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    See also: Logged AE sanctions

    Important informationShortcuts

    Please use this page only to:

    • request administrative action against editors violating a remedy (not merely a principle) or an injunction in an Arbitration Committee decision, or a contentious topic restriction imposed by an administrator,
    • request contentious topic restrictions against previously alerted editors who engage in misconduct in a topic area designated as a contentious topic,
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    Appeals and administrator modifications of contentious topics restrictions

    The Arbitration Committee procedures relating to modifications of contentious topic restrictions state the following:

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      • the restriction was imposed by a single administrator, or
      • the restriction was an indefinite block.

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    • a majority of the Arbitration Committee, acting through a motion at ARCA.

    Any administrator who revokes or changes a contentious topic restriction out of process (i.e. without the above conditions being met) may, at the discretion of the Arbitration Committee, be desysopped.

    Standard of review
    On community review

    Uninvolved administrators at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") and uninvolved editors at the administrators' noticeboard ("AN") should revoke or modify a contentious topic restriction on appeal if:

    1. the action was inconsistent with the contentious topics procedure or applicable policy (i.e. the action was out of process),
    2. the action was not reasonably necessary to prevent damage or disruption when first imposed, or
    3. the action is no longer reasonably necessary to prevent damage or disruption.
    On Arbitration Committee review

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    2. the action represents an unreasonable exercise of administrative enforcement discretion, or
    3. compelling circumstances warrant the full Committee's action.
    1. The administrator may indicate consent at any time before, during, or after imposition of the restriction.
    2. This criterion does not apply if the original action was imposed as a result of rough consensus at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard, as there would be no single enforcing administrator.
    Appeals and administrator modifications of non-contentious topics sanctions

    The Arbitration Committee procedures relating to modifications and appeals state:

    Appeals by sanctioned editors

    Appeals may be made only by the editor under sanction and only for a currently active sanction. Requests for modification of page restrictions may be made by any editor. The process has three possible stages (see "Important notes" below). The editor may:

    1. ask the enforcing administrator to reconsider their original decision;
    2. request review at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") or at the administrators’ noticeboard ("AN"); and
    3. submit a request for amendment at the amendment requests page ("ARCA"). If the editor is blocked, the appeal may be made by email through Special:EmailUser/Arbitration Committee (or, if email access is revoked, to arbcom-en@wikimedia.org).
    Modifications by administrators

    No administrator may modify or remove a sanction placed by another administrator without:

    1. the explicit prior affirmative consent of the enforcing administrator; or
    2. prior affirmative agreement for the modification at (a) AE or (b) AN or (c) ARCA (see "Important notes" below).

    Administrators modifying sanctions out of process may at the discretion of the committee be desysopped.

    Nothing in this section prevents an administrator from replacing an existing sanction issued by another administrator with a new sanction if fresh misconduct has taken place after the existing sanction was applied.

    Administrators are free to modify sanctions placed by former administrators – that is, editors who do not have the administrator permission enabled (due to a temporary or permanent relinquishment or desysop) – without regard to the requirements of this section. If an administrator modifies a sanction placed by a former administrator, the administrator who made the modification becomes the "enforcing administrator". If a former administrator regains the tools, the provisions of this section again apply to their unmodified enforcement actions.

    Important notes:

    1. For a request to succeed, either
    (i) the clear and substantial consensus of (a) uninvolved administrators at AE or (b) uninvolved editors at AN or
    (ii) a passing motion of arbitrators at ARCA
    is required. If consensus at AE or AN is unclear, the status quo prevails.
    2. While asking the enforcing administrator and seeking reviews at AN or AE are not mandatory prior to seeking a decision from the committee, once the committee has reviewed a request, further substantive review at any forum is barred. The sole exception is editors under an active sanction who may still request an easing or removal of the sanction on the grounds that said sanction is no longer needed, but such requests may only be made once every six months, or whatever longer period the committee may specify.
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    4. All actions designated as arbitration enforcement actions, including those alleged to be out of process or against existing policy, must first be appealed following arbitration enforcement procedures to establish if such enforcement is inappropriate before the action may be reversed or formally discussed at another venue.
    Information for administrators processing requests

    Thank you for participating in this area. AE works best if there are a variety of admins bringing their expertise to each case. There is no expectation to comment on every case, and the Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) thanks all admins for whatever time they can give.

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    Arbitration enforcement action appeal by Thomas Basboll

    Appeal declined. Seraphimblade 07:12, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
    The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
    Procedural notes: The rules governing arbitration enforcement appeals are found here. According to the procedures, a "clear, substantial, and active consensus of uninvolved editors" is required to overturn an arbitration enforcement action.

    To help determine any such consensus, involved editors may make brief statements in separate sections but should not edit the section for discussion among uninvolved editors. Editors are normally considered involved if they are in a current dispute with the sanctioning or sanctioned editor, or have taken part in disputes (if any) related to the contested enforcement action. Administrators having taken administrative actions are not normally considered involved for this reason alone (see WP:UNINVOLVED).

