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User:Goodmorningworld

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User Miranda is randomly removing legitimate references by Editor Jake Sturm

User Miranda has accused me of "spamming" because I have been adding legitimate references to the published work of author/journalist Kira Salak over the last weeks. As I have explained to her, I am adding references to works that I have read, and I have begun with the author Kira Salak. I am not "spamming" this author, I am simply adding references to Wikipedia from Salak's large resource of articles published in National Geographic and in her two books. To my knowledge, the user Miranda has not read any of the articles or books, and so has no knowledge as to whether they are legitimate or not. It would appear that she has arbitrarily decided they are not relevant and is removing them. As I explained to Miranda, these articles and references meet the critera for references according to Wikipedia guidelines. I had intended to move on and not go to the trouble of arbitrating, but then I saw that she added a comment into the Editing Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents (Spamming books on Mali and other African countries) section accusing me of "spamming". I have tried every way I could to resolve this without involving administrators, but she simply refuses to stop. She has put me in a position where I can no longer add useful content to Wikipedia as she will remove it. She has also added inappropriate tags into the Kira Salak page (see discussion page for more details). She has removed entries of mine from Mali, Tripoli ‎, Leptis Magna, Huichol, Real de Catorce. She has also removed an entry that I made for West Africa when I forgot to login under IPaddress 69.202.73.21. Could you please review the references that I added, that Miranda has removed, and give a third party opinion as to their relevance. Thank you. JakeSturm (talk) 01:19, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

You should first read instructions for pages before posting. Several points listed at #Procedure for this page were not met, including informing Miranda of this post. Regardless, she's not randomly removing legitimate references. You have not provided references. Please see WP:CITE as well as WP:RS. By our project standards, you are spamming. Miranda explained this to you. If you have questions about using references, feel free to ask on my talk page, but Miranda has not shown poor Wikiquette here. لennavecia 17:25, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
I strongly disagree that this is 'spamming', spamming is done in bad faith and to accuse an editor of such is not assuming good faith. The edits by JakeSturm are clearly good faith edits that need to be sourced. Both editors need to use the talk page to discuss content disputes and to assume good faith. User:Miranda needs to be more patient, be open to compromise and help new editors rather than 'biting' them. --neon white talk 18:53, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
There is a perhaps more important issue; conflict of interest. Though the credit has been removed recently, the Google cache for the official website kirasalak.com here shows "This website was created by Kira Salak and Jake Sturm". On this basis, Jake Sturm should not be directly editing material relating to Kira Salak. Gordonofcartoon (talk) 19:17, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
Please read conflict of interest carefully. A conflict of interest is not the act of editing a subject one is involved with but doing so "in order to promote your own interests or those of other individuals, companies, or groups". On this point we must assume good faith. Involvement with a subject does not prohibit an editor from contributing to an article, it merely means they should be very careful, open about their involvment and accept more objective views. --neon white talk 12:43, 10 November 2008 (UTC)
Clearly these edits were placed to promote. Thus, spamming and COI, as is now revealed. In fact, if you read below, Jake Sturm writes, "I am fairly certain she has not read the book and has no idea as to whether it, or any of Salak's works, are relevant references." The fact remains that his addition of these books are not appropriate. They are not being used as references, rather he is simply inserting the information to advertise. Were it a reference, he would be citing specific pages to indicate precisely what information is being cited. Instead, he enjoyed the book, in the case of the Mali article, and wants others to read it as well. General references to books not used to write the article are not appropriate. لennavecia 04:06, 11 November 2008 (UTC)
That isn't assuming good faith and that is very likely the reason why this ended up as a wikiquette alert. There is no evidence that this editor acted in bad faith. In future if you assume good faith and alert the editor to their mistakes in a helpful manner without resorting to unecessary bad faith accusations, you'll probably find communicating with editors a lot easier and less abrasive. --neon white talk 22:49, 11 November 2008 (UTC)
I greatly appreciate both of you responding to this. I did realize my error in including the Amazon references, which is why on my last addition to the Mali page, when I added "The Cruelest Journey" to "Additional Reading" I used the standard book tag. The author link part of the tag did not work (it displayed the link incorrectly), and so I put the author link outside of the tag. Miranda immediately removed this reference even though it was in the correct format as you suggested and is a legitimate reference for the country of Mali. She is just removing my references indiscriminately, I am fairly certain she has not read the book and has no idea as to whether it, or any of Salak's works, are relevant references. I will go back through my edits and remove any Amazon reference I put in when I have time over the next week and add in page numbers for any book references. I have tried to communicate with Miranda through her talk page, but instead of responding, she simply removes more of my entries or adds inappropriate tags to pages I have created. I did not realize that I was supposed to contact Miranda when putting the complaint on this page (though she did contact me when she put complaints about me on other pages), and I will be more careful in the future. But, I know she is monitoring every entry I make, so I am certain she is aware of it.
As for the conflict of interest entry, I will include here what I included on that page:I am a professional website designer and it is true that I did contribute to the construction of the Salak website. I found Salak's articles to be well researched, well written and informative but unfortunately, on the National Geographic webiste, only the first few paragraphs of most of her articles are available to readers. There was no place on or off the Internet to find the entire articles. As I believed that the articles should be available to the general public, as they are good references, I suggested that they be put on her website and I would assist her with this. Thank you for alerting me that my email link on the bottom of the Salak homepage was missing, I have reinserted it.JakeSturm (talk) 20:51, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
Firstly, you can provide the diff of this edit, secondly, if the articles on the webiste have been previously published in national geogaphic then it is acceptable to use them as sources and link to the full articles for verfiablity. --neon white talk 13:15, 13 November 2008 (UTC)
Not exactly. I don't see how she can be considered as a scholar if she visited Mali and took notes on people. Can "John Doe" go to Mali and take notes on the Malians and have his opinion placed on here by an associate who is closely identified with the author? No. We are promoting scholarly articles on a scholarly topic. I suggest to you, neonwhite, to take an article related to a place, country, and/or topic which has significant core value to the world, and add scholarly referenced material, instead of using one person's opinion, who has no scholarly knowledge on the field, and use that person's "knowledge" as a major source on this article. I suggest all parties re-read section 2 of RS. Thanks. miranda 00:39, 14 November 2008 (UTC)
If John Doe has his work published by a reputable publisher (i.e. not a vanity press) then yes. Sourcing is not limited to academic sources as the term is purely subjective. Anyone doing a study can be called an academic. Wikipedia sourcing is based on verifiablity, editor's should not make personal decisions on whether they think sources are 'scholarly' enough. This is not policy here. It is not being used as a major source on the article and the .WP:RS is a guideline only (and a heavily disputed one. However, considering that you appear to be thoroughly familiar with it, you cannot have failed to noticed the line which clearly states "Reliable non-academic sources may also be used, particularly material from reputable mainstream publications". Any article published by National Geographic passes all wikipedia standards by a mile. This isn't the first time you have misrepresented this policy. For now i will assume good faith and deem that you have not followed your own advice and re-read the guideline. I ask you again to step back and consider this objectively rather than allowing personal feelings about another editor to cloud your judgment. --neon white talk 21:43, 14 November 2008 (UTC)
Sorry, but I agree with Jennavecia and Miranda. Whether the edits are good faith or not, and the sources reliable or not, Jake Sturm now has a disclosed conflict of interest - see WP:COIN#Kira Salak - and should not be making the call about inclusion.
I also agree with the argument that we should seek references that maximise accepted reliability. Reliability isn't just a binary issue (unreliable vs. reliable for all purposes); "horses for courses" applies. If we want a source about hands-on exploration, Kira Salak is an excellent source. But if we want one about, say, ancient history of a region, a scholarly source from someone with a reputation as a historian is much preferable. Gordonofcartoon (talk) 20:29, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

User:Daphne-3 and her behavior

Resolved. The only Wikiquette issue I see here is the bogus sockpuppet case opened by Willking1979 --Jaysweet (talk) 21:57, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

User:Daphne-3 has been questioning my intelligence and has been lying about my behavior. Here is my comment on the sockpuppetry page about Teleology:

  • Just because it is a verifiable edit does not mean it is good for Wikipedia.

And here is what she said about me on the bottom of Talk:Teleology:

  • In a subsequent exchange, the person "monitoring" this page explained that he deleted my edits because they were based on "personal opinion" and were not "good for Wikipedia".

The truth: the first quote was not necessarily about Daphne-3's edits. I was the one that reported the case, which is still open. See Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets/Daphne-3 for more info. Notice that she has neglected to sign her own comments on many occasions.

