Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents

Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents
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Blocked in violation of policy

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Dear administrators,

Recently, I found that a number of article about galaxies contained fanciful names invented, apparently, by an amateur astronomer from Belgium. These names have no legitimacy, no recognition and no place in any encyclopaedia article. So I began to remove them.

At 00:02 on 29 July, I made this edit. At 00:05, the edit was undone by User:Winhunter. At 00:06, they left me a message accusing me of vandalism [1], and at 00:07, they blocked me for 72 hours, claiming vandalism [2].

WP:VAND says "On Wikipedia, vandalism has a very specific meaning: editing (or other behavior) deliberately intended to obstruct or defeat the project's purpose, which is to create a free encyclopedia, in a variety of languages, presenting the sum of all human knowledge." It later says "Even if misguided, willfully against consensus, or disruptive, any good-faith effort to improve the encyclopedia is not vandalism."

It is not possible to perceive my edits as vandalism. They were clearly not intended to obstruct or defeat the project's purpose. They were clearly a good faith effort to improve the encyclopaedia. Nor were they misguided, disruptive or wilfully against consensus. Indeed, they had been explicitly endorsed by a consensus [3]. So the block was obviously wrong.

The administrator who placed the block has made less than 200 edits since 2010. Approximately 30 of these were on 29 July this year, when they went on a spree to undo my edits. They broke sort ordering in a table that I'd fixed, replaced incorrect punctuation that I'd removed, and of course replaced nonsensical galaxy "names" in a series of astronomy articles.

The administrator was vaguely questioned about the block [4], but has not responded. Given their extraordinarily sparse editing history, it seems unlikely that they ever will. They have not edited since their spree of reverts ended in the small hours of 29 July. The block was obviously incorrect, and the failure of the administrator to explain or account for their actions seems to me to fall far below the standards you expect. So I raise it here for your awareness. I think that an administrator who barely edits in a decade and then places such an obviously wrong block is a problem. I hope that you agree. 2.25.45.251 (talk) 21:24, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

• I'm gonna have to agree with the IP here. The block, in my opinion, was unwarranted. In particular, what's more troubling is that the blocking admin clicked the block button after the second warning when it is normally after four warnings unless the user is only here to truly vandalize. The IP's edits were seriously not vandalism at all. And 72 hours is seriously harsh. All of the IP's edits were WP:BOLD. Also, to revert all of the IPs' edits was also really unnecessary unless you have good reason (e.g., sock). In terms of content, I agree with the IP. The source used to name NGC 523 comes from a blog and the names are not known per consensus at the WikiProject page. Callmemirela 🍁 ^talk 21:48, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
• Agree. Someone needs to go back to admin school, and in the meantime needs to account for his/her actions. EEng 21:56, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

• @Drmies, Anthony Bradbury, Berean Hunter, and Winhunter: Pinging the admins who made the blocks. — Maile (talk) 22:02, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
• Not to stir the shit, but I'm here to thoroughly agitate the fecal material. I just want to say that I'm not surprised an edit summary with the phrase "removed idiotic dithering and insults. just how stupid are you?" resulted in a block, though to be fair, there's something to be said for letting a recently blocked editor vent a little. But we have to give admins the same leeway we give other users; if an admin blocks after being called stupid and accused of "idiotic dithering" for trying to give good advice to someone, we should show said admin a bit of patience, too. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 22:10, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
  • That is a separate matter. I said that when my appeal against the block was treated with contempt and trolling, something I plan to discuss once we have established whether the block could have had any possible justification. I do not think shit stirring like this is helpful. 2.25.45.251 (talk) 22:16, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
  • Also don't selectively quote me please. The edit summary continued it takes virtually no brainpower to distinguish between vandalism and my good edits, and to recognise that the block was an extreme violation of policy. but you don't even have that.. This was 36 hours after I had been blocked for no reason, and after two administrators refused to help. 2.25.45.251 (talk) 22:29, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Unfortunately, that's how ANI works. We look at ALL of the aspects of the case, not just the ones you'd like us to look at. While I understand your frustration at the block, you need to understand that civility is required. Your best course of action would be to apologize for it, or at the very least make clear that you understand that it's not acceptable. Note, I am not saying Winhunter's block was valid, but you both have issues in this case that need to be addressed. --Tarage (talk) 22:22, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Taking a look at my block log, I'm of the mind that it's a lot more helpful than insulting an admin trying to help you. The fact that you're still calling that help "contempt and trolling" is probably not helpful, either. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 22:24, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

