misplaced Pages in the interests of national security, we shouldn't ask why, or quibble. We should do it straight away. Walton 16:00, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

That's the odd point Walton. In Misplaced Pages policies and guidelines, it is not mentioned that you have to accept requests from CIA agents AND NOT from the Thai or Zambia's intelligence. It is about common sense and not about which agency contacted you. Would you deny Pakistani or Iranian intelligence services requests in case they'd contact you? -- FayssalF - 16:02, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Woah, did something change while I was sleeping? We are still a free country, right? --Kbdank71 16:12, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I disagree completely, If the CIA asks the foundation to do something we SHOULD quibble AND ask why. We should not do it straight away without talking to a lawyer and recieving a court-order. THat is what freedom is, bowing to the whims of three letter agencies destroys our freedom. In the US our FIRST right ennumarated is freedom of speech and the press. -- Diletante 16:14, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Since when is there any evidence that anyone who is actually from the CIA has asked Misplaced Pages to do anything? Baseball Bugs 16:17, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I have just been asked by my CIA handler to archive this hypothetical discussion begun by a disruptive sockpuppet so that we can all get back to work saving lives building the encyclopedia. MastCell 16:32, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes please because someone has just used this thread at wired.com in the form of a complaint! They even know who is an admin and who is not! -- FayssalF - 16:39, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Forsooth! Ods bodkins! Sufferin' succotash! Baseball Bugs 16:58, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

(unindent)...Er, folks, it was just a lighthearted comment. As far as I am aware the FBI acts within US territory interest and the CIA outside - but a lot of Misplaced Pages is physically within the USA.

For one, I would be delighted if either or both agencies (and those of other Nations) were to openly contribute to WP - intelligence gathering is a lot more to do with sifting and analysing information from various legitimate sources than the cloak and dagger stuff; access to that kind of database would be incredible - but I am not so happy if some of the bastions of democracy (y'know - the goodies who would never lie or do anything bad, and are answerable to their mistakes) were to introduce bias into the encyclopedia. It is difficult enough trying to convince individuals that their beliefs or opinions are not legitimate grounds to alter pieces, I don't even want to try picking through the edits of professional purveyors of half truths.

As for the argument that defending democracy legitimises the use of non democratic methods is akin to the old joke of fucking for virginity. They are supposed to be working for us, not the other way round. LessHeard vanU 19:25, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

My comments here seem to have sparked a lot of controversy, so I'll clarify. All I was saying was that both individual Wikipedians, and Misplaced Pages as an organisation, have a duty to aid the lawful authorities of their respective countries. I stated earlier that if MI5 or the UK government were to ask me to perform certain edits or sysop actions to Misplaced Pages in the interests of national security, then I would do so; it's extremely unlikely that this would ever happen, however. I was just trying to make the point that my loyalty as a British citizen outweighs my loyalty to Misplaced Pages. Likewise, the Wikimedia Foundation is an American institution, and has a moral obligation to aid the authorities of the United States, if asked to do so on the grounds of national security. If the CIA or FBI were to ask the Foundation to make certain edits - including oversight removal of information - then the Foundation should just do it. They shouldn't quibble, ask questions, or throw the matter open to debate. There are values more important than Misplaced Pages's internal policies and guidelines, and loyalty to our respective countries is one of them. Walton 11:07, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

I am sorry if my comments have affected you Walton or been misinterpreted but Misplaced Pages is no battleground. We have editors from all over the world here and if everyone would execute the orders or at least requests of their respective intelligence agencies then it would be a total mess especially that not all agencies are working together (well at least and according to notable media venues most intelligences have worked in harmony against the widespread terrorist activities around the world). CIA and the Syrian intelligence (just to name one and not tens) have been working together in good and bad stuff. Please also have a look at this . True or not true is not our problem as long as it is well sourced.

Please bear in mind that Misplaced Pages main activity is to document sourced events. It means information which was already been appearing at the news or at least somewhere where public has already been informed. In case there is something unsourced (most probably it would be controversial or maybe dangerous to human lives) then be assured that ANYONE can delete such garbage as we have policies giving us that right. So a scenario where an intelligence service would contact you is nonsense. In extreme cases, those people know whom to contact and surely would not contact you.

Again, everyone is allowed to edit unless WP:COI is affected or vandalism involved. In other words, Misplaced Pages already does its job which you think you could have done it in case someone contacts you. The problem is if those agencies come here to delete references to things they don't want people to read about, in most cases not involving people lives but any those organizations' reputation (i.e. "Black sites"). In that case, i assure you that Misplaced Pages comes first and not people lives as no people life would be in danger if someone removes something about "Black sites". Cheers. -- FayssalF - 17:08, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

WP:COI is a guideline. --Tbeatty 14:30, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

I believe you failed to get my point. As i said, if people's live are in danger than, they would know whom to contact and surely would not contact you or me. If there's no people's life in danger than they would have to pay attention to WP:COI. What about Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation editing the same articles the CIA would edit and they'd get into an edit war? Who would try to mediate or block one or both of them if they persist w/o "trying to discuss"? You? Or would you edit war yourselves?. - FayssalF - 20:52, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

It would appear that Conflict of Interest is more and more acceptable in the encyclopedia. And not just for US interests (though they compromise the integrity of the project too). PalestineRemembered 14:53, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Conflict of interest always has been, and always will be, impossible to prevent. There is no way to police who makes every edit and people with a direct interest in things often know/care the most about it. That's why we have a guideline rather than a policy about COIs. We discourage users from editing in areas where they have a conflict, but do not prevent it. We have neutrality and sourcing policies precisely to deal with COIs and other biases. Thus, COI is no more or less 'acceptable' than it has ever been... it exists. And we deal with it in the same way we always have.

As to the whole 'CIA/MI5 over-ride' discussion... anything which can be properly sourced is widely available already. If Misplaced Pages is giving something vastly wider coverage than it had previously then it doesn't belong in Misplaced Pages to begin with. So, if Misplaced Pages reported Geraldo's infamous 'troop movements moment' that isn't putting anyone at risk because the info was already widely distributed... if a soldier in the field posted the same thing such that it was available on Misplaced Pages and nowhere else it couldn't be sourced and should be removed. Ditto Misplaced Pages reporting on 'Valerie Plame' vs a NOC outed only on an obscure website and not picked up by the mainstream media. Misplaced Pages collects and retains information about things which have already been found notable by the rest of the world. Any information which is 'secret' doesn't belong here. Anything else which we might be asked to remove would be more on the order of altering the historical record to hide facts that are otherwise commonly available... and thus I'd be very much against it. --CBD 12:52, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

This is all getting very silly. Did you know that Misplaced Pages has contained CIA-generated content for years -- Misplaced Pages:Status of the porting of the CIA World Factbook. And did you know that we'd probably accept material from other intelligence agencies if they released it under a free license. (So if they can afford to lose all that copyright revenue on secret documents, they've managed to infiltrate Misplaced Pages.) Beyond that, as long as they don't violate the usual rules & guidelines (e.g. WP:COI), anyone can edit Misplaced Pages. -- llywrch 21:41, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Here's the most recent edit by the CIA, http://en.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Lightsaber_combat&diff=prev&oldid=148067857 , go read it yourself. PROOF OF A CONSPIRACY!!! Calibas 02:48, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Hey! I'm a spy, and I've got a userbox to prove it! IPSOS (talk) 01:45, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Quite frankly, I'm more upset that the CIA is wasting my taxes in order to perform minor punctuation edits on Star Wars articles. Girolamo Savonarola 07:20, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

BetacommandBot and commons

Ive started a bot to move images to commons please see User:Betacommand/Commons β 13:42, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

If that bot moves any of the free images I uploaded, I will block it. I don't want them on Commons, where I can't keep an eye on them and have them on my watchlist. Are you going to bother to ask users first if they want their images moved, or do you know best? Neil ム 16:55, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

wtf? read the wording of the GFDL. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 17:07, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

He said he'd block, not sue for copyright infringement. There are a lot of things that are legal to do in the US that will still get you blocked on WP. --W.marsh 18:23, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

You can put the images on your watchlist on commons and be notified of updates on it via email. --Flominator 06:28, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

One do not make threats about blocking the bot. Two if they are free images they should be on commons. Three please see WP:OWN. Four if you want to civilly discuss this then please do but threats are not a good thing. β 17:04, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry if I hurt the bot's feelings. Why should they be on Commons? Please point me in the direction of the relevant policy that says this is the case. This is civil - please ask users before moving their images, as a courtesy, if nothing else. I would imagine many many users would not be happy, particularly if they hold the same opinion of Commons I do. Neil ム 17:10, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

What have you got against commons? Theresa Knott | The otter sank 17:12, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

(ec - note I was refactoring my response and got conflicted). I don't like Commons because it takes away local control, and allows people to merrily upload pictures of their meat and two veg and vandalise Misplaced Pages with them. I also don't like it because I wouldn't be able to watchlist my images. Neil ム 17:17, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Commons has a watchlist feature just like en Misplaced Pages. Videmus Omnia 17:19, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

But I don't want to have two jump between two accounts. Sigh. Neil ム 17:22, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Ok please see WP:OWN as soon as you uploaded those images under a free license they no longer belong to you. so if wikipedians think they should be on commons then that is where they will go. as for not being able to watch images, do you have e-mail? commons e-mails you when pages on your watchlist change β 17:21, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

No problem, I will delete them and reupload them under a suitable tag. Is there a tag I can apply to ensure they don't move to Commons? Neil ム 17:22, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

why not just use the commons e-mail tool? β 17:29, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Why should I have to? Neil ム 17:37, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I think maybe you're missing the point that they're not your images. Videmus Omnia 17:26, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Neil, only if they are fair use. Otherwise, free images can (and preferably will) go to Commons. And once they are uploaded, they not yours. Majorly (talk) 17:30, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

This isn't true. You own images you license under GFDL, you just have to let other people use them. But you still own them. Quite frankly, Neil is also well within his administrative priviledge to block Betacommandbot for disrupting Misplaced Pages to prove a point. Moving images to commons is disruptive. WilyD 19:23, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

WilyD I think you need to go read our policies again, in no way is moving images to commons disruptive. it been happening for many years now. and our free images should be posted on commons. any such block was out of the question. as for uploading images if they are free we can copy them to commons regardless of what you say. If you want to keep a local copy is a completely separate issue. β 15:35, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Uploading images to commons is not disruptive, but deleting them off en.wikipedia is counter to our goal of building a free encyclopaedia, as is noming them just because they've ben moved. Obviously all the images I've uploaded your free to use in any way that's compatible with their licenses (and most of my images are public domain, so there's not even any issue there), but that doesn't mean you're entitled to impair Misplaced Pages for reasons unrelated to our goal of creating a free encyclopaedia. WilyD 17:29, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I think suggesting I would block the bot was one thing I should not have done. Neil ム 20:07, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

It makes perfect sense that they would be added to Commons, what doesn't make sense is that they would then be deleted from the English Misplaced Pages, an act which helps Commons not at all and only makes our life more difficult. Christopher Parham (talk) 20:21, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

The problem is with Commons rather than the bot which is unhelpful but legit

I share Neil's sentiment but I must add Neil has no means on doing anything to have it his way. By uploading the images to Misplaced Pages under Commons-compatible license he has no way of preventing them being uploaded to commons. That said, this brings us back to the most serious problem of commons, its being subject to flukes. Suppose the editor uploads a free image to WP. Then, someone moves it to commons. Soon enough the WP copy gets deleted. Then, after the new attack of Commons' wannabe copyright lawyers (wanna a couple of names? can give you ten!) the image gets deleted from commons because the commons' view on a particular copyright rule changes again. Misplaced Pages image is gone by now. Result: article looses an image.

How can it happen? Many scenarios. Only user-created images uploaded under GFDL or cc-by-sa are reasonably safe forever. PD? No. Rules change. One day commons may move to allowing only world-wide PD images. Are you sure there is no country where the life of copyright is 300 years since the death of the author? Or that there cannot be in 5 years? Copyright laws do change retroactively sometimes.

Next: suppose the PD image is sourced to a web-site. In three years the site goes down. Some freak from the "copyright patrol" (wanna name? I can give you ten!) tags it as "source invalid", in ten days image is gone. Image's author who would have a better chance noticing the event on-wiki has no idea with what is going on on commons. Result is the same. Article looses image.

The problem is not the bot. The problem is with Commons. Neil, I share your sentiment. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do. You can beg Betacommand and his friends to not move your image but this would be asking for a favor and I doubt it would work. --Irpen 17:30, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Neil, while you may hold the copyright on the images, they have been licensed in such a way that we can copy them any way we want. What is more, Misplaced Pages has never made any sort of promise to you that it will host your images. If you want them to stay on Misplaced Pages, you best bet is to ask nicely, because you are not in a position to demand. Blocking the bot for such an action would be a highly inappropriate use of your admin tools. ((1 == 2) ? (('Stop') : ('Go')) 17:33, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Massive edit conflict ... what they all said, with a few additions, the most important one being about the ability to restore deleted images. If the Commons policy is in some way different from the EN policy, we admins can restore an EN deleted image, drop us a note. Or, well, I hate to even mention this, but if someone deletes an image for ... other inappropriate reasons ..., we can restore it as well. --AnonEMouse 17:35, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

He's already deleting them. I am disappointed that an Admin would be this unaware of the terms of the GFDL, and would take such action. Of course, any particularly good photos can be undeleted, since the GFDL license can't be revoked. Thatcher131 17:36, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Does GFDL require that attribution must remain? Neil ム 17:36, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Thatcher131 17:38, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Then please explain where my attribution has gone from and . Then tell me again why Commons respects GFDL. Neil ム 17:40, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Well that image wasnt copied from wikipedia, if you want I can show you a few examples of my move to commons. I copy the upload history, page history, and the page text. making the transwiki'ing of images 100% GDFL compliant and covering all the bases and ensuring all users get credit for their work. β 17:52, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

That sounds great, Bc. Please do point to an example. --AnonEMouse 20:15, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Good point. Neil, I suspect the problem was that you didn't explicitly give attribution in the image text, you just put GFDL-self, and assumed the self-part would be obvious. Betacommand, can you make sure the bot notes any GFDL attribution when moving an image to Commons? This includes giving the user name of the uploader when using GFDL-self. --AnonEMouse 17:48, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Apparently commons user c:User:Billy1125 uploaded them without properly attributing them. You could ask on commons for them to be deleted or you could provide the proper information. Although I have not examined BCBot's code (and wouldn't know what to look for if I did) I suspect that the Bot will properly attribute all images, since failing to do so would raise yet another shitstorm. Allowing your images to be moved by the bot (or moving them yourself) would be the best way to guarantee proper attribution. Thatcher131 17:49, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

see my comment above. β 17:52, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Massive edit conflict. Thatcher, You are right about the "yes" above but not fully right that GFDL cannot be revoked. Technically it can be revoked but it won't affect the derivative work where the image is already used or prevent taking a copy from the source where the originally GFDL image is copied. But one can prevent the image from being copied from the original place he uploaded it to by revoking GFDL. This is a technicality that affects little though. However, this has little to do with the problem of commons that make editors resent having their images move there. But, again, there is nothing one can do. True enough. --Irpen 17:43, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Neil (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) appears to be using his admin-bit to delete his GFDL images in protest under the "user request" CSD criteria. This seems disruptive, petty, and poor conduct to boot. It's terribly disappointing, and sets a poor precedent. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 17:48, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

If I were an admin, I would gladly follow his example. It's for nothing that I uploaded some of the images to Misplaced Pages rather than to Commons. Take Prokudin-Gorsky images, dating from before 1915. Some of them were modernized and colored by myself, and I could reasonably expect that my name as the uploader will be shown. Not at all. These pictures have long ago been moved to Commons and now may be seen on websites all over the world, without proper attribution of the original uploader or person responsible for their restoration. Can anybody name the person responsible for the restoration of Image:Sochi edited.jpg? Only I can. --Ghirla 13:08, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

He stopped at 13:31, August 17, 2007 Neil (Talk | contribs | block) deleted "Image:Lincolnblack.jpg". Thank goodness. --AnonEMouse 18:00, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I have restored the few of them that were used in articles and not yet "commonized". The rest are only used in Neil's gallery and in one talk archive. Миша13 18:08, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

He just deleted another: "11:13, 17 August 2007 Neil (Talk | contribs | block) deleted "Image:Dryskislope1.jpg" (GFDL revoked. See my talk page.)" Petty. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 18:14, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

You are entitled to your opinion, Chairboy, but name-calling is not helpful. I have used my revoked any GFDL licensing associated with those images, until I can find a satisfactory license. Please see the note on my talk page regarding this. Neil ム 18:17, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm not calling you a name, I'm ascribing the motivation of "pettiness" to your actions. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 18:23, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Maybe it is a good time to start doing something about the commons' problems as outlined above? We should at least try. --Irpen 17:55, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

C'mon, you know that AN/I has no dominion over commons. The question is whether Betacommand's bot obeys all requirements (attribution, etc.) - it does. Some users may be concerned over images deleted at commons, but it's easy enough to keep track of all transwikied files, the bot could even be modified to include a "Images transferred by such-and-such" cat in the process. ˉˉ╦╩ 18:34, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Personally, my higher priority than moving images is checking that things other people copied to commons was done properly. Just yesterday I found one of my photos had been copied there almost a year ago without attribution by someone who obviously didn't know it was necessary. In that time no one had figured out that a whole set of photos had been improperly copied from en.wiki to the very same image names. How hard would that be to check? — Laura Scudder ☎ 14:35, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Improper speedy deletions of the images should be reverted. The images should only be deleted if they've gone through a deletion review process. Neil, just because you uploaded the images doesn't mean you can delete them whenever you want to. Corvus cornix 18:26, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Would those images not be eligible for a speedy G7 deletion? Or does that not apply to images (and if so, why not? WP:SPEEDY says that "General criteria...apply to all namespaces."). --ElKevbo 18:35, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

As Neil has resumed his image deletion spree, now claiming to have revoked the GFDL from his images, and seems to have no intention of stopping, I have blocked him for 24 hours. I regret that this is necessary, but he is using his admin tools to disrupt the project on a potentially massive scale. --Krimpet 18:28, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Blocking an admin doesn't prevent him or her from using admin tools. Mike R 18:33, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

This is a bit much for even a mop wielding mouse without a law degree. User talk:Mikegodwin#Time for the WP's official copyright lawyer to weigh in. --AnonEMouse 18:34, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Both Neils' deletions and blocking him are wrong solutions of a serious problem whose real solution is long overdue. --Irpen 18:34, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Blocking Neil is absurd and it's only going to make this conflict worse. If he isn't unblocked very soon, I'm going to review his unblock request. Sarah 18:41, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Krimpet unblocked Neil after off-line discussion in which Neil agreed to stop deleting and talk it out. Mike Godwin hasn't yet weighed in, but I suspect will probably be the definitive voice here. More news available at a very reasonable price ...  :-) --AnonEMouse 19:18, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict w/above)I apologize if my block was on the hasty side =/ -- I only resorted to a block as I was concerned that he intended to continue deleting images. After discussing it with him in private, he has promised to me that he will pursue his concerns in the proper forums, and I have unblocked him. --Krimpet 19:20, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, commons is a problem but this is even a bigger problem that plagues the Misplaced Pages. Please never ever "block on the hasty side"!. --Irpen 19:24, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

• One potential problem with commons that I haven't seen raised is the reason why commons was created: to a be a common repository of images that could be used across a range of projects. In other words, all the different language Wikipedias, and other projects as well, I believe, can use the same image that is on Commons. This is a feature, and often a desirable one. The "usage" tool on Commons exists to allow people to track how their images (where 'their' refers to them as the photographer) are being used. However, there will always be people who don't want to do things this way, and would prefer to limit their images to just one location. I wonder if there is a way to have a licence that does this: "free, but only use here"? Or is that against everything that the free content movement stands for? One of my free pictures was picked up and used in the French Misplaced Pages, which I was very pleased about, but I'm less certain what my reaction would be if I saw a picture I took being used in an article that was written in a language I didn't understand ((eg. Japanese). I would want to be sure they were not misusing the picture, but maybe this points at the real problem. A photographer releasing free pictures must, at some point, trust the re-users of the content to use the free pictures responsibly. Carcharoth 19:42, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
  • Misplaced Pages is free! You need to understand what this means. Anyone can reuse your photo for any reason they like provided the follow the GFDL. There is nothing to stop somone bypassing commons and copying and pasting your image to another language wikipedia. There is nothing to stop soming copying and pasting your image to another internet site, even one you heartily disaprove of. If you licence under a free licence users are free to do whatever they want with the image as long as they follow the licence instructions. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 20:01, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Krimpet... I agree with Irpen, please think and discuss before you block. Now you seem to be apologizing to WP:ANI for a hasty block — what's that about? How about a word of regret to Neil, in his actual block log? You do realize it was previously squeaky clean, but will now forever more be displaying your claim that he used admin tools disruptively ? Followed only by your rather ungracious unblock message? Think about it. Please. Bishonen | talk 19:55, 17 August 2007 (UTC).

Bish, Krimpet has apologised and I have accepted. I don't think it's productive going after her at this juncture. Neil ム 20:06, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't see widespread condemnation of his actions. As entertaining as jumping up and down on him after he's unblocked might seem, he performed a block he felt was correct, and unblocked it when Neil agreed to stop his spree and help work out a solution to this mess. If you still have a problem w/ Krimpet, do something about it other than sniping at an 'easy target'. While you're at it, do you disagree with the assertion that Neil was disrupting the project to make a point? 1. This conversation is evidence enough that he caused disruption, and 2. He's doing this to make a point about Commons, which he has a self-described irrational dislike of. Before you try and start a pile-up, consider the context please. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 20:02, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I won't comment other than to point out deleting 4 images is not a spree in any sense of the word. Neil ム 20:04, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Let's not jump up and down on either Krimpet, or Neil, they've made peace. We can talk about the issues, try to reach agreement ourselves, wait for Mike Godwin to be the Voice From On High, or both, but recriminations can only make things worse, not better. Let's aim for better. --AnonEMouse 20:07, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm w/ AnonEMouse on this. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 20:18, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Blocking was a bad move. Images can be undeleted after discussion, there was no emergency here. Neil, as far as I can tell the problem with your images on commons is that a user uploaded images he did not own and used a false license. It's not as though this problem is unique to commons. There as here, no one knows about the problem until they are informed. I have a commons user ID and would be happy to fix the info if you wish. Or you could ask a commons admin to delete them and then transwiki them properly. In fact, the best way to preserve your attribution would be to let BCBot do your images. Thatcher131 20:09, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

• Could someone please explain, or point to an explanation, of the problems with Commons. I agree with some of the descriptions of these problems, and have stated some above. I'd like to also respond to two points above:
  • (a) Theresa Knott said: "Misplaced Pages is free!" Yes, I know that. But images are different from text. Text can be mercilessly edited. Images can be edited too, but there are restrictions on that. This might boil down to creative control. Many photographers contributing free content have no problem with their pictures being redistributed, but do have problems with their pictures being altered: (a) cropping; (b) cleaning; (c) colour levels; (d) other photoshopping stuff. Ditto for inappropriate use (eg. misleading captions), and failure to credit the photographer. Could someone explain to me which CC licence (the 'some rights reserved' stuff) is best for addressing these concerns, as opposed to the GFDL (was that license ever even intended to be used for photographs?).
  • (b) Christopher Parham said: "It makes perfect sense that they would be added to Commons, what doesn't make sense is that they would then be deleted from the English Misplaced Pages, an act which helps Commons not at all and only makes our life more difficult." - could he or someone explain this in more detail? Or point somewhere where this is clearly explained?
• Thanks. Carcharoth 20:33, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
  • • What gives you the idea that images are different than text? Images can be mercilessly edited according to both the GFDL and the CC by SA. The fact that we choose not to on the whole doesn't mean the licence stops us. If photographers have a problem with their images being photoshopped then they must not upload them to wikipedia. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 20:59, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

The problem is the loss of control in moveing an image to commons and deleteing it from en. Commons is a seperate project with different priorities and lower levels of anti-vandle skills.Geni 20:41, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

When an image is deleted from here, editors can no longer include it on their English Misplaced Pages watchlist and administrators can no longer protect it. Changes to the image obviously affect our product but aren't in our recent changes list, aren't in our administrative logs. If we find recent changes, watchlists, protection, etc. to be useful features, why are we systematically destroying them in regard to free images? Deleting the image also introduces confusion about what is the proper place to discuss the image with regard to its inclusion in this encyclopedia: at the commons talk page or at the talk page of the deleted image page here? Commons isn't helped in any way by deleting the image from Misplaced Pages, so the effort we put into deleting images that have been moved to Commons is pretty counterproductive. Christopher Parham (talk) 20:48, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

You cannot "revoke" GFDL. From the license itself "Such a notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free license, unlimited in duration, to use that work under the conditions stated herein". "unlimited in duration". Thats the whole point of GFDL, and it is why people on Misplaced Pages do not get to control their contributions. ((1 == 2) ? (('Stop') : ('Go')) 21:00, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

That would be true if GFDL were a contract; it is a licence, and can be revoked as long as the contributor remains the sole contributor. Neil ム 21:13, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Extreamly doubtful. Once you have released something under the GFDL people can continue to use it under the GFDL as long as they can get of hold of a copy.Geni 21:23, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

There no such concept as a "contributor" in GFDL. When you upload an image you own as GFDL, you're giving the Wikimedia Foundation a irrevocable license to use the image for any purpose. And very time someone's browser downloads this image, this person gets a irrevocable license to use the image for any purpose. That said, if you delete this image from Misplaced Pages, I can, for instance, re-upload it under a different name, as long as I credit you as the author and tag it as gfdl. --Abu badali 21:24, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Now you're all talking about the trees instead of the forest, but let me just point out something really obvious. I write, "Flannery O'Connor's stories always have a theological content, and she said that her sole theme was grace." Now, it gets edited. Fine. It turns into, "Flannery O'Connor ate boogers and liked a girl called grace." That's no longer my contribution. I.e. no one would credit the last statement to me. No one would say that it was my contribution. In fact, it's so obvious as to hardly need saying. However what is going on with the editing of a photograph is that the edits make it no longer the same photograph. I.e. it is no longer "My pet bird" but "Editor Bobo's picture of a bird." Because photographs are single objects rather than documents, because they "mean" all at once rather than in sequence, there is no way to change it "a little" and have it be "mostly the same." The moment you edit it, it's not the same thing at all. Therefore, any edit of a photograph is, in a sense, a brand new photograph that requires separate licensure. The original contributor basically allowed others to use the photograph, including using it as the basis of a new artwork created by editing, but the edited object is not the original. I would be miffed if someone said, "Geogre said Flannery O'Connor was a lesbian," and I'd be miffed if the photo of my pet bird suddenly had a pirate under its claws. It isn't that people can't edit -- the license allows that -- but then the result of any editing is no longer covered by the original donation/license. Geogre 21:45, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry but I believe you're more or less mistaken. I can only change your Flannery O'Connor's statements in my Flannery O'Connor statement because you licensed your Flannery O'Connor under GFDL. My newly created Flannery O'Connor is a derivative work from your original work, and we are co-authors. And per GFDL, I have the obligation to credit you and me, and the obligation to license my derived Flannery O'Connor's statement under GFDL (the viral copyleft thing). If I fail to credit you or to license the derivative work as GFDL, I'm violating your copyrights.