Please investigate this ASAP. Thanks, Willking1979 (talk) 00:03, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Where is the incivility here? Can we have some diffs? --neon white talk 01:12, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
I have gone through all of Daphne-3's talk space contribs, and I see no civility violations whatsoever. She appears to be critical of the Wiki concept, but that's just fine. She could probably use a little bit of coaching about the difference between truth and verifiability, but so could a lot of other new editors.
The only uncouth thing I see here is Willking1979's bogus sockpuppetry report. Daphne-3 was editing from an IP, then chose to register. She did not at any time attempt to conceal this. That is not sockpuppetry by any stretch of the imagination. I would caution Willking1979 to be careful of wikilawyering to gain leverage in a content dispute. It ain't gonna work.
Marking as resolved. --Jaysweet (talk) 21:57, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Article Manipulation and Editing Control: Alastairward (talk · contribs)

Not a Wikiquette issue, moved to appropriate board Not a Wikiquette issue, referred elsewherePlease reach consensus on article talkpage

The archive can be found here. I guess out of all reactions presented in this discussion, Anthony Cargile's points that he is clearly the only person that truly understands South Park and its cultural influence on the general public. One of the cornerstones of Trey and Matt's sense of humor is poking fun at those who need guidance to understand the obvious. I'm not going to back up my "speculations" with any cites right now - this is not what this post is about. As I already wrote to one of Alastairward's accomplices, it would take a Tibetan monk not to recognize Michael Jackson in The Jeffersons or Sally Struthers being Jabba the Hutt in Starvin' Marvin in Space. As Anthony stated numerous times, this information is vital to South Park fans and removing it hinders everything South Park stands for, as far as the fans (without whom there is no South Park) are concerned. Therefore, I firmly believe that the sentence "rules were meant to be broken" applies here. The "no original research" ground rule exists to prevent ridiculous crackpot theories from being included in WP articles. However, if it looks like a duck... you know. Some things are universally recognized, which is a cite for itself. Moreover, parodies do not really need citation as they were meant to mock a certain piece of artwork by mimicking elements - which are, again, universally recognized and therefore, constitute a cite for themselves. I would like a response from an administrator, since users such as Alastairward are much like a cop that would fine a ragged beggar for jaywalking and arrest him if his loose change is insufficient to cover the ticket, using "reasonable violence" if needed. NotAnotherAliGFan (talk) 19:18, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Checking the archive linked to above I quote, (neon white) "Alastairward's edits seem to be in good faith so i fail to see an etiquette issue here. It's a content dispute use the dispute resolution."
Further to that (and if you really want to bore yourself silly) you can read another Admin's comments here. The Admin overlooking the article's talk page at that time didn't see a problem with what I was doing either.
NotAnotherAliGFan and I were both blocked for 24hrs after an edit war broke out over the article About Last Night... (South Park). After that, I consulted an Admin and went with their suggestion that I try a third party to give a point of view and ask NotAnotherAliGFan to discuss the issue. They (AliGFan) haven't really done that, I'd be happy to discuss this here if it's appropriate. Alastairward (talk) 19:41, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
I've tried discussing, but you seem to duck my main question in an utmost professional manner. I await your response - you know perfectly well what I am talking about. NotAnotherAliGFan (talk) 19:44, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
I've left links to wikipolicies and my own points of view on our talk pages and on the talk pages of the articles of which you disagree with my editing. But since we're here on the Wikiquette page, why don't you point out what you want me to stop doing and why you think I should stop it.
"Some things are universally recognized, which is a cite for itself. Moreover, parodies do not really need citation as they were meant to mock a certain piece of artwork by mimicking elements - which are, again, universally recognized and therefore, constitute a cite for themselves." An Admin disagreed with this, having sought advice from Jimbo Wales and other Admins.
Since I have nothing to answer for here, I'm wondering what the point of this nomination of sort is. Is there a specific question you have in mind? All your accusation was based on was the point of view of another user. Alastairward (talk) 19:59, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Let's take one step at a time. Please supply a simple yes/no answer as for the Michael Jackson and Jabba the Hutt issues. I'm urging you to be honest - remember, no playing dumb... NotAnotherAliGFan (talk) 20:12, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

You have asked me not to "play dumb" and linked that to WP:Civility. Does that mean that if I disagree with you I am not being civil? I think you misunderstand that policy.
In any case, what you seem to be suggesting (that you have seen two characters in two different shows and believe one to be a reference to the other) goes against WP:SYNTH unless you have a cite to show the intent of the show's creators. Alastairward (talk) 20:16, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
This is still not an answer - you seem to have invented the Chewbacca defense! NotAnotherAliGFan (talk) 20:22, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
Ignoratio elenchi; "presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question".
Please explain why this does not address this issue. WP:SYNTH advises against the suggestion you make. If you'd like a specific quote; "Editors should not make the mistake of thinking that if A is published by a reliable source, and B is published by a reliable source, then A and B can be joined together in an article to come to the conclusion C. This would be a synthesis of published material which advances a new position, which constitutes original research. "A and B, therefore C" is acceptable only if a reliable source has published this same argument in relation to the topic of the article".
You suggest something basic along those lines, two characters appear (in your opinion) similar, therefore one must refer to the other. I disagree, as the onus is on you to prove what you assert, as suggested in WP:PROVEIT.
I'd also like to know why I am accused of manipulating and editing articles, isn't that what Wikipedia is all about? Alastairward (talk) 20:34, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
I'm not a parrot, please don't make me repeat my question. Just try giving a simple, honest answer. Re-read my original post and find the question, as I'm already starting to grow tired of asking. NotAnotherAliGFan (talk) 20:40, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
I have given a simple honest answer, with my point of view, WP:Policies I have read stated and a link to some opinions given by Admins.
If you are tired of asking, why do so? Why did you open this discussion here in this part of Wikipedia? What Wikiquette have I broken?
To counterbalance things, do you see any WP:Policies I have gone against, any that might apply to support your argument? Alastairward (talk) 20:49, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
OK, as you wish. I was asking if "it would take a Tibetan monk not to recognize Michael Jackson in The Jeffersons or Sally Struthers being Jabba the Hutt in Starvin' Marvin in Space" makes sense to you. By the way, I've backed up Jabba the Hutt by finding a reference on Comedy Central's website - I hope Your Majesty approves... NotAnotherAliGFan (talk) 20:56, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
Strangest thing, that article has been tagged since Feb 2008 for not having adequate cites. And yet it's only now, that you're trying to put me on the spot for asking for a cite, that you come up with one yourself. Hey, I don't mind, if it gets you to cite something, let's continue!
I don't mind saying I have a fondness for the geeky references in South Park, not one bit. I can laugh at them as much as anyone else. Thing is, if you want to share them on Wikipedia, you must be able (and ideally willing) to provide a verifiable source for that information. It tells you so just above the edit summary box each time you go to add or take away something.
So, not a perfect cite, but a heck of a lot better than adding and running. Now, have you got one for the Jeffersons? Alastairward (talk) 21:05, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
Wow... even Comedy Central, the company that owns South Park's franchise, is "not a perfect cite" for you. Additionally, I've found a cite for Michael Jackson on IMDb. Still, it is not the issue - why do you keep failing to admit the obvious? NotAnotherAliGFan (talk) 21:14, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
  • Gentlemen, without getting into the merits of the debate, I can say that this is not a wikiquette issue (although I note that NotAliGFan's tone is descending into regrettable snideness (I hope Your Majesty approves) which he would be best advised to curtail). You should take this back to the talk page of the article in question. You may find it agreeable to try some kind of informal dispute resolution or post this at the South Park project for more eyeballs. Either way, this is not an appropriate venue and comes across, unintentionally although it may be, as forum shopping. Eusebeus (talk) 21:16, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

User :Alex contributing from L.A.

Resolved. Seems resolved. See also ANI thread. --Apoc2400 (talk) 19:38, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

User :Alex contributing from L.A., a Romanian user who only cares for the Romanian etymology, is definitly uncivil.

He wrote:

No dickface, it's from Hungarian, then from Romanian, then from Latin. This is seen in the way the word changed forms. A is putting the smack down (talk) 14:42, 6 October 2008 (UTC) 14:42, 6 October 2008 (UTC) at [4]

Whenever there is a disagreement or a misunderstanding whith this guy, he will insult people.

Later he made some other changes and wrote in the edit summary, being uncivil again:

(what is confusing? are you a dingbat? the German word is directly from Czech, not from Hungarian. The Czech word is from Hungarian, the Hungarian word from Romanian etc. It is linear) (undo) at [5][[6]].

(His information is not entirely sure, because I also checked the word Palachinke’s (Austrian pancake) etymology, and the German etymology website states the following:

(sind was K.undK.-Österreichisch-Ungarisches. Der Name kommt aus von ung. 'palacsinta', das seinerseits den Umweg über Rumänisch und lat. 'placenta')

wich means translated that the word has a Hungarian origin, not Czech.


I am tired about uncivil editors who make Wikipedia into an unpleasant place to edit, and do so for many people I know or got in contact with. Discussing things whit people who use insults is not nice.


His personal interests and editing style after editing an article, often makes the article hard to read and understand, for other contributors and other readers.

For examle: the article looking like this [7] and after his edits looking like this [8], where the article has no lead section any more, which would explain what Palachinke is. It is also possible that he uses several accounts. (like user:Bogdangiusca)


Warrington (talk) 14:17, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Please note we cannot resolve content disputes here. You can use dispute resolution for that. There is clear evidence of some personal attacks and incivility by this user so i have posted a reminder about policy on personal attacks. Also remember to inform the user of the alert. --neon white talk 19:41, 17 November 2008 (UTC)


I do not want that you should resolve the content dispute. That was a minor problem, which probably could have been solved, if discussed in a civil way. His incivility was the issue. If you reminded him about that than I am very thankful for that. I find his behavior really unpleasant and disturbing. Thank you.

Warrington (talk) 21:47, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

This user seems familiar. I wonder is he is the same person as user:Decius, user:Alexandru, User:Alexander 007, and User:Winona Gone Shopping (there's a confusing sequence of name changes, socks, page moves and deletions). If so, the user has been blocked indefinitely for incivility. ·:· Will Beback ·:· 22:13, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
On further research, it is apparent that this is the same user who's already blocked indefinitely. I've blocked the new account. If anyone sees a new incarnation please alert me or another admin. ·:· Will Beback ·:· 22:21, 17 November 2008 (UTC)


If I make those clarifying changes I made before in the Palatschinken article and a new user will revert it or change it, than that user will probably be him again. (The change is by no means incorrect, it was just disturbing him for some reason, probably because I edited his edits.)


Warrington (talk) 10:54, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

User:TehFreezer

Resolved. User was blocked 24 hours. If it starts again, warn and then consider reporting to WP:AIV. --Jaysweet (talk) 18:44, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Lazylaces&oldid=252461114. Lazylaces (Talk to me 15:38, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

This isn't so much a "Wikiquette" problem as it is outright vandalism of your user page. The user was blocked for 24 hours shortly after the edits in question (I personally would have blocked for longer if I were an admin, but hey, what do I know) so this is more or less resolved.
If this user pesters you again, issue a "final warning" to his talk page and then report it to WP:AIV. In cases of blatant vandalism like this, you can get a much faster response by posting to WP:AIV. Thanks, and good luck! --Jaysweet (talk) 18:44, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

user:Theplaintruth

Resolved. User is clearly a revenge sock, but he/she only made one edit. It is up to Magnificient Clean-keeper whether he wants to report the sock.