No admin was trying to help. What makes you claim that they were? 2.25.45.251 (talk) 22:29, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Berean Hunter was offering you advice, and has even indicated that they were sympathetic to your situation before you blanked your page with that insulting edit summary rant and caught a block extension for it. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 22:32, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

That is simply not true. They did not offer any advice, nor indicate that they were sympathetic to my position. They stalled and refused to lift the clearly unjustified block, and said " I'll remove this from my watchlist and let another admin consider your case". 2.25.45.251 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 08:18, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

It is true as anyone can see in the diff I posted. If you feel like Berean Hunter wasn't helpful or sympathetic, then I suggest you try to wrangle your feelings into something based on the real world, and not on the assumption that everyone who doesn't immediately jump to your defense with guns blazing is actually out to get you. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 21:27, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

• That was a poor initial block, and WH should respond the next time they log on. Unfortunately it may be a while, as WH doesn't appear to be very active. WH is responsible for the poor initial block, and the IP and other blocking admins and reverters share relative blame (by some formula I don't plan to come up with) for the ensuing flameout. Advice: Don't block too quickly, don't assume all IP's are vandals, don't react too aggressively, don't punish someone venting on their talk page, don't revert something you don't understand just because you see other people doing it. That said, I'd say this is something that Wikipedia is best known for.... --Floquenbeam (talk) 22:20, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Oh lord that opens another can of worms. I'm not going to touch that one. Regardless, this is yet another troubling instance of administrators going well beyond their bounds with seemingly no means for the community to enact corrections. I realize there is a pending case in arbitration for something similar, but I have little faith that it will result in anything but a 'this is a one time issue' statement. We need better. --Tarage (talk) 22:25, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Okay I agree with Floquenbeam here. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A._K._Chesterton&diff=prev&oldid=791125842 is enough evidence that this is who we're dealing with. Someone needs to block ASAP. --Tarage (talk) 22:38, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

I really do not understand what you're saying here. Was that edit a bad edit? It seems to be it was a good edit that improved the article. I think the previous was very jarring, using the present continuous tense when the guy's been dead for more than 40 years, and using five words where one would do. I think that any capable editor would wish to make the same or similar change. But you think I should be blocked for making this edit? 2.25.45.251 (talk) 08:28, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I'd also add the advice: don't insist on hearing from the blocking admin first, when that person typically shows up infrequently, especially when it becomes so obvious that the block was incorrect. All in all, I'd have been pretty livid too. --Floquenbeam (talk) 22:32, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

I'll just put this out there as well; an admin who (prior to reverting all of the IPs edits) had 19 edits to Wikipedia in 2017, two in 2016, and four in 2015. Black Kite (talk) 22:39, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

For sure, it was a bad block for the wrong reasons, but given the above, it needs to be reinstated. --Tarage (talk) 22:40, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Sorry, I keep seeing new things to comment on. Assuming this is not who I think it is, then I really think the long 1RR restriction imposed as a condition for the current unblock is unfair. Not sure how an incorrect 3 day block morphs into a 3 month 1RR restriction in order to get unblocked. Perhaps if it was also applied to WH and to the people who automatically reverted the IP again - people who actually reverted incorrectly, unlike the IP - but somehow I don't think that's likely. --Floquenbeam (talk) 22:41, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

FWIW, I just restored the IP's edits in Contemporary Latin per WP:MADEUP and WP:SELFREFERENCE, which should have been pretty clear-cut. Like Floquenbeam, I'd be pretty pissed off if I were the IP, making good faith efforts. It's no excuse, but certainly a reason to fly off the handle. Kleuske (talk) 22:47, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

I second Floquenbeam and Kleuske. All in all, it was a bad block from the first blocking admin. Callmemirela 🍁 ^talk 22:52, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Agh - that's really not good either. Whether or not the IP editor is BKF (at this point it doesn't really matter), I think there are a number of things that a number of editors could learn from the whole situation. But it did all stem from the original bad block, from an admin (and I'll say it again) with 25 edits to Wikipedia in the last three years. Black Kite (talk) 22:54, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Black Kite, I agree completely. I wish we didn't have such a trigger-happy Recent changes patrol who are biased against IPs, and this block...yeah. I went back through the archives of my talk page: I have been in the middle of mindless reverts on the one hand and insults on the other hand since at least 2011. Drmies (talk) 02:12, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

• Alright, first let's get a factor that could possibly conflate the analysis out of the way here: If you dig far enough back into the IP's contributions, you do begin to see a pattern of needlessly inflammatory language in edit summaries: [5]. That's something the user is going to want to address regardless of the outcome here.