This is in no way different with images. When I draw a pirate on your bird's picture, I'm using my gfdl-granted right to create a derivative work. Again, we (you and me) are the authors of the derivative work. If I refuse to license this derivative work as GFDL, I'm also refusing my GFDL-granted right to use the image. --Abu badali 22:14, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

There are other laws which would see people get into a lot of trouble for inappropriately photoshopping GFDL pictures, such as those of a living person. That and basic ethics. This is why I, on principle, don't upload pictures of people under the GFDL. A more restrictive licence, yes, but not one that allows alteration of the original image. The equivalent here is changing a picture of Flannery O'Connor to "show" that Flannery O'Connor "is a lesbian". By the way, thanks to Geogre for using this example: Flannery O'Connor is a nice story, if a somewhat sad one. Anyway, the point is that images are different from text. Collaborative editing on a piece of text is very different to collaborative editing on an image. Try it some time. Carcharoth 22:54, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Which is why GFDL is not a very good license for pictures. See also the "moral rights" story in the Signpost this week, regarding the CC 3.0 license: Misplaced Pages:Misplaced Pages Signpost/2007-08-13/CC 3.0. Carcharoth 22:57, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Do you understand that Misplaced Pages's policies does not allow you to upload images of living people under any license that would prevent modification? --Abu badali 23:02, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes I do understand that. When I said "I, on principle, don't upload pictures of people under the GFDL.", that translates to "I, on principle, don't upload pictures of people". You seemed to have interpreted it the other way, as meaning "I upload them under a different license", which is not what I meant. Another way to put this is: I'm not going to take a picture of someone and then say to them "is it OK if I upload this picture to the internet under a license that allows anyone to do what they want with it?" I wouldn't give someone permission to upload a GFDL picture of myself, so I don't presume to ask other people that question. It's an ethical stance, based partly on personality rights: "the right of every individual to control the commercial use of his or her name, image, likeness, or some other identifying aspect of identity". Essentially, there are other ways to bar commercial use of content, over and above the GFDL. Essentially, the GFDL does not operate in a vacuum. You have to consider other laws. If modication of a GFDL image leads to fraud, defamation, libel or slander, then the copyright status of the image becomes irrelevant. Do you understand that? Carcharoth 23:26, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

• And from that Signpost story: "Moral rights, as defined by most legal systems, include the right to "the integrity of the work", barring the work from alteration, distortion or mutilation." - that is the sort of clause I would be happy with. If someone can confirm to me that this new CC 3.0 license is better in that respect than the GFDL, I will upload any future pictures I take to Commons and allow free distribution, but not "alteration, distortion or mutilation". Or am I misunderstanding all this (quite possibly!). Any advice would be appreciated (and sorry for posting this here - where would be a better place to continue the discussion?). Carcharoth 23:34, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
  • On reflection, I think my position is better stated as "you are welcome to take a copy of the picture and modify it, but please remove me from the list of authors, I only want to be associated with the picture I took, not the modifed form you produce". But then that runs into the situations of people only cleaning or slightly cropping an image - I'd still want to be credited as the major author of the photograph. It is more the, "I'm going to take a copy of your picture, run it through a shredder, invert the colours, throw a can of paint over it, doodle on it, and then call it art" cases, that would lead me to say "well, I'd prefer it if you don't associate me with that". Does that make any sense? Carcharoth 23:40, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I think Christopher Parham's point above was a good one: deleting images that have been copied to Commons causes more problems than it solves, particularly with images whose copyright has expired. Since the English Misplaced Pages requires only that these images be public domain in the United States, while Commons requires that they also be public domain in the source country, the transwikiing process is full of traps for the unwary. Many images tagged {{PD-US}}, and at least some that are tagged {{PD-Art}} and {{PD-art-life-70}}, do not meet Commons's licensing requirements and are likely to be deleted there when someone finally notices them, but many people who transwiki images are unaware of this.

If we stopped deleting images after they have been transwikied, then Commons could make its own decisions about them without their being lost from Misplaced Pages articles. —Celithemis 00:55, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

• I don't know why anyone hasn't pointed this out, but a huge problem with moving images to Commons with a bot is that all the time people upload images under "GFDL" or "PD" that aren't, and are found on Google Image Search or the like. These usually get deleted after a time, but odds are the bot will just mindlessly copy them over, aggravating the Commons folk and vastly increasing the damage. —Dark•Shikari 04:00, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
  • to address Dark Shikari's issues I will not automatically transwiki images to commons just because {{commons ok}} is on the image. I only allow certain users to tag images to be transwikied users who use the commons ok and are not approved just get ignored. Users who tag images to be moved to commons are noted on the commons image when its moved. If I get a complaint from commons I will remove said user from the list and ask questions later. β 05:01, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
• Not a lawyer, but I think that people are getting hung up on the difference between licensing an image and hosting an image. I think that it's GFDL for good once it's been released as such, but that doesn't mean that we have some moral obligation to keep the image here for people to see and copy. The free/unfree status of the image is not dependant upon its presence in any particular location, so it'd be just as free after it was deleted here as it was before - it'd just be less easily accessable. -Hit bull, win steak 15:17, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

"No Commons" template

I feel that Commons has thoroughly discredited itself on many levels, so that many wikipedians are reluctant to have anything to do with it. Is it possible for them to upload their images under GFDL, specifying that they prohibit the image from being used on one particular website (and that particular website will be Commons)? If this solution is legally possible, I will create Template:GFDL noCommons and reupload some of my pictures under this license. Your opinions are welcome. --Ghirla 13:48, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Ghirla, such a template is not legally possible, and is ludicrous besides. By releasing your image under the GFDL, you are giving blanket permission for it to be used by anyone who abides by the terms of the license agreement, which Commons most certainly does. This is a necessary requirement for something to be free. If a work cannot be freely redistributed it isn't free at all, and we wouldn't accept it on the site. We do not allow users to upload their images with restrictive requirements. No "by permission only" and certainly no restrictions on where the image can be used. --Cyde Weys 14:38, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, if you want that level of control over your intellectual property, then don't set it free with a free license. ((1 == 2) ? (('Stop') : ('Go')) 14:41, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

I do not think this could be legally possible. GFDL and such restriction seems to be incompatible. Perhaps the only way to avoid an image to be transferred to Commons would be to tag it with a licence that is compatible here on Misplaced Pages but not compatible on Commons. But an important point is that this argument is made of two rather separate points. One is that an image is copied to Commons and the other is that is delete from Misplaced Pages. Since the main part of the problem is the second one (since a person who has upload an image here under GFDL was ok that the image was copied anywhere and in modified version too, I can no see that the main problem could be the copy to Commons). So preventing the copy to Commons would not solve the actually problem, but it would just a way to stop this procedure. By the way even preventing a new image to be copied to Commons, would not prevent that an old image could be copied to Commons (and this even if the image was delete).

One more point that I would like to note is that if an image is delete and that is not what the community wants, the image should be restored. Now here there is the difference that it is automatically believed that an image once upload to Commons could be (safely) delete from wikipedia and does not to be restore on wikipedia. Now the short way to solve out the problem that an image is delete is to undelete it, and add a note of the reason of that, putting a note that the image is not delete again for it have been uploaded to Commons. But on the other hands it should be investigated the reason why an image should be delete (for instance having it on more than one place use disk space - i am actually not sure on this), and it would be a good idea to discuss the problem arose with this discussion among the involved communities (including not only the English Misplaced Pages and Commons, but possibly other projects too and surely involving developers - since the reasons for commons to exists are first of all of technical reason).

All of this actually rise me one more question. Would be interesting a feature that allow to include on a page a specific version of an image? This would avoid the problem that a page is vandalized by change an image that it include. (a similar result would be get by forbidding to uplad an image with the same name, but this is a way that I like less). -- AnyFile 14:39, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

There is no license a Wikipedian is allowed to upload under that is incompatible with Commons. You must choose a free license when uploading an image, either (certain) Creative Commons, GFDL, public domain, or something like it. We do not allow users to upload their own work under more restrictive fair use clauses. --Cyde Weys 14:50, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Please see WP:AN#Crafting a response to attempted GFDL revocations; it is very relevant to this discussion. --Cyde Weys 15:18, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to second the position that you may not license an image to be used on Misplaced Pages under conditions that do not allow it to be copied to Commons. There are legitimate issues on Commons with miscopying information when things get moved, deletion policy, and such, which should be corrected or otherwise dealt with—but not by using a restrictive license as a tool to exclude content from it. (I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping a local copy of images that get copied to Commons, if people feel strongly about it.) Kat Walsh (spill your mind?) 16:40, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Is this true? Image:Outersolarsystem objectpositions labels comp.pngthis image I've assigned various licenses, some of which are appropriate for commons, one of which is not. Somehow, I don't trust commons not to delete it. I can at least keep an eye on it here. I'm tempted to remove the "candidate for commons" tag on it. WilyD 15:44, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

CSD I8 is not sacrosanct. It can be rewritten or removed, if that's what the collective wisdom suggests. Angus McLellan (Talk) 17:05, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

If there is a real risk of an image we would consider acceptable being deleted on commons or replaced with a significantly different image, then I8 should be modified. I8 assumes that the existence of a commons image makes it pointless to have a local copy. A different risk of deletion or change at commons invalidates that assumption. I say this as a matter of logic, while holding no opinion on the actual risk level. GRBerry 03:38, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

It is pehaps worth noting at this point that CSD I8 says that images may not be deleted under it if the image description page contains an objection to moving them to Commons. So, while you may not actually stop anyone from copying your free image to Commons — provided they do so according to the license you've chosen, in particular preserving attribution where required — simply writing "I do not want this image to be moved to Commons." on the image description page is enough to prevent it from being deleted from Misplaced Pages. (And yes, there probably should be a template to that effect, if there isn't already.) Personally, I think doing so is silly and counterproductive, but if you want redundant copies of your images to be kept on enwiki, you can have it that way. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 13:53, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

The project has NEVER been wikipedia only. If you don't want your image to be copied to any website in the world then don't release it under a free license. We don't want non free material. Secretlondon 14:11, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm slightly amazed that someone can get to be an administrator and yet still not understand free content.. Secretlondon 14:09, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Preventing a move to Commons is legally impossible, obviously. But how about we change WP:CSD#I8 to say "The image cannot be deleted if the original uploader objects for any reason"? --- RockMFR 19:45, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

• Frankly, no. That only encourages WP:OWNership and petty WP:POINT responses like the above by Neil. I echo Secretlondon's amazement, and believe Neil should have his adminship revoked. >Radiant< 12:06, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

  As per my message on your talk page, Radiant, either file an RFC or stop making such comments. I am not asking for the image to be Misplaced Pages only - I have no objection whatsoever to it being copied to Commons or anywhere else. All am I asking is that a local copy be retained. I am not sure how that should lead to my adminship being revoked. Neil ム 17:25, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

  How is this statement supportable, in light of your attempt to rescind the GFDL licensing of your images? You were clearly disrupting the project to make a point about Commons. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 18:37, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

  For which I was blocked while discussions took place, and when I agreed to no longer attempt to revoke anything, I was unblocked with a polite apology. Yes, I did attempt to revoke GFDL. I was convinced not to, for the good of the project, and will not do attempt to do so again. Can we let it go yet? Neil ム 21:35, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Something perhaps not pointed out so far

Guys, I see this, and all the legal wrangling in this thread is not what worries me in the slightest. What worries me is several problems with bad image uploads that newbie users seem to have. I do constant image patrol and see these all the time:

1. Faux licenses. There are dozens of images per day which are uploaded under a clearly false pd license (e.g., screencaps). A bot that blindly copies them to commons will be abetting this problem.
2. WP:NOT#MYSPACE problems. I also see a ridiculous amount of image uploads which are just "me and my boyfriend johnie!" with no other contributions. Why move these to commons.
3. Commons already has a huge backlog. You think ours is bad. There's is months - this will exacerbate the problem. This is not just a philosophical problem. Uploading ridiculous amounts of pd images means fewer eyes to spot errors, and fewer admins to hit the delete button. This will greatly compound problem images.
4. Notifying users of images up for deletion is no longer possible.

Please think of all this before wholesale approving this bot. The Evil Spartan 20:35, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Please note that I am the bot operator in this case and I agree with the points that you have stated. the automatic transwiki doesnt just happen because {{Commons ok}} is on the image. I only accept images tagged from approved users. (users who know what they are doing and have been added to my list) such users should understand and be able judge images that are ok for commons. all my bot does is allow users to easily move appropriate images to commons. those users are logged on the uploaded commons page. If I get a user who abuses the process and a commons admin brings this to my attention I will revoke access no questions asked and said user might be blocked under our WP:DISRUPT policy. such abuse is not welcome and I hope users who are trusted with access to the tool have enough respect and intelligence not to screw things up. β 21:33, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

If indeed the bot is run in such a way, this would alleviate a good many of my concerns. I just think that we should be sure there is a pair of eyes that see an image before it is transfered. The Evil Spartan 00:09, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

The Evil Spartan, that is how I operate the bot. β 19:10, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I've uploaded many images under the GFDL. Someone could legally re-upload them all with "This image sucks!!!" written over them. And yet I don't think anyone would say we have to provide hosting for that, even if it is legal, so arguments purely along the lines of "We have to allow it because it's legal" are naive here. My point is that maybe we should look beyond what's legal and think about what's best for the project. If someone is contributing images and really wants a local copy to remain, we don't have to let that happen... but would it kill us to do so? Deleting the local copy when all it apparently accomplishes is annoying the uploader, and possibly making them not want to ever contribute anything again, seems like the actual WP:POINT being made here here. --W.marsh 01:09, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Why don't we just say, then, that the uploader has no authority to prevent anyone moving a free image to Commons (and indeed voluntarily relinquished such authority the moment (s)he chose to license the image under a free license), but that a local copy will be retained if the uploader so requests? I personally don't see the point, the accounts are still as free at Commons as they ever were and come complete with a watchlist, but I've never had anyone object to an image move to Commons. For those few who do, we'll move it but keep a local copy too. What would be wrong with that? Whether anyone likes it or not, Commons is a sister project devoted to free images, and free images in the end belong there just as much as dictionary definitions belong on Wiktionary. Seraphimblade 01:17, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Not a bad idea, then, to create a template that amounts to Template:Keep copy here which contains text for users and is recognized like a reverse robots.txt by bots ... it says 'go ahead and copy, but just copy and nothing more'. Or ... one could parameterize Template:Commons ok with 'leavecopy' and values 'y' or 'n'. --User:Ceyockey (talk to me) 00:39, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea. --Ghirla 08:26, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

What Seraphimblade said... There shouldn't be any issue with copying GFDL images over to Commons, but there isn't any reason to delete the Misplaced Pages copy or relink articles to the Common copy if the original uploader wishes. As long as the local copies aren't being deleted after they are moved, I'm fine with the bot.--Isotope23 14:54, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Post-SUL I imagine we'll move all suitably-licensed context to Commons. So... this thread is a tad moot.

James F. (talk) 17:22, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Non-deletion NowCommons tags coming?

As per the discussion above and changes to several policy pages, the images copied to commons now may or may not be deleted from local Wikipedias.

Do we now have a template that says that the image has a copy in commons but the uploader requests a local copy to be kept? And another template stating that if the image is copied to commons the uploader requests a local copy kept? Host of reasons above. As of now, both NowCommons and NowCommonsThis-templates are classified as "deletion tags" among other cats. Anyone making the update on them or new tags? Thanks, --Irpen 04:01, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

AFD keep

I'm presently in conflict with another admin (User:Crum375) who claims that, if an article has an AFD resulting in "keep", that article may not be edited, merged, or renamed. I claim that all three of those are regular editing actions and that AFD does not in any way prohibit that. Perhaps not so coincidentally, he wrote the article in question. Could we get some outside opinion from other admins please? >Radiant< 15:12, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

In general hypothetical theory (i.e. without seeing an article) a Keep doesn't mean an article exists in suspended animation post AFD and those things you've mentioned absolutely can be discussed and undertaken if there is consensus to do so. This is essentially the same thing as when an article is deleted, it may be recreated at a future date provided it meets relevant policies and guidelines. An AFD outcome just decides if the current article as it exists stays or goes it's not a content discussion. I'd also mention that WP:BRD is a good guideline here.--Isotope23 15:26, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Of course every article can be edited - that's a fundamental part of wikipedia. — Carl (CBM · talk) 15:37, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Also consensus can change. Majorly (talk) 15:40, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

AfD does not in any way prohibit normal editing actions on the article afterwards. If, however, there is consensus on the AfD about an editing-based decision (e.g. if there is a clear consensus at an AfD not to rename a page), making that change boldly afterwards (especially soon afterwards) without further discussion first is probably a bad idea, not because it goes against AfD policy, but because making a change that you know consensus is against is probably a bad idea. (I don't know the details of the specific situation, so what I say may be irrelevant to it; I'm talking in general terms here.) --ais523 15:45, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Agreement with ais523. If an article survives AFD, it certainly can be edited, but immediately merging it away is probably not the best idea. Unless, of course, that's what the AFD said. Please give the specific case if you want more details. --AnonEMouse 15:54, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

The article in questions seems to be Mourning sickness. As best I can tell, the main point of contention is that it was originally at Anna Svidersky. The AFD on that article, Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Anna Svidersky (2nd nomination), resulted in a "keep". As soon as the AFD ended, the article was redirected to Mourning sickness. Radiant, who did point out Crum375 was the creator of the article, didn't mention it was Radiant who created the AFD on Anna Svidersky, and when it was closed as a "keep", promptly redirected it. I don't really have any comment on the actual discussion, just thought all the facts should be mentioned. Neil ム 15:58, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

In the AfD it was pretty much acknowledged even by the "Keep" voters that the article wasn't actually about Anna Svidersky herself, but the reaction to her death. I would have thought, though, that the article should probably have gone to "Death of Anna Svidersky" or suchlike rather than to a catch-all article about public mourning. ELIMINATORJR 16:03, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

The Mourning Sickness article was created after most of the editors at the Anna Svidersky article noted that the one single element that was notable or encyclopedic was the reaction to her death. As Crum himself noted "The notable element in the article is the so-called (and reliably sourced) 'mourning sickness' phenomenon, Crum375 19:40, 7 August 2007 (UTC)" Unfortunately rather then focus on this encyclopedic element, the Svidersky article tried to act as a biography for a decidedly non-notable person and essentially became a memorial filled with details about when Anna was a little girl and got a reprimand in elementary school for acting up and the time she cut off her hair and donated it to charity, etc. The overwhelming consensus of both AFD's is that Svidersky is not notable nor is her death but rather only the reaction to her death. The section of the Mourning Sickness article dedicated to Svidersky is meant to retain the notable info that the Keep editors wished to retain but with the focus squarely on the encyclopedic content. Agne/ 16:25, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

To get back to Radiant's question: of course an AfD keep does not preclude later actions such as redirection, moving, merging, or editing of any kind. That said, when an article has just been kept at AfD, it should be thought of as a debate that bears on what to do with the article. To ignore the opinions in the debate is probably unwise... but then, WP:BRD gives a simple way to resolve it, and those debates don't always show a clear opinion on particular solutions. Mangojuice 16:38, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Heh. Looks like the AFD had some people saying it should be merged, just like this, and some saying it shouldn't. Good faith dispute. Go talk it out on the article talk page; you may want to contact the people who participated in the AFD. --AnonEMouse 17:52, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, but the point that most people are missing is that the "article to merge to" is, as Agne points out above, not a seperate article, but a rewritten version of the same article as started during the AFD. >Radiant< 08:13, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Radiant has blatantly misrepresented Crum375 (note the lack of diff), who is far too experienced to make the claim falsely attributed to him. What Crum375 actually said, less than an hour before Radiant posted here, was, "Please leave this article alone, with the correct post AfD Keep name, until consensus is reached on this talk page." That is entirely in line with the AfD consensus, which the closing admin summed up as, "The result was keep. Please defer merge related comments to article talk."

The history of this is that on 7 August, without any discussion, Radiant moved the article (about a murdered teenager, Anna Svidersky) to the name of the murderer, David Barton Sullivan, which is peculiar, since the sources focus on Svidersky, not Sullivan, as indicated by Google hits 26,500 and 73 respectively. When this was reverted Radiant immediately nominated the article for deletion. The result, as above, was keep and discuss any merge; Radiant then redirected the article, again without any discussion on the article talk page, to Mourning sickness, when it was obvious that this would be a controversial action. His action was reversed and he reverted.. I left a note asking for consensus to be reached first before the redirect was made. The matter was still in dispute on the article talk page, and Radiant made the redirect twice more, (with needless history merge) and (incorrectly claiming consensus). Discussion is still ongoing on Talk:Anna Svidersky, and there is no consensus for the redirect. Radiant's conduct is not exactly a shining example.

Tyrenius 04:11, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Irony strikes again. My point is that there is no such thing as a "correct AFD keep name", as the many editors above state (since AFD is irrelevant to article naming and renaming). You're just mudslinging here, rather than contributing to the actual discussion. >Radiant< 08:11, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Presumably the first time irony struck was the "mudslinging" that started this thread. AfD isn't irrelevant if the consensus was "defer merge related comments to article talk", which you failed to mention. You've misrepresented Crum375 again by taking a quote, "correct AFD keep name", out of context: it was only made in this specific application and with the proviso "until consensus is reached on this talk page." There was no notion of it being an absolute statement. You raised the point of correct conduct concerning the AfD, so your own history, which you implicitly associate with "regular editing actions", is relevant and also subject to review. Tyrenius 13:21, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Radiant, I just politely asked you on your talk page to please consider performing a history split for the 2 articles you merged. I perceive that a certain amount of bad blood (or at least irritation) has been aroused among several of us, but I think that with the collective experience of the editors interested in the future of that article, we can come up with a better solution than the mourning sickness redirect/history merge. Even if some of the past discussions haven't gone well, I think you can trust most of us editors to be civil, prodcutive and deferential to both policy and consensus. There has to be a suitable compromise in store.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back 00:59, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't think there is need here for a cross-ex on this admin or that admin's conduct. I think this is a simple content dispute and I'd like to steer the interested parties to the Request for comment so that we can start to work on that compromise.Agne/ 15:19, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm not cross-examining anybody, I'm simply pleading with Radiant to undo that damned history merge so that I can at least make sense of the histories of the two articles. I want to help, but I can't even respond to any arguments or proposed solutions centering around how and why the silly mourning sickness article came about, because that history is now buried among all the Anna Svidersky stuff. If Radiant won't fix it, will you?--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back 05:16, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Abuse by user:Tariqabjotu

I feel harrassed by admin Tariqabjotu. He keeps blocking me whenever he gets the chance when I get into disputes on some articles. I don't break 3rr and I never instigate edit wars, but he keeps blocking me for "edit-warring". I'm looking for outside opinions on this before he gives me the "I'm just being a neutral admin" speech. I just noticed that he's edit-warring on the Israel article right now, so I don't understand the double-standard. Egyegy 02:14, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

First, I fail to understand how his edits on Israel (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) at the moment constitute edit warring - they seem to be uncontroversial changes, and he is reverting no one. As to instigating edit wars and violations of the three revert rule, neither of these is a prerequisite for blocking for edit warring. If a user is disrupting Misplaced Pages via multiple reverts, uninvolved sysops may use their judgement with regards to blocking the user in question. Your recent edits on Arab (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) seem to fit that description, ie disruptive edit warring that doesn't seem to be violating the three-revert rule, as do your recent edits on Middle East. Tariqabjotu seems to have been correct in his block, "03:17, August 18, 2007 Tariqabjotu (Talk | contribs | block) blocked "Egyegy (contribs)" (account creation blocked) with an expiry time of 36 hours (revert-warring on Middle East and Arab, despite previous blocks)". I have don't have a good way of assessing whether he's completely uninvolved, but he certainly hasn't been involved in those two edit wars. In conclusion, I see no abuse. Picaroon (t) 02:53, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

First of all he edits Middle East articles, so we know he is not "uninvolved" at all. Second of all, he was edit-warring on the Israel article. Take a closer look at his contributions and the talk page. He even admits that he was "battling" with the regular editors on the article . His battling made everyone angry . See he is not like an uninvoloved editor. His battling on the article was disruptive. For him to block me three times in a row without breaking 3rr not just shows bias but hypocrisy also. This is why I'm asking someone to take a neutral view of this. Egyegy 18:57, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

The comment I left here is relevant too. Egyegy 18:19, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

User:Matt57

As posted on User talk:Matt57#WP:HARASS and Elonka, I've blocked Matt57 for 24 hour for intimidating behavior and stalking another editor. A certain amount of oversight over other editors (including admins, of course) is obviously beneficial: it keeps us all honest and playing by the same rules.

Going so far as to dig through someone's life and prying out things the other person is trying to keep from public view, when they're quite frankly none of any of our business, however, is quite something else. I've redacted a comment (which will hopefully be deleted soon) of Matt57's which in my opinion shows disturbing behavior on his part.

Hopefully, instead of backfiring on me and causing more wiki-drama, this will cause him to rethink his current behavior and change it to something a bit less frightening to us. Just think of how you'd react if someone were digging up your personal information and posting it all on a site that gets mirrored and google-indexed many times a day.

I can only hope that this causes more help than harm. Opinions and views on the situation are requested. I've obviously been opaque on the actual subject matter for a reason. Thanks. ~Kylu (u|t) 05:33, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I haven't seen the deleted comment, so can't offer any review of it - perhaps it is blockworthy, as you say…

…but you invited Matt57 to edit articles which Elonka isn't editing. To my knowledge, Matt57 isn't editing any articles which Elonka is also editing (though she's invited him to do so.) Which articles did you have in mind when you wrote that?

What Matt57 has been doing is vetting articles that Elonka created last year contra WP:COI - for example this glowing resumé for her father - for original research and other unsourced material, of which they are mostly comprised. That's not harassment.Proabivouac 05:38, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Whether or not it is harassment, it is, IMO, incivil of him to single out a particular user in such a way when he appears to have a history with Elonka. I also note numerous complaints about the zeal with which he's taking an axe to them. IMO, it would be wise of Matt57 to keep away from these articles in the future and leave fixing them to other, uninvolved editors. There are plenty of other bad articles on Misplaced Pages; in fact, there are many far worse than this. I've seen no credible allegation that these articles contain inaccurate statements; rather, that they contain possibly unverifiable statements and are unduly favorable to their subjects. I'd suggest that Misplaced Pages can survive a few puff pieces on Elonka's relatives quite well, that no harm will result by their remaining for a while in an unfixed state, and that Matt57 find something else to worry about. Matthew Brown (Morven) (T:C) 06:09, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

"…they contain possibly unverifiable statements and are unduly favorable to their subjects."

Unverifiable and unduly favorable are violations of policy which I should like to correct. Will I, too, be blocked if I do so?Proabivouac 06:17, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

For the record, I supported her RfA, albeit with strong misgivings, per Danny's oppose, due to COI concerns. I became aware of this issue when MAtt57 was unjustly blocked after having been framed by sockpuppets of two banned users; see this thread.Proabivouac 06:21, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

It would depend on how you did it. Why is it so important to you to fix THESE particular possible flaws in the encyclopedia above others? Why is it so important for Matt57 to do so right now? There are some issues that need immediate fixing; those covered by BLP, copyright violations, etc etc. Other issues like these can be handled slowly if necessary, and are best handled when there is contention by attempting to involve as many others in the decision as possible, so that the results are seen as fairly representative of consensus rather than a personal dislike or issue. Matthew Brown (Morven) (T:C) 08:06, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Fred Bauder once suggested that "aggressively checking the logs of editors with whom you are in a dispute may constitute harassment". Since other arbitrators discarded this principle as a "step in the wrong direction", I believe our definition of harrassment should be reexamined. As I infer from ArbCom's handling of the Abu badali case, Matt's actions should not be qualified as harrassment. He is simply enforcing our principles, just like Abu badali was. --Ghirla 09:54, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

It's not: I'm involved in all kinds of things. This is just item that's been on my plate since it was brought to the community's (and my) attention on this noticeboard.

Although I will point out that there is a probable BLP violation on Elonka Dunin right now: "Dunin, however, investigated further, and got Dunn to admit that he faked the impersonation, as well as his own death, in a pathetic attempt to gain attention." Hopefully, someone will fix that soon.

Re "It would depend on how you did it."

The following diffs illustrate the model I'd like to apply to the articles in question: Granted, I might be accused of being partial toward the editor who did that; however I'm confident that he wouldn't have taken this action were it not mandated by policy.Proabivouac 09:50, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I've been unfortunately dragged into this dispute over the past few days, and I must say I fully endorse this block. Matt57's behavior towards Elonka in this dispute has been wholly unacceptable: digging through her contributions and stalking her across wikis and other websites, aggressively attacking contributions she made years ago, and constantly accusing her of shady wrongdoings, such as accusing her of conspiring with administrators against him in IRC (accusing third parties who offer an outside opinion as being part of her "cabal," which is how I got dragged into this), and even accusing her of harrassing and wikistalking him. Even after Elonka made a completely reasonable request for him to stop (complete with many diffs of example of the behavior I just mentioned), he only seems to have stepped it up further. Matt57 needs to know that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated whatsoever. --Krimpet 06:11, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Krimpet, you threatened me with a block on Commons following Elonka's threatening me on this wiki, (since-deleted page) and conversing with you on IRC. So if Matt57 has accused her of "conspiring with administrators against him in IRC," I'm afraid this strikes me as very credible.Proabivouac 06:17, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Proabivouac, your levels of incivility and serial assumption of bad faith has been on par with Matt57's in this dispute (and it appears that I have conflated your allegations with Matt57's; it was not he who made the accusations of her conspiring with administrators, it was you). I did answer a request for informal third-party clarification from Elonka on whether Image:Mohammed kaaba 1315 bew.jpg was acceptable on Commons, on the public channel #wikimedia-commons. It was after answering her question and ending the conversation with her that I noticed that this appeared to be part of a larger dispute, so I dug deeper and noticed it was spilling over from here on en.wiki, so I gave you a mildly stern warning that disrupting Commons as part of this dispute on en.wiki would not be tolerated. You then immediately accused Elonka of conspiring with me to threaten you with a block on Commons, though I could have just as easily discovered your disruptive behavior through Recent Changes or any other number of channels -- Commons is a much smaller community than en.wiki. And I notice after another uninvolved admin came across the dispute and concurred with what I said on your talk page, you accused him of exactly the same thing. Your pattern of assuming bad faith and instantly accusing other editors of wrongdoing is completely out-of-line. --Krimpet 06:47, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Krimpet, when I see a threat on this wiki, followed by an IRC conversation and a threat for a block on Commons, what am I supposed to think? I asked Elonka about this several times (deleted page, e-mail) and got a carefully-parsed non-answer each time, which does nothing to promote an atmosphere of transparency and trust.