    Appealing user
    Thomas Basboll (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
    Sanction being appealed
    Topic ban from the subject of the September 11 attacks, imposed at Misplaced Pages:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement/Archive20#Controlled demolition hypothesis for the collapse of the World Trade Center, logged at Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/September 11 conspiracy theories#Log of blocks, bans, and restrictions
    Administrator imposing the sanction
    Raul654 (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
    Notification of that administrator

    Statement by Thomas Basboll

    I've been topic-banned from the 9/11 articles for over four years. (The ban is indefinite.) It was implemented in the early days of the WP:ARB9/11 ruling, when there was a great deal of conflict on those pages, and I've since tried to have the ban lifted on a number of occasions, without success. I recently noticed that on August 20, 2012 all mention of conspiracy theories were removed from the article about the collapse of the World Trade Center. It would seem, then, that the view that the conspiracy theories surrounding the events of 9/11 should be mentioned in the articles about those events has been completely defeated at Misplaced Pages, strongly supported by arbitration enforcement. I therefore request that I be allowed to return to the topic of 9/11 (focusing on the collapse of the WTC) in order to represent this extremely marginalized view, reestablishing some balance. I emphasize that I am not intending to "push" conspiracy theories, but to argue for mentioning them, on par with their inclusion in articles on, say, the JFK assassination. At the moment, an arbitration ruling seems to have both emboldened and empowered those who hold particular views about conspiracy theories to leave Misplaced Pages's readers less informed than they could be about those theories, and the historical events they are (like it or not) an essential part of. Ironically, August 20 is the same day that Philip Roth's biographer, at Roth's request, tried to remove any mention of the theory that the The Human Stain was inspired in part by the life of Anatole Broyard. That effort was obviously misguided and he did not, of course, get his way. Respectfully, --Thomas B (talk) 21:32, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

    As a standing response to the sorts of claims made by MONGO below, please see my user page, where I'm developing a statement of what my position on conspiracy theories actually is, as well as why I find Misplaced Pages interesting. MONGO presumably thinks I'm lying about my motives. I have no intention of responding to that charge.--Thomas B (talk) 13:16, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    Response to Binksternet: I agree that I'm not the best person to take up this challenge. But this appeal has already had a positive effect towards establishing balance if your "see also" edit is allowed to stand. That minimal but necessary action would have (and has) until now been impossible to implement because the enforcement of ARB9/11 has given an enormous advantage to those who are against conspiracy theories (i.e., those who believe they are false and evil), over those who are neutral about them (i.e., those who simply believe they exist and are notable). It is not so much that I exhausted the patience of the community, but that the community has exhausted the patience of editors like me.
    Response to Seraphimblade: Somewhat related to my response above, I agree that the case for lifting my ban specifically is not very strong. I left (refusing to further demonstrate my worth to the project) in protest over the treatment that the view I've made explicit in my request here gets at Misplaced Pages. Surely the community must understand that it risks losing the support of members whose actions it restricts with things like topic bans? Your remarks suggest that you think the original ban was wise, and on that assumption my case for appeal is quite weak. That is why I am emphasizing what seems to be the negative effect of the general policy (namely, ARB9/11) that my ban is merely one small part of. My point is that no-one who believes that 9/11 conspiracy theories are notable, in the same way that, say, JFK conspiracy theories are notable, can enjoy the work of editing Misplaced Pages. The anti-CT climate is simply too virulent, and Misplaced Pages is therefore simply not informed by that perspective. (I know a great deal about CTs, for example, and I'm not contributing that knowledge, in part because I'm not allowed to make such a contribution, and in part because, even where it's not about 9/11, I simply don't want to work under the conditions that I first experienced while working on the 9/11 pages.) That's a loss for the project, in my view. If the Committee does not see the complete removal of any mention of "controlled demolition" from the collapse of the WTC article as a loss of what could have been perfectly informative content, then I don't have much of a case.--Thomas B (talk) 07:55, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
    Reply to EdJohnston: See my replies above. In answer to your specific question, no, I don't believe there's any sort of conspiracy. There is an entirely open effort on the part of some editors to "defend" Misplaced Pages against conspiracy theorists. That struggle, while perhaps well-intentioned, is having some negative effects on the content of the articles. The opposition I've experienced has been entirely above-board and I've never had any reason to suspect that I was the victim of a conspiracy to suppress my views. It has always been very clear to my why some editors did not want me around and their collaboration on the articles was open and legitimate; it has never quite made sense to me why ArbCom would support them, however, especially given the very aggressive rhetoric they often employ. In any case, the overall effect of their efforts seems now demonstrably to make the encyclopedia less informative. As I always say, I have enough respect for the spirit of Misplaced Pages to offer my assistance in improving it, even if I'm somewhat disappointed by the reality.--Thomas B (talk) 07:55, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
    Reply to EdJonston 2: My ban was based on a particular interpretation of ARB9/11 that, like I say, I think is now revealing itself to have undesirable effects on the articles. I was a supporter of ARB9/11 when it closed because I thought its emphasis on civility would be applied equally on both sides. In practice, however, it has been used as a stick to beat conspiracy theorists off with. I got hit with that stick, though I did not push conspiracy theories. (I did argue that they should be described fairly where appropriate.) The purpose of ARB9/11 was to raise the standard of discussion in dispute resolution. In practice, it just got rid of one half of the dispute.--Thomas B (talk) 18:34, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
    Reply to Raul654: Yes, the reason I think I should allowed to return is that the anti-conspiracy theory agenda seems to have succeeded a bit too well. (You and Mongo express the position with admirable forthrightness as usual.) So the question for the Committee to decide, as I see it, is whether the purity that you have accomplished is actually a good thing for the project in the long run. I think better articles result from editors who have learned to work constructively with editors they don't agree with. While it is difficult at times, it ensures that factual errors and misreadings of sources are spotted and corrected. It's also good to have people involved who are committed to informing the reader about what is known (even if they sometimes have an agenda). I would encourage the Committee to look at the state of the article before I arrived on the scene and compare it to the way it looked at the time I left. Then, like I say, I would encourage them to think about whether the complete cleansing of the article of any mention of CTs on August 20, was a good thing.--Thomas B (talk) 17:20, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    Closing Remark: My appeal has clearly failed. Let me say in closing that the reason I don't work on other parts of Misplaced Pages is that I don't want to be part of a community that treats fringe views the way Misplaced Pages does and bans editors like me (after treating them the way I've been treated). I don't like having such a negative opinion of what I still think of as one of the most promising projects on the internet, so every now and then I come out of exile and ask the community to reconsider. The events of August 20, 2012, seemed like a good occasion to me, but the general effect of the trend that they indicate does not seem to trouble the Committee as much as I thought they might. Fair enough. It remains your project, and not something for me. I thank you for your time and wish you all the best in building the encyclopedia going forward.--Thomas B (talk) 05:38, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