What to do with such [9] behavior? I don't even know what edit and talk page s/he is referring to since I didn't make any edit that would fit in his/her criteria. FYI, the Youtube link is about Obama and taxes.--The Magnificent Clean-keeper (talk) 18:24, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Egads, what a piece of work. Well, since that was the user's only edit, you can probably ignore it. You could also consider reporting to WP:SSP, since the user is clearly a sockpuppet being used in order to threaten you.
Do you have any idea whose edit you reverted? The reason I ask is because the user's main account should be blocked too for abusing multiple accounts.. --Jaysweet (talk) 18:47, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for your input. I couldn't care less about those kind of "editors" while on the other hand, who knows what else s/he is doing. By now I have a clue who it could be and will search a bit around (with more time on hand). If I find him/her I might go to the "hassle" and file a report. Again, thanks, --The Magnificent Clean-keeper (talk) 00:56, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Verbal removed my questions from his talk page

User restores unsourced claims in an article, does not explain and reverts "disputed" tag

Hiberniantears restores controversial information in article Roman consul [10], which has been tagged for lack of reference since at least July 2007 and does not explain his edits. He also removed a "disputed" tag from the article [11]. He accused me in vandalism, sockpuppetry and placed a "last warning" on my talk page [12], accusing me in "original research", so I think he will block me if I make any edit on the topic of Roman consuls. I requested a third opinion and another user fully supported [13] my cause. This was not very helpful though. --Dojarca (talk) 02:14, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Firstly notify the user. The last warning is claearly inappropriate, it should not be issued until other warnings have failed. After reviewing the discussions on the page. I recommend Hiberniantears be reminded of the core polices of WP:V, WP:NPOV, WP:NOR, WP:CONSENSUS and the principle of assuming good faith. It doesnt seem the user has much respect for any of them. Also recommend that all parties continue the discussion and dispute resolution and do not edit the article until a consensus is reached. The third opinion has remarked on the etiquette issues and i suggest that they should continue to 'mediate' things. --neon white talk 02:48, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
He's a sock who just enjoys playing various editors off against each other. See User:Certh. Hiberniantears (talk) 04:06, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Can you provide a link to the case? --neon white talk 13:22, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
I have not filed a case because it was obvious and that is the one point that both Dojarca (currently) and Certh (in October) have not argued with. Were it untrue, I would suspect one of them would have raised the issue. Hiberniantears (talk) 21:50, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

What about User:Certh? The general policy with accusations of sockpuppetry is, to put it bluntly, "put up or shut up". To put it more tactfully, you are expected to substantiate any claims of sockpuppetry or trolling that you may make, rather than throwing around accusations. In many circumstances, it is appropriate to withhold labelling of sockpuppetry and/or trolling, even though you may feel such accusations are justified. In these circumstances, it appears to be an assumption of bad faith on the part of the person who you are accusing, and we do try to avoid those. Comment on the content, and not on the contributor. — Werdna • talk 10:31, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Bad faith?! You guys are getting tooled on by this guy. If I'm a bad admin for not letting an editor try to reestablish the Western Roman Empire in the middle ages, than this place is a joke. Hiberniantears (talk) 12:11, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Although this is not really the place to discuss content disputes, it seems to me that Dojarca is backing up facts with sources and attempting to discuss this properly whereas you are stating a personal opinion that you believe to be true without backing it up with sources. As you well know this is not how wikipedia is sourced and i don't need to point to the quote concerning "'I heard it somewhere' pseudo information" by Jimmy Wales on WP:V. Please remember that there is no 'truth' when it comes to historical events, there are only theories and often they will disagree and change over time so we must represent all views equally and in proportion. It may well be the case that something you learnt as the 'truth' years ago may not now be the consensus amongst historians. The third opinion has also seem to agree with this. --neon white talk 13:34, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Funny. I've only removed uncited (and incorrect) claims, and you accuse me in "re-establishing Roman empire". Very funny.--Dojarca (talk) 12:23, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
You are correct Dojarca that this is extremely funny. It is largely why Wikipedia isn't taken very seriously in the academic world. You did not just remove unsourced material. You removed material that is unsourced because it is commonly accepted and replaced it with an alternate view of history which is entirely valid and open for debate, but which is supported by sources that only work when taken out of context. I first encountered this issue over the summer when the subjects of a large number of articles on nobility in Medieval Italy started entering the ranks of the ancient and defunct cursus honorum. Now, I understand that an extreme take on policy guidelines means that all unsourced material can be yanked and replaced with sourced content. However, if the new "sourced" content contradicts the views of mainstream history, I do not believe that I, acting in the role of an administrator, am out of line for trying to enforce the status quo in an article when edits are made that I know to be tendentious. In October a number of neutral editors weighed in on the topic and gave constructive suggestions which were incorporated into a variety of articles related to the debate surrounding the parameters of a "Roman consul" versus a "consul" who happens to be in Rome. That was in the debate with User:Certh, who based on a very casual review of editing topics, content, style, and method will demonstrate is an obvious sock of Dojarca. Dojarca stayed out of the debate over October, and in fact did not edit until Certh got himself blocked for some bizarre edits to John McCain. Later that day, Dajorca came back, waited a bit, and then jumped back into the Certh style of editing. Yesterday, in a belated spirit of good faith for an obvious sockpuppet, I even left a note at the Wikiproject for Classical Greece and Rome requesting the opinions of editors more expert than I am. I am wholly cognizant that the Byzantine Empire is in fact the Eastern Roman Empire, and that this fact is the connection Dojarca and Certh are using to indicate that various people in the middle ages are Roman Consuls. As I argued, and as other editors also agreed throughout October, these "Roman Consuls" are something different than the office of "Roman Consul" that is described in the Roman Consul article, which is a part of the Cursus Honorum. There may be a factual cut off earlier than what even I have suggested as the offices of the Roman Republic were neutralized by the Principate. However, people that were declared Hypatus during the Byzantine era, or who were proclaimed, or claimed the title of, "Consul" while living in Medieval Rome are not part of the continuity of the title as it relates to the Cursus Honorum. I am open to debate on where to draw the line, and am actively seeking the facts. With all of this in mind the short term solution is not to create an alternative history of Late Antiquity, nor is it to take pot shots (some of which are surprisingly personal from people with whom I have had no prior interaction) at me for defending the status quo view of history found in any reputable source. Hiberniantears (talk) 14:13, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Removing unsourced info is not an 'extreme take on policy', it's a fundamental part of verifiability policy. "any material challenged or likely to be challenged should be attributed to a reliable, published source", "Any material lacking a reliable source may be removed". --neon white talk 21:04, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
And I have since removed it. Once again, I will point out that that line of text is not what this issue is actually about. It just happens to be that I reverted to a version with that line. It was not my content. I did not add it. I simply caused it to go back into the article whilst rolling back the content which is actually at the heart of this issue; what constitutes a Roman Consul. Admitting my mistake, I have removed it. Hiberniantears (talk) 21:47, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Provide a source that "modern history" believes that after 476 (or 480) only one consul was appointed each year as yiou claim. As I know (and as say sources), modern history believes just an opposite thing: for most years until the reign of Justinian there were two consuls, and Decius Paulinus Iunior was the last consul in the West. Or in your view Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius is something different than Roman consul? This is original research. If you believe it, you'd need not only change this article, but also many other articles in Wikipedia to push your claim. There are many sources that he was a Roman consul of 510 and himself wrote a book about life of Roman consuls. His sons were co-consuls in 522. Learn history first.--Dojarca (talk) 14:35, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
That is not the argument here. Nor are any of the other "provide a source why you think x y or z" responses you make to every reasonable explanation I make. The problem is your definition of Roman Consul, not whether people had the title, or how many there were at any given time. Hiberniantears (talk) 14:45, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
You insert the controversial passage, not me. Can you provide ANY source that after 476 there was only one consul each year? I already gave you many sources that there were two consuls.--Dojarca (talk) 14:49, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Look at this list of consuls for example: [14]--Dojarca (talk) 14:52, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Please remember that this is not the place to resolve content disputes, this is for commenting on etiquette issues and incivility. There may be serious problems with Hiberniantears's arguments but that is an issue for dispute resolution. All we can really do here to ask that Hiberniantears respects the consensus when it is established and the third opinion already given on the talk page. --neon white talk 21:04, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Not resolved

Not resolved at all. This issue now also entails the total lack of civility shown to me by Werdna and Neon White. If you are going to just relentlessly criticize my actions take the time to educate yourself on the larger issue being discussed. The sockpuppet issues are central to this problem, as is the fact that this has been going on since October. My reversion of the article was just back to another version; neither my version, nor my preferred version, just one that is less fantastical. My actions over the past months, which you are so clearly ignorant of will demonstrate that I have sought a better definition of how to historically discuss Roman Consuls. In fact, despite your disrespect here, I am still seeking additional editors to weigh in on that discussion. Even more in fact, I have previously asked for a neutral admin to step in and help out, a request which went without answer. Werdna was a driveby, and I can overlook that, but I take serious exception to the attitude shown by Neon White. Consistently dismissing my explanation while passive aggressively discussing my actions as though I am not present in this thread are contemptible. I am uncertain if you were just getting your rocks off pushing me around, or if you actually believe that you are setting an example of "Wikiquette" that is better than my own. Hiberniantears (talk) 21:55, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Whoa now, please read the top of the page where it says "If you're filing a report to complain about a WQA editor who responded to a previous WQA alert, please stop now, and think. If you were contacted by a WQA volunteer based on a previously filed alert, they were acting as a neutral third party and probably have no interest in personally entering into a dispute with you." BMW 22:21, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
We cannot resolve content disputes here, so there is nothing more to say really. Persue dispute resolution. --neon white talk 23:42, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Decline the opportunity to apologize. Agree to take it elsewhere, as I had originally suggested. Hiberniantears (talk) 23:50, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Wikiquette alerts are for the purpose of commenting on difficult communications with an editor. Your allegations of sockpuppetry seem to be a major part of the difficulty (which is now being compounded by personal attacks on the commenting editors). You really need to either post a sockpuppet alert and resolve the matter or assume good faith. You cannot continue to throw around allegations of sockpuppetry and refuse to discuss a dispute properly. "seeking additional editors to weigh in on that discussion" is a bad idea and may be interpreted as canvassing. Dispute resolution is underway with a third opinion already offered. Continue to persue dispute resolution. --neon white talk 23:42, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
Still haven't done the background reading, have you? Hiberniantears (talk) 00:00, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
No background is needed, we have all the necessary info concerning this alert. It is a concern that so far you have expressed no interest in improving the civility points mentioned. --neon white talk 04:08, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
  • Is it polite to use such expressions in edit summaries: throwing Dojarca a bone.'[15]. Am I a dog or something?--Dojarca (talk) 06:31, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
Comment: To throw a bone is an idiom for an altruistic act for a colleague's benefit. I'm not convinced the cited edit summary was intended to be offensive. Cheers, This flag once was redpropagandadeeds 06:54, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
It was not meant offensively. Hiberniantears (talk) 20:34, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

