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Audit Subcommittee appointments: Invitation to comment on candidates

The Arbitration Committee is seeking to appoint at least three non-arbitrator members to the Audit Subcommittee, and is now seeking comments from the community regarding the candidates who have volunteered for this role.

Interested parties are invited to review the appointments page containing the nomination statements supplied by the candidates and their answers to a few standard questions. Community members may also pose additional questions and submit comments about the candidates on the individual nomination subpages or privately via email to to arbcom-en-b@lists.wikimedia.org.

Following the consultation phase, the committee will take into account the answers provided by the candidates to the questions and the comments offered by the community (both publicly and privately) along with any other relevant factors before making a final decision regarding appointments.

The consultation phase is scheduled to end 23:59, 21 March 2011 (UTC), and the appointments are scheduled to be announced by 31 March 2011.

For the Arbitration Committee, –xeno^talk 00:00, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Discuss this

Ban national(ist) barnstars

Dialogue among Wikipedia contributors is already heavy with all kinds of biases, including those caused by competing nationalisms. Barnstars that are nationally denoted, without carrying any other qualification, should be banned because (a) they promote divisiveness, when barnstars are supposed to be a playful pat on the back by a fellow wikipedian, and (b) actually denote a compromise in the principles of Wikipedia through rewarding contributors who act in the interests of a certain nationality, when contributors should be instead neutral and unbiased. Note that such barnstars are almost always "awarded" to fellow compatriots, thus adding to cliquishness and tribalism. (I submit a random example of such a barnstar for purely illustrative purposes.) -The Gnome (talk) 00:44, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

		The Albanian Barnstar of National Merit
		For your work in Albanian pages, keep up the good work, cheers!x (talk) --x 20:56, 4 January 2010 (UTC)(UTC)
		this WikiAward was given to y by x (talk) --x 20:56, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

I don't see anything wrong with them. They are used in a similar fashion like thematic barnstars. Armbrust ^{WrestleMania XXVII} _{Undertaker 19–0} 03:00, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Neither do I. Most WikiProjects, which this appears to have come from, has their own barnstar. WP:VIRGINIA has their own (see at the far bottom; my creation) and that is in the US. So, this isn't just countries, but states. It is something to award members of that specific WikiProject when they do well inside that WikiProject. - Neutralhomer • Talk • Coor. Online Amb'dor • 03:59, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Working "in Albanian pages" could mean helping keep them neutral, as opposed to acting "in the interests of a certain nationality". עוד מישהו Od Mishehu 06:05, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

This probably belongs at WP:MFD or similar as its not really something admins have any particular influence over. I personally don't see the problem with this kind of barnstar, though I suppose it's possible for them to be misused by some editors (in which case the best response would be to sanction the editor using barnstars to reward bad behaviour rather than delete the barnstar itself, unless it was created for some kind of offensive purpose [eg, a 'barnstar of the greater Albania Wikicrusade']). Nick-D (talk) 06:44, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Re. Od Mishehu: Yes, in theory it could mean "helping to keep them neutral". In practice, it never does. I cannot remember ever having seen any of these "national" barnstars awarded in any scenario other than the one where it's awarded by one nationally-driven agenda account to the other in reward for helping to fight the fight. – The other thing is that even if they were intended in a neutral, constructive way, their wording and symbolism typically doesn't fit. Using terms like "national merit", together with political symbols like flags, practically screams "patriotism", i.e. a pro-nation-X agenda. Fut.Perf. ☼ 09:50, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Precisely. I was afraid people would focus on the Albanian barnstar, and this is what happened but Albania -or any other specific country- is not the issue. Picture any other flag here, your own country's, if you want. The issue is that national(ist)-tagged barnstars and symbols tend to worsen the significant and already extensive problem of competing nationalisms in Wikipedia editing. It is indeed, as Fut.Perf. reminds us, extremely rare to see national barnstars awarded to someone for objectivity or pure encyclopaedic work. Time to re-adjust our focus, methinks. -The Gnome (talk) 22:21, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

The Golden Maple Leaf Award Nation themed barnstars are not a problem, and for editors that work on articles related to a specific country, offer a nice local touch when rewarding good work. Resolute 22:25, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