That said, most of these comments are stale and none of them (as far as I can tell) were involved with the issues involved in the content dispute or the block. Certainly, no incivility issues were cited by the admin, as they should have been if they were contributing factors to the block. And that's just the tip of the iceberg with regard to this admin's inappropriate approach here. First off, they lept straight to a level three warning, assuming bad faith and perhaps forestalling otherwise productive discussion. Or at least, under normal circumstances it might have forestalled discussion, but Winunter doesn't seem to have cared for discussion regardless because, less than a minute later and for unexplained reasons, they changed their mind and blocked the IP altogether, without giving them a chance to process the warning and/or make a case for why their edits were not vandalism. And putting aside any possible, attenuated argument for how the IP's edits may have been disruptive in some form (and I don't think they were, in this instance) they clearly were not vandalsim. Even if said edit had been inappropriate (and they actually seem to align with our verification and sourcing policies, as well as consensus discussions on the matter), they were pretty clearly made in good faith to add permissible content, and thus not even in the remotest since WP:vandalism as the term applies on this project.

In short, Winhunter's behaviour here seems completely sloppy, if not outright WP:disruptive. And their failure to account for any of it is not particularly reassuring; far from being a context to assume that they may have legitimate reasons for having taken the actions that they did, the fact that they may once again have gone into dormancy is actually strong additional cause to consider stripping them of the bit. We simply can't have admins empowered with the block hammer who make highly questionable choices in how they implement it, without sufficient explanation, and then just disappear into the aether again immediately. Indeed, the particular details of this case raise the question of whether it is advisable to allow a user to maintain such tools at all, after such a prolonged period of inactivity. Admins need to be completely up-to-date on community guidelines, be reasonably well-practiced in how to implement them and be regular, recognizable, and constructive contributors to the project in general. I sense we are about to hear yet more complaints about how the community ought to be able to desysop without needing to appeal to ArbCom, for the second time in as many weeks; I'm neutral on that issue, but I will say that this instance makes a much stronger case than the one that can currently be found at the top of the page.

The one place where I will call out the IP is in their approach to that talk page discussion. Yes, they have cause to be frustrated here, but Drmies and other admins, having discovered the facts here, ultimately gave them a method to exit the mess and restore their full editing rights. All they were requested to do was repeat the unblock request (presumably for reasonable pro forma reasons) and instead chose to register their ire. That does raise the question of how they will cope with disputes or administrative matters in the future, I think. Nevertheless, I do think they deserve an apology for having been dropped into this mess in the first place. Snow ^{let's rap} 23:27, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

I agree that imposing 1RR as a condition for unblock is unreasonable when there's enough blame to go around, and should be removed. OhanaUnited^{Talk page} 00:20, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

The whole behaviour and general gameplay of this editor is the likely cause of the grief. The first and second blocks were really justified by saying things like "Don't be stupid." [6] and "just how stupid are you? it takes virtually no brainpower to distinguish between vandalism and my good edits,..." [7] (then delete it all just to avoid scrutiny!]. Editors here are all volunteers and should not be subjected to such behaviour, and it avoids the trumping policy of all - WP:GF - good faith. The pattern seems to me easily construed as deliberately WP:disruptive.

I also responded to the various complaints of the reverts made by me here.[8]

NOTE: I do suspect this unregistered User might be just another sockpuppet of the now indefinitely blocked Tetraquark [9], who also deletes Talkpage information they don't like or even blocks, turn quickly highly combative at any even minor slight, also edits astronomical pages (especially towards images), and equally shows similar poor and rude behaviour. (For a non registered User, they seem to know an awful lot about Wikipedia policies. e.g. Quoting WP:IG) Arianewiki1 (talk) 00:42, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