User:124.189.16.15

While this editor is pretty new, he/she has a habit of using profanity and personal insults, referring to at least one editor as a "homo" while editing the Tupac Shakur discography, in edit summaries regarding edits of others he/she doesn't agree with. I messaged the user on his/her discussion page and advised against that sort of behavior and suggested that he/she bone up on the civility policy. The response I received on my own discussion page waswas "thanx for the advise but fuck you".Odin's Beard (talk) 23:41, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Not sure much can be done about an ip that hasnt made that many edits. --neon white talk 01:25, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
I left a message linking the policy on civility with a kind explanation and offer to answer any question they have. Of course, it is an IP and if they don't use cookies they won't know there is a message, but likely they will. Let's see what they do next. If you wanted to place a subst:vandal2 template on their page for the talk page rudeness, that would be fine with me. DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 02:18, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

User:AvatarMN

I am concerned about this person's comments about LGBT issues in Talk with other users. Perhaps I am incorrect, but there seems to be some personal attacks going on with this issue and several others in Talk pages. I also wonder about their motives and reasoning in editing others work, but that's a different issue. May I please ask that someone look at their Talk contributions, and let them know if they need to change their behavior? I don't really need an answer. Remaining anonymous as I do not want to be the target of this person. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.142.141.198 (talk) 05:20, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Can you provide evidence of personal attacks and also notify the user of this alert? --neon white talk 17:31, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
Yes, we definitely need diffs. I did a spot-check of the user's contribs and found nothing untowards. (That doesn't mean there isn't a problem, it just means that in 90 seconds or so of poking around I couldn't find anything wrong) --Jaysweet (talk) 21:46, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
The only thing I can do is direct you to their Talk page and discussion with another user on LGBT that took place almost a month ago. I may be incorrect, but I interpret some of this person's comments as extremely uncivil. Again, I don't want to be this person's target, so I do not want to be the person who notifies them of the alert. 06:59, 23 November 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.193.49.251 (talk)
P.S. I'm not only referring to the exchange with a now-blocked user. Comments to others on that subject concerned me also. But I'll drop it if nobody agrees. 76.193.49.251 (talk) 07:15, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
I'm sorry, I would like to look further into this. However, even though you're editing anonymously you still refuse to advise the other party of this alert. You also fail to provide any diff's whatsoever. A casual glance is giving us nothing. Throw us a bone here, would you please? BMW 12:29, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
PS: I advised the editor of this WQA, and advised that "hey, you might have been bad...but I'm not sure...so be careful anyway" which is pretty watery, but what else can one do without evidence? BMW 12:35, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Seicer

Resolved. Nothing to see here. Ncmvocalist (talk) 14:25, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

I notified Seicer (talk · contribs) that a warning he placed on several user pages did not say what he seemed to mean; he removed my comment with the edit summary "Removed post; after reviewing prior contribs., I'm pretty sure this is a trolling/gaming attempt". When I informed him that he was mistaken, asked him to "AGF", pointed out that he had provided no evidence to back up his mistaken conclusion, and asked for an apology, he removed my new comment with the one-word edit summary "nope". Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 13:36, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

After noting this idle threat on my discussion page, and taking this to review with other administrators, I came to the conclusion that this was another of Pigsonthewing's attempts to harass and disrupt other administrators. I suspect that it is in relation to the current MOSDATES issue. Pigsonthewing's extensive block log has noted numerous sanctions for disruptive editing/edit warring, personal attacks, and harassment. He was also the subject of a ban for one year, as noted here. seicer | talk | contribs 13:47, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
There was no threat; I see you'd rather resort to ad hominem than address the real issue. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 16:07, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
Furthermore, you removed my initial comment 2 minutes after I added it; where was it reviewed by other admins, in that time? Please provide a URL. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 16:21, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
Your suspicions with regard to "the current MOSDATES issue" are also bogus; please provide evidence to support them, or retract. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 16:23, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
  • I see no WQA issue here. It is true that Andy has an extensive record of disruptive and harassing edits, gaming the system, false accusation, etc.. etc..., which as I recall led to a lengthy editing ban. While that does not permit other editors to engage in uncivil behaviour, it also means that he doesn't get cut much slack and I don't see anything worth bringing to WQA here. Eusebeus (talk) 14:00, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
  • (ec)Andy, are we really back here demanding apologies again for valid warnings? Besides the fact that Wikipedia is not a bureaucracy that crow-bars apologies out of people, you have been admonished in the past for edit warring and for conduct, being one of the most blocked editors in the history of Wikipedia. Time and time again administrators have submitted their conduct w.r.t. you at AN and been found to be proper. I believe it is best if for you to cease filing such questionable complaints. MBisanz talk 14:01, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
    • More ad hominem. Who is edit warring? Which "valid warning" do you imagine that I asking for an apology over? Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 16:07, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
  • I have to agree with the above, I don't see any "violations" here. Much ado about nothing. Additionally, removing talk in your own space only demonstrates it has been read. Content type dispute being handled elsewhere. DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 14:10, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
    • I suggest you refer to the cited edit summaries, which do far more than "only demonstrate it has been read" Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 16:12, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
  • I agree. Andy, any user is welcome to remove commentary from their talk page. Seicer responded to you and then removed the post indicating that he was no longer interested in discussing it for "reason X" (in edit summary). You could've politely requested him to clarify what he meant by "X", or you could've apologized and clarified that it wasn't your intention to appear that way. Instead, you were confrontational and demanded an apology, and Seicer responded by deleting your message again. I don't think I'm the only one who does not see a Wikiquette issue here. Ncmvocalist (talk) 14:25, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

←[General comment] I think the community response to attacks against me is quite clear from the above comments, and that I can expect no even-handedness here. What isn't clear is which policy allows an editor (an admin?) to make a false accusation of "a trolling/gaming attempt" against any' editor, and to be allowed to do so with impunity. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 16:13, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Let's come to the crux of the issue here for a moment: do you believe his removal of your text from his Talkpage is uncivil, or the edit summary "Removed post; after reviewing prior contribs., I'm pretty sure this is a trolling/gaming attempt", or is it something else. Please be clear with what you want a response to while you also WP:AGF on this forum please. BMW 16:39, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
The edit summary, of course. I would also remind you that the requirement to "AGF" does not apply in the presence of evidence to the contrary. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 21:25, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
I do not believe that ANY of the WQA volunteers who have responded above have any desire to enter into any form of argument with you, and as such, you must AGF. Unfortunately, I am going to also disagree with the concept that there is any form of contravention of WP:NPA or WP:CIVIL. In both those cases, the civility or attack must be easily and directly attributable towards a specific editor. I will try to break down the edit summary so that you see where I am coming from (remember, I'm a journalist here OK?):
  • "Removed post" - he doesn't say which post, so non-attributable unless you go through the diffs
  • "after reviewing prior contribs" - let's just say that a lot of people have contrib'd to his page, and is again therefore non-attributable.
  • "I'm pretty sure this is a trolling/gaming attempt" - first, it's not saying "I am being trolled/gamed", it says "I'm pretty sure that...", and secondly, based on the above, there is no direct attribution towards anyone in particular.
You would have to be paying extremely close attention to someone's userpage (read:Wikihounding) and already have some expectation that the editor might respond negatively towards your comments on their talkpage to have been able to remotely identify this as being directed at you. If you have a past history with the editor in question, then your comments may be percieved by some to have been "baiting" (note: I did not say that I see it that way). Please take a close look at both of the Wikipedia policies noted above. If this is a situation where you have past negative experiences with the editor in question, I would recommend that the two of you remain as far away from each other as possible. Please let me assure you that I am not in collusion with any other editor, I am merely looking at this from a completely neutral POV.
If you disagree, then please recall my first sentence: none of us have any desire to enter into any form of disagreement. Accusing them of doing so is uncivil in it's own right, and if I see further similar accusations I will be the first to make use of a warning template (and I personally reserve those for extreme situations). You are welcome to open an WP:RFC against this user, or if necessary take this to WP:ANI. If you pursue either option, please ensure to include a link to this WQA entry. BMW 00:19, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
FWIW, I see what Andy is talking about in the edit summary. Certainly it could have been handled better IMO. —Locke Coletc 05:26, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

User:Eklir

I tried and failed to explain user:Eklir that his actions against some fellow editors are causing more harm than justified, and on course it turned out that he insists to have a right to remove content from other people's talk page at his will, namely he declared that he is going to remove any non-english comment from the talk page of the editors he opposes [16] [17] [18] (user:Doncsecz and user:MagyarTürk seem to be in this set). Discussions (history is broken because they were copied 3 times by him): here. His actions are clearly violating the user page policy and not meet any reason to intervene based on Talk_page_guidelines (especially the section on user talk pages). I am not sure he is not involved in stalking, but I do not want to judge him in this way. I repeatedly requested difflinks to support his allegiations which he neglected to provide. I would like to know, however, who is right, and since I strongly believe that it is wrong to mess with other users talk page without explicite request to do so (and in this case the opposite is true, as he was asked to stop it) I'd like to persuade him to stop these actions immediately and avoid them in the future, and maybe stop reverting edits of the editors in question without inviting neutral third parties in the discussion. Thanks for your insights. --grin 21:00, 20 November 2008 (UTC) is true that users are asked to communicate in English only: Transparency is critical to the Wiki concept, and since this is English Wikipedia, communicating in another language means that your conversation is now secret from the vast majority of Wikipedians.