In principle, these barnstars are fine. I've awarded threeMalaysian barnstars of national merit: one to a quiet wikignome and the other two to editos who got Malaysian articles to FA or GA status. It's a way of recognising good work within a national wikiproject. But, they can of course be abused. Per NickD, if an editor is found to be giving barnstars to editors as a reward for pushing a nationalist POV the community, or if discretionary sanctions apply, administrators, can impose sanctions for battleground behaviour accordingly. --Mkativerata (talk) 18:55, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Agreed. I'm sorry, but the notion that these barnstars "compromise in the principles of Wikipedia through rewarding contributors who act in the interests of a certain nationality, when contributors should be instead neutral and unbiased" is nothing more than editor bashing. What The Gnome's statement contends is that one's heritage does not promote a desire to share and inform the world regarding that heritage based on reliable sources fairly and accurately represented and to bring awareness of that heritage to a wider audience. Rather, The Gnome tars and feathers as intrinsically disruptive to Wikipedia anyone with an identifiable national background. I suggest The Gnome work on promoting reliable content regardless of the venue instead of attacking editors en masse based on a label. This sort of insulting pontificating only polarizes the community and results in uninformed editors believing that their ignorance equals lack of bias, as if it were some sort of inoculation against by-definition biased editorial positions espoused by carriers of the nationalist plague. PЄTЄRS J V ►TALK 23:55, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Why is my suggestion "editor bashing"? I raise the possibility of a certain act of "harmless fun" in Wikipedia degenerating into an incentive and a mindframe for biased, non-objective contributions. I have no specific editor in mind, nor any specific nationality. This is not about editors ("en masse"!) doing some ...horrible things on purpose but about the threats inherent in accolade and success. The rest of your post seems equally misguided ("insulting pontification") and full of ad hominems, so I cannot comment on it. I was hoping for an exchange of experiences of other editors and some informed opinions. Hopefully, we'll get some of that.-The Gnome (talk) 18:40, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Of course it's editor bashing as your comment in no way discriminates "nationalist" bad from "nationalist" good. Wikipedia has already degenerated, barnstars are not a symptom, not an instigator, not a reward, not a problem. A barnstar is an "Atta Boy!" with a picture attached. Unless you are going to ban the passing of all on-Wiki congratulations between "nationalist" editors, there's no point in banning barnstars. The issue is not that I'm engaging ad hominems, it's that you don't even realize your position regarding "nationalist" editors is itself an ad hominem. PЄTЄRS J V ►TALK 21:26, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

The issue is about the misuse and the excesses of nationalist viewpoints, already causing significant problems in wiki editing, the least of which is time wasting. There is nothing in Wikipedia about "nationalist editing", so, therefore, trying to protect the integrity of the site from it (by definition, a non-neutral kind of editing) is entirely legitimate. And, incidentally, this better not become a political discussion ("nationalist" good vs "nationalist" bad); the distinction between "good" and "bad" nationalisms is irrelevant to the point I'm making - and it's a point clearly about nationalist viewpoints going overboard here. (Call 'em "bad nationalisms" if you want.) It's gone beyong the "atta boy!" phase a long time ago. The barnstars, in themselves, are not the problem; but they do seem to amplify it. Let's turn down the volume a bit, I say.-The Gnome (talk) 20:51, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Short version, discuss the edit not the editor. You do know that principle, no? Just because you're not naming anyone specific doesn't make your contentions any less offensive. PЄTЄRS J V ►TALK 00:06, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

The Gnome has a point, albeit a philosophical one that applies to all barnstars, which isn't really that far from PЄTЄRS J V's position. Creating boy scout badges means some scouts will aspire to get them all, and arguing they are not symbols of merit doesn't prevent them from being sported as such. If they have to exist at all, they should be for general merit relating to encyclopedic achievements devoid of all other characteristics. Facts are facts, right? Good copy is good copy no matter who writes it, right? A barnstar for contributions that suck but fill a perceived gap somewhere is just mutual masturbation.

That said, if barnstars really don't mean anything, why do they exist at all? That question is entirely relevant to the recent invite to comment on statistics about contributors and how to make newcomers feel more welcome (http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/March_2011_Update).