    Statement by Raul654

    This user is here to do exactly one thing: promote fringe conspiracy theories. His own rationale for why we should unban him, stated on this very page, is that to go around adding conspiracy theory "mentions" to our articles. The four year topic ban hasn't taught him anything - he could not edit in any other way, so he simply left, and stayed away. As Mongo says, we have enough users here with an agenda to push, the last thing we need is another one. Raul654 (talk) 16:26, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    Statement by MONGO

    A quick examination of Basbolls editing history provides proof that this editor doesn't care about Misplaced Pages...he cares about using this website to promote his conspiracy theories about 9/11 and is a self-proclaimed SPA. When Raul originally wrote his essay on Civil POV pushing, Basboll was one of if not the main editors he had in mind. It had been explained before to Basboll that his ban was merely topical, and even I encouraged him to assist in other areas...but he declined, opting instead to cease editing. We have enough editors around here with an agenda...but to remove the topic ban on a self proclaimed SPA in this matter would be preposterous.MONGO 12:43, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    A fair argument to lift the ban could have been presented IF Basboll had shown substantial evidence of good work in another topic area. I encouraged him to seek out other areas of the pedia where he might enjoy contributing, but as I already mentioned, he hasn't done this. I'd like to take this opportunity to once again suggest he contribute to the pedia on other topics.MONGO 17:54, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    Statement by A Quest for Knowledge

    I'm against lifting the ban. I don't see any acknowledgement of misconduct or any indication of how they plan on avoiding problems if the ban is lifted. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 17:48, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    Statement by Cla68

    I've edited the 9/11 articles a little, so I guess I'm involved. If I could offer a suggestion to Thomas Basboll...please find another topic that interests you and have at it for about six months. Try to take a couple of articles to Good Article or higher status. Avoid the administrator forums like AN or ANI. Then come back here and try again. The "involved" editors might still object to the lifting of the ban, but the the administrators here would be more likely to hear you out. Also, instead of giving an opinion on what you think is wrong with the articles, simply promise to obey all of WP's editing rules. Cla68 (talk) 01:46, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

    Discussion among uninvolved editors about the appeal by Thomas Basboll

    I never encountered Thomas Basboll during my 2008 GAN review of World Trade Center, because he was already banned. That was pretty much my only involvement on the general topic. After looking through some of his contributions to the topic area back then, they appear to be useful. It's hard for me to believe that not even a bare "See also" link to World Trade Center controlled demolition conspiracy theories was present at Collapse of the World Trade Center article. However, if someone is to restore a bit of balance to the article in the manner achieved at the JFK assassination and conspiracy articles, then I strongly oppose selecting a user who has previously exhausted the patience of the community. Binksternet (talk) 02:22, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    Comment by The Devil's Advocate

    Ed, I do not believe that you are providing a fair interpretation of his comments as what he said does not suggest an on-wiki conspiracy at all. People, guided by their own prejudices, are more than capable of pushing a slanted perspective in a content dispute and removing individuals who oppose them in that dispute without engaging in any unsavory collaboration. Anyone who has looked at how the various nationalist disputes play out at AE can see plain as day that the enforcement system is regularly used by one side to try and get rid of the other side. No conspiracy is required for that to transpire.--The Devil's Advocate (talk) 07:11, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    I think you violated you topic ban or maybe it was lifted?--Shrike (talk)/WP:RX 12:55, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
    I believe TDA's topic ban has expired. Tom Harrison 15:20, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
    Yeah, like two months ago.--The Devil's Advocate (talk) 16:09, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    Might I suggest that you consider replacing the topic ban with mandated external review? It has not seriously been tested and Thomas would seem to be an ideal candidate for this type of restriction as I imagine he will make use of it.--The Devil's Advocate (talk) 17:07, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    Ed, again I think you are misconstruing what Thomas is saying. He is suggesting that enforcement of WP:ARB911 has been lopsided. I would agree and note that it is not just lopsided against conspiracy theorists, but anyone perceived as being too open-minded about conspiracy theories. Sometimes people who are clearly not conspiracy theorists get branded as such for disagreeing with other editors and claims that are clearly not conspiracy theories are treated as such because it is essentially considered gateway criticism to conspiracy theories.--The Devil's Advocate (talk) 19:02, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

    Heim, I am not sure why you would say there is no indication of him doing any editing outside the topic area. These substantial edits are definitely outside the topic area: . He also created an article following the topic ban.--The Devil's Advocate (talk) 00:19, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

    Result of the appeal by Thomas Basboll

    This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the sections above.
    • Thomas, one of the major concerns raised in your previous request to lift the topic ban was that you had not demonstrated convincingly, by editing in other areas unrelated to the topic banned areas, that you could edit constructively and collaboratively. Looking at your edit history, it appears you have still not addressed that concern, instead just having left the project entirely when you couldn't edit that area. Is there something I'm missing? If you've still failed to address that concern, I wouldn't be comfortable supporting any modification of the topic ban. Seraphimblade 06:14, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
    • I hope we will be able to see a better rationale for lifting the ban. I made some suggestions over at User talk:Thomas Basboll. We would expect to hear either that the original ban was procedurally wrong, or that Thomas' approach to editing has changed since then. In the case of an indefinite topic ban a mere assurance of better behavior would not carry much weight. Agree with Seraphimblade that the lack of edits in other areas leaves us unable to perceive any progress. Some points made above by Thomas hint that POV-pushing would still be a concern if the ban is lifted. "..an arbitration ruling seems to have both emboldened and empowered those who hold particular views about conspiracy theories to leave Misplaced Pages's readers less informed than they could be about those theories". You seem to suggest that there is a conspiracy on Misplaced Pages to unfairly minimize the coverage of 9/11 conspiracy theories, and that the enforcement system is part of the problem.EdJohnston (talk) 06:37, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
    I struck out part of my post above, after seeing responses by Thomas and TDA. You are not claiming at all that this cooperation by a group of editors occurs in secret, so 'conspiracy' is not apt. What Thomas wrote is

    "It has always been very clear to my why some editors did not want me around and their collaboration on the articles was open and legitimate; it has never quite made sense to me why ArbCom would support them, however, especially given the very aggressive rhetoric they often employ. In any case, the overall effect of their efforts seems now demonstrably to make the encyclopedia less informative."

