User talk:Ray Ellis

Welcome to Wikipedia!

Dear Ray Ellis: Welcome to Wikipedia, a free and open-content encyclopedia. I hope you enjoy contributing. To help get you settled in, I thought you might find the following pages useful:

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Wikipedians try to follow a strict policy of never biting new users. If you are unsure of how to do something, you are welcome to ask a more experienced user such as an administrator. One last bit of advice: please sign any discussion comment with four tildes (~~~~). The software will automatically convert this into your signature which can be altered in the "Preferences" tab at the top of the screen. I hope I have not overwhelmed you with information. If you need any help just let me know. Once again welcome to Wikipedia, and don't forget to tell us about yourself and be BOLD! Xiong Chiamiov :: contact :: 22:25, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

About your comment my recent edit. Removing "The ministry should encourage young people to become involved in church by allowing them to use their talents, and skills in participatory activities." Was a mistake, I was tired and I ment to edit it to read a little different.

"The ministry encourages young people to become involved in church by allowing them to use their talents, and skills in participatory activities."

For some reason I deleted the entire thing. I will replace it worded in such a way that it is not biased or suggesting anything. Thanks for pointing out my mistake. Foolishben 04:25, 19 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Berkshire WikiProject invitation

File:Berks arms.gif

Hello, Ray Ellis! I'd like to invite you to join the Berkshire WikiProject. It's a user-group dedicated to improving the overall quality of all Berkshire-related content. There is a discussion page for sharing ideas as well as developing and getting tips on improving articles. If you would like to join, simply add your name to the list of members.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask at the project talk page. We hope to be working with you in the future!

Seaserpent⁸⁵ 01:36, 24 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Re: Latchingdon

If you want the condensed version, I didn't protect that page and have moved the article there. The long story is that we used a different system for protecting against recreation back in the day, and I'm one of the two poor saps who handled the migration of 8,000 or so pages to the new system. The unintended consequence of this is that the responsibility of these pages shifts over to me now from the original protecting admin. :-D east.718 at 21:37, January 4, 2008

You maybe interested in the Article Rescue Squadron

Hello, Ray Ellis. Based on the templates on your talk page, I would like you to consider joining the Article Rescue Squadron. Rescue Squadron members are focused on rescuing articles for deletion, that might otherwise be lost forever. I think you will find our project matches your vision of Wikipedia. Article Rescue Members are not necessarily inclusionists, all wikipedians are warmly welcome to join.~~~~

Shappi Khorsandi

If we're to be picky about what the source says, Khorsandi doesn't self-identify, nor could you categorically say she "is", the source gives another comedian's description of her; I've highlighted the relevant text...

"They also represent a cross-section of the Asian community. As Mirza points out: 'My parents are Pakistani Muslim, Inder's a Baha'i from India, Paul's parents are Bengali Hindus, and Shappi is secular Iranian Muslim. We have as many differences as similarities.'"

Regards, Bazj (talk) 18:51, 23 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You're right. She doesn't self identify there, which is why I removed the phrase 'regards herself as secular', which wasn't supported by the text, and substituted 'is secular Iranian Muslim' from the article. You're right that another comedian's description is not hard fact. But it wasn't my choice of reference and was the nearest I could get without sourcing a whole new article. It was just intended to be a quick correction, which somebody else is welcome to rewrite with stronger sources later. Regards, Ray Ellis (talk) 13:45, 24 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

LOL. I love it when religious people try desperately to make irreligious people seem even vaguely religious. She's an atheist. From what she says she's probably not technically a hard atheist, but shes fairly and squarely atheist. Not agnostic either. She's not a Muslim in any recognisable sense that I know- to be a Muslim you have to be believe there's a God. She just doesn't, either that or her whole act is a lie; as a comedian you can bend the truth quite a bit, but nobody ever does it to that degree!- (User) Wolfkeeper (Talk) 21:10, 23 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have no problem with Shappi being wholly irreligious. But the reference cited didn't support the claim being made and I did not want her to be misrepresented. Incidentally, I assume that the phrase Mirza used, 'secular Muslim', refers to Shappi's cultural background, rather than belief in God. Shappi herself specifically says she is not an atheist (ironically enough, in the New Humanist article you quote) and her routine includes jokes about militant atheists trying to convert her. She would probably best be described as agnostic or humanist. But her self-description is 'without religion' (which, contrary to popular belief, is not synonymous with atheism). Ray Ellis (talk) 13:45, 24 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

First ever Reading Wiki Meetup

You are invited to the first ever Reading Wiki Meetup which will take place at Copa, 76-78 Kings Road, Reading, RG1 3BJ on Sunday 23 September 2012 from 1.00 pm.

I hope as many people as possible will be able to attend so that we can make this a regular event. If you have never been to one, this is an opportunity to meet other Wikipedians in an informal atmosphere for Wiki and non-Wiki related chat and for beer or food if you like. Experienced and new contributors are all welcome. This event is definitely not restricted just to discussion of Berkshire related topics. Bring your laptop if you like and use the free Wifi or just bring yourself. Even better, bring a friend! Click the link for full details. Looking forward to seeing you. Philafrenzy (talk) 22:25, 16 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]