On Misplaced Pages, it would certainly not be considered disruptive to remove a user-degraded image from a gallery of otherwise historic artworks; rather it would be considered disruptive to repeatedly add it, as Elonka has done. If things work differently on Commons, and original user art or defaced (literally) historical works, is welcome, contra stated policy, then I suppose it is - I've nominated it for deletion, and we'll see how that turns out. You made no attempt to discuss any matter of substance with me on my commons talk page, or on the talk pages of the relevant galleries, you made no attempt to answer any of my questions about Commons policies - I had to find them on my own - (talk about WP:BITE) - and your accusation of "disruption" remains completely unfounded. If anything, it is another excellent illustration of why discussions should take place on-wiki wherever possible, so that the matters can be examined openly, without being prejudiced by one-sided conversations to which affected editors are not privy and cannot respond.Proabivouac 07:18, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I remember one of Matt's comments at Elonka's RfA. It was quite excessive. There is no sign of acceptance of anything in Matt's response to Elonka's comment here .

Aminz, we've been talking about this for awhile now at User talk:Elonka/Work1 for awhile now. You can't see it, because it's been deleted. The bottom line here is that Elonka views bringing her COI articles in line with Misplaced Pages policies as harassment. You can say, well, it'd be better if someone other than Matt57 did it, and perhaps you're right…did you have anyone in particular in mind? Because these articles have been blatantly out of step with WP policy for over a year now, and no one's anything about it.Proabivouac 08:03, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Matt is unique in several aspects: There is only one user that writes the username of Itaqallah as "ItaqAllah" and it is Matt (can one ask why only and only Matt does that?). Matt insists in using people like Craig Winn in criticism of Islam article. Just to give you an idea of who this guy is, I'll provide some quotes from him: "Hitler simply followed Muhammad's path...Muslims, like Nazis and Communists, can’t be trusted...Muhammad, Islam’s lone prophet, qualifies as the most evil man to have ever lived...Prophet of Doom is the best documented and most comprehensive presentation of the Islamic scriptures ever written...Muhammad was the perfect Satanic prophet...As an expert on Islam and terror, I know that all good Muslims are terrorists and that most all terrorists are Muslims...Decadent egomaniacs like Muhammad are deeply troubled and tortured souls..Muhammad was a terrorist." --Aminz 07:57, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

You appear to be canvassing, and to have forgotten hadith Volume 4, Book 52, Number 220. Arrow740 09:56, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I am unsure, Aminz, how this has any bearing on the discussion at hand. Neil ム 08:05, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Matt needs to stay away articles associated with Elonka, because his behavior looks like stalking. Whether it is or not is irrelevant; it's what it looks like that matters. He has followed other editors around after disputes with them, which has been discussed on AN/I at least once, so this isn't an isolated incident. SlimVirgin 08:10, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I endorse the prevention of the posting of private material on this website and therefore and by extension the blocking of users, for what seems like a necessary and or appropriate length of time, that introduce such content; blocking is not punitive, but preventative, so I think that what has transpired between Kylu and Matt57 is probably to the benefit (and, possibly, the safeguarding, in relation to the consideration and insurance of every users right to keep certain private information/s unrevealed to the community) of those involved. -- Anonymous Dissident 08:25, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I, too, strongly support this principle and any actions taken to uphold it.Proabivouac 08:47, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

However, according to Matt57's unblock request, this information was already avaliable on User:Elonka/About…

if so, it seems that Matt57 has been blocked twice in a row for infractions he did not commit.Proabivouac 11:52, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

• That was hardly a "completely reasonable request to stop". Rather, something that starts with "formal notification" is probably misguided to begin with, and it appears to contain any number of leaps to conclusions. Something doesn't seem right here. >Radiant< 11:21, 22 August 2007 (UTC)
• I only glanced at this in the past, and assumed Elonka was mostly in the right. The behavior of her more aggressive supporters is making me think again, and making me wonder if I was foolish to support her RfA. Blurring out the face of Muhammad bothers me, but that is a question I would let Commons to deal with, as long as we do not use the bowdlerized picture in any of our articles. Tom Harrison 12:32, 22 August 2007 (UTC)
• Kylu, again, this was no private information. Its all there at User:Elonka/About. This was a completely unfair block where you probably trusted Elonka whatever she told you in email or on IRC. The link I posted in my message to her is publicly available on her wiki's main page (that link is available publicly again, at User:Elonka/About). I had only suggested her to use her own wiki as a scratchpad. I'm tired of all these blocks and threats which are all about trying to stop me from Elonka's family articles, which contain huge amounts of poorly sourced or unsourced OR and which were originally made by her in violation of WP:COI. --Matt57 15:07, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Examined and unblocked

I have investigated this block and the surrounding edits and come to the conclusion that it is both unwarranted and punitive.

• Matt is told to go edit articles Elonka is not editing. However, that's precisely what he IS doing.
• With respect to editing articles on Elonka's relatives, judged by his contribs log he has actually been moving to other subject areas the past few days, and hasn't been editing much overall.
• Matt is told to not store deleted content in his userspace; however, many editors do so, and so does Elonka. The two were holding a conversation in her userspace, that she wanted deleted and he wanted retained. That's hardly inappropriate.
• Matt is told not to post links to people's private sites; however, the link to Elonka's private site is easily found at the top of the links section in the article on her. So he's hardly revealing anything shocking.
• Then we have the standard red herring about the IRC cabal, which should simply be ignored.

I suspect this block is partially based upon Elonka's so-called "formal notification to cease harassment". However, this notification contains numerous overstatements, proofs-by-assertion and misinterpretations. Of course, the title itself is begging the question. It reads as if somebody combed through Matt's contribs and picked out everything that could be construed as problematic.

• For instance, it says "multiple editors were telling to back off" followed by six diffs; these diffs are of three editors, only one of which is telling him to back off.
• It refers an image deletion on commons, where allegedly Matt is "continuing with bad faith accusations", whereas his comment in question is "I've told this to Elonka many times but she fails to understand this." which is hardly extreme.
• And, it says that "on the few other subjects that you're working on, you're getting complaints there too" which (1) is irrelevant, and (2) two people complaining is hardly indicative of a problem editor (heck, anyone who does deletion closure gets more than that, daily).

What we have here is a content dispute. While it could be argued that Matt has a conflict of interest over this content, it is obvious that Elonka does, since the content is about her family (which have been subject of COI complaints in the past). I am aware that she hasn't been editing them recently, but she is vehemently opposing certain edits to them, albeit indirectly. Neither side has been particularly nice towards the other, and tempers are flaring all around. However, we do not solve content disputes by blocking one side. Hence, unblocked, and I suggest taking the articles to WP:RFC. >Radiant< 12:55, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I believe the above analysis is flawed and the decision goes against the grain of the discussion here, which is supportive of the block. I have no time to go into this further. But I ask Radiant to reconisder overruling a block made intelligently and in good faith. WjBscribe 13:03, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

As the phrase "conflict of interest," like "stalking" and "harassment" has been bandied about rather carelessly in this discussion, for example here, let's refer once again to the relevant guideline. I quote from WP:COI#What is a conflict of interest?:

Misplaced Pages is an encyclopedia, not a forum for advertising or self-promotion, or a vanity press…Adding material that appears to promote the interests or visibility of an article's author, his family members…places the author in a conflict of interest…If you do write an article on area in which you are personally involved, be sure to…cite reliable, third-party published sources

It should go without saying that nothing in this page has any bearing whatsoever on anything Matt57 has done.Proabivouac 13:18, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

While I agree with the spirit of the block, the objectionable activity (call it stalking, harrassment, conflict of interest, whatever you will) seems to be ongoing and long-term, and I doubt a 24 hour block will solve problems. Hopefully all parties will heed Radiant's sensible advice. Some form of content arbitration needs to take place here. ~ Riana ⁂ 13:28, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

For all who supported my block and/or are telling me not to edit Elonka's articles: here's the basic situation. Tell me what to do, except not to edit articles on Elonka's family because anyone can edit any article:

• Elonka created and edited these articles last year in the first place, which amounts to multiple violations of WP:COI. She was aware of this policy but as far as I know, she was never warned for the violations.
• Today, these articles still exist, with no reliable sources and often, no proof of notability (Antoni Dunin, Stanley Dunin etc.)
• I decided to take up the task of looking at these articles, taking out unsourced OR, examining the quality of the sources.
• She asked me to stop editing her family articles (WP:OWN). What? Shouldn't she be the one who is told the same as per COI?

Am I doing anything wrong? If you tell me to stay away from Elonka for a while, I can do that, but dont tell me not to edit these articles. Even Jimbo has taken out unsourced or poorly sourced OR from Elonka related articles. I should be allowed to edit these articles. Whats wrong with that?

So, what is the reasonable resolution of this whole affair? I'm willing to take a break to let things cool down on both sides but I wont accept anyone telling not to edit these articles, because I have every right to do so as long as I'm following policies. Please also tell me now why Elonka was not warned for making these COI violations at that time and why she was allowed to freely promote her family members. Keeping your friendships and biases aside, please ask yourself: what is the right thing to do for these articles with OR and COI problems? --Matt57 14:02, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Matt57, you make the mistake of comparing Elonka's actions from a long time ago against the COI guideline as it exists today. Fortunately this is a wiki, so you can go look up an old copy of the COI guideline and see what it said at the time. Also take a look at an old version of WP:V.

These articles should be cleaned up, or possibly deleted, but not by somebody with an axe to grind. You shouldn't edit these at all because you obviously have such strong feelings about Elonka. Would it make sense to post these articles to WP:COIN to get more neutral editors involved? - Jehochman 14:12, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Take a look at the old versions of the policies yourself. The old copy of COI still admonished people about articles promoting their family members. When Elonka was aware of the policy, this is what it said at that time:

any material that presents the appearance of being intended to in any way promote the personal notoriety of the author, or one of the close family members or associates of the author.

WP:V was also pretty clear at that time: "Personal websites and blogs are not acceptable as sources"

Ofcourse I would be glad to post this to WP:COIN. In the past, when I sought outside advice for this affair, I was accused of forum shopping. I dont have any axe to grind. I've been fair in every way. If I'm told not to edit these articles, I'll contact Jimbo and tell him that people are being allowed to promote their family members and those who come in to deal with these problems are threatened with blocks, and I'll remind him that he has himself taken out unsourced OR from Elonka related articles. Again, I'm willing to take a break, seek community input on my edits on these articles and invite people to edit and provide feedback but its wrong to tell me to stay away from these articles. --Matt57 14:26, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Matt57, the point is that many editors think what you are doing is stalking. Personally, I find it spooky. I had no interaction with either you or Elonka until I happened to vote in her RFA and left a message on her talk page. I have watched what you are doing and even commented on it to you in the early stages. There is nothing wrong with cleaning up the articles. There is something very wrong with your continuing obsession. Leave it to someone else and move on. -- DS1953 14:28, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

You like Jehochman and others have supported Elonka in her RfA. Please leave your personal biases aside. I've mentioned that I can take a break but its unfair to tell me not to edit these articles. I'm seriously going to think about contacting Jimbo about this. --Matt57 14:34, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't believe I have a personal bias to leave aside in this case. As I said, I had never any interaction with Elonka in my three years here before supporting her RFA. I have commented on many RFAs during my time here and don't believe that simply deciding that someone would not misuse the tools makes me biased in their favor. (In fact, there are some editors from whom I wish I could withdraw my previous support). What's more, I even happen to agree with you that the articles need to be trimmed of non-encyclopedic material and, in some cases perhaps, deleted entirely. What I don't believe is appropriate is for you to continue to act in a manner that many people consider to be stalking. Driving over the speed limit is neither legal nor safe but if you followed my neighbor around calling the police every time she went 32 mph in a 30 mph zone, I would say you have a problem that is worse than her exceeding the speed limit. -- DS1953 15:23, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

DS1953, per the now-banned anti-Merkey SPAs, you are absolutely correct about which would be worse. However, Matt57 isn't following her around, not even to a single article. The "stalking" consisted of Matt57 finding a user subpage she'd created to harass him.Proabivouac 15:33, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

DS, I didnt follow Elonka anywhere. She made that whole page on me, which I happened to see using her contribs (seeing someone's contribs is not stalking, per WP:STALK) and I responded to that page on its discussion tab. --Matt57 15:40, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

How about as a compromise both Matt57 and Elonka agree not to edit these articles for a while? And maybe someone could list the articles we are talking about. Tom Harrison 14:33, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Elonka doesn't edit these articles directly; she just threatens those who do. And her threats come true.Proabivouac 14:41, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, she doesn't edit her family's articles anymore. Most of them can be found here (this is public information, people, lest I be blocked again for posting this 'dangerous' link: User:Elonka/Genealogy. The ones that are being discussed and evaluated nowdays are Antoni Dunin and Stanley Dunin. They're full of unsourced OR that Elonka put in last year. The talk pages of these articles prove that there are almost no non-trivial reliable sources. And yes I can take a break from these articles so we can let things cool down everywhere, but if I'm told by others not to edit these articles at all, I will take that seriously. --Matt57 14:49, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Matt57 can raise an article RFC, a third opinion, or a notice at the COI noticeboard (or all three). This should attract outside editors to the articles without the drama that comes from Matt and Elonka having previous negative interactions. If other experienced editors agree with Matt's concerns, Elonka would have no leg to stand on. Thatcher131 14:47, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the nuetral input. This is what I'll do, after taking a break and letting things calm down a bit. --Matt57 14:51, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks - this would be exactly the right thing to do. Yes, the articles need to be fixed - but your doing it directly is not going to help, since there is the appearance (true or not) that you are taking an axe to them because of previous disputes between you and Elonka. Asking others to fix them is the right approach. Matthew Brown (Morven) (T:C) 20:32, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I was unable to post more about this matter earlier as I had to catch a train. I am very disappointed this block was overturned. It seems to me that Raidant substituted his own judgment for that of the blocking admin against the consensus here. Instead of raising his analysis in this thread so it could be discussed further and his points responded to, he went ahead and unblocked because he thought that was the right thing to do, not because there was a consensus to unblock. These issues with Matt's conduct are longstanding and his recent attentions towards Elonka are only a recent manifestation. Whilst I agree that there are OR problems with some of those articles, his approaching of blanking most of the content (rather than just that which is unsourced) has been criticised both by myself and Shell Kinney (who has bene doing great work improving those articles). For example Matt seems unable to accept that inline citation is not required by policy, that sources do not have to be in english and that print references are as good (if not better) than online ones. His conduct - goading Elonka on her talkpage when she has understandably decided not to edit those article's further due to WP:COI concerns seems to be trying to place her in a catch 22 situation. Damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. His approach to the matter has been hostile and combative rather than collegial. Myself and Durova have both warned him that his content has crossed the line into harassment. Other admins (including critics of Elonka) have concurred. Matt57's aggressive approach is not limited to Elonka - SlimVirgin also appears to have recieved very unwelcome attention following a disagreement between them. I also note that in discussion in general he is quick to disruption to make points and seem to regard compromise and bowing to consensus as weakness. This attitude is fundementally at odds with what this project is about. WjBscribe 17:18, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

• Response. >Radiant< 09:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

It sounds like a request for comment might be in order. Tom Harrison 17:24, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

WJ, you were one of the nominator's in Elonka's last RfA so you're not a nuetral party here. I'm just being bullied to stay away from Elonka's family articles, this is what its all about. As for SlimVirgin, she has had conflicts with a lot of people, not just me. If blanking the content was wrong, was Jimbo wrong too? About me opposing consensus, consensus right here on this section has been that Elonka's articles have serious problems and thats what I've said too. --Matt57 17:46, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Matt57, there may be problems with these articles, but you are not the one to fix them. I'm glad you stated (above) that you wouldn't be attempting to do so yourself in future, but would instead bring up any problems in forums where other editors might help out. Matthew Brown (Morven) (T:C) 20:36, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't know much about this situation, but from reading this ANI thread I don't think Matt57 should have been blocked. Kylu's elliptically-worded post that opened this thread seems to be mostly about the (attempted) revelation of private information, and as far as I can see Matt hasn't revealed anything that wasn't already publicly available. If Matt is stalking or harassing Elonka, it might be beneficial to set out the evidence in a user conduct RfC; the community can then evaluate whether blocking or other remedies are necessary.

By the way, Antoni Dunin is now at AfD: Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Antoni Dunin (2nd nomination). --Akhilleus (talk) 18:40, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Speaking of which, on WP:COIN#Antoni_Dunin, Matt57 stated he wouldn't be involved in the AfD for now, yet has involved himself in the debate there anyway. In the meantime, interested parties may wish to review my response to the unblocking and opinion of the situation if you'd like. Leave responses here please. ~Kylu (u|t) 20:14, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Kylu, your allegation on which my block was based on was that I leaked out sensitive information on Elonka and that turned out to be false. It was all public information. Next time, please investigate matters before blocking someone and dont listen to people on IRC (you admitted IRC was involved), because if someone says something about me, it might be a complete lie or a misrepresentation and I cannot be there to correct the facts. I dont know why Elonka frequents IRC so much and why she doesnt contact ANI here when she has a problem. Is that because she knows she has an advantage over the person she wants to get prosecuted since they cant see whats being said? The IRC logs should be available by the way, because I want to know what she has been saying about me. By the way, I took out my vote as a suggestion from THF. Its amazing Elonka walks free while I get blocked and harrassed and told to stay away from her articles, in which she has violated COI herself. Thats because she has all these admin friends whom she contacts on IRC to get them to stop others from doing anything to her family articles. --Matt57 21:04, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

In case it wasn't clear above, Kylu, I am wholly in support of your block, which I think was thoroughly deserved. IMO, Matt57 has a propensity to do things on purpose to irritate those he's had disagreements with (i.e. WP:POINT) and has a major problem with being told he shouldn't do something. There's a lot of editors on Misplaced Pages who can make the articles on Elonka's relatives be NPOV, or argue for their deletion if they're not ever going to be good encyclopedia articles. Matt57 should be nowhere among them. It's not unreasonable to ask people to avoid conflict and avoid doing things on purpose to annoy others, even if the conduct is within the normally acceptable sphere of edits. Arbcom has done so in the past and will do so in future (frequently). Matthew Brown (Morven) (T:C) 20:39, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

There's only one thing to discuss on this whole affair: whether the sources are enough or not. If they are, please take part at the article's discussion page. --Matt57 21:04, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Matt: IRC RC Bot and Misplaced Pages IRCD. As I stated , IRC is my preferred method of seeing recentchanges. The block wasn't based on that one incident of personal information (which you didn't post as article-related, and if you're following RS as strictly as you say, shouldn't even be a site to pique your curiosity) but because of the pattern of harassment. Want to know WHO I was listening to on IRC when I first started considering the situation? Visit irc.wikimedia.org, channel #en.wikipedia. RC's a bot. It spits out a list of all the changes on Misplaced Pages, rather like having a realtime, scrolling special:recentchanges. The channel is, for the most part, full of bots. I have not once seen RC (or any of the other bots) squeak a word, other than RC spitting out its continuous feed. On that server, in fact, Sending messages to channels is not allowed, you can watch but you can't touch. (from the irc.wikimedia.org welcome message)

Did anyone else on regular IRC mention the situation? Sure did, but that was after I'd already made up my mind and started acting upon it. Please don't presume to know what my thoughts and motivations were. I'd like to point out that earlier, in "regular" irc, I suggested to a different admin to not make blocking decisions based on advice gained on IRC. You have to be responsible for your own decisions, and I not only stand by my block, I'm dismayed that you've decided to see Radiant's unblock as clearance to continue your actions. ~Kylu (u|t) 21:26, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

• Response. >Radiant< 09:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Kylu, in the post which began this thread, giving the reason for your block, you wrote, "Going so far as to dig through someone's life and prying out things the other person is trying to keep from public view, when they're quite frankly none of any of our business, however, is quite something else." Did Matt57 do that?Proabivouac 01:07, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

(Copied from Radiant's talk page) Radiant, I agree with WJBscribe that Matt needed to sit out this block. He has been practically stalking Elonka because she tried to mediate between him and some Muslim editors during a content dispute, and he didn't like the suggestion she came up with. This left him with the sense that she is too pro-Muslim (when in fact she was just trying to find a compromise). He tried to do the same to me a while back after a dispute at Islamophobia, after which he also decided I was pro-Muslim. I forget the exact details, but he later turned up at a couple of articles I edit a lot and tried to cause a problem. He also implied that I was creating sockpuppets that appeared to be him in order to discredit him. I saw on AN/I that there were allegations of harassment from other editors too following content disputes, so this is a pattern. What has made it worse in Elonka's case is that the articles he has stalked her to are about her family, and so there are privacy issues. The behavior has been a bit creepy, to be honest, and Kylu was right to block, in my view. SlimVirgin 05:06, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• Response. >Radiant< 09:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC

I, for one, completely agree with what Radiant said and think the block was uncalled for. Matt editing the Dunin articles is not stalking. Following Elonka on pages she edits, etc, is stalking. Matt is completely within his right to edit these articles, and no one has a right to stop him from doing so. He doesn't need to be bothering Elonka with what he's doing, but that is all. If Matt isn't allowed to finish cleaning these articles up, I'll volunteer myself to do so. -- Ned Scott 05:30, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Since you have clear issues with Elonka as well, you're probably not a good party for this either. Shell 19:42, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I generally agree with Radiant's contention that "we do not solve content disputes by blocking one side". Any attempts to issue blocks instead of pursuing standard dispute resolution procedures are ill-advised and reflect poorly on those who demand their opponents to be blocked from editing, especially by advocating, manipulating, and politicking behind the scenes. I guess we move to arbitration next. --Ghirla 09:35, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Muntuwandi Still Reverting

Here are the latest, can someone please do something permanent! He won't even use edit summaries --Phral 09:46, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't know much about your stories but it is clear that it is an edit warring. Just a note for everyone, please discuss your issues at the talk page. There has been no discussion since August 13. If not i'd be obliged to protect the article at the wrong version of course. -- FayssalF - 21:59, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

To butt in for a moment. I too have problems with Phral with reverting MY edits and his racist views. (This is not an attack, he is proud of that). See his response to my comment on his talk page. The link above was a legitimate good faith revert, because what was there before was inaccurate. Carol Channing is not Mulatto. Also, trying to bait me on my talk page. I can provide many more, but will not clutter this page. FYI. - Jeeny  08:12, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm not racist, just a realist. And I was genuinely interested into what is motivating Jeeny to delete so much information and try cover so many things up, much like Muntuwandi does. --Phral 08:18, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Good grief. Block them all for a week. This is multiple archived threads being reopened for no good reason, after numerous warnings and participation from all involved persons in the aforementioned, afore-archived AN/I threads. The Edit warring is being done in full awareness that AN/I regulars know what's up, and should be dealt with in a swift, strong way at this point. No one can say, "oh y'know, i had NO idea... " ThuranX 04:59, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

user:Blaxthos

The User user:Blaxthos has a continuing history of personal attacks against me since I first encountered him earlier this year resulting in an inability to have constructive dialogue. He creates a hostile environment making it difficult for anyone to work in good faith with him. The latest involving what I believe is an external link which violates WP:EL WP:RS and WP:UNDUE in the Fox_News_Channel_controversies article see talk Talk:Fox_News_Channel_controversies. Instead of providing reasoning why the link does not, he has again resorted to attacking me; working in concert with the user USER:Italiavivi. I have tried to work with the person, but they simply refuse to assume good faith. Arzel 14:09, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Blaxthos made two comments that I saw. He was angry but was replying to earlier comments you had made. It seems that you are having difficulty convincing the editors of your view. I would suggest everyone get back to commenting on the content -- not each other. --JodyB _{yak, yak, yak} 16:36, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

No, this goes way back to my first encounter with him. He makes condensending remarks to everything I say. Instead of discussion the issue he continually questions my motives and I am tired of it. He seems to think that since he has been here longer and knows more policy words than the average person he can say whatever he wants. When I in turn researched up on various policies he assused me of Policy Shopping. Check out his essay, it was written in respone to me! Arzel 14:20, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Johntex's dishonesty (BSA)

I’d like to address actions by Johntex. While they happened a while ago, I stopped contributing soon before, and so didn’t find out about them until later. I made an edit and included two links in support of my claims. Johntex then claimed that I hadn’t included any cites, and I pointed out the two links that I had included. He then denied that I had included those links. I repeatedly and in excruciating detail explained where to find them, yet he continued with his claim. I will put a screenshot of the two links on Johntex’s Talk page.

When I pointed out that he was lying, he had the gall to declare that I was being uncivil by commenting on his dishonesty. Furthermore, this followed an attempt on my part to initiate mediation proceeding. Rather than first bring these issues up in that arena, or otherwise attempting to resolve his alleged issues with me, he simply moved to silence me by presenting a one-sided description of the situation on this page. He filed a complaint based on a dishonest presentation, even going to far as to accuse me of lying in insisting that he was lying. To top it off, he never gave me any notice of the complaint, and gave the complaint a nondescriptive title that included neither my name nor any reference to the article in which the dispute arose. It was only through wading through pages and pages of the history page that I was able to find it, and even then only because I recognized Johntex’s name.

In my opinion, this sort of behavior is simply unacceptable, and if he isn’t banned from editing, he should at the very least be stripped of his administrative authority. No one with such a contempt for the truth should be in a position of authority in a site which has the truth as its primary mission.Heqwm 19:16, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

You have yet to offer any proof of misconduct on Johntex's part. OhNoitsJamie 19:29, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Verifiability trumps truth. On that note, some diffs provided here might be helpful. --Onorem♠Dil 19:31, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

John has not done anything recently that would warrant any sort of block or strip admin privileges. In the dispute you are mentioning, it seems he was very civil and stated his side of the story. Also, its rather redundant to add further comment on a mediation case that was closed in November 2006. As mentioned above, if you can provide recent diffs which illustrate incivility, lying, or unacceptable behavior then that would warrant comment or action. Diffs from ages ago are really ancient history.¤~Persian Poet Gal 19:37, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Reply by Johntex:

1. Heqwm is referring to events that occurred in October 2006. That was many moons and many edits ago.
2. However, I described the situation fully in my response to the mediation cabal case openned by Heqwm. I provided plenty of diffs that I believe make clear that Heqwm was the party violating WP:CIVIL.
3. None of the above is a surprise to Heqwm. He replied to my posting at the mediation cabal case, so he is being dishonest or disingenuous to now claim that he was unaware of my comments.
4. Heqwm did abandon the mediation cabal case although he did continue to make a couple of edits to the related article and talk page before he left Misplaced Pages.
5. For some reason, he is starting this conversation up again in multiple places (here and at the cabal case). His "notification" to me was placed on my User page, not my Talk page, so I found it only by accident. I assume this was a simple mistake by Heqwm. Johntex\ 21:10, 22 August 2007 (UTC)
6. However, he continues to violate WP:CIVIL in accusing me of lying with no evidence whatsoever.
7. I also believe that he is now, just as he was then, violating Misplaced Pages is not a battleground, which states "Misplaced Pages is not a place to hold grudges, import personal conflicts, or nurture hatred or fear. Making personal battles out of Misplaced Pages discussions goes directly against our policies and goals. Every user is expected to interact with others civilly, calmly, and in a spirit of cooperation.. Do not insult, harass, or intimidate those with whom you have a disagreement." His dredging this up is nothing short of disruption and harassment.
8. I recommended that he be strongly cautioned against disruptive behavior and/or receive a short block so that his disruption is checked and so that he will understand this is not the right way to go about rejoining the project.

Thank you, Johntex\ 21:10, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

OhNoitsJamie: “You have yet to offer any proof of misconduct on Johntex's part.“

I prepared a screenshot, only to discover that wikipedia doesn’t allow bmps to be uploaded. So I settled for posting the link and the relevant quote. Here’s the link again: http://en.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Boy_Scouts_of_America&diff=prev&oldid=79701488

Persian Poet Gal: “In the dispute you are mentioning, it seems he was very civil and stated his side of the story.”

Some comments he made: “If you don't modify your behavior, there will be no alternative to viewing your behavior as vandalism.”

“My statement was correct and I expect you will want to apologize for saying I lied.”

Then on top of that, he had me suspended based on lies.

“Diffs from ages ago are really ancient history”

Ten months is ancient history?

Johntex says: “However, I described the situation fully in my response to the mediation cabal case openned by Heqwm.”

Congratulations, you just eliminated your statute of limitations excuse, because now you’re posting new lies. I included the links that you said were not there. You did not acknowledge that. Therefore, you did not describe the situation fully.

“None of the above is a surprise to Heqwm. He replied to my posting at the mediation cabal case, so he is being dishonest or disingenuous to now claim that he was unaware of my comments.”

Except that you made no mention of the fact that you were seeking action against me on the mediation page, so you are the one being dishonest. You NEVER, as far as I know, made ANY effort to inform me of your actions with regard to suspending me.