    This suggests to me not only that you want your ban lifted, but you think that WP:ARB911 was wrongly decided. Since the mission of this noticeboard is to enforce whatever remedies are on the books, this is not a place where ARB911 can be overturned. EdJohnston (talk) 18:03, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
    • In agreement with Seraphimblade and with the second comment by MONGO. No significant pattern of policy-compliant editing (or, for that matter, any editing) in areas outside the topic ban after the ban was imposed leads to no confidence the behaviour has improved. I cannot support lifting this ban. Heimstern Läufer (talk) 23:54, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
    • I agree with my colleagues that this appeal is entirely unpersuasive and should be declined. T. Canens (talk) 01:35, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

    Brews ohare

    Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.

    Request concerning Brews ohare

    User who is submitting this request for enforcement
    JohnBlackburnedeeds 04:25, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    User against whom enforcement is requested
    Brews ohare (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
    Sanction or remedy to be enforced
    WP:ARBSL#Motions, #7
    Accordingly, the Committee topic-bans Brews ohare indefinitely from all pages of whatever nature about physics and physics-related mathematics, broadly construed
    Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it
    1. 12 December 2012 Removing physics content from article
    2. 12 December 2012 Describing perfectly good physics as gobbledygook.

    The ban was 'from all pages' I think to precisely cover this, the physics content of non-physics articles, so it is clearly covered. Not only is this against his ban but his tendentious arguing and editing despite his fundamental misunderstanding of it illustrates why he was banned in the first place.

    Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required)

    I don't know if a warning is required, but I on two recent occasions reminded him of the ban after editing that was close to the line:

    1. Warned on 16 November 2012 by JohnBlackburne (talk · contribs)
    2. Warned on 21 November 2012 by JohnBlackburne (talk · contribs)
    Additional comments by editor filing complaint

    --JohnBlackburnedeeds 04:25, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

    Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested


    Discussion concerning Brews ohare

    Statement by Brews ohare

    As to the diffs brought as evidence in this case:

    These diffs affect content in the article Free will, and are not about physics, but about clarity in presenting the topic of free will without confusing digressions. The digressions are Gobbledygook because they are not pertinent to the topic of Free will. Blackburne has elected to skew his descriptions of these edits to appear to be what they are not. Brews ohare (talk) 18:56, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

    If this proceeding should result in a site ban for week, as seems to be the proposal of some, it is unclear what lesson should be drawn. From past history and the present action, it is clear that Blackburne will search for every opportunity to do this again, on the slimmest of pretexts, and regardless of whether WP is served. Brews ohare (talk) 17:02, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

    @Seraphimblade: The quote you have supplied "Physical models offered at present are both deterministic and indeterministic, and are subject to interpretations of quantum mechanics - which themselves are being constrained by ongoing experimentation." was not a statement of mine, but was a quotation from the article Free will supplied here by Richardbrucebaxter.
    I made no comment as to its accuracy, and began my arguments for its removal with the remark "Now, whether or not "physical models" are both deterministic and indeteriministic" is completely irrelevant here..." I went on to say " It contributes nothing to the presentation.."
    My remarks here are directed simply at the relevance of this paragraph to the article Free will and make no statement about the merits or demerits of Richardbrucebaxter's claims about physics. It is a stretch to call such an argument of irrelevancy of a paragraph a "physics-related discussion".
    Such detail may be tedious for you to examine, but it's needed for a true assessment.
    In addition, I'd like you to bear in mind that this was part of an ordinary discussion of Free will, and there is no need here for intervention by Administrators to "set things on the right track", so to speak. Blackburne's intrusion here is simply as a busybody with no engagement in Free will or this discussion.
    Seraphimblade, with a careful reading of this Gobbledygook? exchange, would you reconsider? Brews ohare (talk) 06:30, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Seraphimblade: You say: "A reference to quantum mechanics is a clear and direct reference to a theory that is a major part of modern physics, and that means that editing or removing that reference is off limits to you, period."
    Got it. I don't have to actually discuss physics to be off limits; off limits extends to any action involving names of physical theories or their vocabulary, whatever the context or purpose of those actions.
    This restriction is very severe , especially with Blackburne looking over my shoulder. It appears I will have to avoid philosophy, engineering, mathematics, most science, and a good deal of history. Is all this really necessary or good for WP, or is this more akin to a Les Misérables type of strict enforcement in the Inspector Javert vein?. Brews ohare (talk) 21:46, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    @Mathsci: Yes, I mentioned string theory as an example of a physical theory. I did not discuss it. My total, complete, and exhaustive reference to this topic was: "For example, determinism phrased to accord with Newton's laws is not viable, but how about one phrased to fit string theory or multiverses?" You may be unaware that Determinism is a philosophical topic, not physics. According to your present opinion, if I mentioned Obama, that would be "politics-related". As already pointed out by others, this interpretation of a "physics-related" edit is extreme. I question the value to WP of such an approach.
    BTW, and FYI, because you bring up my credentials, I have a PhD in physics from McGill University and worked as a physicist member of technical staff at Bell Laboratories for 23 years, publishing articles on phase transitions, electronic band structure and electron devices such as the MOSFET in technical journals such as Physical Review, Transactions on Electron Devices and Solid State Electronics. It speaks highly of WP that Blackburne has managed to have me excluded from contributing in these areas using exactly the tactics presented here. Brews ohare (talk) 15:34, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    @EdJohnson: Ed, you are off point here. No-one doubts that I removed material related to physics from the philosophical discussion of Free will. Your long description of just why this physics is physics is beside the point. I seem to recall you had a previous issue of this kind with me when you failed to distinguish geometry from physics and smacked me for that one. Now its philosophy and physics. It is for these reasons that sanctions should not require judgment about content.
    Deletion of a digression on physics from Free will is about its relevance to free will, not about physics. Brews ohare (talk) 18:27, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Ed, you say: " If Brews would agree to avoid this in the future, this might be closed with no action. My assumption is that he will not negotiate, but I would be glad to be proven wrong."
    I am not at all intransigent about this. If you can formulate what "this" is, I will avoid it. Brews ohare (talk) 19:06, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Physics includes anything with SI base units, so anything with a unit would fall in scope of a strict definition. So any edit with time (seconds), a length, a mass or weight, reference to light, color, sound, electricity or electro magnetic radiation, waves, pendulums, springs, levels, internal combustion, heat, thermodynamics, motion, rotation ... would be right out! Just because "quantum" is more esoteric than "second" -- which is, of course "the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom" doesn't make it any less physics. NE Ent 22:05, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