Peter S Strempel  Page | Talk  11:06, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

What The Gnome decries is known purveyors of nationalist clap-trap trading barnstars with their cohorts. Quite frankly, I'm prepared to live with that. The (random) choice of Albania is telling, as twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, all of Eastern Europe is still held hostage to a general ignorance of its history. Bringing that history and culture to light is a noble purpose; casting aspersions based on labels one has indiscriminately hung on editors only serves the ignorance which those very same editors are seeking to dispel. I'm happy to receive any barnstar for any good work I've done. The Gnome's going around suggesting more ways we can rain on each others' parade doesn't do anything to make Wikipedia a friendlier place to contribute. PЄTЄRS J V ►TALK 21:21, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Then, what about a HISTORY (or MODERN HISTORY; or POST-EASTERN BLOC HISTORY) barnstar? It would be awarded ("Atta boy!") to anyone who's judged by a fellow wikipedian to have contributed to that topic, irrespective of the specific topic's geography.-The Gnome (talk) 21:01, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

As for making Wikipedia a friendlier place, that's not possible now that WP is at the top of every search engine. For every editor seeking to bring reputable balanced content to WP in an area of contention you have two trying to persuade us the Earth is flat. That is why Wikipedia is steadily losing editors. Unless you have a very thick skin and make the conscious choice to put up with the escalating level of crap, you leave. PЄTЄRS J V ►TALK 21:52, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

On a personal level I couldn't agree more about flat-earthers and charlatans in droves trying to re-write history, adding utter nonsense and wasting everyone's time. I have been involved for some days now in an effort to ensure that certain aspects of Soviet history published on WP are reviewed to ensure accuracy, neutrality and an absence of the kind of revisionism that used to make unpalatable facts and people disappear from official records in the Soviet Bloc. But I don't see how doing so under the banner of any particular nation would assist; in fact, it might act as an automatic signal to distrust the motivations of the bearer. The efforts to improve WP must be neutral about nationality, and about personal loyalties or affiliations.

It is true, too, that it would be entirely rational to walk away from time-wasting disputes fuelled by irrational zealots who count on the fact that some good-natured but wrong-headed admin will try to seek 'consensus', which is really to be understood as a term for killing truth in order to pander to personal agenda: there is no committee version of truth, which is never ever subject to a convenient consensus. But defining and defending truth is never a national concern for the same reasons. It must transcend all personal allegiances to stand on rationality and facts alone. I think this is what The Gnome was getting at.

National emblems displayed with pride have their place, but not as adjuncts to discussions about language and sources worthy of an encyclopedia. Similarly, not all the barnstars in the world guarantee that their bearer has or will always produce worthy contributions, or that those contributions should not be subject to careful scrutiny, or that a many-decorated contributor's comments are always more worthy than those of others with no barnstars at all; truth, facts and rationality are not subject to any kind of seniority, rank, title or majority vote. That is why I am against barnstars of any kind.

Having said all of that, I recognise that I am expressing a personal opinion fully contestable in open debate, and subject to the same rationality I try to champion. That rationality tells me that if people want barnstars, they will have them. My best effort, then, can only be to make my case, as I hope I have, and to keep making it when it is challenged on grounds that do not persuade me. For what it may be worth, and without meaning to patronise, I recognise in you, PЄTЄRS J V, the kind of passion necessary to overcome the petty or sinister subversion of facts and rationality we have already touched on. But that will not happen if we walk away in disgust. Regardless of the outcome of this or any other debate, I hope to encounter many more engaged and interested people like you and The Gnome because I think no matter how much we may disagree or agree on any issue, by debate we learn from each other how to become more able not only as contributors to Wikipedia, but as versatile thinkers in our lives in general.

Peter S Strempel  Page | Talk  01:59, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

The fact that barnstars are abused is not a reason to ban them. I've seen barnstars abused, but amusingly, not wikiproject one, but regular ones (like giving a barnstar to another user for disruptive behavior...). Also, calling project barnstars nationalist is hardly nice. We have country-themed noticeboards, wikiprojectts and awards. I cannot speak for all of them, but the ones I am familiar with are quite helpful for this project. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 02:43, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