Whether Eklir's actions are justified or not depends a whole lot on context. If the users in question have been disruptive, colluded during edit warring for example, and they have been asked politely to communicate in English and consistently refused, Eklir's unilateral removal could be justified. Do you know if there has been a dialog about it at all? --Jaysweet (talk) 21:19, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
I dont think removing talk page messages is the correct way to deal with such issues and whilst english is prefered no-one is going to get blocked for not using english, it just doesnt help an editor not to communicate well. --neon white talk 00:28, 21 November 2008 (UTC)
If communicating in another language is the only issue, I absolutely agree with you. That's why I sorta want more context. If the users in question have been disruptive in other ways, I could potentially see some value in an inflexible application of the rules. Maybe...
Has Eklir been notified of this thread? --Jaysweet (talk) 20:34, 21 November 2008 (UTC)
Yes. The issues involved have been amply discussed here. In short:
  • Translation request. Grin (d)'s protégé Doncsecz (d) has been warned repeatedly, on his talk page here and elsewhere, of the consequences of not adhering to guidelines. Translation request served: 01:16, 13 September 2008; last notice: 22:42, 15 November 2008. (As it is, he still ignores all translation requests and continues his use of languages other than English, no explanation offered.)
  • Statistics: 50% of Doncsecz (d)'s edits which are not language-neutral (14 out of 27 of the last 50 at the time of probing) are consistently in a language other than English, no translation intended or even any criterion of "unavoidability" suggested. That's disruptive enough by any standards of WP policies. As for the other edits, they are indicative of the cooperation he is willing to offer on WP: None to people who are not of his mind:
    • 13 of his contributions were affectively in English. Of these, three were insults (dull, nonsense, history faker allegation, etc.), eight were reverted (two by myself, six by others), and two barely survived WP criteria for retention;
    • 23 of his contributions concern the editing of graphics, tags and the adding of reference sources in languages other tban English or one of the major publishing languages. Except for the eight edits on his own page, most of them were reverted as being either unsourced or inappropriate by editors other than me;
  • My reverts: My decision to revert on Battle of Petrovaradin which Grin (d) qualifies as "starting an edit war" were based on the same motives as the decision to revert on Battle of Grocka: Putting a definite stop to unsourced attempts, based on bias and edit warring, to modify the list of belligerents in battles which all can be subsumed under the historically accepted heading of Ottoman-Habsburg wars. If Grin (d) is not not satisfied with my handling the case, he is not only disaggreeing with my own decisions but also with all those who have been involved in handling the case, faithless (speak) and Blueboy96; and notably with Blueboy96's decision to block his protégé under 3RR.
  • Non-English contribs: Consistent non-English editing can be reverted whether it occurs on talk pages or not and this not only because of English language guidelines. Comments on talk pages have to conform to the WP core principle of civility and in this respect have to meet the threshold of verifiability. If comments are consistently not in English nor in a major publishing language, there is no way to reasonably encact and act on WP concerns. In the present case, the comments are eminently written in a language no one understands and eminently offensive to one who does; and it is upon the offending editor to act and demonstrate, within the 5 day grace period I granted (added to the 66 days he already had to act), that his non English edits are not offensive.
  • What Grin (d) calls mediation attempts: On one hand, what there is to see, judging from his own editorial biases, is that Grin (d) is supporting firmly one party's right to act without concern for WP-friendlyness; On the other hand, doing my job on WP has been bringing me into direct conflict with a particularly difficult user, Doncsecz (d), where I could use some support myself. One doesn't see how Grin (d) could have mediated anything here: Nemo iudex in parte sua.
  • My alleged removing of reference sources: In a new intervention in favor of his protégé, Grin (d) holds me responsible for removing non-English reference sources. As it is, my editing history rather shows that I consistently revert the unmotivated blanking of non-English reference sources or non-English citations from authors writing in languages other than English. In this particular case (Republic of Prekmurje), I asked for reliable and verifiable references written in a language or a translation that is accessible to those who will audit the article under criteria of WP admissibility. An auditor may be expected to be capable of verifying sources written in a major publishing language such as French, German and so on, but not sources written in Prekmurian. What I suggested and continue to suggest is that articles which cannot be audited according to WP standards of reliability and verifiabilty are elligible for deletion under one of the deletion processes that are available.
As I said, I will eventually have to do what I'm here for without reckoning on support from editors like Grin (d). Best, Eklir (talk) 20:43, 21 November 2008 (UTC)
Actually, I think neon white had it right. The discussion Eklir is pointing to, and the guideline it refers to is about talk pages on articles, not user space. In user space, there has always been greater leniency about content, and as she states, while English is preferred, it is not required to prevent being blocked. Reading WP:user page also makes no reference to English being the only language. DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 20:56, 21 November 2008 (UTC)
Agree, i cannot find or concieve of any reason why non english shouldn't be ok on user and user talk pages. --neon white talk 01:22, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

(undent) I would respectfully ask that Eklir consider acknowledging a misunderstanding of this one policy, which would address one of the two issues here. Non-English doesn't appear to violate any policies for user talk pages and I am absolutely confident it is fine for sources, even if English is strongly preferred. For the record, I think Eklir's deletions of user space talk sections were mistakes but they don't seem to be in bad faith, just a mistaken understanding of existing policy, which is why I would be happy for a simple "Ok, now I understand. Sorry." so we can move on. If in doubt, ask an admin before you do wholesale reversions. As for the content dispute, this really isn't the right forum. I would strongly suggest Eklir and grin go to Wikipedia:Third opinion as the next step. This is exactly what they do best over there. You guys are adults and all are trying to make the articles better, even if you disagree on methods. I am confident you can hash it out there, all you need is someone to mediate a bit. We all need that sometimes, which is why it is there. DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 02:08, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

I mostly agree with Dennis Brown and neon white, but I am a little concerned about Eklir's implication that the non-English content may be offensive. I have seen cases arise at ANI where a non-English comment was added on another user's talk page, and it turned out to be a rather vile epithet. Eklir is right when he/she says the verifiability principle comes into play even when we are talking about user talk pages... If both editors are consenting, I'd usually be inclined to let it go -- but if Eklir has evidence that the non-English comments have WP:CIV or WP:NPA problems, for example, it would be valid to both admonish the user(s) for that and strictly forbid them from communicating in non-English in the future.
I may have misunderstood Eklir's implication, though; or the implication may be false. If the comments are inoffensive, then I am inclined to agree -- I would rather users communicate only in English for the sake of transparency, but in that case Eklir's reversion does not appear to be necessary and is likely only to stir up more controversy. --Jaysweet (talk) 15:59, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
To clarify: The reason I am much more willing to entertain the idea of forbidding non-English communication on talk pages is because multiple times I have seen people using non-English communication to avoid scrutiny while making comments they know are wholly inappropriate. Also, my interpretation of the cited passage from WP:TALK is that while it does not explicitly call out User Talk pages, the same logic applies (that the information be understood by the community at large) so while I would typically not make a stink about two consenting users communicating in another language, I would discourage the practice. --Jaysweet (talk) 16:09, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
We can't "consider" forbidding English. Even Jimbo Wales can't at this forum either. The policy on Wikipedia allows non-English and simply put, we can only interpret the policy and apply it to the current situation. Telling someone they must use English here at Wikiquette violates a whole host of policies, including assuming good faith and I am not remotely considering that. If you want to change that policy, this is the wrong page. As for this current situation, I would suggest translate.google.com to translate just about any language. I would first try that. The "offense" would be the content of the message. It can never be the language it was spoken in. IE: you simply cannot say "No Spanish/French/German because you might say something offensive", as that is against everything we stand for here. DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 21:21, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
Discussion in any language is still public. There are enough editors who can translate where needed. If two Serbs discuss an issue in non-English on their usertalk pages and actually come up a solution for something to solve world peace, we'd all be pleased. Talk on article Talk pages should always be in English. BMW 00:43, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
Can you point me to the policy or guideline that shows this? I have seriously looked for it and can't seem to find it. If that is the case, I would want to know what it is. Otherwise, it is only an opinion, which doesn't help the issue. DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 01:43, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

(undent) I do not see any of the original parties contributing, nor anyone demonstrating a policy that Wikipedia user pages are English only. Does this need to be bumped up to ANI? DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 19:54, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

That wouldn't be the right place for it. A better venue would be The village pump policy page. SHEFFIELDSTEELTALK 17:00, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
I entirely support the views of Jaysweet (talk). In this particular case:
  • Satisfying translation requests is clearly mandatory for Wikipedia talk pages. The offending user has consistently ignored such requests.
  • Profanity and insults are being used as I pointed out already. However, my assertion of this is no proof in the absence of an authorized translation.
I therfore must insist: Either all the incriminated comments are translated; or they are deleted. Best, Eklir (talk) 00:22, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
Unfortunately that is not current policy. --neon white talk 02:15, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
I beg to differ: It is current policy. Satisfying translation requests is mandatory and comments using profanity or insult are deletable. Eklir (talk) 09:38, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
The current policy has already been pointed out above. Using english only applies to article space. User pages are a very different space to article space. Policies/guidelines that apply to article space do not apply to user space. That's the bottom line and it's not up for debate here. According to user space guidelines you can request that a user remove content that you feel may be inappropriate but ultimately removing it requires some community consensus that it is inappropriate. You cannot simply make unilateral decisions about the suitability of content. (unless the content violates WP:BLP which can be removed without discussion) See Wikipedia:User_page#Inappropriate_content. If you think there is offensive content or personal attacks i recommend asking an admin to check it out or posting an WP:ANI report.--neon white talk 17:21, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

User:Eklir

I tried and failed to explain user:Eklir that his actions against some fellow editors are causing more harm than justified, and on course it turned out that he insists to have a right to remove content from other people's talk page at his will, namely he declared that he is going to remove any non-english comment from the talk page of the editors he opposes [19] [20] [21] (user:Doncsecz and user:MagyarTürk seem to be in this set). Discussions (history is broken because they were copied 3 times by him): here. His actions are clearly violating the user page policy and not meet any reason to intervene based on Talk_page_guidelines (especially the section on user talk pages). I am not sure he is not involved in stalking, but I do not want to judge him in this way. I repeatedly requested difflinks to support his allegiations which he neglected to provide. I would like to know, however, who is right, and since I strongly believe that it is wrong to mess with other users talk page without explicite request to do so (and in this case the opposite is true, as he was asked to stop it) I'd like to persuade him to stop these actions immediately and avoid them in the future, and maybe stop reverting edits of the editors in question without inviting neutral third parties in the discussion. Thanks for your insights. --grin 21:00, 20 November 2008 (UTC) is true that users are asked to communicate in English only: Transparency is critical to the Wiki concept, and since this is English Wikipedia, communicating in another language means that your conversation is now secret from the vast majority of Wikipedians.