    Comments by others about the request concerning Brews ohare

    As the entire scope of Misplaced Pages falls between Big Bang and Heat Death of the Universe, you can broadly construe a physics topic ban to include into a site ban if you're so inclined. The topic ban is about what pages they can edit, not what content -- Free will is not "about physics and physics-related mathematics," NE Ent 16:27, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    All natural sciences, technology and philosophy (as we can see) are somehow related to physics. My very best wishes (talk) 04:37, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    • The issue here is what "broadly construed" means.
    It appears that any sentence in any article (including ones which are not specifically about physics or physical phenomena)which has any terms related to physics is being interpreted to be included - which may be stretching the concept of topic bans to their uttermost limits.
    Posit a person quoting George Gnarph as saying "Like Galileo, I say Gnarphism is true and the sun still moves." If Georgen Gnarph's quote is not relevant to an article, the fact the qyite refers to physics "broadly construed" ought not make the physic topic ban applicable.
    In short - the term "broadly construed" should mean "reasonably and substantially construed to be directly related to the subject of the topic ban", and not mean "uses any terms at all which a rubber-bander could stretch to include in the topic ban." Collect (talk) 12:41, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    No. On the talk page, Brews ohare explicitly mentions quantum mechanics, string theory and the standard model. These are specialist parts of theoretical physics, not everyday terms. Mathsci (talk) 12:56, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Indeed, a physicist can not avoid discussing actual physical concepts, even when he is trying to write something about natural sciences, technology and philosophy. For someone like Brews this is basically a site ban. My personal suggestion would be to allow Brews editing Physics for a while and see how it goes, but this can not be decided here...My very best wishes (talk) 15:10, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    On his user page Brews ohare does not describe himself as a physicist. Mathsci (talk) 15:30, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    No, he describes himself as an electrical engineer. It's not a particularly large leap from Kirchhoff's circuit laws to Maxwell's equations to modern quantum electrodynamics. As usual, xkcd is on point here. NW (Talk) 19:36, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Yes, he descibes himself as an electrical engineer. There is a huge gulf between that subject and what is required to master rudimentary string theory, even prior to more recent developments in M-theory. Mathsci (talk) 01:53, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

    Comment by uninvolved A Quest for Knowledge

    It seems pretty obvious that Brews ohare violated their topic ban. A topic ban means that the editor cannot make any edits regarding that topic regardless of article. As soon as they begin discussing the topic, they have violated their ban. The two diffs provided in this RfE are extremely damning. Who could possibly argue that the physical universe and quantum mechanics aren't part of physics? I don't see any problem implementing the 1 week block or EdJohnston's suggestion that Brews ohare agree to avoid this in the future without action. If Brews ohare believes that the topic ban is without merit or is no longer necessary, they are free to request that the topic ban be lifted. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 23:07, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

    BTW, the only legitimate exceptions to topic bans are obvious vandalism and dispute resolutions involving the ban itself. No such justifications have been offered and Misplaced Pages:Banning policy is very clear. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 00:19, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

    Result concerning Brews ohare

    This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.
    • Given the usual use of the words "broadly construed", I can't see that there's a whole lot of wiggle room here, and it seems there is indeed a violation, which would allow for a block of no longer than one week. Heimstern Läufer (talk) 11:09, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
      • Also agree with TC that the maximum block is warranted. Heimstern Läufer (talk) 13:29, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
        • All right, I had taken the "pages of any nature about physics or physics-related mathematics" to mean any page with any connection to physics, even if not the primary topic. Apparently we don't have agreement on that understanding here, though. If further discussion doesn't produce a consensus, perhaps a request for clarification could be in order. Heimstern Läufer (talk) 23:53, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
          • NW, Seraphimblade, as there is a clear disagreement here with people on both sides clearly acting in good faith, I very much support the idea of a request for clarification. This situation, where people aren't sure how to interpret an ArbCom ruling, is exactly why we have a place to make such requests. Heimstern Läufer (talk) 23:57, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    • Looks like a violation to me; given the history here, minded to go with the maximum one week block. T. Canens (talk) 11:32, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
      • I remain of the view that this is an unambiguous violation. The third example in WP:TBAN is directly on point: just as a "section entitled 'Climate' in the article New York" would be covered by a topic ban from weather, even though the article itself is not about weather. This remains so even if the edit in question removed the whole section on the argument that it's irrelevant to the subject at hand. If someone topic banned from climate change were to edit Hurricane Sandy and remove the "Relation to global warming" subsection because it is "about its relevance to the , not about ", I doubt that any of us would hesitate to block. T. Canens (talk) 22:12, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    • It's not immediately clear to me that this really is a violation of the topic ban: the edits relate to the plausible applicability of some vague physics-related concepts to philosophical concepts rather than discuss the physics themselves – and the posts were clearly intended to affect the philosophical discussion and not the physics.