• If the objectives behind banning those barnstars will not practically be accomplished upon banning those barnstars, I would think it's a pointless exercise. That is, some could argue that some WikiProjects promote cliquishness and tribalism and that they promote divisiveness; given that, merely eliminating the barnstars will not accomplish anything useful because such contributors would still find ways to congratulate one another, praise one another's contributions, or to show their "pride" in some other manner which doesn't require the use of barnstars. And the converse can also be said about some WikiProjects; that they promote appropriate collaboration (in which event, the same could be said about barnstars when used appropriately/effectively). Ncmvocalist (talk) 04:12, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

• This request to ban nation-related barnstars reminds me, in a way, of the userbox wars of early 2006. Okay, a lot of things recently have reminded me of the userbox wars -- but I had to put that out there before I make my point. Which is the problem is not with the barnstar -- or the userbox -- itself, but in how it is used. If a barnstar is awarded for an edit which strengthened both Wikipedia & knowledge about a given nationality, that is a good thing. If a barnstar is awarded for an edit which weakens Wikipedia while promoting some nationalistic agenda, then it is a bad thing & the barnstar should be revoked & the person awarding it sanctioned. But that's just my opinion as someone who has contributed to Wikipedia for many years. -- llywrch (talk) 18:50, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

• I don't really see it as a problem. While nationalist barnstars are given out to both NPOV and POV editors, it does not take long to realize which is which, and in the case of the later, it can be a useful warning that this marked editor promotes nation X's agenda, beware. Passionless -Talk 21:22, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

• Pretty much any flavour of barnstar can be abused, not just "nationalist". This is a moot proposal, and debate should be closed. ~~ Lothar von Richthofen (talk) 01:43, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Any admins fluent in Italian?

Resolved

 – User contacted in Italian as requested, awaiting further developments. Snowolf ^{How can I help?} 19:13, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Got this question on my talk page today. If I understand correctly what the user wants to do, it's something an admin would have to handle (I'm not one). Complicating the matter is this user is newly registered on en.wiki and it.wiki, so I can't easily track the issue down. Anyone willing to jump in? Townlake (talk) 01:16, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

(Non-administrator comment) From Google Translate:

"Hello! Are you a manager? How do you delete parts of a page in history? Can you do it? Or [do you] need a manager? I'm hoping for an answer!"

Assuming "manager" means "administrator". Perhaps the user is asking for RevDel, but that can be clarified by someone who is using something more reliable than Google Translate... --Dylan620 ^{(t • c)} 01:39, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

While I appreciate the translation you've provided for the admin community, I should clarify that I'm not asking simply for a translation, I understand the Italian in the question. I'm asking for someone who's got the tools to help the user potentially resolve a cross-wiki issue, or some other issue that appears likely to be above my pay grade one way or another. Townlake (talk) 01:43, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Probably an idea for somebody to find out what exactly they're requesting. Assuming it's something on this wiki which requires admin attention, I'll be willing to help, but there's nothing anyone can do without details. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 01:51, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

I've gone fishing for more info, thanks for the reply. Townlake (talk) 02:11, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

More explanation (though still no specifics) at my Talk... he wants to erase some stuff that violated some unspecified rule from a page history. Editor seems reluctant to tell me which page it is unless he knows I can help... interesting. Anyway, any takers? Townlake (talk) 01:35, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Is it clear that this issue involves en only? If so Wikipedia:Local Embassy#Italiano (it) lists 2 people who's user page say they are admins, User:Snowolf and User:Chaser. I have informed them of this discussion. Nil Einne (talk) 17:07, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Got the poke on my talk page: on itwiki they've been using delrev for a long time, and vandalisms are deleted from the history with revdel rather than rollbacked, if my memory serves me right, he's asking if we do the same, I'd drop him an explanation in Italian. And yeah, in case there are any issues with italian stuff in general, feel free to poke me. I had a list of admins form Italy at User:Snowolf/Italian admins but it's long unmaintaned and the other admins on that list are long inactive. Snowolf ^{How can I help?} 18:55, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Requested moves

Got a mop but nothing to clean? Between today's ripe-for-closing discussions and the backlog, there's now an unprecedented 160 discussions needing to be closed (or relisted) at requested moves. We need some new blood. If you're unfamiliar with the area it can actually be quite educational and interesting. If willing to help out, but not very familiar, I'd suggest before plunging in reading:

• Wikipedia:Article titles
• WP:PRIMARYTOPIC
• Wikipedia:Official names
• Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English) and of course,
• Wikipedia:Requested moves/Closing instructions--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:21, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Here's a cheat sheet with some text that you might need to use a lot on closes, and some of the code and instructions for the mechanics of doing the close:

{{subst:polltop}} '''move per request'''.--~~~~ ← replace the requested move template, just below the 
 ----                                           ← section header, with something like this, as tailored
 
 {{subst:pollbottom}}                           ← place at bottom of discussion

 Fix double redirect                            ← edit summary when fixing double redirects

 closing requested move survey; moving          ← edit summary on the close
 
 Requested move; see talk page                  ← reason given in text box when performing the move

I don't have a lot of backlog time available with "now" issues, but I am more than willing to help the inexperienced with history merges. I'm quite good at it. Email me or contact my talk page with questions. Keegan (talk) 05:28, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Nitpick: I've found that the automated message Redirected page to Whatever (produced by a blank edit summary field) is a lot more helpful edit summary than "fix double redirect". It's also faster, so you have time to close more requests! :P Jafeluv (talk) 11:08, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Backlog at SPI

Good afternoon everyone, we have quite a backlog on SPIs right now where the average I am seeing is 8 days for an average case to be looked at for a block, and that is increasing each day. Any admins that would be availible to patrol/help out would be great. Don't worry if your new to SPI, I have a full list of instructions, and if you have any questions, feel free to talk to me or any other SPI clerk. That link above will also help those who are expirienced because it directly points to the help we need. Thanks for your help and time. -- DQ (t) (e) 19:57, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

No seriously, he is not joking. If someone can sockpuppet for a week and more after being reported, should we all just not bother reporting people and go to our favourite admins instead? Is there a problem here? I'm sure some of these cases are just bullshit, but I'm sure some of them are not. Leaving them to rot for over a week is really not sensible in my opinion. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 06:10, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

User:HCPUNXKID

In short, User:HCPUNXKID is continuing to edit 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests in a disruptive manner pushing POV regarding Western Sahara, the users' home country. User has been unwilling to stop despite a clear consensus against the users' actions. – Muboshgu (talk) 21:35, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Please explain what consensus are you talking about. The issue is that some users avoid the inclusion of relevant related sourced content to the article, depending on what user edits, while accept the inclusion of dubious or directly false claims (source gambling). Some users are trying to erase any presence of W. Sahara in the article, while others had put a fictitious date of start of the events. So consensus doesnt exists even between that users. Also, the only time the issue had been voted, 4 users agree to include the W. Sahara protests, while 3 disagree. I also point the issue that the POV & Unbalanced tags had been removed without any discussion, only because some users opinion.--HCPUNXKID (talk) 11:48, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

For that past month you have been heavily edit-warring (see his contribution history starting from Feb.19). Wikipedia is not a vote. Also, making a retaliatory report on Muboshgu just shows how much disruption you caused. TL565 (talk) 17:09, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Comment : I tried to discuss this issue with HCPUNXKID, however the discussion wasn't successful. The fact is that there is a consensus about the information added to the article (discussed in the main+7 archives talk page), but HCPUNXKID stated that "only him got the truth". These are 2 discussions of what was supposed to be a discussion : [1] and [2].

On the other hand, there were (I think) more than 6 users reverting HCPUNXKID's edits, which are clearly POV.

Omar-Toons (talk) 19:59, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Additional comment : The issue is also discussed here : [3]

Omar-Toons (talk) 20:14, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Comment: The user in question has made a number of POV edits to the 2010-2011 Middle East and North Africa Protests page regarding Western Sahara. A quick view into the history of the user's page[4] reveals specific POV, including (translated) "This Wikipedian supports the independence of Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic." and "This user supports the right to self-determination referendum of the Sahrawi people." This user's repeated POV edits reflect this particular viewpoint. ZeLonewolf (talk) 04:02, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

Need an admin to close an AfD

Resolved

 – Closed as no consensus

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Martin Luther King, Jr. authorship issues has been open for more than a month. Would somebody please close it? Thank you. — Malik Shabazz ^Talk/_Stalk 04:26, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Done. I note that, though it's been open for a month, it wasn't listed until March 8th. Cheers. lifebaka++ 16:01, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Thank you. — Malik Shabazz ^Talk/_Stalk 16:19, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

User:Muboshgu

This user had started edit warring and POV-pushing without any discussion on the issue or consensus on the Template:2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests, as it can be seen on the talk page.--HCPUNXKID (talk) 12:00, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Ugh. Dispute resolution is that way, guys. lifebaka++ 16:04, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

comment : HCPUNXKID has been reverted many times since his edits are opposed to consensus (examples of what were supposed to be "discussions", failed since a single user can't accept that his opinion is not the consensual one: [5] , [6] and [7]), and not only by Muboshgu, but by many users. The main discussion on these protests are ongoing in the main article's talk page, not template's one (examples given).