“Heqwm did abandon the mediation cabal case although he did continue to make a couple of edits to the related article and talk page”

As far as I can see, my last edit last year was 16:23, 26 October 2006. Until 23:01, 26 October 2006, there was no real progress on the mediation case (nor had there been for about two weeks). So your implication that I ignored the mediation case in favor of continuing to edit is yet another dishonesty from you. There was nothing for me to ignore until AFTER my edit.

“For some reason, he is starting this conversation up again in multiple places (here and at the cabal case).”

While I made mention of dishonesty in general on the cabal page, I did not make any mention of this specific case.

“However, he continues to violate WP:CIVIL in accusing me of lying with no evidence whatsoever.”

That I have no evidence is yet another lie. I’m not going to let you hide behind the skirt of civility. Bringing to light your blatant dishonesty is more important than sparing your widdle feelings.

“I also believe that he is now, just as he was then, violating Misplaced Pages is not a battleground, which states "Misplaced Pages is not a place to hold grudges, import personal conflicts, or nurture hatred or fear. Making personal battles out of Misplaced Pages discussions goes directly against our policies and goals. Every user is expected to interact with others civilly, calmly, and in a spirit of cooperation.. Do not insult, harass, or intimidate those with whom you have a disagreement." His dredging this up is nothing short of disruption and harassment.”

Wow, you sure are a hypocrite. I was willing to let it go until you went whining to this page with your lies. You’re the one who created this battle.

“I recommended that he be strongly cautioned against disruptive behavior and/or receive a short block so that his disruption is checked and so that he will understand this is not the right way to go about rejoining the project.”

What part of “Do not insult, harass, or intimidate those with whom you have a disagreement" do you not understand? I’m not going to buckle under your bullying. You don’t get to block people just because they dare point out your dishonesty.

You really show your arrogance here: anyone who has a problem with should be blocked.Heqwm 16:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

This is a ridiculous and childish AN/I thread. The argument happened ten months ago. You left wikipedia for months, after the incident and Mediation. Now you've come back, and your first major act hee is to open this thread, demanding we re-do the entire process now that you're here to more fully participate? Stop wasting our time, and go help build the project, or go back to doing whatever you did while you were gone from Misplaced Pages. Your immature 'gotcha' style comments above, such as "Congratulations, you just eliminated your statute of limitations excuse, because now you’re posting new lies. " and "I was willing to let it go until you went whining to this page with your lies. You’re the one who created this battle." Are trolling posts. You're trying to get a reaction out of him. Him defending himself doesn't require you to accuse him of lying without proof you've yet to provide, and accusing HIM of starting this again, when it's clear he let this go 10 months ago, and when YOU opened this AN/I thread, is absurd.

Admins, I'd support any Admin giving Heqwm an indef block as a SPA trolling account with a grudge. ThuranX 13:04, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Accusation of bias and illegal activity

I've just been accused of deliberately promoting illegal activity, when in fact all I'm doing is trying to prove that said illegal activity is significant and relevant.

This user is persisently edit warring and removing valid informatin despite reverts by four different editors, and he refuses to discuss his changes on the talk page. He's saved from 3RR violation only by the fact that I keep editing the page to try and make it more acceptable, so it's not going back to the exact same version every time. Now that it's turned to personal attacks I am angry and upset and I don't know what to do anymore.

Please advise. --Masamage ♫ 20:01, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

FYI, WP:3RR says "An editor must not perform more than three reverts, in whole or in part, on a single page within a 24-hour period. A revert means undoing the actions of another editor, whether involving the same or different material each time." (emphasis mine). --barneca (talk) 22:03, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Looks like the timing is just spaced out enough that it's not a violation. But that wasn't really my concern anyway; I'm more worried about the edit warring and total lack of good faith. (On another page, where he's fighting a similar fight, he smacked me with "There ARE rules here, face it.". Incidentally, he refuses to cite any rule that illegalizes mentioning the existence of fansubs in a series' production history.) --Masamage ♫ 23:16, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

User:Folken de Fanel should be warned about legal threats. Corvus cornix 23:19, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Fansubs are against copyright laws in some countries. Maybe that's what Folken is referring to. Either way, I believe that Folken has been edit warring. bibliomaniac15 Prepare to be deleted! 23:22, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Could somebody please issue him a proper warning regarding this behavior? I'm not comfortable warning people with whom I'm involved in a dispute. --Masamage ♫ 17:29, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Help requested versus "George Reeves person/BoxingWear"

An old "friend" of ours, the George Reeves Person (admins, please read the deleted history of this page to get the back story) is active again, harassing several users. I could use a bit of help. More specifically, those he targets could use the help, since most of the people he collides with are new users he abuses when they correct his edits on articles relating to his various interests: boxing, basketball, Balkan and middle eastern politics. A lot of good people can be driven off by this person. You can recognize him by his non-native English, use of all lower-case and all upper-case, run-on sentences and comma splices, and completely uninhibited incivility and abuse. He has not been an actual vandal for a while—except for when he goes berserk and starts leaving threats on people's user pages—but his edits are rarely useful. They usually get reverted by other editors, which is when he becomes abusive.

Caution: anyone who becomes involved in this will become a target for harassment. You will receive hateful and threatening e-mails signed by "different" people, and if you edit under your real name, you are likely to receive harassing telephone calls as well. This person, who is one of our longest-term and most poisonously hateful troublemakers, will attempt to find out your real identity, and will post about you on the various anti-Misplaced Pages attack sites.

His past aliases include User:BoxingWear, User:Projects, User:Vesa, User:Gildyshow, and others. He has asked to be called "Goran", "George", "Gordon", and his hate-mails to me are signed "Vanessa". When asked to moderate his behavior, he responds with violent abuse, often pretending to be multiple people. He usually edits from the ranges 66.99.0.0/22 and 64.107.0.0/22 (Chicago Public Library), although he has used other IPs which trace to the Chicago area. All the anons on Severo's talk page since August 1 are him. When range-blocked, he uses open proxies. When confronted, he makes threats such as this one (note the sneaky change to another user’s comment: this is a characteristic of his editing style). Also this from today is special. Thank you for any assistance, Antandrus (talk) 20:16, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I issued a 3 hour block similar to the one you instated with the IP earlier. Edit: I was about to protect the talk page from editing but Anetode simply deleted. I'll keep a watch on those pages as well throughout the day.¤~Persian Poet Gal 20:31, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I've also semi-protected AN/I, there's no need to tolerate this kind of abuse. ˉˉ╦╩ 20:36, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Thank you both; much appreciated. The more people aware of this one, the better. By the way, he will attempt to remove this thread from the archive once it expires from this page (for example notice the exceedingly persistent pest here) Antandrus (talk) 21:10, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Have you received the nasty email quoting this post yet? Natalie 22:29, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Hm, no, I haven't (nor did I get the e-mail he said he sent to me yesterday, inviting me to meet him at some parking lot or other in Chicago) but then I put "Vanessa" in my killfile a few months ago. I'll look in my deleted messages. Did you get one? I know you have gotten them from him before. Antandrus (talk) 23:00, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I tend to get emails from him (also signed "Vanessa") referencing whatever post I've made that mentioned his name. He also sent a couple of emails to my college - best quote: "WE R BUILDING WEBSITE TO LET ALL KNOW U R NEONAZIS WHO HARBNR EM". I have some of the archives mentioned below on my watchlist, but I'll add the others, at least. Perhaps we should indefinitely semi protect them, though, since there really isn't any reason for anyone to need to edit the archives. Natalie 06:50, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

GRP deleting threads about himself from the archives

There's another problem now. I've caught him numerous times deleting all the threads about himself from the archives; I was wondering why Google was finding so little, when I know he has been discussed again and again. See , , and for several examples. He usually uses open proxies for this particular bit of sneaking. I don't know how many more there are like this, or if there is an easy way to find them. Thanks to Luna Santin for catching the last of these three back in May. Antandrus (talk) 03:21, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• This is troubling (and highly inappropriate of GRP). Perhaps we should have the devs implement some kind of auto-protection for archive pages, to prevent people from fabricating history. >Radiant< 11:05, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Eden Tate

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Note to 198: Grind your axe elsewhere. Closed to prevent arguments. Will 18:17, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

My block of Eden Tate (talk · contribs) as a sockpuppet of the banned vandal, Internodeuser (talk · contribs) aka Zordrac (talk · contribs) aka 123.2.168.215 (talk · contribs), was questioned by Everyking (talk · contribs). I bring it up here for discussion if necessary. Posted by Everyking to my discussion page:

You have blocked Eden Tate as a sock. Can you please explain your evidence for this? It doesn't look like you've posted it anywhere.

My response, on my discussion page. "Have you been following the discussion on unblock-en-l? If you have not, it will take you some time; some of the emails are almost 5000 words long. Eden Tate is not mentioned there specifically but the whole Zordrac/Internodeuser/Blissyu2 issue has been raised. This is a banned vandal who is known to use sockpuppets and to be "less than truthful" about the use of said sockpuppets. The timelines fit as do the styles of the edit summaries and the edits themselves. Zordrac has also taken an interest in this particular article, mentioning it in email to me and in messages to unblock-en-l. And note for the record that the Nelly Furtado article now includes in the introduction paragraph information about Portuguese citizenship, though now in such a way as it does not violate WP:MOSBIO, so I am most definitely not blocking this user because he disagreed with me." --Yamla 21:04, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

So, basically, you assume that every editor that edits in a way that does not conform with your interpretation of a style guideline is a sockpuppet of a banned user? The propriety of this block is certainly questionable. 198.203.175.175 16:50, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I have absolutely no idea how you came to this conclusion based on what I wrote above. --Yamla 16:56, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Okay, let me put it another way: if we completely disregard any circumstantial evidence you feel you may have from unblock-en-l and focus on what we have from transparent on-wiki sources, it would appear that you have assumed sockpuppetry and blocked a user with whom you were in a content dispute. 198.203.175.175 17:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

If you completely disregard all circumstantial evidence from unblock-en-l and from this editor's contribution log and edit summaries then yes, it may appear that way. Of course, the fact that I did not block Jester7777 or Opinoso would provide some evidence that this had nothing to do with a content dispute, as would the fact that the article on Nelly Furtado now includes the Portuguese citizenship information (well cited and clearly in accord with WP:MOSBIO). Anyway, either Eden Tate has been functioning as a sockpuppet or meatpuppet of Zordrac/Internodeuser/Blissyu2, in which case the block was entirely appropriate, or the user is completely unrelated, in which case the block was not. I have asked Eden Tate to send an email to unblock-en-l if he or she wishes to be unblocked. It may be that I am mistaken. Certainly I have been mistaken in the past. I think it unlikely in this case, it seems to be a fairly straight forward case of sockpuppetry or meatpuppetry and ban evasion. --Yamla 18:11, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

User_talk space inquiry, accusation of 'harassment'

Ferrylodge (talk · contribs) is part of a dispute at Talk:Fred Thompson concerning whether or not to include the age difference between Sen. Thompson and his wife, Jeri Kehn. In the process of this dispute, Ferrylodge took exception to my referring to incorrect statements about the article's revision history as "lies," in addition to my portrayal of his all-caps bolded comments as "screaming." After responding to me once on his User_talk page, I attempting to clarify why certain text formats are taken as "shouting" or "screaming" to him; he is now deleting my comments and accusing me of "harassment." He is not removing my initial comment, only my attempt to clarify to him. Is there anything that can be done of such misrepresenting comments in User_talk space? If he is not going to allow me to clarify my remarks to him, I would appreciate if he would remove my comments altogether instead of only leaving the first half. Italia 21:17, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Lesson learned; do not use the terms "lies" or "screaming" when referring to another contributors edits, follow the guidelines at WP:CIVIL. I will politely request that Ferrylodge remove all (or allow you to) of your comments at the talkpage. LessHeard vanU 21:30, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. Italia 21:33, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I sure wouldn't refrain from referring to all caps typing as shouting (it's mentioned at all caps for a reason). We have italics and bold for when emphasis is needed. All caps is just obnoxious. Circeus 21:41, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I just had the rather unpleasant experience of wading though the recent talkpage history at Talk:Fred Thompson. I now have a rather different view of the situation, and will be commenting there. LessHeard vanU 21:45, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Before this closes, didn't we have a big deal with Ferrylodge regarding civility before, in his dealings with User:Bishonen and User:KillerChihuahua? If I'm correct, which I'm pretty sure I am, these civility issues are well to the point of necessitating a preventative block. ⇒ SWATJester 14:05, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Swatjester, please be careful here. If you are suggesting a preventive block against me, be aware of the following. The user Italiavivi received three separate warnings from administrators yesterday, for his conduct toward me. Both LessHeard vanU and Tango warned him here, and ElinorD warned him here. While I understand your zeal here, it is misdirected.Ferrylodge 14:27, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I haven't followed any of the Talk:Fred Thompson history. However, I recall that Ferrylodge was blocked for continuing to post on KillerChihuahua's page after she had made it known that his posts were unwelcome, and after he had been warned. I think it would be sending a terrible message if administrators upheld that block and then to allow Italiavivi to keep posting on his page and reverting him when he removes the message. Incidentally, unless I've miscounted, Italiavivi posted the same message five times last night, including four reverts. That's completely unacceptable. People shouldn't ever alter someone else's signed comments (e.g. changing "your harassment" to "your alleged harassment" in a heading), but they do have the right to remove the post altogether, if it's on their own talk page. I know it's frowned upon, but it's not forbidden; and edit warring to keep an unwanted message on someone else's page is forbidden.

Swatjester, unless there's evidence of some very inappropriate behaviour from Ferrylodge at Talk:Fred Thompson, I don't see that his previous block for pestering KillerChihuahua is relevant, except as evidence that we must equally scrupulously respect his right not to have people pestering him. ElinorD (talk) 14:45, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Agree with ElinorD. MastCell 15:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Elinor. A brief correction though: KillerChihuahua never made it known to me that my posts were unwelcome at her talk page, prior to when Bishonen blocked me. Bishonen had warned me, whereas KillerChihuahua did not. But all of that is ancient history, I hope.Ferrylodge 15:42, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

ElinorD is quite correct; insomuch as Ferrylodge's actions taken previously might serve as an example, they apply against those harassing other users on their page, not against any other actions Ferrylodge may or may not make. That said, Ferrylodge is opening the same can of worms which ate up half of AN/I and a particularly silly Rfc he opened against Bishonen; Ferrylodge, you cannot remake history by annoyingly repeating your rewrite of it. This has been explained to you ad nauseum. It was not even ancient history until you made the same claims again here in this thread; you tried on the "victim hat" not a week ago on Talk:Abortion. Your attempt to re-open this and simultaniously claim you're trying to put it behind you are disruptive and serve no purpose, unles your purpose is to convice others you are congenitally dense and/or wish nothing more than to cause trouble. If that is not your purpose, I suggest you cease this tendentious behavior. In other words, you are fooling no one. Give it a rest already. KillerChihuahua 16:26, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Ferrylodge, you're right, that incident is ancient history. So let's drop it. Quit while you're ahead. MastCell 16:29, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

KC's assertion above that I am "congenitally dense" is not ancient history, nor is it civil, nor is it atypical. See the conduct to which she refers (without linking) last week at the abortion article, which is not ancient history either. I protest KC's continuing incivility, and would appreciate if some administrator would please call her on it for once. Thank you. I did not start the incivility in this thread ( "congenitally dense"), nor am I the one who brought up what happened a week ago at the abortion article, and this is the only response that I intend to make to either one (in this section of the thread). Respectfully.Ferrylodge 16:40, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Come on. You got what you came here for, and then you can't resist using this thread to get the Last Word about a dispute which has already gone all the way to RfC 2 months ago? And then you're shocked that KillerChihuahua's not happy about it? I'll say this again: quit while you're ahead. MastCell 16:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Errr, for the record, I was the one who brought up the RFC. ⇒ SWATJester 01:10, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

You asked a question. Ferrylodge took that and ran with it, attempting (yet again) to dredge this up and somehow arrive at a different conclusion other than that which overwhelming consensus reached the last time. A question is not an issue; continuing to disrupt the project in an attempt to get TLW, as MastCell points out, is the problem with Ferrylodge's posts on this. As the applicability of the issue, which was your question, had already been answered by ElinorD, Ferrylodge's attempt to turn this thread into Yet Another Battle about his harassment block might actually be construed as continuing the harassment, especially as he demanded I be rebuked and has continued to miscast my actions and statements, by casting my advice and observations as "assertions" which I did not in fact make. KillerChihuahua 05:12, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

User Space Harassment

The editor Italiavivi will not stop posting at my talk page. See the history. I warned him here, but he keeps posting. Please help.Ferrylodge 21:40, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

As described above. I have kindly asked him to remove our entire dialogue per User:LessHeard vanU's advice. Italia 21:41, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

See above. I am posting at Talk:Fred Thompson.

Policy for user talk pages is not the same as policy for other talk pages.Ferrylodge 21:56, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I have warned User:Italiavivi for violation of WP:NPA. If the warning is transgressed please take it to WP:AIV, or report it here. I'm clocking off. LessHeard vanU 22:03, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Harassment is not tolerated on wiki or even off-wiki if it relates to a wiki issue, see: WP:NPA#Off-wiki_personal_attacks, Misplaced Pages:Harassment, and Misplaced Pages:Blocking_policy#Disruption. Rlevse 22:13, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I haven't reviewed the rights and wrongs of the conflict as such, but the userspace harassment is unacceptable in any case. Ferrylodge has made it repeatedly clear in his responses to Italiavivi that I's posts to his page are unwelcome and that he, F, feels harassed by them. Since Italiavivi hasn't been editing since EllenD asked him nicely to leave Ferrylodge alone, I guess now isn't the best time to bonk him with a stern formal warning. But if he comes back with more of the same, even one more post, that's what I will do. Ferrylodge, feel free to alert me in case I miss something. Bishonen | talk 08:53, 23 August 2007 (UTC).

Thanks.Ferrylodge 14:29, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree completely with Bishonen, and commend her for her fairness, and for upholding the same principles regardless of whether they work in favour of or against a particular person. (I even forgive her for calling me Ellen!) And I admit that I haven't looked into the whole dispute, and haven't looked at Talk:Fred Thompson at all, but it's a simple courtesy not to continue to post at the talk page of someone who has removed your comments. As I suggested to Italiavivi last night, if he feels he needs to have the last word, he can write a rebuttal on his own talk page. ElinorD (talk) 14:53, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

User:SallyForth123 evading block

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

See Misplaced Pages:Suspected sock puppets/SallyForth123. SallyForth123 has already been warned about circumventing the block here one day ago. Sancho 21:42, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

The reason I posted this here is for input as to how long to extend SallyForth123's block for. Sancho 21:53, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

A week looks reasonable to me. If she continues, I'd probably go up to a month and then move to indefinite (but not infinite). Lift it if she agrees not to engage in any further block evasion or edit warring. --Yamla 22:06, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Not an admin, but I concur with Yamla. -Hit bull, win steak 00:35, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Need help

The user is switching IPs as we block them. See Misplaced Pages:Suspected sock puppets/SallyForth123 for the list so far. How can we deal with this more effectively? Sancho 01:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Are there particular articles she targets? If so, I would say semi protection is the best bet. Otherwise, keep blocking the IPs (short blocks, I'd say) and restarting the original block. Natalie 06:52, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

She had previously edit warred on Hurricane Dean (2007), Template:HurricaneWarning, and Misplaced Pages:No disclaimers in articles, constantly reverting in the name of WP:NOT#NEWS despite the fact that it was a current event - this led me to post twice on this noticeboard earlier. She apparently also had some disputes on articles related to STS-118 and removed quotes from Hurricane Katrina. Some of these articles have been semiprotected already. I'm not entirely sure of the history of the STS-118 disputes. --Coredesat 11:51, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I put all of those on my watchlist. I guess the new IPs weren't happening so quickly that we couldn't just block them as they come. (I was using 48 hours... too long?) Sancho 13:59, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

She also was using an actual account when the IPs weren't active: Mineo3 (talk · contribs). It is now blocked. There have been several warnings left at the IP talk pages prior to their blocking and at SallyForth123's talk page, including a warning about extending the original block to an indefinite block. SallyForth123's block will last about six more days as it stands now. Sancho 14:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

(UI)I can give history on the STS-118 issues. As one of the major contributors during the mission, she questioned my removal of "drama" words, stating that the press said them, so we should use them. (Specifically, a very anti-NASA reporter over-dramatized the tile issue, and refused to listen to what the managers said, and used phrases like "NASA is very concerned" (untrue, if you listened at the conferences) and twisted their words with relation to the importance.) The reason the tile was looked at so extensively, never had to do with safety of the vehicle, it had to do with processing times once the orbiter was back on the ground. She basically accused me of trying to push a "NASA" POV, when what I originally said was that if it was not stated by NASA during the conferences, it was speculation on the part of the media, whose goal is to dramatize issues like this, ultimately to raise circulation numbers. There are a vast number of reliable, neutral news sites, and I listed them for her, stating that I obviously was not NASA-centric as I added a balance of the NASA press releases, and of other sites, such as CBS News, CNN, AP, Space.com, Nasa Space Flight, and a variety of other references (she was using Yahoo and other such sites). But the whole time, the discussion was not heated, was not contentious other than her basically not agreeing that up-to-the date revisions should happen (same issue she had with the Hurricane Dean article) and her adamant refusal of allowing any "present tense" words into any article. Others participated in the discussion, and agreed that we would use past tense. However, I also don't think it is necessary, or always helpful in every situation, such as her edits to the Hurricane Katrina article, turning statements like "The hurricane is expected to cause (number of dollars in damages)" into "was expected to cause", especially since those figures are still being revised today, so using present tense is acceptable. She has some very rigid, absolute rules that she believes Misplaced Pages should follow without question (and I'm not saying they are all incorrect, some of them are valid, such as having no "naked" URLs inside an article) and while she did seem to compromise, and did not engage in edit wars on the STS-118 article, it did tend to be disruptive when she'd revert all the tenses, especially when it was something that was ongoing, like the analysis of the tile damage. But none of the contributors reverted her edits or argued about the validity of her concerns, we merely requested that she not blindly believe the media, when she doesn't know as much as NASA does. With all technical articles, the main source should be coming from someone familiar with the subject, and clearly, the best source for that in this case, was NASA. Now, all that being said (I'm sorry this is so long) she also had some other problems with the way it was written, but again, discussion took place, and agreement was reached by everyone. And I'd say that the article did not suffer for her contributions. However, I happened upon this report, and it really surprised me at first; she seemed to me, to be so adamant that every single tiny letter of Misplaced Pages policy be followed, I thought it strange that she'd go and blatantly abuse the system in this way. I'm not really all that surprised, I guess, because looking at this addition to her user page, would indicate that she didn't really think too highly of Misplaced Pages. (Link seems to be dead, but it was a breakdown of the most-viewed pages, showing mostly pornography-related articles at the top.) At the time I saw that, I wondered if this might go sour somehow... So, there you have the "Verbose Ariel" version, again I'm sorry it is so long, but at least this provides a fuller picture. 14:49, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

This is not WikiNews. Why are we reporting current news events in the present tense in Misplaced Pages articles? How can we report current events, when we're not doing original research, but can only report from reliable sources, and this requires that events have already occurred?

ArielGold, what is your reference for the "very anti-NASA reporter?" Or is this simply your opinion of the reporter?

The only edits I've seen by SallyForth are careful copy edits of English tenses throughout articles to make them more readable on a very precise level, and meticulous technical copy editing. Now, she's banned for a month because she got irritated, highly and rightly, imo, for trying to follow the guidelines and not allow original research and news reporting in a Misplaced Pages article, and on ArielGold's say-so that a reporter she wants to use is "very anti-NASA?" Or is ArielGold's opinion about the reporter about something else other than SallyForth's ban, like just trying to paint SallyForth in a bad light while everyone else is already banning her left and right and piling on her? She'd have to be not human to not get irritated at this treatment.

I urge an administrator or administrators to reconsider and rethink this situation--not quickly or immediately, but evaluate what is going on and rethink it. SallyForth is a relatively new Misplaced Pages editor according to her contributions history, she's correct that this isn't Wiki news, and that these events, if they are taken from reliable sources can only be reported in the past tense. That another editors knows, somehow, that a reporter SallyForth wants to use is anti-NASA (you can quote your source for this, I suppose) is not any part of any reason for banning her. It must be incredibly frustrating to edit something to make it better and be attacked and banned for a month for it. Going sour? It tastes like bile. KP Botany 01:09, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Leaving aside whatever issues are between ArielGold and SallyForth, SallyForth evaded her original 24-hour block repeatedly, in full knowledge that block evasion was not allowed. The block was even reset before it was lengthened, and the original length was not excessive. Natalie 04:38, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

As noted, I only came to give background to what the STS-118 issues were, which as I summarized, amounted to nothing. Sally's opinions were heard, and agreement by all was reached. KP Botany, I'm apologize if I'm wrong, but it appears that you are seeing my statements as a contributing factor with relation to her block, when they have nothing to do with it. I personally agreed with Sally on most of her issues, and as stated, I thought many of her views on Misplaced Pages were valid. There were no "issues" between us that were not resolved by discussing them, as is evident by the talk pages. There were other members of WikiProject Space that participated and helped with the decisions. All that has nothing to do with the issue that is being discussed here, and the only reason I brought it here was simply to give background on someone that I honestly thought above such things as Sockpuppetry, and to give credit to her valid edits, and her willingness to engage in dialog as she did with the folks on STS-118. I'm afraid you have probably mis-read, and misunderstood my statements in relation to this issue, and in context to the actual discussions. I reiterate: I had no issues with Sally that were not resolved through discussion, and I personally thought she was thoughtful, and although I didn't agree with her about everything, I believed her to be a good editor. 05:31, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Thoughtful? So, everyone agreed with you that the reporter SallyForth was quoting was "very anti-NASA?" That's correct? And you provided that as evidence of SallyForth's thoughtfulness, her inclusion of a quote from a reporter that all the other space editors agree is "very anti-NASA?" Then I would like a source for this lack of credibility the reporter displays. KP Botany 05:56, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

If MrDarcy was here, SallyForth would get a fair hearing, that did not include waiting until she had no possibility of replying, escalating accusations about her--then bashing her for something that's appropriate to a discussion page on an article, namely the credibility of a source, not an accusation against another editor. There is nothing about attacking another editor's sources, without references (although I assume you will provide me with them, and the diffs where it was discussed) to what is wrong with the sources, that is about supporting the editor, particularly when that editor has no recourse to respond to the accusations. So, simply post the discussion, and link to the reporter, so I can see first where all of you agreed this reporter is anti-NASA, and second the proof of this reporter's viewpoint that requires that SallyForth be kicked while she's down for having the audacity to quote from him.

This ban is too long, too fast, and grossly inappropriate for the initial offense, for a new editor, there is no assumption of good faith, no attempt to work with the editor, and, not even just biting, it's lining up the noobie and taking turns shooting her--a noobie having the audacity to care about standards. Again, if MrDarcy were he, he would have calmed SallyForth, resolved the sock puppet issue, and treated every one with diplomacy, in addition to being nice. As long as SallyForth cannot defend her actions, please don't attack her here. KP Botany 05:56, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, please. As the opener of this discussion, I was just looking for input as to how to deal technically (as in what type of block etc.) with a quickly changing IP sockpuppet. I'm ending this as archived to encourage this discussion to move elsewhere. Sancho 06:11, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Scott Jessop relisted

I listed this yesterday on AfD. It was delisted by Special:Contributions/Alex_Mae. I have relisted on today's AfD, for a full discussion. Cheers, :) Dlohcierekim 00:56, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Note, there is an OTRS ticket on this article. ⇒ SWATJester 13:57, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The AFD was closed, and blanked for privacy reasons. Please do not reinstate it. ⇒ SWATJester 14:03, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Incessant unsourced reverting and editing on Dalmatia-related articles

I hope someone can help, because I simply do not know what action to follow. I am dealing with an Italian editor (Giovanni Giove) constantly reverting thoroughly discussed and referenced edits without a single logical argument to support him. These are the articles in question: Republic of Ragusa and Forth Crusade. In the Republic of Ragusa I have worked hard to represent both sides in the Slavic/Italian conflict, that rages here, by writing a nobleman's name in this fashion: Slavic/Italian. This person threatens to constantly undo my labour for no good reason (both are valid since the Republic of Ragusa was indisputably predominantly Slavic).

In the Fourth Crusade article, a debate raged about the vulgar (as opposed to Latin, "Iadera") name of the city of Zadar, in 1202 (time of the Fourth crusade). References have been brought forth confirming the view that this was "Jadra" (pronounced Zadra) and not "Zara" (and that the name "Zara" actually evolved from "Zadra"). Giove found no references supporting his "Zara" version and was proven very mistaken in the argument on the talkpage, during wich he stated that Romans (even in the 5th century) are the same thing as Italians (classic Mussolini rhetoric). Lacking any logical argument, he started quoting 19th century history books that used the name "Zara" as default name for the city (not mentioning the local vulgar name in 1202), ignoring the fact that we are talking about the vulgar name at the beginning of the 13th century.