      I'd agree it skirts uncomfortably close to the restriction, but I'd argue that a week-long block is unwarranted. — Coren  14:24, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

    • I agree with Coren; this seems to be stretching the definition of "broadly construed" a bit too far. NW (Talk) 18:56, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    • I am still unconvinced by arguments that this falls within the (intent of the) topic ban. It appears to be 4-2 against my position though. What have we historically done in times like this? NW (Talk) 19:39, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    • I don't think that all of Brews' edit cited here to free will was physics-related, but I have a hard time seeing how "Physical models offered at present are both deterministic and indeterministic, and are subject to interpretations of quantum mechanics - which themselves are being constrained by ongoing experimentation." could be interpreted as anything but directly and clearly relating to physics. Brews was clearly aware this was part of the edit, as evidenced by the later "gobbledygook" discussion on it. Other parts of that edit, such as those about intuition, etc., would not have violated the topic ban, but that, in my opinion, very clearly does. Accordingly, I have to agree with those finding this to be a sanctionable violation. Seraphimblade 04:38, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
      • Brews, no, that doesn't convince me at all. The topic ban means that you may not edit any page or part of a page related to physics, at all. That's what a topic ban means. I do understand that there could be a significant grey area there, but I just can't find any grey here. A reference to quantum mechanics is a clear and direct reference to a theory that is a major part of modern physics, and that means that editing or removing that reference is off limits to you, period. Seraphimbladepublic (talk) 20:07, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
      • NW, I'm not sure, this is indeed an unusual situation. Maybe Heimstern's suggestion of a request for clarification would be a way to move forward? Seraphimbladepublic (talk) 20:14, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    • The word 'physics' occurs in material removed by Brews ohare on 12 December from the Free will article. His edit removes a citation of a physics paper called "An experimental test of non-local realism" published in Nature in 2007 by Simon Gröblacher et al. So I do find this to be a technical violation of his physics restriction. To convince you his edit is really about physics, take a look at Bell test experiments#Gröblacher et al. (2007) test of Leggett-type non-local realist theories. It explains the significance of Gröblacher's work in the context of quantum mechanics. On December 13 another editor restored mention of the Gröblacher paper and it is currently back in the article. Brews has been in front of Arbcom a number of times. So in spite of the temptation to send this report away as too minor to bother with, I think it's better if we treat it as a bright line issue, and issue a block of some duration. If Brews would agree to avoid this in the future, this might be closed with no action. My assumption is that he will not negotiate, but I would be glad to be proven wrong. If anyone thinks it is time to start relaxing Brews' ban, they should take it up with Arbcom. EdJohnston (talk) 18:01, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

    Sprutt

    Sprutt (talk · contribs) topic banned indefinitely. NW (Talk) 18:50, 15 December 2012 (UTC)
    The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

    Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.

    Request concerning Sprutt

    User who is submitting this request for enforcement
    Grandmaster 08:13, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    User against whom enforcement is requested
    Sprutt (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
    Sanction or remedy to be enforced
    Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/Armenia-Azerbaijan 2#Final decision
    Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it
    1. November 30, 2012
    2. December 1, 2012
    3. December 13, 2012
    Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required)
    1. Warned on June 9, 2012 by Grandmaster (talk · contribs)
    2. Warned on November 30, 2012 by Grandmaster (talk · contribs)
    3. Warned on December 1, 2012 by Grandmaster (talk · contribs)
    Additional comments by editor filing complaint

    Sprutt repeatedly violated WP:AGF and WP:NPA during this discussion at WP:RSN despite repeated warnings to refrain from personal attacks. He is well aware of AA2 discretionary sanctions, but this does not stop him from commenting on contributor instead of the content. For his latest personal comment Sprutt received a warning from another user: , but I'm not sure that would put an end to violations of WP:NPA by Sprutt, as previous warnings had no effect. Grandmaster 08:13, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

    I understand that this is not a place to discuss content disputes, but I want to demonstrate that I did not provide false info about the article of Ronald Suny. This is what Suny wrote in his article:

    An angry crowd surrounded me as I was leaving the hall, shouting that I was davejan (a "traitor"in Armenian). My first response was to shout back that I was a scholar and an Armenian, only to be told that I was no scholar and no Armenian (hai ches). Security guards took me away to avoid further trouble. Personal attacks continued in the press, and a year later a book appeared in Erevan bitterly denouncing Western scholarship on Armenia, particularly my own work.