Omar-Toons (talk) 20:06, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't think reporting someone is a reportable offense. – Muboshgu (talk) 23:24, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Clerk needed at Afd

Resolved

: by Elen herself -- DQ (t) (e)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Aaron Tobey - well meaning new editor has made a complete mess of it (can't tell the difference between AfD and the article talkpage I think). I'm the one who nominated it, so don't want to offend him by tidying up. Any volunteers? --Elen of the Roads (talk) 19:17, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

What I have done in the past for cases like this is just remove the "====" part, place a standard Comment entry at the beginning of the line, then the person's header title just becomes the first sentence of the comment. Tarc (talk) 19:28, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

 Done Elen must have volunteered herself. :P -- DQ (t) (e) 02:33, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

Histmerge needed

Today, Hasteur (talk · contribs) made an AFD for Villains in Power Rangers Samurai (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views), but Rtkat3 (talk · contribs) edited Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Villains in Power Rangers Samurai (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs) before Hasteur could complete the nom so now we have a misleading Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Villains in Power Rangers Samurai (2nd nomination) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs) when there's only been one AFD. Could someone histmerge the pages so there's only the one AFD?—Ryūlóng (竜龙) 23:46, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't believe the hist-merge is necessary, really. Rtkat3 made the first AfD page in an attempt to contest a PROD, which was removed from the article regardless. Then Hasteur nominated it for AfD. I've deleted the first AfD page and moved the second one to its title without redirect, so everything should be fine now. Cheers. lifebaka++ 01:35, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

All right then.—Ryūlóng (竜龙) 01:39, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

You left four red-linked transclusions lying around in places, which I've repaired. If you're going to move an AFD without a redirect, please make sure you change the transclusion on the daily log and the Deletion Sorting pages. Courcelles 01:42, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

It should be noted that Ryulong did not follow the big orange notification box for the page and did not include any sort of notification to me regarding this. I only bring this up as their interpretation and application of core Wikipedia policies as evidenced at the above mentioned AfD and one other currently in discussion. I will be notifying the user to extend the courtesey that they have failed to demonstrate during our interactions regarding the articles. Hasteur (talk) 00:58, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Backlog at WP:Peer Review

There is a bit of a backlog at PR. If a few good editors and admin could take a look, review some articles and send these on their way, it would be appreciated. - Neutralhomer • Talk • Coor. Online Amb'dor • 12:02, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

Proposed ban of User:Roman888

This is a de facto to de jure ban proposal for an indefinitely blocked user. Roman888 (talk · contribs) was blocked on 8 March 2010 for violating copyright on the mainspace after multiple warnings. The following activities, many of which were engaged in the months after the block, indicate that a formal indefinite site ban is warranted:

• Abusive sockpuppetry: Roman888 has socked with 31 confirmed accounts and one IP address. There are a further eight suspected sockpuppet accounts. The ongoing SPI shows that the sockpuppetry has persisted through almost the whole of the nine months since the block.
• Copyright violations. This CCI demonstrates that over a period of two years (March 2008-March 2010), Roman888 engaged in systemic copyright violations. Just about every text that he/she contributed to a mainspace article was lifted directly from a non-free source. Roman888 was blocked temporarily for copyright violations in September 2008, yet continued to violate copyright with the account until March 2010. Sadly, the pattern of copyright violations continued with Roman888's sockpuppets. At first, the sockpuppets sought to restore copyvios that had been removed as part of the CCI (eg [8]). More recently, Roman888's socks have created new content (eg Batu Sapi by-election, 2010, created in October 2010) that again copies material from copyrighted sources.
• Harassment of other contributors. Roman888 through sockpuppets has harrassed and sought to impersonate:
  • the administrator who blocked the account -- talk page rant and Monkeybuttgirl23 (talk · contribs);
  • myself -- talk page rant, attempt to frame me for sockpuppetry, bad faith edit-warring report, and MforMkativerata (talk · contribs); and
  • other contributors (happy to provide diffs on request but I thought it best to keep the other contributor out of it).