Whether Eklir's actions are justified or not depends a whole lot on context. If the users in question have been disruptive, colluded during edit warring for example, and they have been asked politely to communicate in English and consistently refused, Eklir's unilateral removal could be justified. Do you know if there has been a dialog about it at all? --Jaysweet (talk) 21:19, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
I dont think removing talk page messages is the correct way to deal with such issues and whilst english is prefered no-one is going to get blocked for not using english, it just doesnt help an editor not to communicate well. --neon white talk 00:28, 21 November 2008 (UTC)
If communicating in another language is the only issue, I absolutely agree with you. That's why I sorta want more context. If the users in question have been disruptive in other ways, I could potentially see some value in an inflexible application of the rules. Maybe...
Has Eklir been notified of this thread? --Jaysweet (talk) 20:34, 21 November 2008 (UTC)
Yes. The issues involved have been amply discussed here. In short:
  • Translation request. Grin (d)'s protégé Doncsecz (d) has been warned repeatedly, on his talk page here and elsewhere, of the consequences of not adhering to guidelines. Translation request served: 01:16, 13 September 2008; last notice: 22:42, 15 November 2008. (As it is, he still ignores all translation requests and continues his use of languages other than English, no explanation offered.)
  • Statistics: 50% of Doncsecz (d)'s edits which are not language-neutral (14 out of 27 of the last 50 at the time of probing) are consistently in a language other than English, no translation intended or even any criterion of "unavoidability" suggested. That's disruptive enough by any standards of WP policies. As for the other edits, they are indicative of the cooperation he is willing to offer on WP: None to people who are not of his mind:
    • 13 of his contributions were affectively in English. Of these, three were insults (dull, nonsense, history faker allegation, etc.), eight were reverted (two by myself, six by others), and two barely survived WP criteria for retention;
    • 23 of his contributions concern the editing of graphics, tags and the adding of reference sources in languages other tban English or one of the major publishing languages. Except for the eight edits on his own page, most of them were reverted as being either unsourced or inappropriate by editors other than me;
  • My reverts: My decision to revert on Battle of Petrovaradin which Grin (d) qualifies as "starting an edit war" were based on the same motives as the decision to revert on Battle of Grocka: Putting a definite stop to unsourced attempts, based on bias and edit warring, to modify the list of belligerents in battles which all can be subsumed under the historically accepted heading of Ottoman-Habsburg wars. If Grin (d) is not not satisfied with my handling the case, he is not only disaggreeing with my own decisions but also with all those who have been involved in handling the case, faithless (speak) and Blueboy96; and notably with Blueboy96's decision to block his protégé under 3RR.
  • Non-English contribs: Consistent non-English editing can be reverted whether it occurs on talk pages or not and this not only because of English language guidelines. Comments on talk pages have to conform to the WP core principle of civility and in this respect have to meet the threshold of verifiability. If comments are consistently not in English nor in a major publishing language, there is no way to reasonably encact and act on WP concerns. In the present case, the comments are eminently written in a language no one understands and eminently offensive to one who does; and it is upon the offending editor to act and demonstrate, within the 5 day grace period I granted (added to the 66 days he already had to act), that his non English edits are not offensive.
  • What Grin (d) calls mediation attempts: On one hand, what there is to see, judging from his own editorial biases, is that Grin (d) is supporting firmly one party's right to act without concern for WP-friendlyness; On the other hand, doing my job on WP has been bringing me into direct conflict with a particularly difficult user, Doncsecz (d), where I could use some support myself. One doesn't see how Grin (d) could have mediated anything here: Nemo iudex in parte sua.
  • My alleged removing of reference sources: In a new intervention in favor of his protégé, Grin (d) holds me responsible for removing non-English reference sources. As it is, my editing history rather shows that I consistently revert the unmotivated blanking of non-English reference sources or non-English citations from authors writing in languages other than English. In this particular case (Republic of Prekmurje), I asked for reliable and verifiable references written in a language or a translation that is accessible to those who will audit the article under criteria of WP admissibility. An auditor may be expected to be capable of verifying sources written in a major publishing language such as French, German and so on, but not sources written in Prekmurian. What I suggested and continue to suggest is that articles which cannot be audited according to WP standards of reliability and verifiabilty are elligible for deletion under one of the deletion processes that are available.
As I said, I will eventually have to do what I'm here for without reckoning on support from editors like Grin (d). Best, Eklir (talk) 20:43, 21 November 2008 (UTC)
Actually, I think neon white had it right. The discussion Eklir is pointing to, and the guideline it refers to is about talk pages on articles, not user space. In user space, there has always been greater leniency about content, and as she states, while English is preferred, it is not required to prevent being blocked. Reading WP:user page also makes no reference to English being the only language. DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 20:56, 21 November 2008 (UTC)
Agree, i cannot find or concieve of any reason why non english shouldn't be ok on user and user talk pages. --neon white talk 01:22, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

(undent) I would respectfully ask that Eklir consider acknowledging a misunderstanding of this one policy, which would address one of the two issues here. Non-English doesn't appear to violate any policies for user talk pages and I am absolutely confident it is fine for sources, even if English is strongly preferred. For the record, I think Eklir's deletions of user space talk sections were mistakes but they don't seem to be in bad faith, just a mistaken understanding of existing policy, which is why I would be happy for a simple "Ok, now I understand. Sorry." so we can move on. If in doubt, ask an admin before you do wholesale reversions. As for the content dispute, this really isn't the right forum. I would strongly suggest Eklir and grin go to Wikipedia:Third opinion as the next step. This is exactly what they do best over there. You guys are adults and all are trying to make the articles better, even if you disagree on methods. I am confident you can hash it out there, all you need is someone to mediate a bit. We all need that sometimes, which is why it is there. DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 02:08, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

I mostly agree with Dennis Brown and neon white, but I am a little concerned about Eklir's implication that the non-English content may be offensive. I have seen cases arise at ANI where a non-English comment was added on another user's talk page, and it turned out to be a rather vile epithet. Eklir is right when he/she says the verifiability principle comes into play even when we are talking about user talk pages... If both editors are consenting, I'd usually be inclined to let it go -- but if Eklir has evidence that the non-English comments have WP:CIV or WP:NPA problems, for example, it would be valid to both admonish the user(s) for that and strictly forbid them from communicating in non-English in the future.
I may have misunderstood Eklir's implication, though; or the implication may be false. If the comments are inoffensive, then I am inclined to agree -- I would rather users communicate only in English for the sake of transparency, but in that case Eklir's reversion does not appear to be necessary and is likely only to stir up more controversy. --Jaysweet (talk) 15:59, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
To clarify: The reason I am much more willing to entertain the idea of forbidding non-English communication on talk pages is because multiple times I have seen people using non-English communication to avoid scrutiny while making comments they know are wholly inappropriate. Also, my interpretation of the cited passage from WP:TALK is that while it does not explicitly call out User Talk pages, the same logic applies (that the information be understood by the community at large) so while I would typically not make a stink about two consenting users communicating in another language, I would discourage the practice. --Jaysweet (talk) 16:09, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
We can't "consider" forbidding English. Even Jimbo Wales can't at this forum either. The policy on Wikipedia allows non-English and simply put, we can only interpret the policy and apply it to the current situation. Telling someone they must use English here at Wikiquette violates a whole host of policies, including assuming good faith and I am not remotely considering that. If you want to change that policy, this is the wrong page. As for this current situation, I would suggest translate.google.com to translate just about any language. I would first try that. The "offense" would be the content of the message. It can never be the language it was spoken in. IE: you simply cannot say "No Spanish/French/German because you might say something offensive", as that is against everything we stand for here. DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 21:21, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
Discussion in any language is still public. There are enough editors who can translate where needed. If two Serbs discuss an issue in non-English on their usertalk pages and actually come up a solution for something to solve world peace, we'd all be pleased. Talk on article Talk pages should always be in English. BMW 00:43, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
Can you point me to the policy or guideline that shows this? I have seriously looked for it and can't seem to find it. If that is the case, I would want to know what it is. Otherwise, it is only an opinion, which doesn't help the issue. DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 01:43, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

(undent) I do not see any of the original parties contributing, nor anyone demonstrating a policy that Wikipedia user pages are English only. Does this need to be bumped up to ANI? DENNIS BROWN (T) (C) 19:54, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