    I think it is pretty clear from the above that Suny was almost physically attacked in Yerevan, otherwise there would have been no need for the security guards to take him away "to avoid further trouble". One can imagine what would have happened to him if there were no security guards there. In any case, this does not excuse personal attacks by Sprutt, and he failed to demonstrate a single instance of me providing "false quotes". Once again, I would like to see an evidence to support his claim that I cited false quotes, otherwise I expect an apology for the false accusations, personal attacks and bad faith assumptions. Grandmaster 18:33, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

    There is no evidence that there was intention in Yerevan to attack Suny physically. "Further trouble" is no evidence for intended physical abuse. You fabricated this in order to add a dose of drama to your very tendentiousness remarks, hence my comments. Sprutt (talk) 00:36, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    The text from the article by Suny is provided above for everyone to see. I think the admins will give their assessment whether there was fabrication in my statement or not. But your personal attacks and insults were not limited just to that. You accused me of trying to "push Azerbaijani nationalist propaganda" , "acting in bad faith": , "demagoguery and needless hoopla": , engaging in "fabrications in his attempt to fight his nationalist war against Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia" . I believe you have a lot of explanations to make. Grandmaster 04:56, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Grandmaster confuses two things: personal attacks and qualification of professional conduct. Personal attacks, more properly called insults, are directed against personal characteristics (e.g. Racial, sexist, homophobic, ageist, religious, political, ethnic, sexual, or other epithets or threats Bold text(such as against people with disabilities, as per Misplaced Pages:No_personal_attacks#What_is_considered_to_be_a_personal_attack.3F). Qualification of the quality of professional demeanor are no personal attacks or insults. I never called you an idiot, or a demagogue or a fabricator. I expressed opinions about the low quality of your remarks. These are no personal attacks, and not covered under WP:NPA. Sprutt (talk) 18:11, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Check carefully your link to WP:NPA. It says inter alia that a personal attack are "Accusations about personal behavior that lack evidence". It also says that the examples cited there are not exhaustive, and "Insulting or disparaging an editor is a personal attack regardless of the manner in which it is done". I don't see how your comments cited above could be in line with Misplaced Pages civility rules. Grandmaster 19:17, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

    Discussion concerning Sprutt

    Statement by Sprutt

    This is not the first time when Grandmaster files a frivolous report when he disagrees with his fellow discussants, and runs out of arguments. This is a bogus request, and no violations took place. There are no personal attacks in my comments. Grandmaster will do everyone a favor if he familiarizes himself what personal attack is. This information is in the subsection of the WP:NPA discussion, in the paragraph titled What is considered to be a personal attack . Grandmaster provoked a discussion along the lines "my-country's-info-is-better-than-your-country's-info" which received criticism of involved third party participants in the discussion . Grandmaster's habit of filing false alarm request and using AA2 sanctions as a tool of attacking his opponents shall be curbed by the community.

    Grandmaster provided false information that Ronald Suny was "almost physically attacked" in Yerevan. His article "Constructing Primordialism: Old Histories for New Nations" discusses a rather tense debates on contentious subject but contains no such information.

    My very best wishes asked me to provide evidence supporting claims in the discussion about Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia :

    • (a) Accusation that Grandmaster "engaged in fabrications." There is no evidence that there was intention in Yerevan to attack R. Suny physically. "Further trouble" that is in the text of the paper referred to by Grandmaster provides no evidence for any intended physical abuse. Grandmaster fabricated (i.e. manipulated the meaning of the passage) this in order to add a extra dose of drama to his very tendentious remarks, hence my comment. The other instance of the use of the word fabrication is my agreement with User:MarshallBagramyan who suggested that "The controversy surrounding the examples cited by Grandmaster are fabricated by himself entirely and it's unfortunate that his argument is receiving more attention than is truly warranted" here .
    • (b) Accusation that Grandmaster "uses fake quotes." Under a closer inspection it turned out that Grandmaster did not cite Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia directly - as I originally thought - but pointed to Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia references in WP. This is a good faith technical mistake on my part. My apologies to Grandmaster.
    • (c) Accusation that Grandmaster was "the head of a coordinated tag team." This comes from evidence provided in this discussion , and more directly here and here , where Grandmaster is discussed as the head of the 26 Baku Commissars tag team. Here Grandmaster the ArbCom directly accuses Grandmaster of being the coordinator of the above-mentioned distribution list . Sprutt (talk) 03:44, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

    Also take a note on Misplaced Pages:No_personal_attacks#Recurring_attacks. As I mentioned my comments are not personal attacks, but even if someone is misinterpreting them in that light, please take a note of remedies suggested in this subsection. The passage says clearly: In most circumstances, problems with personal attacks can be resolved if editors work together and focus on content, and immediate administrator action is not required. A ban from an entire area of discussion simply for calling someone's disruptive misinterpretations as "fabrication" is a draconian measure totally unprecedented in WP. Sprutt (talk) 04:51, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

    Grandmaster quotations miss out context, and thus mis-characterize others' remarks

    Grandmaster quotations removes the context, and thus mis-characterize remarks of other discussants. He carefully selects single words or phrases and quotes them without the discussion in which they were used. In my comments I gave my reasons why his behavior presents fabrication or demagoguery. Grandmaster also confuses two things: personal attacks and critical qualification of professional conduct. Personal attacks, more properly called insults, are directed against personal characteristics (e.g. Racial, sexist, homophobic, ageist, religious, political, ethnic, sexual, or other epithets (such as against people with disabilities, as per Misplaced Pages:No_personal_attacks#What_is_considered_to_be_a_personal_attack.3F). Or they are threats. Assessment of the quality of professional demeanor and quality or possible origin of Grandmaster's biases are no personal attacks or insults. I never insulted or belittled my opponents, including Grandmaster, in order to attack his/their claims or invalidate their arguments. I never directly called Grandmaster an idiot, or a demagogue or a fabricator. I never threatened Grandmaster. I expressed opinions about the low quality of his remarks and his tactics to manipulate the discussion. These are no personal attacks, and not covered under WP:NPA. Sprutt (talk) 18:11, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

    Statement by Zimmarod: a witch-hunt by WP:AGF violators?