I thought Roman888 had given up some months ago. But regrettably, Roman888 is back and has been back for months. Before xe was blocked, xe edited articles about Malaysian politics (where xe took an unrelenting anti-government editorial line) and also engaged in disputes on articles relating to Gordon Ramsay (see for example Talk:Ramsay's_Kitchen_Nightmares). As it turns out, I have been suspicious about some recent IPs from Australian addresses editing articles about Malaysian politics; User:Drmargi has been similarly suspicious about Australian IP hopping on Gordon Ramsay articles. The recent edits of 203.45.23.61 -- an IP pushing POV on Malaysian politics and getting into a dispute on a Ramsay TV show -- are irrefutable evidence that Roman888 is back and has been editing from Australian IPs. Amongst other things, he is continuing to violate copyright (violated source can be read here). A full site ban is sought from the community to bed down the ability of editors to deal with Roman888's ongoing socking and disruption.--Mkativerata (talk) 19:18, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

• Support, having dealt with Roman888 through various socks. We can't take chances with serial copyright infringers. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 19:33, 19 March 2011 (UTC)
• Support. This is an editor who refuses to work within process, both in terms of copyright and in terms of respecting consensus and working toward new consensus. Roman has also attempted to frame me for sockpuppetry [9]. He appears to have relocated to Australia late last year, and is using that as an opportunity to push his agenda once again using a variety of IPs. In addition to the Malaysia articles, Roman is actively IP hopping and disruptively editing on two articles related to Gordon Ramsay and shows no inclination to stop. The rhetoric coming from these IP's is consistent both with what is seen on the various articles related to Malaysia on which he has edited, and with his rhetoric on the two Ramsay talk pages under the Roman888 user name. Most telling: I've referred to him as Roman on the RKN talk page twice recently, and he hasn't bothered to question my use of the name. Drmargi (talk) 19:56, 19 March 2011 (UTC)
• Copyright violator, harasser, and "Monkeybuttgirl23"? Ban. /ƒETCHCOMMS/ 23:07, 19 March 2011 (UTC)
• Support This seems a no-brainer given the editor's record and they're effectively banned at the moment with all the WP:DUCK blocks at SPI, so we may as well make it official. Nick-D (talk) 23:17, 19 March 2011 (UTC)
• Support community ban. We don't need editors who are willing to engage in this behavior, and be persistent about it, too. --Dylan620 ^{(t • c)} 00:04, 20 March 2011 (UTC)
• comment: seeing "xe" sprinkled throughout this makes me want to hit myself in the head with a hammer. Ugh. Are we really that afraid of gender issues? Especially considering that the English language obviously isn't! Anyway, my apologies for the slightly OT post here. Back to the community banning...
  — V = IR (Talk • Contribs) 00:23, 20 March 2011 (UTC)
• Support per above. MER-C 01:44, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Rangeblock review

I just came across a user caught in a range block [10]. It's a /16, meaning 65,535 IP addresses. It was blocked as an open proxy more than 4 years ago. I don't know how long open proxies last, but 4+ years seems like a long time. Would it be possible to reduce this from 65,535 addresses to something smaller and possibly allow account creation? Or maybe just have somebody do an in-depth review of the situation since it has been more than 4 years? Thanks in advance. 64.40.62.149 (talk) 22:14, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

PS the blocking admin is semi-retired. That's why I'm asking here. Thanks. 64.40.62.149 (talk) 22:15, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

I just saw that there was a previous block [11]. So I've asked that admin to comment. 64.40.62.149 (talk) 22:32, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

IP ranges from this hosting company have been the source of high levels of abuse in the past, and they can be used to evade blocks. That said, whoever originally prompted this block is clearly no longer around, and we have more tools short of range blocks to deal with these types of issues now than we did 5 years ago. I am just going to unblock the range, though, for future reference, there is very little traffic on these IPs and they can be reblocked with little risk if problems return. Dominic·t 02:55, 20 March 2011 (UTC)