No, he for sure is for sure the BKF vandal, which is why I am concerned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Long-term_abuse/Best_known_for_IP --Tarage (talk) 01:02, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Do either of you have any evidence to back up these suspicions? If not, WP:ASPERSIONS, if so WP:SPI. Kleuske (talk) 01:06, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Yes, I do. Check out his edit history where there are numerous removals of phrases like 'best known for' with edit summaries straight out of that LBA page. If you want actual diffs I'll post them later tonight. It's pretty obvious. --Tarage (talk) 01:12, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

In that case, WP:SPI is the correct place to post the diffs. Kleuske (talk) 01:16, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict)That was my initial thought as well, Kleuske (see my comments immediately below). But now that Tarage has linked to that longterm abuse page for the editor in question, I daresay the case is pretty strong and more than satisfies the WP:DUCK test, based on the contributions I have looked at since coming upon this thread. Unfortunately, SPI is going to be of less use than usual, since the use rin question does not register and hops from IP to IP. I do, however, agree that SPI should be the next stop: a sanction can still be implmented there, even without a CU, based on behavioural evidence (which i think is strong in this case). Filing at SPI will also allow exploration of the socking issues to be disentangled from the inappropriate admin actions being discussed here. Plus an admin action is more likely to be prompt at SPI, especially in light of the fact that admins may be hesitant to be the latest to reverse this editors status after the back and forth of the last 24 hours, if they first dsicover the situation via this mess. Snow ^{let's rap} 01:23, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Fine, I'll leave it to you then. --Tarage (talk) 05:59, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I do not recall removing "phrases like 'best known for'", and struggle to see in any case why you would think that could be called vandalism. It's quite ironic on a thread about being blocked with a false accusation of vandalism though. If you can find an edit of mine that you think was deliberately intended to obstruct or defeat the project's purpose, only then you can accuse me of vandalism. You will not find any such edits. 2.25.45.251 (talk) 08:28, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I am pretty confident that you never act with the explicit intention of obstructing or defeating the project's purpose, for what it's worth. However, I also suspect you may have a substantial and fundamental disconnect with the collaborative nature of this project. Snow ^{let's rap} 10:19, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Haha, pretty sneaky sis! But this isn't my rodeo! It's your theory, and though you have me more than half convinced after sharing that link, if you're really confident, you're going to have to propose the action yourself. Snow ^{let's rap} 09:37, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict)That theory sounds like a matter for SPI. I will say that there is apparently a second line of speculation as to this user being someone else above (at least, there is reference to such positions, apparently drawn from another discussion that is not being linked to here). I will say that certain elements of this IP's behaviour and knowledge of process do suggest an experienced editor to me, but without more substantial editing, I am not willing to assume that they are anything other than what they claim to be: a moderately experienced non-registered user who ran afoul of particularly under-experienced admin and then lacked the patience to negotiate the situation as easily as they might have. And I suspect most community members here will feel the same, pending deeper evidence.

OhanaUnited, I initially shared your perspective and almost called on Drmies to reconsider repealing that restriction. Then I did a little more digging and saw the full context of how that came about. Bear in mind especially that Drmies' initial posts on that talk page were to validate the IP's position and call for all blocks and restrictions to be removed. Other admins/community members(both involved and uninvolved) then agreed, and the IP was asked to resubmit their unblock request, and was given back talk page access for that purpose. At this point the IP used that ability to speak their mind again to immediately balk and complain about the unfairness of having to take 15 minutes (at most, surely) to format that request. It was only at this point that Drmies changes their stance and implemented the 1RR restriction, while also removing the block. Even considering the frustrating and unfair context in which they were initially blocked, that was an impressive display of shooting themselves in their own foot. I'm not sure that 1rr is exactly the most targeted possible sanction here, given that edit warring does not seem to be their issue. But I suspect the intended preventative effect here was to make the editor think twice about acting impulsively when dealing with their fellow editors. Snow ^{let's rap} 01:09, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

