User talk:Aperey

Blackwood's Magazine, 1818

Regarding the text you placed in Wikipedia, I would like to say that while this material is valuable, it belongs in Wikisource not Wikipedia. If you have any questions about moving it there, don't hesitate to ask. --Zantastik 18:26, 6 May 2005 (UTC)

Attacks on Aesthetic Realism

You write:

Can't you see, Mr. Lane, that there is a concerted attack in progress?

In all honesty, don't you want to do something about it?

As to what should be done, let's consider an example from last summer. There was a concerted attack against John Kerry about his Vietnam service. We did something about it. We reported the criticisms, properly attributed, and the responses, properly attributed, and presented the evidence cited by each side. I invite your attention to the article on John Kerry military service controversy. It isn't perfect, but it's far, far better than any version of the Aesthetic Realism article that you've championed.

Now, here's what should not be done: We should not suppress all information that AR students and consultants (is that the preferred phrase?) find disquieting or unwelcome, on the theory that "Aesthetic Realism is a beautiful thing and should be protected, not maligned." That comment on the talk page completely misunderstands the mission of Wikipedia. We aren't here to protect AR any more than we're here to malign it. We're here to inform about it. That includes fairly reporting on the views of notable critics. You think Bluejay is a liar with bad motivations? Well, feel free to think so. That's what I think about those "Swift Vet" sleazeballs who tried to do a hatchet job on Kerry. I would never agree with censoring their views, though. JamesMLane 21:01, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

Mediation

Gentlemen,

I'm sending the same message to both Aperey and Michaelbluejay as a coutesy to let both of you know that I scanned through the talk pages in the small amount of time I have had available to me the last few days, and I've noticed a few points that I think that we can agree on. I know that both of you have very strong feelings about aesthetic realism, and that you both want the article to be as fair as possible.

Just a couple of quick things that you should both know about the mediation process:

• If you like, either of you may choose to contact an advocate from the Wikipedia:Association of Members' Advocates to lend you a hand, publicly or privately, through this mediation.
• You may contact me at any time through email (clockworksoul AT optonline.net), and all such emails are entirely confidential.
• The first step in most disputes is to revert the page back to a state before the dispute started. If I do that, it will be sometime on Wednesday evening (Eastern Time).

To start things off, I would like to ask everybody involved for a couple of things. First, it would be very helpful if you would please send me an email, clarifying your position and points, as they relate to you and the article (not the other party). Second, it may be best if both of you disengage from the article for a couple of days: continuing a disagreement on the talk pages usually makes the mediation process much more difficult.

That's all for now. Again, please feel free to contact me at any time. – ClockworkSoul 22:29, 17 May 2005 (UTC)