    I don't see any serious misconduct by Sprutt at all. There are people insisting on something "serious" but the evidence is not there, especially meriting banning from AA area. For what? Sprutt pointed to grossly incorrect interpretation by Grandmaster on which his line of attack in favor of banning Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia was based. This is a violation by Grandmaster to begin with. Zimmarod (talk) 19:37, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

    I see that Grandmaster is in gross violation of WP:AGF himself as he accuses me of a connection with someone else. Should I imply in return that he and My best wishes are a coordinated team? Is this a witch-hunt? Zimmarod (talk) 20:27, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

    Moved from incorrect section. Seraphimblade 04:31, 14 December 2012 (UTC) This is ludicrous, and grossly unfair . If you compare who was topic banned from AA you would come up with those engaged in persistent edit warring, or racial attacks. Nothing remotely similar is implied for Sprutt. Sprutt is a year-old account and I see nothing objectionable in his demeanor for that quite long period of time. User:Grandmaster was indeed head of a tag group and a distribution list in Russian WP, coming under sanctions for coordinated editing and harassment in RuWiki.

    An administrator may ask Sprutt to be more moderate and argumentative in the various forums but topic ban is hell of a bias for this case. My question of "why" would come with very strong and multiple question marks. Zimmarod (talk) 21:03, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

    Statement by 517design

    Grandmaster should be sanctioned for misusing AE requests for attempts to remove people out of his way whom he cannot cooperate with. I see nothing especially reproachable in Sprutt's conduct. I value his apology to Grandmaster. Sprutt appears to be a well-behaved account, and Grandmaster's insinuations are not convincing. I urge sysops to close this AE request cold turkey. 517design (talk) 19:02, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

    Comments by others about the request concerning Sprutt

    @Sprutt. Unfortunately, I must agree with Grandmaster: this is a serious personal attack by you, unless you can indeed provide any evidence (diffs please) of your claims (and claims by Marshal Bagramyan you tell?) made here. My very best wishes (talk) 17:10, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

    Your comment is an inappropriate exaggeration. See for yourself what "Serious personal attack" is. Did I use racial, sexist, homophobic, ageist, religious, political, ethnic, sexual, or other epithets, as per ? NO. Did I use someone's affiliations as an ad hominem means of dismissing or discrediting their views, as per ? Did I link to external attacks, harassment, or other material, for the purpose of attacking another editor, as per ? NO. Did I compare editors to Nazis, dictators, etc, as per ? NO. Did I use threats, including, threats of legal action, violence etc, as per ? NO! Anyway, see what Grandmaster did wrong. Sprutt (talk) 18:30, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    You tell: "User:Grandmaster is engaged in fabrications ... He cites fake quotes... Grandmaster has been routinely accused - with evidence - of being the head of a coordinated tag team which attacks good edits and wages ridiculous nationalist wars in Misplaced Pages.". Hence, please provide diffs proving that Grandmaster was (a) "engaged in fabrications", (b) "cites fake quotes", and (c) "the head of a coordinated tag team". Thanks, My very best wishes (talk) 19:59, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    I have an impression that User:Meowy or other alternative accounts have something to do with this... My very best wishes (talk) 20:06, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    To me also the appearance of Zimmarod (talk · contribs) at this page after more than 2 months of absence looks quite strange, especially considering that he and Sprutt created user accounts here almost simultaneously, Sprutt on 11 November 2011, and Zimmarod on 16 November 2011. Grandmaster 20:13, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    Aha! My account and Sprutt's account were routinely checked multiple times on the matter sock-puppetry at the request of Grandmaster if I remember correctly. What I see here is a witch-hunt by a couple of individuals who are violators of WP:AGF, who are trying to get someone else prosecuted for violation of WP:AGF. Zimmarod (talk) 20:19, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    I said nothing of sockpuppetry. Only that your appearance here looks a bit unusual. May I ask how you became aware of this request? Grandmaster 20:31, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    I am an increasingly busy and don't find enough time to edit but I am monitoring discussions in the AA area, especially those on Nagorno-Karabakh, and I noticed that your behavior is getting increasingly disturbing. Zimmarod (talk) 20:47, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    All right then. But it looks like from your very short edit history you appear ones every few months, exclusively to take part in AE discussion, AfD or another dispute in AA area... My very best wishes (talk) 21:28, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    Thank you, Sprutt, for providing additional links and diffs . Most of them are dated back to 2009 and belong to ruwiki. There is only one recent diff, but that one implicates MarshallBagramyan rather than anyone else. My very best wishes (talk) 04:27, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    I don't understand. I agree with MarshallBagramyan's assessment that Grandmaster is fabricating things. In other words it is not only my opinion. And indeed one additional example of this tactics is his misinterpretation (manipulation/fabrication) of the article by Prof. Suny. I also issued an apology for my technical mistake regarding what I thought were quotations fro ASE. You over-dramatize the situation. Being part of a tag team is a violation too serious to have expiry date. Sprutt (talk) 04:41, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Since Sprutt mentioned MarshallBagramyan and provided a diff to his comment, it would be really helpful if MarshallBagramyan explained how exactly I "fabricated controversies". In my opinion, this comment was quite inappropriate and escalated the tensions at that board. Grandmaster 05:05, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Fabricate in this context means exaggerate for the purpose of misleading the discussion. Sprutt (talk) 16:12, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

    Result concerning Sprutt

    This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.

    Comment by Zimmarod moved to proper section. Please reply in your own section. Seraphimblade 04:31, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

    Agree, though I would not be opposed to sanctioning even beyond that. There is reasonable and professional conduct on that page from many editors; Sprutt is not one of them. To me, it is quite evident that Sprutt is not approaching this topic area with his or her biases sufficiently left at the door. NW (Talk) 18:53, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
    Absent any objections, I propose that a topic ban be enacted in 24 hours. The discussion above has failed to convince me that it is not needed (quite the opposite actually). NW (Talk) 19:41, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
    Agreed; after thinking about this, an indef topic ban still seems the best option. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 22:51, 14 December 2012 (UTC)