I appologise for the lengthy explanations, but bear in mind that we are talking about a person that uses the relative obscurity of these articles to promote a truly irredentist and revanchist point of view by placing misinformation on the world's most popular encyclopedia. i.e. he tries to show that Dalmatia, for some reason, should rightfully be in Italy (mostly based on his "Roman Empire = Italy" claims.) I hope someone can do something... DIREKTOR 02:18, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

From your explanation, this appears to be a classic problem for the Dispute resolution process. nadav (talk) 03:05, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

DIREKTOR didn't mention that Giovanni Giove is not paricipating in the discussions properly, consensus is not the object of his interest, he repeatedly continues to revert and "POVerize" the articles that he's concentrated on without concerning the talk page solutions or conclusions of other users built on regular sources or compromises among other users. There's no need to link these accidents since practically 99% of his contributions are of the same kind as I've described. The point is that this user is not participating in the Wiki community. Cheers. Zenanarh 13:14, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry, I did not explain. Every other possible course of action has been exhausted, the man ignores conclusions reached in the talkpage, does not discuss in an argumentative way, and simply reverts everything other people include in the article, no matter how referenced or discussed. This is why I came here in the first place. DIREKTOR 16:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Help With Out of Control User

I'm posting this here because admin User:After Midnight said I should on his talk page.

I've been editing some articles on Misplaced Pages for awhile. It's a lot of fun and I'm always happy to contribute when I can. However, someone named User:Nascentatheist has really irritated me.

This user has recently vandalized my user page and marred my talk page with all sorts of accusations. It all started when I disagreed with him about a link on the Kearny High School (San Diego) article. See the talk page here . After he started being really aggressive to me, I didn't say much because I didn't know what to do, but it has only gotten worse.

This user has attacked and belittled me and I just don't know what to do. He has said that I'm a worthless contributor . . . and he has hurt me deeply. Please see what has happened and help me. I'd like to continue contributing, but I don't know if I will unless this guy stops. --Creashin 02:19, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Dispute resolution is around the corner, next door to your left. Miranda 02:29, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I see no vandalism of your user page. He has accused you of being a sockpuppet. That is not vandalism. You may, however, want to point the user to Misplaced Pages:Suspected sock puppets where they can get their accusations listened to and resolved one way or the other. --Tango 13:41, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

DCGeist (talk · contribs) and User:Videmus Omnia

Edit war over, moved to WP:IFD discussion --Haemo 04:27, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The above user seems to have gone ballistic about the nomination for deletion of some non-free images on a featured article. The user is deleting the reports from WP:IFD and deletion templates from the images with WP:STALK allegation. I tried to intervene on their talk page, but I got an accusation of stalking as well, even though I had never heard of this user or article until less than an hour ago. Could someone please intervene before this gets out of hand? It seems to be primarily a WP:OWN issue on the article and images. Videmus Omnia 03:28, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

No, it's primarily a WP:BURO and WP:Use common sense issue. Image warrior has decided to target this Featured Article--which was vetted and passed via the FAC process just over two months ago. The user has nominated a series of historical images for deletion, all of which have complete and detailed fair use rationales and all of which support and are supported by the textual content of the article--just as they all did when they and the rest of the article's contents were vetted in FAC. I have no more gone "ballistic" in response to the user's actions than the user himself has in his insensible mission to eliminate valuable content from Misplaced Pages Featured Articles and waste the time and energy of those contributors who maintain their quality in the best spirit of the encyclopedia. The user seems to take particular exception to my use of the word "harass" to describe his actions and their effect. I refer him to the definition of this common term in Merriam-Webster's: "exhaust, fatigue; to annoy persistently; to create an unpleasant or hostile situation for...; to worry and impede by repeated raids." That strikes me as an exquisitely precise description of user's behavior.—DCGeist 03:54, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

How has the user "targeted" this article? He has decided to put 3 images up for deletion with a perfectly reasonable rationale - "these images are not necessary to illustrate information in the article". That argument is a very reasonable one for deletion of a fair use image in any article, featured or not. Again, you might think these images are "valuable content" but obviously Videmus Omnia disagrees - it is an issue for the Misplaced Pages community to decide at IFD, not for you to decide unilaterally. I find it very strange that you accuse him of "stalking" and, now, "harassing" you, considering all he has done is nominate 3 images for deletion (with no previous history of ever being involved in a dispute with you) and respond to accusations that you have made against him, in addition to policies that you have violated (such as the one that prohibits users from unilaterally removing good faith nominations for deletion). ugen64 03:57, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Continuing to disrupt by blanking warnings , , . Videmus Omnia 03:59, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Removing items from the WP:IFD board, removing notices that they were up for deletion from their pages is not appropriate behavior. If this is as clear-cut a case as you believe it is, then they will be speedily kept. Accusing another editors of harassment and Wikistalking following a single editorial dispute with you is not civil nor does it assume good faith. It is also far from civil to accuse them of trying to "subvert" the quality of the article, calling them "image warriors", and claiming they're on a "insensible mission to eliminate valuable content" and "waste the time and energy of contributors". You need to calm down and stop making personal attacks. --Haemo 04:00, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The deletion notices have been deleted from the image pages yet again <sigh>. Videmus Omnia 04:10, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Just hold on — lets see if the situation can be defused without more edit warring --Haemo 04:12, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Even in light of these messages? Videmus Omnia 04:19, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, I don't think he will revert again for at least 24 hours (seeing as he so kindly reminded me that he already knew about the 3 revert rule), so for the moment I think the issue is over. ugen64 04:21, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

On the plus side, at least the edit war is over. --Haemo 04:22, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for helping out. I'm sure another dose of incivility will be headed my way from someone else tomorrow. :) Videmus Omnia 04:25, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Golly. I guess this sure ain't the place to remind anyone of WP:BURO and WP:Use common sense. Would you all explode if I typed in WP:IAR? Oops. Sorry.—DCGeist 04:37, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Good faith content disagreements are not the place to ignore all rules — being the experienced editor you are, you should know that. --Haemo 04:41, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I guess I don't have to wait - I got puerile and ludicrous immediately. Videmus Omnia 04:27, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Yep, you sure did li'l buddy. Thanks for wasting my time with your peurile ludicrousness, or ludicrous peurility. As you'd put it, sigh-h-h-h.—DCGeist 04:37, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Please refrain from personal attacks. --Haemo 04:41, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Isn't it great that I can be attacked and insulted right on the Administrator's Noticeboard, with no consequences for the attacker? 04:55, 23 August 2007 (UTC) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Videmus Omnia (talk • contribs).

I have blocked the user for 24 hours for repeated incivility, trolling, removing notices from images against policy after multiple warnings, blanking IFD entries, etc. If anyone thinks this block was inappropriate, please let me know. – Quadell 12:49, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

After reviewing the user's contribs my only concern is that the block may be too short. Raymond Arritt 13:03, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Block evasion by User:Jagzthebest

This indef blocked user has returned as the rather obvious sock account JagzthebestX (talk · contribs).--Atlan (talk) 04:31, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

While obviously that's not a great situation - he seems to be contributing in good faith, and frankly, while I'm hesitant to make judgment - a remark like this to an unblock request - "This is way too long to read" - seem kind of insane. While I'm obviously not the authority on this - I would at least give JagzthebestX one chance.--danielfolsom 04:40, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

That would be a different matter. Indef-block means, well, indefinitely blocked, after all. x42bn6 Talk Mess 11:28, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• Indef does mean indef unless properly lifted.. Blocked accordingly, advised to file an unblock req at main account or discuss with blocking admin. Deiz talk 12:36, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Kızıl Şaman

Kızıl Şaman (talk · contribs) no constructive edits all his edits are basically controversial or attacking editor editors like: , , and one of his first edits --Vonones 06:05, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

He does have a lot of vandal edits - however he also has only been given one warning - and he has made at least on constructive edit in this: . I don't have authority on the matter, but I would say if he attacks one more person then he should be blocked - however we should give him one quick chance - because frankly the actions of some of the other editors haven't helped at all.--danielfolsom 06:23, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

He's mostly here to pick fights with other users, he contributes to Turkish Misplaced Pages.--Vonones 06:27, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

He has been warned; unless he continues to act incivilly, then no action should be taken. Neil ム 10:40, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

User:Irqirq

Irqirq (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Nochi (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

• This user, is quite obviously, by just looking at his edits, the same user as Nochi who got banned recently. Now he's trying to make the ancient Sumerians into Arabs and Muslims. Seriously, can we ban these trolls permanently, or are we going to have to deal with "everyone is Arab" articles forever here on Misplaced Pages? Now, he's trying to make an article about Sumerian people, and it's typical soapbox material. What are we going to do about this? I am tired of getting into revert wars with this revisionist troll. As can be seen by this article, it was started by Nochi, and now he's back to continue where he left off. — EliasAlucard|Talk 13:15 23 Aug, 2007 (UTC)
  • read the article again. I did not said that Sumerians where Arabs or Muslims. I said modern day "Arabs" like Kuwaitis and South Iraqis are the modern day Sumerians. You may search at Google to get proves, so I am Nochi just because he started this article? Irqirq 11:26, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
    • You even write like he does. No one claims that there exists any Sumerian people today. — EliasAlucard|Talk 13:29 23 Aug, 2007 (UTC)
      • Looks like the 3RR bell is ringing for Irqirq (talk · contribs) at Sumerian people. Deiz talk 11:33, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
• Article redirected, protected. Deiz talk 11:48, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • Thanks, great. — EliasAlucard|Talk 13:50 23 Aug, 2007 (UTC)

User:Siazon persistent, response inconsistent

Duplicate articles Sigma Rho UPLB and Uplb Sigma Rho. The articles' content has previously been in two articles, resulting in an A7 speedy deletion as Uplb sigma rho, and an AfD Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Sigma rho with result of merge/redirect to University of the Philippines. Should the duplicate articles both be redirected to University of the Philippines per original AfD, tagged db-repost (strictly speaking doesn't fit the criteria as previous actions were not AfD-deleted), prod'ed (though not uncontroversial), reroll as db-bio, or something else? Michael Devore 12:32, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Attack site

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

The possible attacks have been removed, as are the 'edit this' links. Whether having such links is ethical is another question for another venue. David Fuchs 22:46, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Michael Moore doesn't like me. (I won't include a link to his attack site.) I was wondering why I was getting so much vandalism of my user page. THF 13:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

If you really are involved in defending pharma corporations, you should not be editing the article on Sicko perhaps as a COI. As for your userpage, can an admin please semi protect it. --SevenOfDiamonds 13:46, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I am complying with WP:COI. My edits have all been discussed on the talk page, and, for the last couple of weeks, have consisted solely of non-controversial reverts of vandalism and WP:OR. My userpage is semi-protected. THF 13:48, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

What admin intervention are you seeking? --SevenOfDiamonds 13:50, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't know. What's standard procedure for delinking attack sites? THF 14:05, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

SiCKO is protected too. I've contacted Moore to see if he will remove the "edit" links to the article and userpage as they really just feed disruption. I'd like to wait a reasonable amount of time and see what his response is before proceeding with the other options here. I'm not so sure just mentioning an individuals name, what they did, and their wikipedia edits is an attack (presuming of course it is true information)... an edit link however really can't be seen as anything other than an invitation to disrupt.--Isotope23 14:10, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I am not really sure where the "attack" is here. --SevenOfDiamonds 14:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

You might first check Special pages/External to see what links there are and what they are used to source. Some of the links are legitimate references supporting material about Moore and his work. Others claim to be reprints of news sources. In these cases we should verfy and cite the underlying work instead of Moore's re-print. Tom Harrison 14:18, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• We can't delink Moore's website from his articles simply because he highlights who one of his detractors are. There is no policy that supports this, and although I agree the links are invitations to disruption, they don't fall under any definition of 'attack site' --David Shankbone 14:29, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Ooooh, we damn well can delink. We damn well can. Noroton 22:18, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I have no idea what the attack site policy is (and haven't seen anyone cite to it yet), and ask only that it be applied neutrally. If it doesn't apply to an outside site deliberately causing disruption to wikipedia by encouraging harassment of an editor and vandalism, then it doesn't apply. Whatever the policy is, is. What did we do when an outside site attacked SlimVirgin? (I honestly don't know.) THF 14:45, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

That does not seem to be the case, he also links to the sicko article. Is he attempting to have that page vandalized as well? I understand your upset considering the situation, but no attack is being made. I am not sure why you would edit the article considering the possible COI issues. I know you are not violating them, but with so many articles that could use assistance why that one? As far as I recall the SlimVirgin information appeared on Slashdot first, however they were not blocked as a site. Most likely because they are a news posting site, not news site. --SevenOfDiamonds 14:59, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Because, when I was making the edits, there was not a conflict of interest: I work in legal policy, and the article is about a movie about health-care. (I've since written an article about the movie, and have another one in the hopper; since the article has been published, I've stopped making substantive edits to the main page, since that does create an arguable COI.)

By the "conflict of interest" definition you seek to apply, everybody in Misplaced Pages has a conflict of interest. Moore criticized a client of my former employer? That's a conflict of interest? Can we stop with the bogus and off-topic COI claims, please? The only thing one accomplishes with such an expansive view of COI is driving away editors who have actual knowledge of subjects. THF 20:05, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

You write articles in line with what your employer most likely believes about its clients and against a movie they most likely do not. I did not say you had a COI issue, just that there was obviously a possible one that you should have considered. --SevenOfDiamonds 20:28, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Like I said above, if the site is simply alleging that an individual works (or has worked) for a company and has edited a particular article, I don't really classify that as an "attack site" at least for purposes of something that Misplaced Pages would need to deal with; it's the same as a newspaper website publishing an article asserting that a particular Misplaced Pages editor is a CIA operative. The userpage edit links are disruptive though and if the webmaster won't remove them voluntarily I think then it would be appropriate to discuss a response.--Isotope23 14:56, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Agreed, however you will probably have a hard time getting in touch with Michael Moore himself, if he does in fact edit that page directly. --SevenOfDiamonds 14:59, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I emailed him... we will see if he responds.--Isotope23 15:21, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Agree. Well, we have some precedent with the Stephen Colbert stuff, and we didn't de-link him. I don't really see an "attack" on you; it is essentially "just the facts" right? --David Shankbone 15:01, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The attack is on wikipedia not just THF, just like the Colbert stuff. And just like the Colbert stuff the foundation should be taking legal action to defend wikipedia and wikipedians, no other company would put up with the damage that these call to arms cause. PS it also is a violation of WP:Canvas and i think THF is possibly violating COI because of his working for the American Enterprise Institute which is bought and paid for by big pharma and big oil. 16:18, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

What, exactly, would legal action resemble? "We are suing Michael Moore because he provided links on his website to edit Misplaced Pages." And can you please quote from the page where he summons his followers to disrupt; yes, quotes. --David Shankbone 16:26, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

A link to editing a userpage is inherently disruptive. But a lawsuit would be a silly mistake, as I am sure Mike Godwin is aware. THF 16:36, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The problem with your reasoning Hypnosadist is that Wikimedia Foundation isn't a company that THF, you, or I work for; they don't have any reason to defend us. We are volunteers. Beyond that it's probably a good idea to just chill out for a bit rather than ratchet up the rhetoric here. We have a stopgap in place with page protection to interrupt the disruption from those links. Let's wait and see if there is a response from Mr. Moore before proceeding.--Isotope23 17:02, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

"they don't have any reason to defend us" Other than common decency they have to defend me as i'm a european citizen, even as a volenteer i'm protected by employment legislation and that does apply to every editor from the 27 country EU. But i'm much more concerned with the effect these attacks have on wikipedia. 17:58, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The Wikimedia Foundation has no obligations under European law; as a non-profit organization registered in the United States, in the state of Florida, it has to obey US and Florida law. Furthermore, you are not an official volunteer; there is no formal relationship. Nobody is directing your participation here, except inasmuch as the site has conduct rules. Matthew Brown (Morven) (T:C) 19:18, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Well said.--Isotope23 20:59, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Separately, the semi-protect isn't working, as a brand-new user was able to vandalize my userpage. THF 14:38, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

WP:DENY them the honours. Block them without warning as a vandal-only account. (What I'm doing). Maxim_(talk) 14:41, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The semi-protect is probably working. That account was created nearly 7 19 months ago. (fixed after seeing post below. Coma account maybe...) --Onorem♠Dil 14:46, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

(EC)That user was registered in 2006, but made its first edit today. I've gone ahead and full-protected your page. --Ed (Edgar181) 14:48, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• The links on Moore's webpage aren't very helpful, but I think they're less serious than the Colbert-related vandalism. Colbert was explicitly encouraging people to vandalize a page in a particular way, while Moore's encouragement is implicit (at best). I certainly don't think it's reasonable to call it an "attack site", at least not until he takes a more active role in things. -Hit bull, win steak 17:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Apply policies. Blocking vandals and protecting pages or articles so vandals won't hijack wikipedia. As for the Michael Moore doesn't like me i should say that you don't like him as well and that's why you are here THF. That's called COI. So please keep your page semi-protected and go on editing according to policies. -- FayssalF - 17:44, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I've edited over 2500 different pages, so I'm hardly a WP:SPA. Please retract your uncivil personal attack. (And I do like Michael Moore. He's very entertaining and good at what he does, and I've been following his work since I was in college. I don't agree with his public-policy prescriptions, but that's a different issue.) I'm not asking for any special treatment or change of policies. I'm asking for whatever policies apply to this situation be applied. THF 17:53, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

may i ask you about which "uncivil personal attack" you are referring to? or maybe you think i referred to you as a vandal! You are not and that's why i talked about COI when it came to you in this particular incident. Isotope is doing what should be done. -- FayssalF - 19:21, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

...and they have been. The pages have been protected. I went beyond that and asked the individual to take down the edit links as a courtesy. If they don't, we can leave the article/userpage semi-protected. If the situation changes at that website, we can then discuss how to proceed. At this point though I think it has been appropriately dealt with from an administrative standpoint.--Isotope23 18:00, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

You might be taking that comment more aggressively than it was intended, THF. I think he meant "here on ANI, discussing this particular situation", rather than "here on Misplaced Pages, editing articles". Nobody's saying that you don't have lots of good contributions on other subjects. -Hit bull, win steak 18:11, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

If that is the case, I apologize for my misunderstanding the ambiguous statement. THF 20:05, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• They are updating the page on www.MichaelMoore.com with play-by-play action. --David Shankbone 19:14, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Sigh, must be nice to be a bored webmaster.--Isotope23 19:27, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't think that Michael Moore or his webmaster has the power to decide whether THF has a conflict of interest here. If being a lawyer for big pharma is by itself enough of a COI to prohibit editing of an article about a movie about medical care, then THF is about #105 against the wall. Let me get my list ready... Thatcher131 19:52, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I was under the impression part of the drama with the CIA editing articles, is they were countries the US is unfriendly with. The COI being they conduct operations etc involving them. THF does not work at a company that represents pharma corps, but he actually defends them himself. I guess drawing the line would be, are you a janitor at the CIA, or a person in charge of psychological warfare/department chief etc. --SevenOfDiamonds 20:34, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The theory that a pharma hired my former law firm in 2004 because they hoped that years later I would have a different job and edit a Misplaced Pages article about a movie about healthcare in 2007 seems implausible. Are we really going to vet every editor's former employer's clients? That's a way to ensure that Misplaced Pages is edited only by the perennially unemployed and friendless. THF 20:45, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

My deepest apologies, I was under the impression you still worked at the company that dealt with the firm. Your "user page" from the company is still up, perhaps leading to the misunderstanding. Your continued work writing articles on the subject etc. Again my apologies. --SevenOfDiamonds 20:53, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

They have his picture and his real name on the main page of the website, as well as hotlinks directly to edit pages on wikipedia. If that does not qualify the website as an attack site, what exactly does? - Crockspot 20:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

THF's identity is known, its not an outing. --SevenOfDiamonds 20:26, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I certainly didn't know it until I read it on that website. - Crockspot 20:31, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

But no reason to aide and abet off wiki sites that are attacking one of our contributors.--MONGO 20:29, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Can you quote the attack. --SevenOfDiamonds 20:35, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Who said he was "abetting" off wiki sites that are attacking an editor? Really, there's not much Misplaced Pages can do besides ask them to stop... David Fuchs 20:34, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, there are other things we could do David, I'm just not so sure that we should do them. I'd really rather we just sit tight and wait a bit to see what, if any, response I receive from Mr. Moore or his designated email screener(s).--Isotope23 20:41, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I think you made the correct decision and in a timely manner, the page protection should neutralize any threat of vandalism. --SevenOfDiamonds 20:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I didn't say he was, did I? I said that we shouldn't condone it.--MONGO 20:39, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

MONGO and myself are involved in another dispute, which is why the tangent was used. --SevenOfDiamonds 20:36, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Nice guess, but incorrect, again.--MONGO 20:39, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Please stay on topic, you do not have to attack me everywhere you see my posts. I will not be replying to your further in this thread, if you want to have a conversation, please use my talk page. --SevenOfDiamonds 20:41, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

To both of you guys. You got your ArbCom case so please don't bring your disputes over here. -- FayssalF - 20:50, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Excuse me? He claims I am not staying on topic, yet he brings up his arbcom case? I was responding to all here, not him in particular...maybe I didn't originally indent it right.--MONGO 20:57, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• This is a clear violation of WP:NPA#External links, a core policy of Misplaced Pages. The link to mm.com should be removed from that article for as long as that personal attack remains on the site. - Crockspot 20:52, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • Absolutely, and that was my point, expressed less directly than you have.--MONGO 20:58, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
    • Actually, all links to mm websites should be removed from all of Misplaced Pages until that attack and call for disruption is removed. Asking nicely is going to fail. Having some leverage to convince him to remove it will meet with more success. - Crockspot 21:02, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
• I disagree. All appropriate measures have been taken, and I seriously doubt this statement of fact that is on Moore's site will be a lasting aspect of it. But it's not an attack, and it does not incite anyone to riot. Additionally, THF's identity is pretty well-known; just because not every editor didn't know it doesn't mean it wasn't virtually common knowledge before. There's no attack on the Moore site. Just a "revelation". Unfortunately for THF, it was one he invited upon himself, and both his supporters (I include myself as one now, though I often don't agree with him) and his detractors have advised him to change to a more anonymous name. --David Shankbone 21:05, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The site links directly to "edit" pages here on wikipedia, and is intended to cause disruption of wikipedia and harassment of a wikipedian. Have you bothered to read WP:NPA#External links? Tell me exactly how it is not in violation. - Crockspot 21:11, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I disagree...websites calling on others and doing direct links to the editing window of articles here for their convience is an open invitation to create problems.--MONGO 21:08, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

That's an interpretation and not one that warrants a sweeping removal of content from multiple multiple articles.--David Shankbone 21:10, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I just removed one...are there more?--MONGO 21:16, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• I disagree with the disagreement, though I'm not sure we should remove all the links at the moment. I believe that the site's comments and links constitute an attack. Even if the attack isn't due to outing because identity was already well known, it's still an attack (links to "edit this article" to his USERPAGE???...). Georgewilliamherbert 21:10, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Technically speaking, anybody IS allowed to edit anybody else's userpage (as per WP:USER#Ownership_and_editing_of_pages_in_the_user_space). And it's entirely possible that they don't know about talk pages, and are operating under the impression that leaving a message on someone's user page is the right way to communicate with them. It wouldn't be the craziest mistaken idea people have about us... -Hit bull, win steak 21:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Links can be put back when the attack is removed. At this point, his organization has no incentive to remove the attack. Maybe they will have second thought if we actually enforce our core policies. - Crockspot 21:13, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I still don't see how it violates policy in an actionable way, though. THF has mentioned his identity] here before, so the site isn't "outing" anything that wasn't already in the record. Similarly, THF is a lawyer who represented Merck in the manner Moore states; his take on the situation Moore describes is even one of the external links in our article on Rofecoxib. Moore isn't making any negative statements about Frank, or encouraging people to take any specific action (he's saying "you can edit", not "edit it to say X")... it's maybe not very nice, but he's not crossing the line. -Hit bull, win steak 21:39, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

There is no consensus to remove Michael Moore's web links from his pages, so please do not take unilateral action. --David Shankbone 21:19, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Consensus is not required to enforce core policies. Kudos to MONGO for being the only one with a pair of stones to be bold and do it. - Crockspot 21:28, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

And vice versa, perhaps, but no reason to facilitate harassment of our contributors.--MONGO 21:22, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I emailed them and asked them to take off the edit links and just put links to the pages to visit. •smedleyΔbutler• 21:31, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

That seems like a good idea. -Hit bull, win steak 21:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Despite COIs on either side, labeling or removing attack sites, and attacks on Misplaced Pages; this shouldn't be fueled and garnered with so much attention at this point. If according to DavidShankBone his detractors have "advised" him to treat the matter more anonymously then allow Mr. Moore to do so or show that he unwilling to handle this matter civilly. According to the discussion Misplaced Pages has done all the appropriate measures to handle this issue. It is up to Moore to step up or keep that somewhat snide piece up on his website. I do not see what else is within the power of this community to do to handle this issue further.¤~Persian Poet Gal 21:33, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I think that this is pretty obviously just an outgrowth now of Mongo v SevenofDiamonds, Crock and Bmedley and the whole crew, et al. Either way this doesn't really require admin attention. David Fuchs 21:38, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't see how that follows, unless you're trying to make it one. RxS 21:42, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

What are you referring to? David Fuchs 21:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm disappointed at how little support Misplaced Pages and it's editors give it's contributors when singled out for abuse by external sites/people. We should present a united front against any website that invites it's users to "edit" the user page of an editor they view as a political foe. Misplaced Pages is not a battleground, right? RxS 21:48, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

THF has not really been singled out for abuse per se. Moore's tactic is none too nice, but offering a link to a page anyone can edit is not an attack. The only possible thing that could "disparage" THF is the line And in any case, Misplaced Pages isn't the battleground here, its more Moore's site. David Fuchs 21:52, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

While the assumption of good faith is paramount, I have to question motives. Would you feel this way if it was Rush Limbaugh's site instead? Take a moment to ask yourself some tough questions about why you're ok with this inducement to harass. If you do, and are satisfied with the answers, then I'll take your word for it, but please take that moment. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 22:03, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Per Se???? How much more clearer does it have to be? That "per se" makes my point very clearly. It's a pretty commited political web site which has singled out an editor they have a political difference with. How can anyone not see that abuse will be (and already has) a natural result? As far as a battleground, the link is an invitation to bring the battle into Misplaced Pages. We should make it crystal clear that we are against that, and make a clear stand that we need (and support) our editors more then we need a link to a web site. RxS 22:10, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

To Chairboy, yes, I am sure of my motives. I dislike Moore as much as Limbaugh; they're both distortionists and propaganda-spreading white guys. That said, regardless, this is not the place for this issue. WP:ANI is for admin attention. This issue requires no such action that only admins can take. Edit warring should be taken to dispute resolution. David Fuchs 22:12, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Would this site fit under the policy of outing THF? Here at Misplaced Pages he uses an alias, with this external site it says who he is, even with a picture. http://www.michaelmoore.com/ I think outing an editor like this is wrong according to policy and should be deleted. --CrohnieGal 22:25, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

User:Eyrian and Misplaced Pages in culture

I have to get this out of my system. While primarely a content dispute, I have major trouble over how User:Eyrian is conducting in this matter. The whole discussion can be seen here. Basically, Eyrian removed half the page and I reverted him twice , and he reverted me twice . Now, I am more then willing to discuss any changes to the page, but I cannot make him see the error of his ways. I believe he should have engaged in discussion after he was first reverted. Instead, he kept reverting, and probably would do it again. Not willing to risk 3RR myself, I stopped.