• I was pinged here as the blocking admin? I'm the unblocking admin, who disagreed to some extent with the initial block or at least the given block rationale; I'm the one who (with Anthony) broke a lance for the IP editor. I used to do that in the old days for some other editor whose name escapes me (though Floq might remember)...no, I can't come up with it now. Anyway, I imposed the 1R restriction because it seems to me that trouble starts when the IP gets reverted and then strikes back. Snow Rise, your comments are quite to the point and I appreciate them. If the community thinks that the restriction is too much, that's fine: overturn it. But do note that I have not reverted any of their edits, that I believe I have advocated for them (here and in a slew of messages on the ArbCom mail list, where this user posted with ever-increasing urgency, and that I offered assistance, saying that they could ping me if they got reverted. Mind you, I didn't even need for them to request to be unblocked again--I was just hoping they'd say something reasonable. User:OhanaUnited, in these circumstances, I don't think my restriction was unreasonable. At any rate, have at it, y'all--I did my bit by supporting the IP's initial case and unblocking them, and at the same time trying to protect all sides with a restriction that will require the IP editor to reflect and give them the opportunity to call in the cavalry--but I won't be surprised if this backfires spectacularly, given how the temperature seems to rise when this editor shows up, no matter how solid and positive their edits are. Please don't ping me anymore in this ANI thread: it's not a concern of mine. If the IP wants to ping me to point at some revert or other, my door is always open, of course. Drmies (talk) 02:09, 10 August 2017 (UTC)
  • But I wasn't blocked for reverting anything, or striking back after reverting. I was blocked for vandalism, when I had clearly done no such thing. I am glad to see that the consensus here seems to be quite strongly that the block was not valid. I am extremely heartened to see that someone suggested I deserved an apology for it. I am less heartened to see I'm accused of being various sockpuppets but whatever.
  • As for what I said when asked to make one more unblock request: what was the need for it? I'd been blocked for vandalism, blocked for being angry about that, and then blocked for no actual clear reason for *three months*. I'd followed all the appeals right up to mailing the arbitration committee, which was crazy given how obvious it was (confirmed here) that the original block was wrong. And then someone says "I'll unblock you, but only if you ask me to one more time." It seemed really pointless. I stand by that.
  • And as for editing restrictions, well I'm not likely to edit any articles for a while anyway. You'll notice I have not edited any articles since being unblocked. The whole experience of being blocked for "vandalism" when making perfectly good edits was extremely unpleasant, and doesn't particularly make me feel like fixing errors I find, far less refixing them when other people have unfixed them, having been accused of "disruption" when I did that before.
  • Anyway I have found this a very useful and interesting discussion. Thanks. 2.25.45.251 (talk) 08:14, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Saying "I was blocked for vandalism," is not entirely true. The first two instances you were plainly blocked for saying things like "Don't be stupid." [10] and "just how stupid are you? it takes virtually no brainpower to distinguish between vandalism and my good edits,..." [11]. You then multiplied the mistake by then delete it all just to avoid scrutiny!

I see these blocks as a reflection of your own poor aggressive behaviour and the utter contempt you exhibit to others (including me.) This is clearly the needed evidence of "disruptive editing." None of your excuses above at all addresses your own poor behaviour, and your near continuous inflicted 'insults' to other Users if they disagree with you. Wikipedia is for editors in collaborations not those acting like vigilantes. (Some wisdom: Showing an inkling of contrition here would help your cause considerably.) Arianewiki1 (talk) 09:21, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Regarding Wikipedia:Vandalism it plainly says: "On Wikipedia, vandalism has a very specific meaning: editing (or other behavior) deliberately intended to obstruct or defeat the project's purpose,..." The word 'behaviour' here is important, and hasn't been addressed by this IP User at all. Arianewiki1 (talk) 09:33, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

This editor accuses me of aggressive behaviour while aggressively undoing my reverts and slandering me, restoring to articles things that they themselves had described as "abhorrent" and (incorrectly) "vandalism", and responding aggressively when I asked them why they did that. They are yet to provide an answer. I do view them as a problem but that's really a separate discussion. 2.25.45.251 (talk) 09:39, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Go right ahead. You are falsely accusing me of something. You were blocked not just because of the edits but because of your behaviour. If someone reverts an edit once, twice or three times, right or wrong, you should attempt to seek consensus. You did not do this at all. Instead you started throwing insults. End of story. Get it. Arianewiki1 (talk) 11:30, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Arianewiki1, the IP was first blocked for supposedly vandalizing Wikipedia. Of all the three blocks, only one was regarding civility and NPA. The other was for disruptive editing. I don't know if you're insinuating that the IP was vandalizing, because that is entirely false. Callmemirela 🍁 ^talk 16:03, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Hooo boy, if somebody filed an RfA like Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Winhunter 2 today, they'd get WP:SNOW opposed out of the door. How times change. Meanwhile, I have been in 2.25's shoes myself as I used to edit logged out at my local library for security reasons - see User talk:Ritchie333/Archive 45#The war on IPs continues, and I seem to recall I was pretty pissed off when I got hit with a two year block. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 10:17, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