That wouldn't be the right place for it. A better venue would be The village pump policy page. SHEFFIELDSTEELTALK 17:00, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
I entirely support the views of Jaysweet (talk). In this particular case:
  • Satisfying translation requests is clearly mandatory for Wikipedia talk pages. The offending user has consistently ignored such requests.
  • Profanity and insults are being used as I pointed out already. However, my assertion of this is no proof in the absence of an authorized translation.
I therfore must insist: Either all the incriminated comments are translated; or they are deleted. Best, Eklir (talk) 00:22, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
Unfortunately that is not current policy. --neon white talk 02:15, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
I beg to differ: It is current policy. Satisfying translation requests is mandatory and comments using profanity or insult are deletable. Eklir (talk) 09:38, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
The current policy has already been pointed out above. Using english only applies to article space. User pages are a very different space to article space. Policies/guidelines that apply to article space do not apply to user space. That's the bottom line and it's not up for debate here. According to user space guidelines you can request that a user remove content that you feel may be inappropriate but ultimately removing it requires some community consensus that it is inappropriate. You cannot simply make unilateral decisions about the suitability of content. (unless the content violates WP:BLP which can be removed without discussion) See Wikipedia:User_page#Inappropriate_content. If you think there is offensive content or personal attacks i recommend asking an admin to check it out or posting an WP:ANI report.--neon white talk 17:21, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

HD86

Not a Wikiquette issue, moved to appropriate board Not a Wikiquette issue, referred elsewhereUser has forum-shopped this one, and it has also been posted in ANI

First and foremost I would like to sincerely ask you for your help. Your input and patience is appreciated. I want to bring to your attention this. HD86 has made numerous comments such as "The Assyrians are EXTINCT people of ancient Mesopotamia whose name was stolen by some modern politicians and used in reference to the modern Syriacs. To label the modern Syriacs by "Assyrians" and to claim that "The Assyrian people trace their origins to the population of the pre-Islamic Levant" is indeed stupidity in its purest form." These comments are inflammatory, racist, unhistprical and outrageous. This user continues to deny that a whole race even exists. He needs to be wiki disciplined. This is unacceptable inflammtory denialist behavior. The equivalent of his statments would be that jews or arabs do not exist. Do you not see the point. His languge is very hateful and dimeaning to those of us involved in the project. If you take a look at his history he has similar incompetent statemetns regarding other controverisal topics. I ask for assistance in order to remove this hateful user from this discussion. He has denied the existence of an entire race that through ample ancient and modern evidence has existed for thousands of years. I will be waiting for your response. Ninevite (talk) 20:50, 27 November 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nineveh 209 (talkcontribs)

Need help

user:Faustian trace my edits and put own vision of my words and edits [22] [23] Failed to proved any AD REM comments [24] he/she put other in misconseption about existing dispute on articles content by distoring the mean of issue - [25]

  • It’s achieving by a vary simple but durable way – if nominate an Abwehr Major General Erwin Von Lahausen, Abwehr Division I Head as “Austrian officer” forgot to note what it happened in Hitler special train were actually Hitler present. And a cherish point – to stress the reliability of data – “conversations between German officials recalled six years after the conversation”. So the reader easily forgot what here is spoken not about hearing at Pip-Creek County court but about International Military Tribunal Trails on Major War Criminals. And refuse to follow the reccomendation [26] by possible involving of tWikipedia:SOCK and WP:MEAT - to simply revert my edits. Jo0doe (talk) 17:54, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
See my reply at Wikipedia:Editor assistance/Requests#Can someone help me to comprehend. —BradV 18:29, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
You reply is not help - becouse it does not provide nor advice, nor explanation. Administrator still keep silence [27] while I've read at Wikipedia:Administrators - [28] - [Wikipedia:Administrators]Jo0doe (talk) 10:07, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Wikiquette violations from MickMacNee

User:MickMacNee has been very rude to me at a certain AfD. After reviewing some of his past correspondences I see that this incivility is a pattern with this editor. Diffs here, here, here, and here correspond to his action against me at the AfD. His pattern of incivility can be seen by a threat here, editor harrassment here, an accusation here, an insult here, some belittlement here, calling another user a "drama whore" here, calling somebody ignorant here etc... All of these within the past four days!

I would like input about what can be done with this type of user who freely allows his/her temper to leak into Wikipedia. I would also like a direct, sincere apology from User:MickMacNee. We can still respect each other if we have different interpretations of policy. Themfromspace (talk) 04:53, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Holy crap, I am being stalked for opinions at an AFD about cake. Wow. As for the Ireland edits, these are all likely to soon go to full arbitration, and if you don't understand the full timeline/context, it isn't realy sensible to cite one small part of out of context. But anyway, as for cake, anybody who thinks my comments are unreasonable will be entertained to the full extent of my abilities without laughing too much, I promise. MickMacNee (talk) 05:14, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
Comment I believe the example given for "accusation" above makes more sense if read in conjunction with User talk:Sladen#A picture of a box no less, a previous thread—and when done so, the accusation of an accusation is somewhat less tenuous. (I have not evaluated any of the other edits). —Sladen (talk) 06:23, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
Wow, first I read the cake page (oh my god, delete it already - and don't "threaten" DRV because that's disruption, pure and simple). Then I read the diffs provided. As of this point, I really only see one case of "incivility". Snarkiness, maybe. I'm not a big fan of the shotgun approach here. I'm going to give you a chance to re-read your diff's and determine which actually violate WP:CIVIL and WP:NPA. BMW 12:57, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Editor2020

Not a Wikiquette issue, moved to appropriate board Not a Wikiquette issue, referred elsewhere

Editor2020 reverted pedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sophia_(wisdom)&diff=249772507&oldid=249731570 this user's edit without an explanation. That's the kind of crap that keeps new editors from coming back. —Werson (talk) 21:52, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

This isn't an etiquette issue. Editor2020 has already explained the edit here --neon white talk 00:35, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Matt57 (talk · contribs)

User:Matt57 has spent the last day doing nothing but harassing me. It began when he

Why dont you also mention:
You reverted an admin's edit, after he explained what he was going to do. In the same article, you revert warred a couple of times [29],[30],[31] trying to maintain the single line article which everyone thinks should be merged.
You removed the SPA warning I had put in. When I reverted the edit, you reverted back again calling it vandalism in your edit summary. --Matt57 (talkcontribs) 19:40, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
The issue here is your civility problems. You have yet to strike your personal attack, insulting two editors, at Talk:November_2008_Mumbai_attacks. --brewcrewer (yada, yada) 19:49, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
Deleted my comment, if that makes you happy. --Matt57 (talkcontribs) 19:52, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
It makes me very happy, but more importantly, it pleases the Wikipedia community which whom you interact. Hopefully, future comments on talk pages will comment on content, not contributors. Best, --brewcrewer (yada, yada) 20:04, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
It should be pointed out that no personal attack applies to yourself as well, accusations of incivility and vandalism are not civil and only inflame a situation. In future consider a polite word with the editor. --neon white talk 01:25, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
  • Comments Redirects and merges do not need to be discussed, editors are allowed to be bold and i can see how an editor would consider this uncontroverial so this is not a breach of etiquette rules. Accusations of vandalism are not assuming good faith. Content disputes are not etiquette issues, remind all involved editors to discuss in a civil manner and use dispuite resolution if necessary or in this case an afd. --neon white talk 01:21, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Billyca (talk · contribs)

Not a Wikiquette issue, moved to appropriate board Not a Wikiquette issue, referred elsewhere

User:Billyca had repeatedly added WP:POV to "Mypods and Boomsticks",1 no matter how many warnings we give him.2 Where do I settle this? -- A talk/contribs 02:09, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

This board is for etiquette issues only. In this case the editor has breached the 3 revert rule, give him/her a final warning about edit warring and then is it happend again report it to Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Edit warring. --neon white talk 05:01, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Request for advice User:HPJoker

Resolved. 2 separate warnings to HPJoker

After reviewing some talk page comments from a fellow editor of an article, I noticed that HPJoker has shown quite a bit of incivility (possibly bordering on personal attacks) in talk page comments and edit summaries, and seems to be using his userpage as a blog or form of social networking, which Wikipedia does not allow. Here are the diffs that I found to be concerning: [32], [33], [34], [35], [36], [37]

I was just wondering if there are any more experienced editors or even admins that would be able to sufficiently remind or warn the editor of the policies, as I would rather not be the target of the editor's wrath from what I've read of his comments. Atlantabravz (talk) 21:48, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Warned for both the improper humour/incivility with his "friend" and using the userpage as a social network. While I was there, I noticed that you had not advised them of this WQA filing. Please remember you are required to do so. BMW 13:14, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
I wouldn't say that this situation is resolved. The editor in question has responded in this way: Here and Here. Maybe an admin needs to take a look at this editor's behavior. Atlantabravz (talk) 22:10, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
I'd say his 72 hr block because of his replies makes it more resolved. Let's just say that the warnings "resolved" it to the level that WQA can, because we generally are unable to put blocks. BMW 12:32, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Readin and uncivil comments

Resolved. No incivility

User:Readin made the following comments against me on Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (Chinese), which I don't find particularly civil.

Now we've each had a chance to state a view. How cutting our your trial lawyering for a bit (we know from your user page you have legal training) and let people put in their opinions. You seem to have too much time to spend endlessly arguing with and reverting people you disagree with. Give some other people a chance to respond.