Now, as he is the only one wanting to remove the content, I told him repeatedly he needs consensus before making the change. But he doesn't seem to grasp that concept. And to top it of; he is an admin. Like I said, want to discuss the changes, but I'm putting process before content here; it has become a matter of principal for me. So I would like some 'peer review' on his behaviour here. — Edokter • Talk • 14:42, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm, looks to me like Eyrian (talk · contribs) is removing some rather pointless, non-notable triva from an article that is almost fully comprised of pointless trivia on the proliferation of the term "Misplaced Pages" and how it has perhaps progressed beyond a simple neologism. Personally I don't think removing the most trivial of information from an already overwrought article is something that requires any admin attention.--Isotope23 15:02, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

They are complaining about how the user went about the issue, not the issue. They themselves state they would probably have agreed. If you read the discussion they are complaining that Eyrian removed the content "per talk" then posted the talk discussion hours later. --SevenOfDiamonds 15:07, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

If you read the actual discussion, I posted to talk days before. --Eyrian 15:13, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I was reiterating the debate, not placing blame. Sorry if that was misunderstood. --SevenOfDiamonds 15:20, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Eyrian posted on 20-AUG, then removed the sections days later. Look, I'm not condoning the edit warring that both sides carried out, but there isn't really anything that required admin intervention here, though apparently someone feels otherwise.--Isotope23 15:18, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

That was my mistake. It's not relevant. — Edokter • Talk • 15:49, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Reverted back to before the war began, and protected the article for a few days so this can be resolved on the talk page. I suggest Eyrian starts by listing the sections he is unahppy with, one by one, and it can be discussed whether they ought or ought not to be in the piece. Neil ム 15:12, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Er... are we not supposed to protect pages in whatever state they are in (barring obvious vandalism or WP:BLP issues) rather than just picking our own preferred wrong version to protect?--Isotope23 15:17, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't know, I haven't even looked at the content. I just put it back to before the edit war, which I tend to do. No problem with another admin changing it (probably not Eyrian, as he's involved in the dispute). Neil ム 15:26, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

(deindent) I wasn't looking for protection, and it seems a bit overkill. The 'edit-war' is days old. All I wanted was an opinion on Eyrian's actions. — Edokter • Talk • 15:49, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The comment is: "by all means be bold, but if someone reverts your edit, that's a pretty good sign your change isn't wholly agreeable for everyone. If that's the case, discuss. Don't edit war over it, or someone will editprotect the page and make you discuss it." Neil ム 18:49, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Some days I think WP:BRD would be better as a guideline than an essay, at least in non-vandalism situations.--Isotope23 19:25, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I couldn't agree more. — Edokter • Talk • 20:35, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Edit war/warring at Carlossuarez46

• Cowboycaleb1 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Bobo54 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

There's been a constant edit war between a group of users (partially involving me) at this userpage, so I thought it'd be best to bring it here. It started when Cowboycaleb1 posted a question at the bottom of his userpage . I reverted it, with the edit description being: "Undid revision 152976001 by Cowboycaleb1 (talk) - use the talkpage to ask questions" . Cowboycaleb1 seemingly ignored me, and reverted my edit, with the edit description "asking a question. about a page deletion". Miskwito reverted his edit, stating "Again, ask questions on the user's TALK PAGE, not here". Bobo54 comes in, and reverts Miskwito's edit, bringing back in Caleb's question, with the edit description "user does not have a talk page". Clearly this is wrong as Carlossuarez does have a talkpage - after all Bobo54 was editing it. The Fifth Horseman reverts it, stating "Then create it. What's the problem with that?". Cowboycaleb1 comes back with the edit description "trying to ask a question AGAIN.", still not knowing that a talkpage is in existance. I then reverted it, before Bobo54 reverted it saying "leave the guy alone and let User:Carlossuarez46 answer his question". I have just yet again reverted it. Is there any chance Bob54 is a sock of Cowboycaleb1? Also, Cowboycaleb1 has been causing enough hassle, and sent me a harrasing e-mail, which I do not which to reveal. Me and Rlevse have been discussing the e-mail. Caleb recently also violated WP:3RR, and removed a perfectly good source from Ashley Massaro's paage.. Should this user get a block for his actions? Davnel03 15:34, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Infact, look at Bobo54's contributions. I think it's pretty obvious he's a sock of Cowboycaleb1. Block needed. Davnel03 16:39, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Blocked the sock and am warning user. Please do try to communicate with the user in question first. Using edit summaries to communicate is not an efficient method. Sasquatch t|c 16:48, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I tried to, but he simply removed mine (and several other) messages, and decided to leave on that weren't doing any harm (see here) Davnel03 16:52, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I'll keep an eye on the user but I still don't see any discussion on this specific issue... WP:ANI is more of a last resort in dispute resolution when other communications attempts fail... Sasquatch t|c 19:23, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Randomness / Hackco56

User Manishf1 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) moved the Randomness article to Hackco56 and attempted to replace it with a blog link. The vandalism to the content was bot-reverted, but the page still needs to be moved back. Thanks. --Finngall 16:23, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

 Done Ok, Navou 16:33, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Koogle

Please block editing on the song commercial lyrics of this entry: Koogle Users have inserted rude lyrics into it, making a joke. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by DJLarryT (talk • contribs) 16:53, August 23, 2007 (UTC).

• Only one example of vandalism here. If it becomes a recurring problem, please report at WP:RFPP. Thanks, ELIMINATORJR 17:03, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Newington College and edit warring

An edit war which at times approaches but never quite exceeds 3RR has been rumbling along at Newington College (a school in Sydney, Australia) for some time between a group of red-linked editors with, from what I can tell, ExtraDry (talk · contribs) on one side, and Archifile (talk · contribs), Tallum (talk · contribs), Mitchplusone (talk · contribs) and Castlemate (talk · contribs) on the other. There's a variety of issues, but I think long-term non-assumption of bad faith is a problem here on both sides (eg this AfD from June and this one from August where ExtraDry in each case attempted to delete an article written by one of the others). Checking history of user talk pages also suggests all manner of fun, with ExtraDry being accused of being User:DXRAW (a non-banned former user) and the others accused of being sockpuppets of each other. All in all, a bit of a nasty situation, all centred around one article. I've brought this up here as I think someone other than the usual run of local editors (some of whom have tried to resolve the situation already by talking to the parties concerned) may be required to resolve this. FTR I am uninvolved with (and rather unconcerned with) the article and its subject, but the amount of wasted time on WP:AUS caused by these AfDs and the random bouts of edit warring between a small number of users is becoming disruptive. Orderinchaos 17:14, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Movieguy999

Movieguy999 has been removing sourced stuff from the reaction sections of TPM, AOTC and ROTS. He has now put in weasel words tag and has restored the discussions placed on the TPM article at the AOTC and ROTS talk pages. Greg Jones II 18:09, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Can someone please translate from acronymese? AOTC is a former phone company where I'm from. Orderinchaos 18:17, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Attack of the Clones Greg Jones II 18:18, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Also The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith. Basically, the Star Wars prequal trilogy. - TexasAndroid 19:03, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Those are not grounds for ANI, but the fact that the user is arguing against consensus and has pretty much refused to discuss his changes is. He has been removing cited information on the grounds of his own incorrect original research. The Filmaker 23:28, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

More Runcorn sockpuppets

Three more sockpuppets of the banned user Runcorn, 204.155.226.2, 195.26.60.87, and 86.153.140.112, have just been blocked. They were identified by these following edits: as these edits were extremely similar to this edit made by a confirmed Runcorn sockpuppet. 204.155.226.2 was blocked by Yamla, and I blocked 195.26.60.87 and 86.153.140.112. I thought that, given Runcorn's history and previous status, it would be worth mentioning this here. Acalamari 18:17, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Spam filter issue

"The following text is what triggered our spam filter: http://www.t"

That's the message I got trying to revert this edit.

I'm guessing that www.t isn't supposed to be on that list, and it could cause quite a few problems.

I'm sure there's a more appropriate place to report this, but I knew it would get attention here fairly quickly. --Onorem♠Dil 18:41, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm still getting it. --Vonones 18:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

OK...yeah, I still am too. Does admin rollback ignore the blacklist? --Onorem♠Dil 18:46, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I had a problem with that too. It is fixed now. ---CWY2190 18:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

This is causing an issue whilst adding co-ordinates to infoboxes, specifically on Daimler Halt railway station. There's no link in that section, so I don't understand what is going on. Fingerpuppet 18:49, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Fixed with this edit GDonato (talk) 18:50, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I had same problem doing an rvv on Mitt Romney. Eleland 18:51, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The spam filter prevented me from putting internal link brackets around volcano in an article about a volcano! --Le Grand Roi des Citrouilles 19:11, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

A hoaxing user

What's the protocol for dealing with people who create hoaxes and little else? User:Vlado herceg created the pretty obvious hoax Peter Gouda after he had made a few earlier contributions of questionable merit. According to his talk page, he also created a vanity articel. 68.39.174.238 19:10, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

My understanding is that they tend to get blocked, perhaps indefinitely if they've made no substantive contributions. At least I hope so, because that's what I just did. Raymond Arritt 19:14, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I speedy deleted the article, and would have blocked the user if you hadn't got to it first. --Ed (Edgar181) 19:16, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

MTV spam links

I know this has been talked about before (I believe on ANI), but I thought I should bring it to admin attention that Chasingemy (talk · contribs), an admitted MTV employee, has been adding quite a few MTV spam links again into both music article and article talk spaces. She has been approached by other editors about COI and EL issues but has yet to change any of her actions. I'm not sure what the appropriate course of action should be here, but talking to her doesn't quite seem to be working... Rockstar (/_C) 20:44, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

The user appears to have stopped adding links directly to articles, which is a step forward. I have requested that the user also identify themselves as an MTV employee when promoting bands on article talk pages. — Carl (CBM · talk) 20:54, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Michael Moore

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Discussion is over, all possible results achieved. Talk about this somewhere else. David Fuchs 22:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

User:MONGO is taking unilateral steps to remove Moore's website from Misplaced Pages. Can somebody either 1. protect the Michael Moore page; and/or 2. Have a word on disruptive editing with MONGO? --David Shankbone 21:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• He is editing in compliance with WP:NPA#External links, which by the way, is exempt from 3RR. - Crockspot 21:25, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• So is reverting vandalism, and considering that most people above don't support removing the links, this would be considered vandalism. Which is also block-able. --David Shankbone 21:26, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

In no way can this be compared to vandalism. ElinorD (talk) 21:28, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

David, I would not recommend you getting into a revert war over this. Just because no one else has the guts to do it doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. - Crockspot 21:30, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I didn't refer to your edit as vandalism...odd that my efforts to keep one of our contributors from being linked to an off-wiki harassment page would be consider vandalism--MONGO 21:29, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• Until there is some consensus to remove Moore's website from Misplaced Pages, I definitely think it qualifies as vandalism to remove it. Right now, most people agree that appropriate measures have been taken, and only a handful of Moore haters want the website removed. --David Shankbone 21:31, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't see any consensus to keep it...are you openly defending that website's efforts to harass one of our contributors?--MONGO 21:32, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Agree with Mongo. Sorry but if a website is asking its viewers to "edit" a user's page because of his real life identity, its an attack site. New England 21:37, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I mentioned this up above, but maybe they don't know about user talk pages, and think that editing a user page is how you communicate with somebody? I know I've seen people leave messages on userpages before. -Hit bull, win steak 21:53, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• Um... why is this under debate? It is really not a grey area. Sites which tell people to go harass someone should not be linked. Period. No relevant extenuating circumstances possible. -Amarkov moo! 21:39, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • Agreed. If Moore and his followers want to use Misplaced Pages as a pulpit to attack editors they disagree with, we have a responsibility to try and prevent it. Resolute 21:44, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
    • I don't think that's necessarily what's going on, though. It doesn't say "THF is a jerk, go give him a hard time", and there are good-faith reasons why he might have added the links (as an illustration of how easy it is to edit Misplaced Pages, for example, or a mistaken attempt to provide a point of contact for talking with THF, etc.). If people are giving THF a hard time, it's because they decided to do it themselves (and we absolutely need to make sure that they face appropriate consequences for their actions - blocking, page protection, etc.). -Hit bull, win steak 21:51, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

In the topic about this matter someone did mention the concerns of committing such a mass removal. I do not believe this helps this issue and as much as policy should be followed, this is one of those unique circumstances were WP:IAR may step in. Unfortunately to keep the links or to remove them turns out to be a double-edged sword either way. Its a pickle...don't get me wrong though, the page's snide bulletin is none-too-nice.¤~Persian Poet Gal 21:46, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

That is the first time I have ever seen that tactic (at Moore's website)...namely, that there are links right on a webpage which when clicked go directly to the editing window of certain pages. I hope this is uncommon and/or isn't picked up by other websites as it would make for a lot more work for a lot of people keeping junk and other stuff out of linked to articles. Have you ever seen that before? Is this some new or different approach?--MONGO 21:48, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• • • • • • This is wrong! There is no attack. •smedleyΔbutler• 21:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, congrats gents, this entire fiasco has made michael moore's front page. You should be proud. First off: It's not an attack site. The site has links to edit THF's page. Nothing wrong with that. It even says that THF has edited Sicko XX many times. Assuming that's true. Where's the attack? David Fuchs 21:49, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• • • • • • • • I emailed them again with my advise. •smedleyΔbutler• 21:51, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
• It technically does not say "Go harass THF!", true. But that is so strongly implied that it might as well be said. -Amarkov moo! 21:52, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

So if I made a page on Misplaced Pages that said "Look at Amarkov! Editing Misplaced Pages admin related pages! Here's how to edit his page", it would be an attack page? I'm tempted to create it, take it to MfD and see what they say. David Fuchs 21:55, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Or as a better example, what if it were Mike Godwin? He's fairly prominent off-wiki (like THF), he's edited articles about things connected to him (like THF), and he's connected his name with his editing on-wiki (like THF). Would it be an attack there, if some third party linked to Mike Godwin and his user page? This is a very slippery slope... -Hit bull, win steak 22:00, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

It's not the linking of his userpage by itself. It's the linking, along with prominent attention drawn to his editing about things where he is said to have a COI, on a site that self-evidently supports those things. -Amarkov moo! 22:02, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, Mike has edited his own article. It's hard to get more COI than that, no? (Note: I'm not suggesting that Mike's edits to his own article were improper.) -Hit bull, win steak 22:08, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I just don't want to lose sight of the difference between something like this and an overt attack site, like when P-J was accusing editors of being pedophiles last week. Blurring the lines would set a bad precedent. -Hit bull, win steak 22:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• The Moore haters brought the whole situation far more attention than it would have received if they had just let it ride out. Based upon this edit I think it's designed to have Michael Moore pay them some attention. Look at me! Look at me! I hate you too! --David Shankbone 22:04, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

And look who made that comment, throwing out that hate speech! •smedleyΔbutler• 22:07, 23 August 2007 (UTC) Isnt calling MM a 'POS' a BLP? Who will remove that BLP NPA? •smedleyΔbutler• 22:09, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

That was exactly my thought. And now Michael Moore pages on Misplaced Pages are lighting up like strobes. smb 22:22, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

David, I am not a Moore hater. I had never heard of him prior to seeing this discussion here at AN/I, and haven't looked at his article in sufficient depth to know who he is. But there are a few points to consider here. One is that his website, as it currently stands, is definitely an attack on one of our contributors. Incidentally, while it may be true that THF's identity is already known, there are people on Misplaced Pages who didn't know it until this happened and who know it now. And WP:HARASS specifically says that it's harassment to publicise the personal details (legal name, workplace, etc.) of an editor who is trying to be anonymous, and that this also applies in the case of editors who requested a namechange but whose old signatures can still be found in page histories. If fifty people knew it, that is not an excuse to raise the number to a hundred, or even to fifty-one. He changed his name, and removed some personal information from his userspace, therefore we treat his anonymity with as much respect as if he's a completely new, unknown editor, even if we privately think his attempts at anonymity are futile.

Secondly, it's true that in general, an article about a person should have a link to his site, if he has a site. But it's not absolutely super-urgently essential. Just as an article about a living person should ideally have a photo, but when there's no free one, we don't use one at all, even though it would improve the article, because there are other considerations. There are many areas of Misplaced Pages in more urgent need of attention than the fact that Michael Moore's article currently lacks a link to his website. Try recent changes patrol, for example. Keeping the link out, when we can do so without serious harm to the encyclopaedia, sends a message that we don't condone the contents of the front page of his site. Perhaps that might influence him to change it; perhaps not.

Thirdly, you have recently been in dispute with THF — quite a serious dispute, if I'm not mistaken. Why must it be you who decides that it's so terribly, terribly essential for the encyclopaedia that a link to a website that harasses him has to be in an article that you presumably have little or no interest in, since you've never edited it before, so that you revert someone twice when he removes it? I can assure you that MONGO would do the same for you if you were being harassed — and so would I. It's not urgent to have a link to that site right now this minute. If we suddenly discovered that the image had been invalidly claimed as a freely-licensed one, we'd take that out too. We remain calm, and we don't condone harassment. ElinorD (talk) 22:30, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

There is no edit warring, disruption, or anything wrong with removing the links. Moore's front page is stalking (a form of harassment) THF's edits. Read WP:NPA#External links. Will 22:10, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Um... yes, there is edit warring and disruption. -Amarkov moo! 22:14, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

And the edit warring, disruption, etc. is being done mostly by Misplaced Pages editors. This does not require special admin attention, only dispute resolution. And to Bmedley: its that kind of attitude which shows this is as much about Crockspot and Mongo and internal wiki political motivations as Michael Moore. David Fuchs 22:17, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Do not feed the trolls

Jeepers creepers, could you people try just a little harder to make this place suck? You haven't quite sucked all the joy out of being an admin but you're close. In no particular order,

1. Removing michaelmoore.com as an external link from Michael Moore seems especially ridiculous. There is a difference between having a discussion in projectspace about THF and citing mm.com ("See, mm.com thinks THF has a conflict") and linking to a famous person's official web site on his article.
2. But, this is undeniably an attack directed at THF. Suggesting otherwise is obtuse or deliberately disingenuous.
3. Therefore the best response would have been to ignore the whole damn drama from the very beginning. Have you all forgotten about "Revert, block, ignore", "Do not feed the trolls" and WP:DENY? The sensible response would have been to protect THF's user and talk pages and then shut the fuck up. Moore feeds on this kind of crap. You think it was an accident that he went to Cuba before getting his travel papers in order? Do you think he cares who he runs over in his quest for media attention?

You fell for it. You took the bait. Congratulations. Thatcher131 22:18, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict) A little blunter than the paragraph I had typed up, but yes - exactly. THF's userpage has been semi-protected. I'm sure a lot of us have it watchlisted and will revert and block vandals if they appear. Michaelmoore.com probably shouldn't be linked from many places besides the Michael Moore article, but removing from that article smacks of silliness and of leveraging this incident. Worst of all, as the below thread indicates, we managed to create a shitstorm before actually giving the rational approach advocated initially by Isotope23 a chance to work. Which it appears to have done. MastCell 22:26, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Thatcher...your comments only make the matter worse. In fact, me thinks some of it should be adjusted to keep from violating BLP. This has zero to do with Mr. Moore, and everything to do with not facilitating efforts by off wiki sites to denigrate this project by allowing direct links to edit pages. I can't speak for the person who that website seems to have a beef with, but as far as I am concerned, if that website is going to be used to harass our contributors, then we shouldn't be linking to it...if it was just Mr. Moore's opinions about Misplaced Pages, then fine, but that is not the case here.--MONGO 22:31, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

It's done now, please let it die. -Hit bull, win steak 22:42, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

notice

• • • • • NOTICE: They took my advise and removed the links. Mongo, please put all the links to mm.com back up. •smedleyΔbutler• 22:17, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
          • Well, that's a good thing, anyway. I'd still leave protection up on both for a while, though. -Hit bull, win steak 22:21, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
            • I've added the link back into the Micheal Moore page. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 22:36, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

(redent) Well, I'll be deleting it. I've deleted about eight others from "External links" sections. Once the attack is removed from Moore's Web site, I'll restore links myself. I've also made a request at Misplaced Pages:Requests for page protection to protect the Moore page. Noroton 22:42, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Is THF's real name common knowledge here. Has he presented it himself? Just curious as that is one of the things on the page that bothers me the most. Arkon 22:35, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't agree to having my real name on Misplaced Pages, even if it is common knowledge by virtue of the fact of people like Bmedley spamming it every time I make an edit he disagrees with. THF 00:24, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Giovanni Giove's editing of Requests for Comment

The previously reported user, Giovanni Giove (see the "Incessant unsourced reverting and editing on Dalmatia-related articles" section), has in adition to his previous behaviour, now started editing other users' comments in the 2 Requests for Comment on the articles Republic of Ragusa and Zadar. He is fully aware (and has been warned) that this is not allowed, but for some reason (in spite of being advised to the contrary) he thinks that because he posted these RfCs he has the right to edit them in his favour. I am reporting him on Isotope23 advice me and I have done so in spite of my scepticism that he can at all be stopped. He has been reported twice and blocked before, to little or no ultimate effect. I hope that there is a way out of this, DIREKTOR 21:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Giovanni Giove had removed this comment I've inserted. on 23rd Aug. Kubura 13:35, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to add that this user has a pattern of excessively abusive and disruptive edits, and has a sockpuppeteering history. On several occasions, he went "off" his battlefronts across Dalmatian-related articles and actually followed his "wiki-enemies" rv in sight there edits elsewhere. I would also like to note that I tried to be a neutral mediator between this user and several wikipedians from Croatia in a dispute with which I had no connection whatsoever and he responded in a very uncivil manner, threatening me to leave him, despite I calmly asked him to open discussions at the talk page and only cited Misplaced Pages's policies to him. --PaxEquilibrium 23:06, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

You know if you want admins to look at this you are going to have to back up accusations with actual links. |It is not reasonable to expect admins to have to go searching. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 23:09, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

There is really no need to search: just check out the talkpages of these artcles, he's ALL over them: Republic of Ragusa, Zadar and Fourth Crusade. DIREKTOR 23:29, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I took a brief look at this dispute. One glance at the edit summaries on Talk:Republic of Ragusa will show that there's a lot of emotion in play here. And the article's not showing up on the History RfC page for some reason. Any Admin who decides to don kevlar & wade into this firefight probably should first protect the article page on the wrong version, then try to get the folks involved to play nice with each other. -- llywrch 00:07, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Beleve me, there is no playing nice with Giove, we've all been there. The man's just returned from vacation, or was unblocked, or something. Before that, all was quiet, but for the last couple of days the man's incessantly venting his frustration and refuses to be stopped by anything. Important: If anyone intends to total-block these articles, make sure that the version is "impartially disagreeable" to both sides. This will not be simple (in fact it is nearly impossible), however, otherwise, i promise you, the discussion will probably stop completely by the "winning" side, I've seen this many times. This is one of the core problems here, so I really suggest a different approach. DIREKTOR 01:23, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

One of my first experiences with Giovanni Giove was this: ,, precisely he accused me of being a sockpuppet of some other banned user with no any reason and without any explenation where his suspicions came from! It was a few days after I was logged for the first time on Wiki and day after I have come with rich sources , which were disputing some of his edits regarding the population of the city, Zadar article. As you can see he didn't contributed to the discussion on the Talk:Zadar. He simply tried to solve his problem of my "existance" by marking me as somebody else's sock puppet.

Another example of his behaviour: first RFC was started at the Zadar talk page where he wrote this comment: You have not intoduced the sources!!! After all my hard work with presenting sources (and work of other users too). It's transparent at the talk page. This user simply doesn't want to see other people's work and he's absolutely blind for other users sources. He acts like it doesn't exist.

Here you can see just a little part of his argues with other users: , see section "Why such words?". Actually all that page is a kind of dossier. Zenanarh 10:15, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Note: dossier of Giovanni Giove's misbehaviour and vandalisms. Over 70 (yeah, seventy, and 3 is too much!).Kubura 13:42, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Now the best of all comes: his "conduction" of 2 Requests for Comment on the articles Republic of Ragusa and Zadar that he started. In both cases the same thing. Example - Zadar RFC: he firstly changed the article into his version , , immidiately after that he put the tags and started RFC . When other users wrote their first comments he interfered by changing it. I simply cannot see how can I participate there, even I'm very interested in that discussion. I wrote it there , he immidiately deleted it . This is all messed up. Zenanarh 10:57, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

That, when he inserted the template:suspected sockpuppet, is, according to WP:HARASSMENT (section: "User space harassment"): "Placing numerous false or questionable 'warnings' on a user's talk page..., placing 'suspected sockpuppet'...on the user page of active contributors...and otherwise trying to display material the user may find annoying or embarrassing in their user space is a common form of harassment.". Kubura 12:07, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I've inserted that section. Giovanni Giove ignored all our requests and pleasing on the article talkpages, so I've referred to him directly User talk:Giovanni Giove on here on 26th June, 2nd time on 29th June, 3rd time on 3rd July, 4th time on 9th July. He still avoided any discussion on the talkpages (his only comment was "my claims are sourced, you're vandal, nationalist") and continued with edit-slaughter on the articles (while others substained, in order to avoid edit war, Giove behaved like the rules don't exist for him).
He was many times called to discuss disputes with us, on his talkpage, on the talkpage of articles of Republic of Dubrovnik and Jakov Mikalja (I haven't seen other articles, other users can whitness their experiences with Giove). Giovanni Giove ignored the data other users gave him. Even scanned pages of historical books of the historical persons concerned (source site was library of Croatian academy of sciences and arts and the Croatian national language institute). See Talk:Republic of Dubrovnik.
He belittled the scientific sources of small nations (especially Croatian, with "that's vandalism", "that's falsificiation", "that's not a trustable source or even racist remark "deliberate falsification that Croats do against Italian personalities of Dalmatia"). But, when he was given the source in Italian, neither that was good (published by local Italian academy of sciences and arts, of region Marche). Even the external link he gave as his source, wasn't good source anymore (RAI, Italian national TV) (case of article Jakov Mikalja).
He even disrupted the discussion and deleted the contributions there.
I don't have to rewrite the whole story again. The talkpages of Talk:Jakov Mikalja is the best example.
Giovanni Giove also expressed one feature: negating and deny the term Croat. In every possible way, he's writing to avoid the mentioning the word of Croat, to deny the presence of Croats, Croat language or similar, or to "reduce" the percentage of Croat by adding "Serb", or "Serbocroatian" and . He's so blatant in these writings, that he even dared to start an RfC, with writing the nationname of Croats in quotationmarks (and that he didn't do with Italian or Latin). He even dared to restore that version with quotation marks.
And when he cannot find the way to avoid that, than he writes the nameforms of persons in the older ortography solutions of Croatian (that used solutions from Italian, German, Hungarian for diacritics in the text written in Latin); the same policy was done in Mussolini's Italy, when the law against the "funny foreign names" was applied, so many surnames like Zlatarić became Slatarich (or completely translated in Italian). Modern historiography uses modern ortography. Kubura 13:35, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Giovanni Giove also used method of threatning to other users. See this change and comment "Rvv:undiscussed deletion of proper cocnepts&links. Unjustified tag (this accident will be reported". Typical for him. Threatning with "you'll be reported". The article in question was an contentforking, "Dalmatian Italians". Shall we make articles like "Yorkshire Pakistanis" as "historical ethnical group"? If he wants to write about Italians in Croatia, then why don't he writes that in the article Italians in Croatia? Why does he inserts internal links in "see also" like "Zara"??? Croatian city of Zadar had that name under Mussollini's Italy, until it was returned to Croatia after WWII. Do we have to tolerate such provocations here?
Giovanni Giove uses Misplaced Pages for his revisionist ideas. He even places the links to Italian border and history revisionist sites (www.dalmazia.it). How long do we have to tolerate that? Till he gets in clash with Greeks (Euboeia, Rhodos, Messolongion, Korfu) and French (Nice, Corse)? Kubura 13:56, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

When he was warned about his expansionist attitudes, he removed those, with comment "JSF stop to bulshit. YOu don't know about my attitutedes (I've delete your vandalism fro here)". . In his previous removal of that warning , he called it "Deleted usual Kubura's personal attacks". But these attacks were the things Giovanni Giove wrote.
Here's the message I posted called "Giove's attacks". . Kubura 14:04, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Here's the text of that message. This was posted on it.wiki. We don't discuss on en.wiki the things on other wiki's, but this should be a guide and proof for those who don't believe. I posted this for others to see his attitudes.
Hi, everybody.
Here's Giove's message on it.wiki from July 30, 2006. I give it here, to show interested users Giove's attitude towards Croats and Croatia. .
"...: La nazione croata è un'invenzione dell'800. Prima non esisteva: non avevate nemmeno una lingua vostra. Ve la siete dovuta inventare a partire da uno dei vostri dialetti...".
The translation: "The yuYCroat nation is an invention from 1800's. Before it hasn't existed: you (Croats, translators' note) neither had your own language . You (Croats, translators' note) had to invent it from one of your dialects...".
In the same message there's an explicit anti-Croat attitude (though, it referres to Croatian War of Independence): "Ti faccio da ultimo presente inolre che hai elimanato tutti riferimenti ai crimini di guerra croati.. "... that you have removed all references to Croatian war criminals". Giove mentioned general Ante Gotovina, althought Gotovina is still under process. And even worse, he "attacked" me for removing that false reference (interesting, he hasn't mentioned any Serb war criminals at all, like Milan Martić and Milan Babić).
That was the message. Denying of Croatian nation and language. That tell's everything. Now make conclusions about his edits here. Kubura 14:04, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Persistent ongoing vandalism by at least one registered and several anonymous editors at Me and the Pumpkin Queen

I am having a hard time keeping up and finding warning/welcome templates. Please help me warn and/or block these users and possibly protect the page. Here are the diffs:

• —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Le Grand Roi des Citrouilles (talk • contribs) 22:01, August 23, 2007 (UTC).