The first one is even more telling, but in both Winhunter expresses a very personal take on fighting vandalism, clearly identified as arising out of their frustration as non-sysop to be able to stop them more immediately and effectively. In fact, at every opportunity and before all other factors, they identify their reason for wanting tools to be the ability to rapidly block vandals. That's pretty telling under the present circumstances. It seems these days, in the few minutes they can spare the project every few years, the user now has no time for warnings or discussion before blocking on their vandal assumptions. Not withstanding the fact that I'm low on AGF for the IP, we do owe them for bring this to our attention and I think this matter should be referred to ArbCom, regardless of whether or not the IP gets boomerang blocked for socking. Snow ^{let's rap} 10:36, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

• IMO this is why admins should need to earn their wings every year, and not just by making X admin actions; they can't just disappear for over a decade and then swoop in and do stupid $#it with the tools and get away with it. There needs to be a requirement that admins make at least X number of actual edits (not admin actions) every two years or they are de-sysopped. We've been skirting around this problem for way too long and I've seen way too many absentee admins do stupid stuff. Softlavender (talk) 10:51, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

That would help considering the other contributing factor of this issue: editors who became admins in the early days of Wikipedia, when the requirements for a RfA candidate were much lower. Cjhard (talk) 11:35, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I don't think I would survive a reconfirmation RfA, I've made too many enemies. I suspect if you tried to make it policy, the turkeys would gather round and prevent a vote (or a !vote) for Christmas, even though in principle it's a good idea. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 11:50, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I don't know, I think those voting against a reconfirmation RfA based on nothing more than a personal grudge would be identified as doing so and would be discounted when establishing consensus, just as the case would be in regular RfCs. But you're not wrong that it would perhaps be more of an issue. That's something in favour of Softlavender's idea of an increased minimum standard of activity to maintain sysop status: it provides an objective standard, avoiding the axe-grinding issue completely. Cjhard (talk) 12:03, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Yeah, I mentioned this possibility above, and though I can't recall having seen it anywhere before, I can't fathom that it has been suggested repeatedly over the years. It's definitely a more reasonable solution than recurrent RfA's in my opinion. That's just begs for disruption and bad blood from a completely needless airing of grievances, which the most disruptive editors will be most certain to turn out for. But a minimum standard of activity? That's completely called for. I'm surprised we don't have it, except to say that the community probably wasn't thinking in the longterm as we originated and perpetuated the process; only with time has the need become obvious. Seems like something that is ripe for VPP, if you ask me.Would need broad support from existing admins though, to survive the community process. Snow ^{let's rap} 12:25, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

• SPI clerk comment - based on the IP's behaviour here and the non-CU technical evidence available to me, I can't reason a situation where this IP is any other than the Best Known For long-term abuser, who is banned by the community. If you want, compare in particular the IP's archived diatribe on their talk page with their comments in the linked ban discussion. While I respect that several admins here have taken it upon themselves to overturn what does appear to have been an inappropriate series of blocks, along with whatever's going on behind the veil of ArbCom, the community ban has been neither appealed nor overturned, and as such I have re-blocked the IP for 3 months to enforce the banning policy. Ivanvector (^Talk/_Edits) 19:19, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Thank you Ivan. --Tarage (talk) 21:30, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Admin acct

"That is simply not true. They did not offer any advice, nor indicate that they were sympathetic to my position. They stalled and refused to lift the clearly unjustified block, and said " I'll remove this from my watchlist and let another admin consider your case"." (link)

My responses show that is patently false and the fact that they cherry-picked a sentence from within a post that contains evidence that contradicts them is telling.

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

I would still like to hear from Winhunter regarding the IP's initial concern. Has anyone emailed him?