As you can tell from the page as well as my edit logs, I did not make any comments to stop anyone from expressing their opinion. And what does the fact that I have received legal training got to do with anything? Please let me have your comments.--pyl (talk) 07:17, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

I see that you and Readin have a history here. In fact,because of this history, as an attempt to stimulate discussion from others (rather than just he focus of the arguments of the two of you), Readin requested input from others before the two of you started arguing. Regardless, Readin has not said that being law-trained was bad, or that lawyers are bad, or indeed that you are bad. Wikilawyering of any type is a bad bad thing. He does, obviously, recognize that your "strength" is an your ability to argue a position (whihc perhaps comes from your legal training). Please allow others input when it is requested, and WP:AGF. BMW 12:46, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
I guess Wikipedia has a very curious standard towards "civility", and I guess I should not expect Readin to be polite to me since we "have a history". Ever since the last discussion on this board, I have been acting as if the "history" never happened, but it now appears to me that the history is what I am stuck with.
If the logs are examined, I fail to see how I should be talked the way I was talked to by Readin. Is it civil in real life to accuse someone of having "too much time to spend endlessly arguing with and reverting people [he] disagree[s] with" and "How cutting our your trial lawyering for a bit"? What have I done to deserve that kind of comments? What sort of "good faith" am I supposed to assume by these comments?
Are you saying that Readin can present half a picture, then request for others to comments, and I am not supposed to make my own case? I don't think I prevented anyone from commenting by me making my case.--pyl (talk) 13:28, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
You completely miss the point, and by doing so you're also not AGF towards me. History has nothing to do with it, it was simply a side-note. If I'm chairing a meeting, and I ask for a roundtable discussion starting on my right, everyone (including you) will get to make their comment. However, if YOU decide to start instead, it may actually change the nature of everyone else's comments. Not soing so is like treating it like the discussion was ONLY you vs Readin and was simply like acting as if only the Crown and the Defense lawyers ever get to talk. This time, he was asking you to let the jury speak too. THAT is trying to elicit DISCUSSION and CONSENSUS and not simply make it an argument between 2 people. BMW 13:49, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
You completely miss the point, and by doing so you're also not AGF towards me. When the "history" is mentioned at the first place, I am not sure if any reasonable person would take it as a "sidenote".
It is not hard to tell that Readin's comments about lawyers was simply a smart arse comment. It is beyond me how this kind of smart arse comments are considered to be accepted in Wikipedia.
If the log and discussions are examined, it is clear that I simply just made my case and left it at that. I was happy to hear other editors to make comments. Using your example, I would say that it is unfair to invite the jury to make a comment when only half of the story is told. The discussion clearly showed that I was not arguing with Readin. I don't think good faith was assumed for my benefit.--pyl (talk) 14:02, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
The fact that you felt that your comment deserved to be heard before others has just proven my point. Thanks. Every so often, it would be wise to site back and listen to others first. BMW 14:16, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

The bottom line is, the very function of this forum is to deal with the complaints of people's uncivil conduct. The decision gives out the message that it is ok to make sarcastic comments against another editor if they don't listen to you. Indeed, any reasonable person in the real world would interpret Readin's sarcastic comment as saying that lawyers and legal training are bad. If you disagree with me, make those comments to your lawyer next time and ask your lawyer if he or she considers those comments civil. You then made a general comment that "Wikilawyering of any type is a bad bad thing". I am not sure what that means in this case, but I would find it offensive if being a lawyer means I am presumed to be doing Wikilawyering. If the logs are checked, it would be clear that there is absolutely no such evidence.

I am not sure what sort of point you are trying to prove here. It appears that you are saying I am not wise by not letting others speak first. If you check my logs, it would be clear that I do, and I understand your piece of wisdom. In the current situation, Readin presents a case that was biased - a story half told, and the requested comments would then serve less value. However, as I said above I believe this issue is outside the function of this forum.--pyl (talk) 03:09, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

No, the bottom line is this: I was unable to see the purported sarcasm; I saw someone asking you to lay off what has appeared to be a history of "wikilawyering" for a few minutes in order to gain comments from other editors in order to try and gain broad WP:CONSENSUS (which was going to include your commentary as well). BMW 12:35, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
That's the point. That was no history of "wikilawyering". That's why I found the comments insulting and sarcastic. According to WP:LAWYER, wikilawyering means:-
Wikilawyering (and the related legal term pettifogging) is a pejorative term which describes various questionable ways of judging other Wikipedians' actions. It may refer to certain quasi-legal practices, including:
1. Using formal legal terms in an inappropriate way when discussing Wikipedia policy;
2. Abiding by the letter of a policy or guideline while violating its principles;
3. Asserting that the technical interpretation of Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines should override the principles they express;
4. Misinterpreting policy or relying on technicalities to justify inappropriate actions.
Check my logs and you will see that I don't engage in this type of practice. It appears that Readin has successfully used the fact that I'm a lawyer to make people assume or even presume that I do "wikilawyering".--pyl (talk) 13:04, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
I provided specific instances above. I'll say no more on this issue other than say to work nicely and cooperatively with others, and they will respect and work nicely with you. It sure wouldn't have killed you to wait for a couple of other people to reply first, when you were recommended to do so. BMW 14:20, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Cerejota (talk · contribs)

User:Cerejota had proposed a title move of the article November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Cerejota made the following edit in which they uploaded an image to ridicule one editor's comment in the discussion. I reverted the edit here. Cerejota commented on my talk page here and re-added their image here describing it as a valid counterpoint. User:Cerejota's actions are not a civil way to conduct a title move request and I am requesting an uninvolved editor to comment on the handling of the proposal. Switzpaw (talk) 21:37, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Whilst i don't think this is necessarily uncivil, it does give undue prominence to one editors POV and therefore seems inappropriate. I think this could reasonable be considered under the same guidelines as 'Avoid excessive markup' on talk page guidelines. --neon white talk 01:31, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
OMG, what a misuse of process! Ridiculous arguments warrant ridiculous responses, and this is a classic case. There is no un-civility, only disagreement, expressed in such a way as to demonstrate the incredible stupidity of the argument. BTW, other editors agree with me. Thanks!--Cerejota (talk) 02:45, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
It's true that this may not be a civility issue, and it may have been possible to solve this issue by asking for it to be removed. However accusing editors of a 'misuse of process' in an etiquette alert is hardly recommended. I doubt that guidelines agrees with you as i have pointed out, for now we are assuming good faith to the point that we believe that you had no intention of being disruptive, just take note that giving prominence to points in this way may lead to misunderstanding of the consensus and that it may become a civility issue. --neon white talk 04:43, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
But other editors disagree with you too. It may not be uncivil per se, but it was undeniable rudeness to a constructive editor trying to make a point. ~ Wadester16 (talk) 02:52, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
Not as rude as removing content, or doing wiki alerts without so much as approaching me for clarification and comment. And of course others disagree, however, this just means things are not as clear cut as you try to make them seem in your original post. Perhaps a little less self-righteousness might be in order. Also, get a sense of humor. Thanks!--Cerejota (talk) 04:05, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
Once again, I did not remove your content; I've already stated this. I was trying to get you to do it yourself. A little self-righteousness (even false self-righteousness, as in this case) is necessary to combat the original self-righteous offense (see taste of your own medicine). I have a sense of humor, and your move could have been funny, but in this context it was rude and uncalled for (I feel like I'm in middle school all over again), especially when after forceful removal, you reinstated your comments multiple times as if you were trying to prove some unnecessary point..? ~ Wadester16 (talk) 17:44, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
I agree that a polite word and an assumption of good faith would have been a better course of action. Just to be clear i don't have a problemn with the use of humour or the image, the issue i have is it's placement outside of the normal text flow, there is a danger that it may be misunderstood for instance it may be seen incorrectly as a summary of a section or consensus. Also consider what would become of talk pages if everyone contributing did a similar thing. --neon white talk 04:43, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
OK Switzpaw (talk) 04:45, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
I agree, this image inserted by Cerejota is just rude and unneccesary. He inserted the image again after you removed it and I've removed it again. Being polite and appropriate comes first and having a sense of hmor comes later. As you said too, it wouldnt look pretty if everyone started using images in talk pages like this. Infact Cerejota, it makes your argument look weaker. Dont reinsert the image again. --Matt57 (talkcontribs) 05:07, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
"Being polite and appropriate comes first and having a sense of humor comes later." should be a Wikipedia mantra. Nicely said, Matt57. ~ Wadester16 (talk) 17:44, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

User:Molobo

In this thread [38], started by this account, User:Molobo is accusing me of revisionism despite my request to stop this insult. The article (Drang nach Osten) gives sourced information about the use of the slogan, some of which was introduced by me. Molobo seems to regard the slogan as a historical truth, however he has provided no sources at all, calls the sources in the article fringe and accuses me of OR without providing anything that would back his allegations. Note also the sophisticated way he puts his revisionism/fringe/OR insult as a lecture about how "we on wiki" handle issues like that. Molobo has a disruptive history and is on civility and NPA parol [39]. I do not want to have my name smeared and ask you for intervention. Thank you. Skäpperöd (talk) 10:21, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

User:Sudharsansn

Resolved. Blocked for short duration. Filing party blocked for an extended duration following ANI discussion.

User:Ncmvocalist

Not a Wikiquette issue, moved to appropriate board Not a Wikiquette issue, referred elsewhereFrivolous; taken to AN/I; filing party blocked for extended duration.

User:Dbachmann

Not a Wikiquette issue, moved to appropriate board Not a Wikiquette issue, referred elsewhereFrivolous; taken to AN/I; filing party blocked for extended duration.

User:Rodhullandemu

User:EuroHistoryTeacher

I'm repeatedly getting insults from this (new) user.

  • [65] "you are clearly a hispanophobe" (for the second time, even though I've already told him I'm half Spanish)
  • [66] "you just can't accept the facts , im not going to waste my time explaining this subject (which i clearly dominate over you)"
  • [67] "i wont even waste my time with you explaining something which is clearly above your intelectual level"
  • [68] "we need somebody else instead of Ferrick here , someone more lenient and who has a little more insight into this subject"

I've been struggling with trying to get them to understand the policies of WP:V and WP:NOR but I just get insults in return. As my requests for no personal attacks are falling on deaf ears, I would appreciate it if someone could put a polite note on their talk page to request they cease this behaviour. Thanks. The Red Hat of Pat Ferrick t 18:52, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

I think we can give the user a friendly warning about policy on etiquette. --neon white talk 19:01, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
I'm still getting the insults - [69]. The user in question seems to think it's OK to put "no attack intended" after making the attack. The Red Hat of Pat Ferrick t 00:35, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
Is this a pattern or just this one insult? It does seem that there is progress with this editor's method of discussing matters. Let's wait and see what other contributors think and if this behaviour becomes a pattern again. --neon white talk 14:27, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
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