Thanks! Sincerely, --Le Grand Roi des Citrouilles 21:57, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Sprotected for 1 week. Please use WP:RPP in the future. --Eyrian 22:03, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Okay, thanks for catching this one. Please note that the same anonymous IP(s) and registered user is/are also vandalizing other pages: and , as well as now possibly moving on to the talk page as well: . Sincerely, --Le Grand Roi des Citrouilles 22:05, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

User:DIREKTOR's destructive behaviour against RfC

A check is necessary about the destructive behaviour of User:DIREKTOR. Among all his POVs against the RfC on Zadar. I've deleted my name from RfC, imposed by another user (non accustomed with RfC rules), and deleted I've deleted it from a comment, because a RfC MUST be anonymous and neutral. User:DIREKTOR has started a (further) edit war to make my name again visible. He is also imposing new edits under RfC, on Zadar and Republic of Ragusa, again using edit war. Moderator Isotope23 has been informed of several accidents, and can be a neutral 3rd part for questions.151.25.29.58 23:59, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, for some reason my talkpage has apparently become something of a complaints department from multiple editors pushing multiple POVs at Dalmatia related articles (despite my frequent reminders that I know squat about the topic). I'm going to initiate an ARBCOM request tomorrow because frankly there are a whole host of editors who don't seem to be able to work together within the Misplaced Pages framework and have resorted to edit warring, name calling, and other non-productive behavior... It's a bit more than I can sort out on my own.--Isotope23 00:09, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Sorry about that Isotope23, but if you recall I was not the one to drag you down into all this. It was the same person whose clear pattern of mistkes in sentence construction had become all too familiar to me, and who's constant, pathetic, and incessant attempts at sockpuppeteering have begun to characterise him. I am of course talking about Giovanni Giove an his statement above. This is outrageous, to think he can actually fool intelligent human beings with this ridiculous display is an insult, and not just to me I might add. Is he really gonna get away with this? I am really starting to lose it, and I really hope the ARBCOM can help. DIREKTOR 00:34, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

User Noroton still removing many links to MichaelMoore.com

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

User has been blocked, unblocked, pages protected, and this is now an ordinary content and user dispute. Take it to the appropriate talk pages. Cool Hand Luke 05:54, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

User:Noroton is still removing many links to MichaelMoore.com. Link There are no more links to the 'edit' pages on mm.com. Noroton knows that. This is vandalizing! •smedleyΔbutler• 22:52, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

He stopped after Theresa's and MastCell's revert 1. I declined the request for page protection for the time being. Lets cool down now. Edit: Ugh guess I was wrong...¤~Persian Poet Gal 22:56, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Look, it's certainly, certainly not vandalising. You may disagree with it, but it has nothing to do with the teenagers who replace an article with the word "poop". This is a sincere, good faith belief that the site, even without the links to the edit page, is still engaging in harassment — a belief that many Wikipedians might share if their real names and photos were plastered on the front page of a website, along with their wiki-identity. ElinorD (talk) 23:00, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

It's not vandalism, but it is pigheadeness. The discussion futher up on this page had a rough consensus that it was the linking to the edit pages that was the potential source of attack. There was no mention of the photo, and hardly a mention of the name. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 23:05, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

It is still an attack and harassment of a wikipedian. Websites enjoy significant SEO benefits from having their links on wikipedia. While that site continues to attack a wikipedian in violation of our core policies, it should not be allowed to realize those benefits. If it was Bill O'Reilly attacking Bmedley Sutler, I would hold the same view, and would support the removal of his links until the attack was gone. All the links can return when the website complies and removes the attack. - Crockspot 23:11, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

No they don't. Misplaced Pages has nofollow in place for ages because of spammers. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 23:15, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Crockspot, Misplaced Pages is a neutral encyclopedia. We don't punish websites or organizations because of what they do. --Iamunknown 23:15, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

We shouldn't reward them for attacking our contributors either. What if the text of the URLs were displayed, but not in a link form? I would not be opposed to that compromise. - Crockspot 23:18, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

There is no reward, delinking the url affects nothing because they do not get SEO benefits. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 23:23, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

And there is, as noted a kajillion times, significant disagreement as to whether the page constitutes an attack. -Hit bull, win steak 23:19, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

(cross-posted at WP:RFPP) can someone please protect the wrong version? Edit warring continues... --Iamunknown 23:13, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

It's temporarily protected. Tom Harrison 23:22, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• Noroton says that he's going off to have dinner now, too. -Hit bull, win steak 23:23, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

A deal

I think THF having a break from editing Sicko and Moore removing that from website would sort this out. -- FayssalF - 23:20, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

No thats giving in to bullying! PS MM.com still has a picture and the login of THF on its front page, still there with the aim to damage wikipedia and one of its contributors. 00:14, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

That sounds rather random. Arkon 23:33, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, it is clear that the issue for Moore is the COI issue. And it is clear that the issue for THF is being attacked. i'd not call that "random". -- FayssalF - 23:36, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

No, just fairly obvious. If there is a COI issue, it should be dealt with through process, not through attacking an individual contributor. - Crockspot 23:46, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• • • • • Someone needs to remove every link to Steven Colbert and Comedy Central. They have asked for Misplaced Pages to be vanadalized not just edited. Maybe I should start that right now? •smedleyΔbutler• 00:17, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

No we should start legal proceedings against Steven Colbert and Comedy Central and send a harshly worded letter from our lawyers to mm.com. 00:35, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

• • • • • • That's right, Crockspot - I can't *believe* Michael Moore is not following Misplaced Pages process to handle these issues! We should ban him indefinitely! Absent that, let's punish him Misplaced Pages style. What a joke. Misplaced Pages is only as useful as the information it has, and this notion we are going to "punish" Michael Moore by not linking to his website, when there are countless links in references and citations, and when we purport to be an encyclopedia that is "useful", makes us look silly, juvenile and a joke. Seriously, who do we think we are? The Mighty Misplaced Pages? --David Shankbone 00:20, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

(Outdent) There are many avenues he could pursue to deal with a COI problem that he feels hurts his interests, including contacting our designated agent. - Crockspot 01:19, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

• • • • • • • Agreed. I am sure he is crying as we strip useful information away from the people who come here to learn. --SevenOfDiamonds 00:24, 24

Um... we can't give in to demands just to stop other people being mean. As was shown with the "lol letz unblock Daniel Brandt i dunt see how it cud go rong" fiasco, doing that is only a temporary fix until they find something else that they don't like. -Amarkov moo! 00:43, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Um...Did I miss something here? Did Michael Moore demand something? --David Shankbone 00:49, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, that's a good point too. Why are we assuming that he'll take anything down because THF stops editing Sicko related articles? -Amarkov moo! 00:51, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

If you want to know, then ask him. Personally, I don't like the idea of cutting "deals" with off-wiki people, and in any case that'd be something for THF to bring up if he wants, not us. -Hit bull, win steak 01:08, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

So let's get this straight: if Richard Rossi wants me to stop editing his page, all he has to do is blackmail me with an attack page implicitly encouraging people to send me obscene phonecalls, emails, and death threats? Why does anyone think this is a good idea? Why isn't the analog of WP:NLT the obvious answer? THF 01:48, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Noroton block

Krimpet just gave Noroton a 24-hour block for 3RR. People here may want to review that action, insofar as Noroton is claiming that he was justified in reverting due to attack page concerns. One way or another, we need to decide exactly what is and is not an attack page. -Hit bull, win steak 01:16, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Please note that the WP:NPA#External links rule about 3RR was changed after User:Noroton was blocked. THF 01:48, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

When he was making those edits, the policy said simply this: "Links or references to off-site harassment, attacks, or privacy violations against Wikipedians are not permitted, and should be removed. Such removals are not subject to the three-revert rule. Attacking, harassing, or violating the privacy of any Wikipedian through the posting of external links is not permitted, and those who do so deliberately or repeatedly may be blocked." Therefore, I think that by the letter (and spirit in fact!) of the law, you can't really block Noroton for a 3rr violation. ugen64 01:53, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I think he can, and should. If Norton has an agenda other than writing the most complete article possible, he has no business editing here. Whatever rule that falls under, it's certainly the spirit of how Misplaced Pages works. VxP 02:00, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

You cannot single-mindedly say "any action taken with the agenda of writing the most complete article possible can be justified and follows the spirit of Misplaced Pages". The fact is, we have a policy about No Personal Attacks for a reason. What if Michael Moore's website said, for example, "THF's real name is and his address is and his phone number is "? If Noroton had deleted the homepage then, would we all be complaining about it now? The fact is, the policy specifically stated that removing personal attacks was exempt from the 3 revert rule (as it rightly should be) and therefore, Noroton can only have thought that his edits would have, at the very least, not been threatened with a block. Unfortunately, he did receive a block. Now whether his edits were correct or not, I cannot say anything, but he had justification for making those edits in a policy and as much as we might like to point to WP:IAR, it is very strange in my opinion to block a user for simply assuming that following the letter of the policy would be seen as the correct course of action. ugen64 02:04, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I object to the block, which was made more than an hour after the page was protected. The editor was presumably motivated by a wish to prevent harassment, rather than the standard edit warring motive to push his own POV or to enforce his version of the article. It was particularly nasty to have the main page of a website with a photo of one of our editors and his real name and Misplaced Pages identity, plus invitations to edit his user page. Even when the invitations to edit his user page were removed, the name and photo remained, and they were more serious. WP:HARASS says that publicising the real name, workplace, etc. of an editor without their consent is harassment even in the case of editors who requested a name change but still have their old signatures in page histories. The MONGO ArbCom case allows removal of links to attack sites without regard to 3RR. Now I agree that it's debatable as to whether or not this was an attack site. Certainly, the contents of it at that particular time (I haven't looked recently) were extremely nasty. But it's a question on which one could legitimately disagree. So a block, after it was over, and after the page has been protected (when we so seldom block after a page protection even in an article POV content dispute) sends a very bad message.

I also disagree with the recent edit to WP:NPA, but that's a matter that I'm sure I can discuss with the editor, who is extremely reasonable and approachable. ElinorD (talk) 02:03, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I would have to agree that it doesn't make sense to block an editor for edit-warring after the page has been protected. After all, blocks are supposed to be preventive, and the protection has already prevented any more edit-warring on those pages. I would be in favor of unblocking Noroton. MastCell 02:18, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

As the blocking admin, I understand that the page where Noroton broke 3RR, Michael Moore, was protected, preventing any further reversions from taking place on that page. However, as I explained on the 3RR noticeboard, Noroton was revert-warring on a massive number of other pages as well, both before and after Michael Moore was protected, and continued to announce his intent to revert indefinitely up until his block. It is for these reasons that I decided a block was needed as a preventative measure. Krimpet 03:37, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/MONGO#Links to attack site is very relevant here. - Crockspot 03:15, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree. As the policy was, the user might have been justified. I've unblocked with instructions not to remove the links again in the next 24 hours. I hope user can articulate their position on this and other discussion pages. Cool Hand Luke 03:47, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

That ArbCom ruling is really vague though. They don't even define what an attack site is! In that context, they were talking about a vile and puerile attack page created on Encyclopedia Dramatica. This isn't even remotely similar to the Michael Moore incident, and does not confer immunity from 3RR to Noroton. --Cyde Weys 04:40, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Don't think links to mm.com that were taken down from the pages that are now locked have to be put back up? •smedleyΔbutler• 04:41, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Point me to the links that were taken down but not restored? --Cyde Weys 04:55, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

• Not a single one of you good Samaritans had the decency to follow this suggestion at the top of this page: "As a courtesy, you should inform other users if they are mentioned in a posting." I have done absolutely nothing in this episode but be reasonable, be open to discussion (and in fact discussed what I was doing at length on the Moore talk page, on my own talk page, on the talk pages of people who wanted to talk about it with me), try to follow the rules and the spirit of what we're supposed to be doing here and do the right thing when another person was under attack by a bully (simply by deleting the links to the bully's web site). I'm owed an apology from that administrator as well as a formal statement from Misplaced Pages that I was wrongly blocked. I'll be pursuing dispute resolution until I get both. You people basically lack respect for others. Why would anyone want to work with you? And the administrator had the unmitigated gall to talk about the spirit of the rules and accuse me of wikilawyering when I was simply trying to follow the rules. What about the spirit of WP:CIVIL? You disgust me. Every last one of you, even the one's who didn't agree with the block. Even you couldn't even tell me about this so that I'd have a fair chance to defend myself. Thanks for not inviting me to the party. How dare you. Noroton 05:01, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Erm... well now I agree with the block. Great job defending yourself, alienating people who defended you for no good reason must really help. -Amarkov moo! 05:06, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

• • • Sorry Amarkov. Guess I'm not a good politician tonight. I've never really been good at smiling after I've been insulted. I'll try not to discomfort you in the future. Why would you think I would want to defend myself? Noroton 05:49, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
  • I don't think Misplaced Pages gives formal statements. It's like herding cats. I think that there may have been some miscommunication, and it was an oversight not to post to your talk page, but I think editors were acting in good faith, including the one who blocked you. Please assume good faith. Cool Hand Luke 05:09, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
    • In addition to being a phrase we throw around, Assume good faith actually has an article that goes with it as well. There, if I might wikilawyer a bit (because whenever you're referring to a policy you're wikilawyering it up according to a certain administrator), it states: "Consider using talk pages to clearly explain yourself, and give others the opportunity to do the same. Consider whether a dispute stems from different perspectives and look for ways to reach consensus if possible. This can avoid misunderstandings and prevent problems from escalating." It also states: "This guideline does not require that editors continue to assume good faith in the presence of evidence to the contrary." And that would be an exception to a rule. Kind of like the exceptions to the WP:3RR rule, which some of you just possibly might want to take a look at. There's one interesting exception that goes, "reverts to remove content or links to content that harasses, attacks, or violates the privacy of individuals." But there I go with that wikilawyering again. It does say a bit later that you should strive for consensus and even links to Administrators Noticeboard, which is something I didn't know (or maybe I read it once and had forgoten it). It doesn't say what to do when A/N gives you no consensus. Or at least I didn't detect a consensus. I read a closing admin's comment that this should be decided in "other venues". I didn't know what the hell that meant, but thought it might mean the talk page for the Michael Moore article. Or maybe the page-protection page. Which is where I went. But I guess ignorance of the law is no excuse, as they mention over at WP:CIVIL. Really, there's no excuse for me not figuring out exactly what the consensus was and following it. Noroton 05:49, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

When an editor writes threats like Norotons above, theyre not here to write an encyclopedia, (IMO). As one of the other editors said about me once or twice "I think he needs a cooling-off period" •smedleyΔbutler• 05:20, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

That's uncalled for.

He was blocked, he thinks it was unfair, he's venting but not making personal attacks out of it. This happens.

Please, everyone, stop pouring gasoline and drama all over this incident. Stop posting, stop sniping at each other. It's not helping the encyclopedia, any of the contributors to the thread, etc. Georgewilliamherbert 05:39, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Well said. I think this thread has been resolved now. Cool Hand Luke 05:43, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Dear Mr. Moore, doesn't Misplaced Pages look stupid?

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Please. Stop. The thing is over, and no admin intervention is needed. If you want to bicker about this, please do so somewhere else that does not have the word "noticeboard" in its title. —Kurykh 04:41, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

• Don't think links to mm.com that were taken down from the pages that are now locked have to be put back up? •smedleyΔbutler• 04:43, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
  • That's an editorial decision. Take it to the relevant talk page. But the discussion below is verging on ridiculous. —Kurykh 04:45, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Could you imagine any other news source being so tribalistic, so juvenile, in a response to what is a relatively innocuous bit on a web page that changes frequently? Could you image Wolf Blitzer and the rest of the CNN crew acting like a bunch of Lord of the Flies kids over Sanjay Gupta? Welcome to Misplaced Pages, where the mentality of teenagers rules in our response to what was essentially a factual post on Moore's website about a relatively notable person who edits his pages. And we go ape shit. Like a bunch of a little kids. "HEY MOORE! THAT'S ONE OF OUR OWN! HOW DARE YOU UNMASK A WIKIPEDIA CONTRIBUTOR WHO USED TO EDIT UNDER HIS VERY OWN NAME AND NOW EDITS UNDER HIS INITALS, AND WROTE AN ARTICLE ATTACKING YOU ON HIS EMPLOYER'S WEBSITE?! No more links for you! Take that!" And we wonder why we are made fun of? Look no further. Because people like MONGO and Crockspot influence the debate to make us all act like a bunch of ninnies instead of intellectuals trying to build an encyclopedia. Thatcher was 100% right, and we all look like idiots. That's the real news story here, and I hope it gets picked up in the media. --David Shankbone 00:33, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Hey, David, this was not helpful. Please consider not commenting for a while if you're this upset over the situation. Georgewilliamherbert 00:43, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't think most of the comments on these threads have been helpful, and I'm actually not upset. I think we just look really stupid right now. And I hope it gets picked up in the media that a well-known person pointed out how often another well-known person edits his articles, and we all went crazy and decided to "punish" Michael Moore by removing his link. I hope it gets picked up in the media, and we are the subject of ridicule, so people like Crockspot and MONGO and Hypno don't allow their ridiculous reasoning, and our own grandiosity, to win the day again. --David Shankbone 00:46, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Man, Shankbone, that was a bunch of overwrought horse hockey. Take a deep breath, exhale, repeat. Geez! Oh, by the way, Michael Moore is a big, fat windbag. Have a good day!--Getaway 00:48, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

That's Limbaugh you're thinking of. Hey, how about if wikipedia would sponsor an experiment: Put the two of them in a fishbowl together, and see which one survives. Baseball Bugs 01:08, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Very simple reasoning, mm.com tried to harm wikipedia by attacking one of its parts, an editor in good standing. This should not be allowed, and wikipedia as a corporation based in florida has legal protections that allow it to do buisiness without hindrence. It should use them or these attacks are only going to happen more often to the point we will spend our time reverting vandalism not writing an encyclopedia. 00:52, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Wait, who are we to say what Michael Moore should and should not be allowed to do? Who do we think we are? Seriously? You don't think Moore hasn't said and done worse things to other people? THF is a public person, who wrote a public article attacking Michael Moore, and he is writing a longer article about him, and he used to edit under his own name, and introduced himself on his website, and is now writing a Wall Street Journal piece, and all of this was revealed, and we are jumping up and down about what is currently found on MM.com? We take ourselves *way* too seriously. It's really silly - we look like children, and I am guessing most of us are. --David Shankbone 00:57, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

"Wait, who are we to say what Michael Moore should and should not be allowed to do" I believe that the american people through their representational democracy decide what he (and everyone else on american soil) can do. And they have given the right to sue to re-emburse damage done that is not criminal. It is not just the outing which was the attack, it is the posting of his login and who he worked for. This was clearly to designate him as the ENEMY on wikipedia, and wikipedia is not a battlefield. 01:12, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

With the utmost in respect due, I believe your behavior here today, especially in this thread, is the most childish. Have some decorum, and please reconsider sweeping unfounded generalizations of the type you've made here. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 01:04, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

LOL - sure. And the "we should sick our lawyers on anyone who tries to vandalize us" and the "get rid of his link to his site" crowd with pitchfork mentality is, well, looking pretty good also...I can tell you, in my waking life, it won't make a difference to me if Misplaced Pages considers me childish. And THF, seriously, you need to change your ID, because it begins to get a little silly to dance around the elephant in the room. --David Shankbone 01:12, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I guess I'll take up defending David: It looks to me like David is speaking his mind, in good faith, with honesty. What he is saying is perhaps not stated tactfully, but that does not make what he is saying invalid. Take it from a guy that watches AN/I like a reality TV show, this is all very silly. Actually, the best way to describe the umpteen threads about this here is disappointing. These incidents remind me of one of the questions I asked at WP:BADSITES: what is an attack site? Frankly, I'm not interested in discussing it anymore, because it is clear that it does not do any good. "Sides" are immediately drawn in issues like this, and that is not conducive to any productive discussion. I've yet to see a productive discussion on this yet and do not hold hope there will ever be any. So my caution to DavidShankbone is that it just isn't worth your time to speak honestly about this, the people you are trying to convince will not listen. That's just my observation and I very much hope that it is wrong. daveh4h 01:17, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Daveh4h that is unfortunately true as like the death penalty this is a digital choice with only two incompatable possibilties. This means there is no middle ground to find, you are either for or against the death penalty, you either decide to protect wikipedia and its editors or you throw them both to the dogs. 01:30, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

""we should sick our lawyers on anyone who tries to vandalize us"" YES the perm banned ones that come back! 01:19, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

This is silly, it's not how adults act. Maybe spoiled adults, but we're writing an encyclopedia here. The 1st amendment is alive and well in America, and being the kind of project that we are, we shouldn't be trying to hinder it. We're specifically not a cabal, and this talk of a "no middleground" is nothing but pure fallacy worthy of Joe McCarthy's finest years. My position is my position, I don't care whether it constitutes an improper middle ground, or anything else, in some person's eyes. I don't think you'd find Jimbo Wales in favor sicking his lawyers on Michael Moore for this, nor a majority of editors. This project works because editors can correct problems by reverting articles and dealing with problems on the site as they arise. Nobody entrusted any of us to fight any legal wars. VxP 01:44, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

No your view just meens that vadalism will get worse, and long term vandals will come back year on year on year, for ever because nothing will stop them until they decide to stop. This wastes thousands of man-hours already and is getting worse all the time. 04:30, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

"The 1st amendment is alive and well in America, and being the kind of project that we are, we shouldn't be trying to hinder it" This is not about Speach this is about knowingly damaging wikipedia, you can't shout FIRE in a theater. 04:34, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

A lawsuit would be frivolous. I appreciate Hypnosadist's support, but his idiosyncratic views about possible legal remedies are derailing the discussion. THF 01:50, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Ok, with that aside, I'd like to propose that we ignore the situation. Not only is it the "right thing to do", considering as an online encyclopedia we'd really be missing something by not having a link to the website of the article's subject matter, but as a practical matter, all the attention we're giving it is only making it worse. As big as we are on ourselves, Michael Moore will move on to other things when he gets tired. I'm sorry, but it It's simply not part of our mission as Misplaced Pages editors to "defend" other editors from outside threats, it's our responsibility to write a complete encyclopedia. If you're removing a link for reasons other than "writing a good encyclopedia", you're following an agenda contrary to Misplaced Pages's mission. I don't direct this at any one person, but the reality is that it's true: nobody authorized us to "battle" Michael Moore on behalf of Misplaced Pages, only to write a complete article about Michael Moore. VxP 01:56, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

It's a noble sentiment. You should perhaps suggest a change on WT:NPA, since the current rules say differently. Consumer Reports has an ironclad rule against permitting sellers to use its ratings in advertisements; if a company violates that rule, CR boycotts the manufacturer, even if that means consumers get less accurate information, until the advertising is withdrawn. But the nice thing about the CR rule is that by protecting its secondary interest so fervently, its primary interest isn't ever affected. THF 02:08, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't see NPA applying. MichaelMoore.com is certainly not an attack site against Misplaced Pages, it's a proper link related to an article's subject. Even if it contains an "attack" on Misplaced Pages, its primary purpose is a legitimate site, and that holds a lot more water to me than a questionable attack. What if CNN wrote an article trashing Misplaced Pages. Surely someone would see that as an attack, do we de-link CNN? And the consumer reports example is not relevant, we are Misplaced Pages, not consumer reports. VxP 02:16, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, as you say, MichaelMoore.com's primary purpose is not to serve as an attack site. But any page that contains what is defined as a personal attack falls under WP:NPA's jurisdiction, whether or not that's its "primary purpose". You will have to get the policy changed if you want a different view on that. ugen64 02:21, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I should note that, right above on this page, Jimbo has said that BADSITES is justly rejected as a policy. *Dan T.* 02:29, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Quite. I hope, Dan, that you agree with him that "there is a noble concept behind it, and . . . that a more carefully formulated restricted version of the policy could in fact pass muster." In fact, apart from the troll behind that page, which led to the destruction of much of the protection that harassment victims had previously enjoyed, most of the people who supported the idea did feel that it would have to be considerably modified, which would place us in agreement with Jimbo. ElinorD (talk) 02:36, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

From the post Dan T. quoteed: "I would consider that page to be a hate site page engaging in reckless speech about innocent people, and that's the sort of thing I think we should have the good sense and dignity not to link to directly." THF 02:37, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Sorry to burst the bubble here, but what about this topic requires administrator intervention? Can we just archive this and be done with it? Cowman109 02:38, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Plenty of bad ideas have had "noble concepts" behind them. That doesn't stop them from being bad ideas nevertheless. *Dan T.* 02:40, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Actually, the really relevant part of his post is where he says "that a more carefully formulated restricted version of the policy could in fact pass muster." I look forward to your support in trying to bring that about! ElinorD (talk) 02:51, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I have to agree with David Shankbone here. Our response to Michael Moore's post on his website was downright juvenile and vindictive. We had a bunch of people running around like it was the end of the world, and even worse, using it as an excuse to "punish" him by removing links to his site. This kind of shit is the reason we get in trouble like this in the first place. --Cyde Weys 02:59, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

• Hey guys, I have a friend who is a producer at The Colbert Report and I just sent him a text to call me about this. When they see Moore's little post, and they read some of our choice self-important "punish" "reward" "throw them to the dogs" quotes and see that we started to remove Moore's links on his articles about him because he "unmasked" a notable person who himself has attacked Moore, writes WSJ Op-Ed articles, and used to edit under his real name (as his user name) until only about a week ago, who do you think is going to look foolish: Misplaced Pages or Moore? How do you think third parties will see Moore's little tiny post of nothing but facts, and our reaction? At least some people in this thread understood the point of it. Enjoy the humble pie. Much deserved. --David Shankbone 03:16, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

  Speaking of childish, I think this qualifies — dragging people who disagree with you out for public ridicule is not exactly a mature or measured reaction. --Haemo 03:19, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

  • Ugh, I really don't approve of this action. This is embarrassing for Misplaced Pages; we shouldn't be trying to get it on national television! We need to learn our lesson as quietly as possible. Misplaced Pages already gets enough bad press as it is. --Cyde Weys 03:20, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
    • And of course you surely told your friend about your prior conflicts with THF, right? Thatcher131 03:21, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
      • I haven't spoken to him yet, and probably won't until tomorrow, but yeah, I'll give him the full background. The real story is "Misplaced Pages vs. Michael Moore," not me and the name we dare not speak. Actually, quite a few people already know about my THF stuff - it made good party talk. I don't think via any other way but public embarrassment will we stop this kind of childishness from happening again. I don't see any effort to get what Moore did not declared an "attack", but only support for removing his links and this tribalistic "He attacked us, we will fight back" attitude. I mean come on, guys. How could this have gotten this far? How did we let it? --David Shankbone 03:30, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Your vigorous stirring of the pot did a lot to get use here. Tom Harrison 03:34, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Uh, no, Tom, that's a little too easy. This was something the anti-Moore contingent on this site brought us to all on their lonesome. It was User:MONGO, I believe, who started ripping down the links, and I have a bolded warning about it. Then there was a pile-on in favor of removing the links, page protections without the links...etc. etc. etc. This cauldron was a'bubbling way before I wrote my little rant above. --David Shankbone 03:43, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I just had an evil but amusing thought. What if Colbert does do a story, and it ends up focusing on you David, and paints you as a pot-stirring troublemaker? That would be a kick in the ass, eh? But I doubt that would happen. I have never known Colbert to single out individual Wikipedians for ridicule, except perhaps Jimbo, but that's sort of Jimbo's job. - Crockspot 03:50, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Yeah that would be funny if I was the real story here. Keep dreaming...You always have those in that world you live in! Until then, I concur with Aude and I'll stop posting on the topic. --David Shankbone 03:54, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

• Not every response, Cyde. I thought Isotope23's act was the appropriate one: ask him to remove the "edit THF's userpage" link. I hope it's not a surprise to find that if you speak to someone reasonably, they respond reasonably. I hear that's how a bunch of crazies created an encyclopedia on the Internet. -- llywrch 03:40, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm getting sick of all the drama here. I think there's overreaction on all sides. I don't think this needs involvement from an admin at this point. Pages in question have been semi-protected. This kind of childish bickering (coming from all sides) on AN/I is the sort of thing that makes me want to remove AN/I and other noticeboards from my watchlist. If it continues, I'll be doing that. I suggest taking this elsewhere. Admin intervention is not needed right now. --Aude (talk) 03:47, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Improper AFD closing

Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/List of inventions shown on American Inventor (second nomination) was improperly closed by the nominator. Should it be reopened or relisted or taken to DRV? Corpx 23:38, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Its been undone, nominators cant close afds so its a simple case of revert, SqueakBox 23:42, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Are we sure the nominator's intention was not to withdraw the nomination? - Crockspot 23:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Even if it was, there are two other delete votes tallied. I'm not sure it can be withdrawn at this point. Resolute 23:49, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

(ec x2) As has been observed, the nominator "improperly closed" the discussion most likely as a way to withdraw the nomination. However, since Corpx was for the article's deletion, the deletion review seems apropos here. --Aarktica 23:51, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

• Check out this section of the deletion process, the portion addressing non administrators having their closes reverted (located on the tail end of the section) . Since the reversion was 38 (+/-2) minutes after the "closure"... all the needs to be done, has been done. No DRV, no relist (at this point) in my opinion is needed. Best regards, Navou 00:03, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Somebody check this for sockpuppetry

I'm offline for a while. Can somebody check into this?

• 75.37.13.69 (talk · contribs · WHOIS)
• 76.204.176.109 (talk · contribs · WHOIS)
• Category:Suspected Misplaced Pages sockpuppets of SallyForth123
• Misplaced Pages:Suspected sock puppets/SallyForth123
• Also see Misplaced Pages:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#SallyForth123_evading_3RR_block_with_dynamic_IPs and Misplaced Pages:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#User:SallyForth123_evading_block.

Thanks! Sancho 23:52, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Done. See User:Sanchom/SallyForth123 I really need some extra help or input with this. Do we protect all of the articles? Sancho 05:41, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Airline route maps under GFDL?

Sox23 (talk · contribs) has been uploading a variety of airline route maps, often providing a source link directly to their website (see Image:Spirit Airlines Route Map.JPG for example), but putting them under a GFDL license. Am I missing something here, or are these outright copyvio's without a fair use claim (let alone released under GFDL). Should they just be speedy-deleted? --ZimZalaBim 23:56, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Definitely not GFDL. As to whether they are fair use in articles about airline destinations is debatable. Comments by someone with more fair use experience would be welcome. Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 00:25, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

They're copyvios. Delete them and re-create using free-licensed maps and the original data. --Carnildo 00:30, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I'll be honest, I don't even know what the GFDL is so I've reverted all back to the previous non-free promotional. Sorry- I didn't mean for "copyright infringement"? Sox23 01:51, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't think these maps you're uploaded qualify as non-free promotional either - the are repeatable, as noted above. --ZimZalaBim 01:59, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

They've been deleted. --ZimZalaBim 02:33, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

COI John Howard

This morning media outlets in Australia have reported that staff from Prime Minister John Howards office have edit his article to removed controversial information. I have fully protected the article, added {{COI}}, and requested editors via WP:AWNB check the article and fixe any issues quickly. Can admins watch for {{editprotect}} tags and fix as quickly as possible. Also as I'm an Australian editor my actions could be seen as a COI can an independent(non Australian) admin review the current situation and make any appropriate alterations. Gnangarra 01:26, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't think full protection is neccesary. The history shows the most recent IP edits, (which are what Wikiscanner reports on) are typical childish vandalism, and have been reverted as usual. There is no evidence that I could see of substantial editing from someone with a conflict of interest. Kevin 02:57, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree with Kevin. The article was semiprotected to limit childish vandalism and it is a good protection from IP edits reported by scanner. On the other hand JH is a Prime Minister, we are nearly elections. Thus, something notable about him may surface any moment and who would add the info to the article? Alex Bakharev 03:01, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

User:Phral

for the umpteenth time I have to make a report about this user formerly known as User:देसीफ्राल. I filed a report for wikistalking recently incident report However in the last few days he has gone around undoing my edits, . Though I encountered this user in race related articles, he has gone out of his way to undo edits in unrelated articles such as Mother Teresa . I feel like I have big brother watching over me. Other edits that he makes are quite offensive There is a case outstanding for Misplaced Pages:Requests_for_checkuser/Case/Hayden5650 for which he is implicated. This editor does not seem interested in making any meaningful contributions but simply to go around upsetting people. Muntuwandi 01:40, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Note:(Muntuwandi, I think you inadvertently removed this) Phral and Muntuwandi are both involved in a Mediation Cabal case of which Singularity and I are the mediators. Thanks, Neranei (talk) 02:17, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Oh for fucksake. Pay no heed to he who adds photos of albinos to the white people article. If the situation was reversed, and Muntuwandi was a white editor, pushing the Agenda for whites as he does for blacks, he would have been blocked after his first edit. No admin seems to have the balls to block a Black editor for racism, because 'that's impossible' --Phral 02:31, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Phral, if you would care to discuss the issue with me, please feel free to do so, either via email (if you want to keep things private), or on my talk page. Please, please remain civil. Thanks, Neranei (talk) 02:34, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Phral you have just followed him to Mother Theresa and removed a sourced paragraph w/o even leaving an edit summary or a reason why at the talk page. This is wikistalking. I am therefore blocking you for all these offenses as i'd already warned you before about edit summaries. So all in all, you have followed him to an article you have never edited before. You removed sourced info. You haven't used the edit summary. -- FayssalF - 03:05, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Endorse; both these editors seem to be totally incapable of de-escalating their argument. If blocks are what it's going to take, I support them. --Haemo 03:15, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

One last comment

The above discussions are closed, and nothing that requires administrator attention is present in THF's comments below. Please do not continue these sorts of things here. Take it somewhere else. David Fuchs 15:30, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

(Re: Misplaced Pages:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#Michael_Moore) —Preceding unsigned comment added by THF (talk • contribs) 11:49, August 24, 2007 (UTC)

As I forward yet another death threat I received to the admin of the IP of the emailer who sent it, I have one last comment. As a point of comparison, in February I complained about a POV-pushing SPA editor, who never disclosed any COI, and who never adhered to NPOV, and who repeatedly edit-warred, and who posted on a left-wing blog that she viewed herself as the " Misplaced Pages Editor" on behalf of the left-wing blog. When I merely linked to the blog entry that this own editor posted herself under her real name, it was immediately redacted, and I was threatened with an indefinite ban by multiple admins, and almost was indef-blocked without a chance to note that I misunderstood the rule and wouldn't do it again.

I find it interesting the differing treatment I've received here, even though I have disclosed COI when I had it, I have avoided POV-pushing, I have avoided edit-warring, and I have spread my Misplaced Pages editing over many subjects and devoted substantial time to the scutwork of vandal-hunting, new article patrol, and BLP cleanup. But multiple editors feel free to disregard my request not to use my name even if they happen to know my identity, even if it is readily determinable by the fact that I use my initials, indicate my field of study, and the nature of my employer. And now there is a website linked to from Misplaced Pages that, in attempting to intimidate me from legitimate participation by encouraging many many crank phone calls, e-mails, and death threats, has printed personal information and an out-of-date photo.

WP:HARASS and WP:NPA#External links are both objective, rather than subjective, policies: application is math, not art, and not a question of "consensus", yet the if-then flow-chart presented by those rules was not followed, though no one arguing that it should not be applied did so with reference to the text of the rule. And WP:NPA#External links explicitly stated (before it was changed a few minutes ago) that edits made under its rule are not subject to the 3RR rule, but an editor following that policy to the letter and spirit was blocked. And not one person addressed ElinorD's reasoning on AN/I, preferring to joust with those more easily refuted.

Some editors are effectively arguing that I have waived the protections of WP:HARASS and WP:NPA because I followed the rules and disclosed COI when I had it, thus permitting inference of my identity, and those editors have effectively vetoed those who asked for neutral application of the rules. If that's the case, then NPA and HARASS should be amended to say as much. But it's hard for me not to suspect this would have turned out differently if had been David Horowitz pulling the exact same stunt with a left-wing editor of similar prominence. THF 01:40, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Are you certain you didn't misplace the note above? I'm not quite sure what to make of it. This noticeboard is for incidents which require administrative assistance. You should start by concisely explaining what sort of help you're after. El_C 08:12, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

The title itself "One last comment," implies there were others, yet this section and its confusing contents seems to exist in isolation. El_C 08:15, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Abusive sockmaster on Meta, spillover to here.

As part of a checkuser investigation on Meta (see http://meta.wikimedia.org/search/?title=Meta:Requests_for_help_from_a_sysop_or_bureaucrat&oldid=653606#ja:WP:NODA_evading_block ) I discovered this same user running socks here. Activities here have not been as disruptive as on meta but I have chosen to block the socks indefinitely, they are not up to any good, editing the same areas and articles, as well as doing a bit of self promotion.

• YuiShop (talk · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
• Anymoerer (talk · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

as well as blocking the underlying IP from anon edits for a month. I have left the sockmaster Noda,Kentaro (talk · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) unblocked here, for now, but I advise an eye be kept, and certainly would not oppose a block. As always I invite review of my actions. ++Lar: t/c 02:06, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Biggspowd (talk · contribs) needs to be indef blocked

This person throws a tantrum and retires/quits about once a week, then comes back and resumes editing. He's been blocked several times in the past for vandalism and such things, and is currently blocked for one week for vandalism here . He refuses to recognize this and insists on repeatedly vandalizing his own talk page. When someone is blocked, they're not supposed to edit their talk page except to request unblock, which he did (and this request was declined). He responds by constantly blanking and redirecting the page. , This person is obviously not going to listen to reason and it's time to end the games and vandalism. The Parsnip! 02:19, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

There is nothing wrong with the user blanking his talk page with a desire to leave Misplaced Pages, so I reblanked his page and protected it. Once a user blanks their talk page there usually isn't a reason to undo it as otherwise it just becomes harassing to them. As for whether the user should be blocked longer, that's another matter which I haven't looked into much, so that should be looked at still. Cowman109 02:25, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Bit of a POV warrior as well. I can't decide if we should give him another chance, doesn't seem like we'd be losing much were he to be indeffed... Grandmasterka 02:29, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Even though we don't block to make people keep their word on leaving, it doesn't seem like it would hurt if he really is leaving, either. But ignoring that, the user does seem to be quite disruptive, so I certainly wouldn't fight an indefinite block for the user. But I'm not sure if it's even necessary unless he does come back again. It sounds like he's gone for good. Cowman109 02:33, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Sure, there's nothing wrong with blanking his talk if he's really planning on leaving and isn't currently blocked. Editing while blocked is block subversion. He should wait until his block has expired, THEN blank his talk with his retirement notices (which I don't believe for a second, but that's neither here nor there.) The Parsnip! 02:37, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Anyway, I guess protecting his talk accomplishes the same thing. Thanks! The Parsnip! 02:38, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

He shows classic signs of playing a trolling game. I ran into him on one article, and then observed his pattern. The anti-smoking rant on his edit summaries (along with the f-word, which might be considered uncivil) have the tone of someone who's on that rant just as part of the game, just to evoke responses. The issue itself doesn't really matter. Also, no one's stopping him from quitting except himself. Blanking and protecting his talk page was the right thing to do, as it silences him and denies him the ability to play the game. Baseball Bugs 02:40, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Disruption by Hakozen

Hakozen (talk · contribs) POV, edit warring and disruption by this user he already removed a big section: than he reports me to about 5 admins calling me a racist and nationalist. He violated the 3RR on Huns when I warned him but he ignores it at thinks it will be a acceptation since I am a racist and nationalist. Than he messages me saying: "you are a pure racist and ultra-nationalst. im working about your ban. you will be shoot-out like all armenians who vandalise their homes" --Vonones 03:22, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Is that a threat? It sounds like a threat to me. --Haemo 03:23, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Block review

Interesting, I just came here to ask for a block review of my block of Hakozen. I gave him a stern warning on his talk page for harassing Vonones. Immediately after that, he then continues the harassment (with the above threat) and asks me how I can "stop" Vonones. I then blocked Hakozen for 31 hours. Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 03:31, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Well he violated the 3RR I would prefer a longer block but its okay for now I hope he changes his behavior after the block expires. --Vonones 03:32, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

From my point of view, he's been incessantly edit warring and been generally abusive and harrassing to anyone who disagrees with him. My only question would be "is the block long enough"? --Haemo 03:34, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Well It is very likely he will continue his way. He doesn't know English very well also. --Vonones 03:36, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

After a look at users contribs the block looks justified to me.--Sandahl 03:38, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Potential edit war

Italiavivi (talk · contribs) has repeatedly re-added My.BarackObama.com to List of social networking websites. Inclusion to this list requires a site be notable. However, because My.BarackObama.com is only a day old and was quickly nominated for AFD (within half hour of its creation), Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/My.BarackObama.com, I had asked Italiavivi to wait until the AFD consensus process is finished before re-adding, however this has been ignored. I now fear this is comming close to a 3rr situation, and have warned this user appropriatly. I have since voiced my view on the afd, and would welcome its incusion to List of social networking websites,once consensus has been reached. My "crystal ball" on what consensus will be in 4 days isn't working, so untill the consensus process is finished, can we remove links to articles with uncertain outcomes?--Hu12 05:59, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Why edit war at all? If it's deleted for not being notable, then remove it. If it's kept or merged, then it can stay. The guidelines are to mainly to prevent spam, and this clearly isn't spam nor is there any urgent reason to remove it. --Haemo 06:03, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages mention on Australian radio leads to vandalism

Just an FYI... It appears that a Richard Glover, a radio host in Australia, decided to have a contest to play six degrees of separation between Earwax and Theory of Relativity. See history on Earwax and host's article for details. I went ahead and semi-protected Earwax as a preventative measure. -- Gogo Dodo 06:51, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Hey...I played that game on the radio...I lost ;) Anyway - about the protection. He also played games with other articles; not sure if that has had any impact on them each. Are you sure semi-protection was the best move? I mean, he has stopped playing that game now, so vandalism inspired by Glover's show should have stopped by now... -- Anonymous Dissident 08:00, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Wedineinheck

Repeated vandalism and personal attacks. Warned repeatedly . Perspicacite 07:39, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Also warned Perspicacite myself against his arrogant, would-be-threatening tone, which I also consider a personal attack . Also thought it would be more responsible to start a polite discussion about the subject rather than going to bawl to the admins. Am ready and willing to discuss the matter with anyone capable of showing respect. Wedineinheck 07:45, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

In my opinion, Perspicacite was a little heavy handed by issuing a vandalism warning as it was clearly a content dispute. However, the WP:NPA warning was legit. nat 07:57, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

In my opinion, Perspicacite should try to be a little polite with his fellow users if he wants to be respected. Wedineinheck 08:00, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Well Wedineinheck, you could try to assume a little good faith when involved in these types of situations, even if the other editor isn't. nat 08:05, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Nat, this editor is clearly engaging in vandalism and has continued to make personal attacks since his warning. He has passed the point at which his behavior should be tolerated. Perspicacite 08:12, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Perspicacite stated right away that I write "nonsense". He advised me to "use the sandbox" if I want to "experiment". He clearly implied that I am a cretin who does not know what he does. If that wasn't a personal attack, I don't know what that is. Hence, I am perfectly entitled to find him arrogant and obnoxious. Do not consider this as an attack, but as a personal opinion. His latest message here also makes me think that he behaves like a cry-baby. Ok, so I'll try to assume good faith and will now, in the future, ignore Perspicacite and won't engage in any debate with him. If I should assume his good faith, that would lead me to assume that this editor is unable to be polite and respect his interlocutors : so it is simply pointless to engage with him in any kind of heated exchange. I just have no time for this. Wedineinheck 08:31, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Wedineinheck, the first message that Perspicacite left is a standard message template and not a personal attack. the template that Perspicacite used was {{subst:test2}}. nat 08:34, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I strongly suggest that this template be modified, as it is the best way to offend users. Wedineinheck 08:41, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

The template isn't the problem. The editor who placed it used it inappropriately, that's all. It's obvious that it was a good-faith but ill-judged edit which didn't deserve a nonsense tag. Chris Cunningham 09:06, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

You, also, need to stop making personal attacks like this: His action was not in good faith, nor have any of his subsequent NPA violations. How many personal attacks before he is blocked? Perspicacite 09:12, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

He registered only a month ago, he doesn't appear to have been in any other conflicts which would have resulted in having to read up on template/NPA policy to date, and the "personal attacks" in question are pretty obviously off-handed comments made defensively. I assume the personal attacks would stop if you started acting like his peer and not a wikicop. As for my own record, I don't need to be told I'm not as pure as the driven snow by people who go trolling my edit history for ammo when I make an observation on their behaviour. Chris Cunningham 09:19, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Perspicacite: the edits you list as "vandalism" weren't great edits, but presuming good faith, they probably weren't vandalism. This editor could have used an explanation that the Category:Racism wasn't intended as a list of racists, and the edit might be unnecessarily POV.

I think this was a situation where user warning templates might not do the job. The template would have been fine if this were a clear case of vandalism. / edg ☺ ★ 08:46, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

P.S. Maybe {{uw-badcat}}. / edg ☺ ★ 08:53, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I could have used that indeed. Anyway, as the category includes people like Matthew F. Hale or even people simply accused of being racist like Edith Cresson, I'd say that it needs some polishing. Wedineinheck 09:21, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Sneeky edits in Planetarium (song) & Planetarium (song)

An IP is repetitively redirecting page removing article content. It is hard to notice because bots "fix" the double redirect before this is been noticed. I do not want to classify the IP as a vandal as per his/her/its useful contributions. Never the less there seems to be a problem. -- Cat 07:48, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

While I do see quite the colourful collection of templates, did you or anyone try to simply explain to the user what they are doing wrong? El_C 11:29, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Advocacy of political violence in user page by User:AlanD

User:AlanD has a userbox supporting political violence. Specifically it says:

"This user supports antifa in combating fascism in both word and action.

If you read the antifa page you'll see that this is a thinly veiled promotion of political violence and intimidation. This is both a "polemical statement" and a "reference to real world violence", and it is not civil. If we replaced the terms with something like "This user supports KKK actions to combat miscegenation." or something along those lines the cries for blocks and bans would be incessant.

These sort of statements on user pages are extremely disruptive to wikipedia. They cause unnecessary conflicts, create the appearance of POV-pushing and an agenda, and could be potentially intimidating to other editors. I have asked this user to remove the template and his response was to rudely infer that I must be a fascist.

If these sort of userboxes were genuinely allowable on Misplaced Pages I would certainly not object to this person expressing his beliefs or will to act, but I don't think it's really allowed, by the policies or by what people are blocked for in practice. Some clarification of any policies relating to this would be welcomed.

-- fourdee ᛇᚹᛟ 09:15, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I dropped a note on his talk page. ---J.S (T/C/WRE) 14:10, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Further Michael Moore related issues

The article Controversies over the film Sicko was recently merged into Sicko per a consensus reached at Talk:Sicko. More recently, the merge was reverted by Noroton, the article's most active contributor and most vocal supporter in aforementioned merge discussion. Reverts of this un-merge per the earlier consensus were reverted by Noroton in turn, until he came close to violate the 3RR. The only rationale he provided for reopening the page at that time was an edit summary, stating that he was editing the article "to meet some objections from original discussion", telling other editors to "wait till done". Yet, Noroton has not posted at Talk:Sicko since, to see if the previous consensus might have changed.

Instead, he has reverted the merge once again, resumed working on it and also nominated it for deletion, arguing that the page had been rather deleted than merged and accusing other editors of a POV agenda. (Another conclusion drawn from the merge discussion was, that the only substantial controversies surrounding the film Sicko were those which were for the most part already mentioned in the main article, hence most of the content from Controversies over the film Sicko was indeed removed as insubstantial, a notion Noroton never objected to at Talk:Sicko.)

Several editors have previously suggested that the controversies article largely violates WP:SYN and that Noroton might be pushing an agenda of his own. Given his consensus defying reverts of the merge, without seeking further discussion and seeing him being mentioned on this noticeboard in connection with other Michael Moore related topics, I have to concede and would like to report aforementioned AfD nomination as an attempt to game the system. - Cyrus XIII 09:27, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't get it. He nominated his own 'synthesis,' for deletion? Anyway, with the AfD ongoing, what is it that you'd like done, specifically? El_C 10:35, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

No, he nominated it for "keep."  ??? --ElKevbo 10:39, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

You're-doing-what-now? El_C 10:56, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

As far as I can tell, it's a pre-emptive AfD in which the nominator states that "this is a procedural nomination in the sense that I created the article and want to keep it." Either the nominator misunderstands the purpose of an AfD discussion or it's an attempt to game the system (or maybe I simply misunderstand the purpose of AfD discussions). --ElKevbo 11:32, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Oh, I see. That is certainly unconventional. El_C 11:34, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

A decision was made to merge the articles in early July on the grounds that the movie had just come out and there wasn't any controversy. But the article was never merged: it was simply turned into a redirect without any content moved. An author's good-faith attempt to resuscitate a well-sourced article was repeatedly deleted on the grounds of the stale consensus reached before there was two months of controversy over the movie. Noroton is seeking a new consensus instead of edit-warring. It may not the best way to do it, but WP:CCC. This is a content dispute, already being addressed at the AFD, and doesn't need intervention. THF 10:52, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Is this is related to your note above that didn't make any sense to me? El_C 10:56, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

My note above is related to several closed discussions already on the page. Some of the players are the same, but Noroton's AFD predates the problem of an off-wiki attack site and the enforcement of WP:NPA#External links. Cyrus's complaint here violates WP:MULTI. THF 11:41, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Oh, I see. You may wish to unify it alongside those other sections, then, because it is pretty confusing all by itself. El_C 11:44, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Considering the noninator nominated it for AFD because he wants to keep it, I have closed the AFD as invalid. Procedural nominations are already stupid and pointless enough without the original nominator for deletion not actually nominating it for deletion. Neil ム 11:48, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Sounds reasonable. El_C 12:04, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Ok, now it needs admin intervention. User A tries to create an article. Users B and C revert the creation and turn it into a redirect without using the AFD procedure based on a stale discussion that clearly doesn't apply in changed circumstances to a different set of content. Why is a self-nominated AFD an inherently worse procedure for dispute resolution than an RFC? THF 12:08, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Someone just redirected the long, sourced article, without any inclusion of the information in the main Sicko article. That's essentially de facto blanking. I've reverted the redirect. I have no problem with it being merged into the other article and then redirected, but simply redirecting without transferring the information is wrong in this case. ⇒ SWATJester 13:44, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Again, the earlier consensus at Talk:Sicko was to drop a lot of the information from the separate controversies page and to just to keep issues that were considered genuinely controversial, as several editors explicitly recommended to "trim"/"summarize" the page before merging it. Discussion on the matter has now resumed at Talk:Sicko, so please leave that redirect intact for now and let proper dispute resolution (and maybe a change in consensus) take its course. - Cyrus XIII 14:03, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Without commenting on the specific content here, I think that Controversies about X articles should be aggressively avoided. They too easily become POV forks (no matter how well-intentioned at first), can become coatracks for X's detractors, and are too easy to expand to include really minor and petty criticisms that would likely be removed for space reasons if the editors were constrained to keep everything in one article. Thatcher131 15:02, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Block user from talk page

I'm tired of User:Hornplease making unwanted remarks on my user talk page. I get it already — he didn't think two pages I tagged for deletion should have been deleted. OK, they didn't meet the criteria, fine, no big deal.

There is no reason for Hornplease to make insinuations about my "unfamiliarity" with wikipedia and its rules. I've tried to end the discussion twice but Hornplease continues to post messages. All I want is for Hornplease to drop it. Is that enough to ask? I'm obviously a valuable contributor to Misplaced Pages, and I'm tired of these unwanted remarks and waste of time. Timneu22 10:10, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

If you wish for Hornplease to cease posting on your talk page about an issue, a simple, polite request would be best. Edit summaries like this are unlikely to help. Raven4x4x 10:27, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Multiple User Problem

Editors with sufficient experience are taking undue advantage of their positions in life. I understand I've been making terrible mistakes. But, I've tried my best not to come here and do use this but, things are becoming impossible. Kindly check all the comments from the start. I at first request a content addition, but I am replied back with unwanted replies, warnings, and some times abuses, I am asked silly questions. I then have to reply and since I am mid way learning things, I reply things those violate the policies.

I do not like to complain against anyone in specfic. But, I've seen few users at wikipedia, who are almost editing 2-3 edits per 5 mins with multiple topics all through out the day, which is impossible. I understand this is none of my problem. But I am sure there are people with paid jobs here. I am not sure about any policy as such but this is bringing us part time editors real life problems. I hope things work well here.

Kindly check talk:vedas BalanceΩrestored 11:03, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure I entirely understand the nature of your note. What is the administrative action that you wish to see undertaken, specifically? El_C 11:25, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I only wish things controlled and that's it. Not to ban any one and only make editing peaceful. I do agree it was my initial mistake. But not everyone is innocent. BalanceΩrestored 11:27, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

When I said specifically I meant with some level of precision. I doubt any admin can act on the basis of what provided thus far. El_C 11:33, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I presume you want to remove the warnings from your talk page? --DarkFalls 11:34, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

See, that I could understand. I suppose I just wasn't able to extrapolate it from the above. El_C 11:42, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

How is this editor able to edit so many topic all through the day? Contributions/Dbachmann: Has this editor no other work in life. How does he make his living? again he is very abusive. So, it is pretty obvious, there is something really fishy going on. BalanceΩrestored 11:43, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

That's not specific and such a comment, itself, is abusive; why would you reduce your argument to ad hominem? El_C 11:50, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Well he could be retired... And many people are able to edit for 4 hours. I myself have edited for 14 hours nonstop on a Saturday... --DarkFalls 11:56, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

It is around 8 hours persistantly. With multiple topics, with all the accuracy in the world. With 2 edit in a difference of 5 min. BalanceΩrestored 12:11, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Please do not peruse this line of conversation. I still don't understand what you're asking us to do? Stick to that. El_C 12:12, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Incidentally, I blocked ~100 users today in three minutes. And I stand behind the accuracy of each block. El_C 12:17, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Can someone ask Dbachmann to be WP:CIVIL. This has happen multiple times ..BalanceΩrestored 13:07, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

In spite of all that, I've done this multiple times .. BalanceΩrestored 13:09, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure that I see anything that would be worth warning Dbachmann about in the diff you linked. --Onorem♠Dil 13:28, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't see the relevant of Dbachmann's editing habits? It's like you're trying to slam him by ad hominem by painting him as a geek who never gets out, but it's backfiring terribly, because many of the rest of us also spend disproportionate amounts of time on Misplaced Pages, and we generally respect those who are dedicated. --Cyde Weys 13:15, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

The only thing i see wrong here is BalanceRestores trying to slam a dedicated editor to discredit him and get the upperhand in an disagreement. I highly reccomend you carefully choose what you say next, make it about content it self, or at least relevant to the conversation. as Cyde says above me, many of us spend hours a day on here editing wide variety of topics. Chrislk02 (Chris Kreider) 13:38, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Background: Incidentally Dbachmann is not the only user BalanceRestored (talk · contribs) is having a "problem" with, hence the name of this section. In fact I had even proposed a topic ban on the user (i.e. BalanceRstored) for continually spamming the Talk:Vedas page, and Dab was the only one who thought it wasn't warranted yet !

• You can see BR's activities on Talk:Vedas and this userified archive of that page.
• Here is a recent description of the problem with BR on Vassyana's page]] which led to the warning.
• Here is my polite attempt just a few hours back to answer BR's questions and explain the problem with his recent edits, which he blanked after filing this ANI complaint.
• Here are some previous ANI's the user has been a subject of or has started , , etc. The first of these led to an indef block of the user for disruption, edit warring and sockpuppetry. The block was lifted by User:Vassyana assuming good faith, and under these unblock condition.
• BR has been editing through this account for >4 months, and through (legitimate) alternate accounts for ~3 years. So WP:Bite does not apply in any case, though IMO numerous editors and two mentors (currently User:Hirohisat) have walked an extra mile to explain wikipedia's core function as an encyclopedia and content policies to this user ... alas with little to show for it.

Abecedare 14:05, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

The first diff provided by RB was this. It was described as being an uncivil comment. Well, it is not. At the opposite it shows that Dab uses talkpages consistently to respond to questions re his edits. -- FayssalF - 14:58, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

William Hung

Some very strange things have been going on in this article's history; people adding strange content and reverting each other (content appears to be addition of unrelated content, but more than one person seems to be adding this content). I think it needs watching; semi-protection perhaps. Thoughts? Comments? -- Anonymous Dissident 10:54, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Agree. If the article and editing is steering away from the purpose of creating an encyclopaedia, action should be taken to put it back on track. thats my 2 cents. nat 11:01, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Blatant vandalism now. -- Anonymous Dissident 10:57, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Done. As Riana said in a very old archive, "Reverted? Blocked? Now, ignore ;)" Turned the autoblock on so he doesn't do any more damage. --DarkFalls 11:06, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Problems with a vandal using the 59.xxx.xx.xxx range and Republic of China/Taiwan articles

For the last two months or so several editors and I have been having problems with this person who has been using a IP range (59.xxx.xx.xxx} and vandalizing Republic of China/Taiwan articles with his/her political views; replacing Republic of China, Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan), etc, with Republic of Taiwan. In normal circumstances and on other articles, this would be considered as a content dispute, however, the Republic of Taiwan does not exist and is only a proposal by a political coalition in the ROC. This IP vandal has been clearly warned many times not to continue to vandalize articles with his/her political views, but ignores them and there is nothing that editors could do but to revert his/her edits because it would be highly improbable that a sysop or a crat would block an entire range and it would be completely unfair to the IPs that have made good contributions to these articles. What more or less permanent/long-term action could we take against this vandal as this is getting quite annoying and frustrating. nat 12:18, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

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