BKF will have an additional ax to grind with me. His employer contacted me last week and I supplied them with lots of details. They identified him. Different managerial levels are involved and he has received formal counseling that he is not to use their network to edit Wikipedia again to which he has agreed. They are interested in him being a "good neighbour" from here on and it is ironic that I had just written someone looking into the case an email reply detailing the standard offer, how he should contribute elsewhere for no less than six months with an account and that he would have to request a ban appeal from the community. They intend to monitor the situation. That said, since the IP hints at inappropriate admin actions on my part, I'll refrain from commenting further on a possible socking connection here.
 — Berean Hunter (talk) 16:48, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

• I've emailed Winhunter.
   — Berean Hunter (talk) 16:53, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I'm not certain that this is the user described in Wikipedia:Long-term abuse/Best known for IP (if he doesn't scream abuse at my sympathetic reply above, it isn't), but if it is, he is community banned and should not be editing Wikipedia at all. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 18:13, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I have to support Arianewiki1 above - Behaviorally, this really looks like TQ. Scr★pIron^IV 18:21, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

He's been blocked as a sock of BKF. --Tarage (talk) 21:28, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Oh fair enough. He'll be back on another IP soon enough. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 23:36, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Berean Hunter thanks for your email, apologies I was busy during the week so couldn't respond to this thread earlier. I do recognize I could have actioned the original block in a better way so thanks for everyone's feedback. Noticed the thread is now concluded though if anyone require additional information from myself please feel free to reach out. -WinHunter ^(talk) 05:10, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

I'm reaching out. What does "I could have actioned the original block in a better way" mean? EEng 05:15, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

I'm open to suggestion for improvement. At the time I saw the continuing removal of similar data across multiple pages for the same subject which made me feel he was a repeated vandal. I could have explained the reason of my block a bit better at the time of the block and also see if I could have used a more appropriate warning . -WinHunter ^(talk) 05:33, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

• Respectfully WinHunter, those responses are insufficient to address the questions being asked by the community members here. This thread is not in fact "concluded" and I dare say that it's an indication of your inexperience with this community in the decade since you became an admin that you don't realize that. The IP was banned for being a likely sock of a user banned for behavioural problems, but that doesn't let you off scott free for your involvement in this matter. You instituted a block for another user for vandalism, even though most every editor who has reviewed those edits agrees they are not WP:vandalism in any sense relevant to this community's guidelines. More seriously, you applied the block without any warning, discussion or effort at clarification with the user in question, (unless you count a level three template slapped to their talk page less than one full minute before you blocked them anyway). Then you immediately disappeared as the situation exploded, leaving other admins and the community to deal with the fallout of your actions while the user disruptively worked their way through every community process they knew of (both on the site and off), armed with a legitimate claim of admin abuse which only amped up their existing persecution complex and gave them an excuse to game the system.
  • I admit I am not an active Wikipedian, though I did not intend to "disappear" and when someone emailed me I immediately login over my iphone and tried to respond with my thinking at the time. I am not saying I did the right thing at the time and I do apologies for all the trouble as a result of that action, I was trying to explain my thought process and mentioned that I am open for suggestions for improvement. I am happy to review the latest policies again to refresh my knowledge and if the community still find next admin actions unsatisfactory I am more than happy to let the community to decide my future.--WinHunter ^(talk) 15:46, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

You say: "At the time I saw the continuing removal of similar data across multiple pages for the same subject which made me feel he was a repeated vandal." Well...why? Legitimate users remove content across multiple related articles as a matter of daily business here; that is not sufficient cause in even the remotest sense to use your privileges to block. You then go on to say "I could have explained the reason of my block a bit better at the time of the block and also see if I could have used a more appropriate warning." But the reality is that you didn't provide any explanation of your block, beyond the erroneous "vandal" in the block summary, nor did you provide any real warning or make any real effort to discuss the matter with the user that you decided (on apparently no hard evidence) was a vandal. You got lucky this time that your random block happened to be a banned user, but the community is now reasonably asking if your lack of involvement here over a long period of time makes you a problematic steward for our most significant (and thus potentially disruptive tools). Sorry to be so strident about it, but your answers are not particularly reassuring me, because they seem to indicate you don't know basic proceedure for our WP:BLOCKing policy. Snow ^{let's rap} 06:12, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

• (ec)Winhunter, please go to Arbcom and hand in your admin tools. You are very lucky that the IP you blocked turns out to be a banned user, but the reason you blocked them was absolutely wrong. "the continuing removal of similar data across multiple pages for the same subject" is not vandalism if the editor is correct and the data needs removal. These kind of edits need discussion, not the admin hammer, and that you still defend your block indicates that you have not learned anything from this episode. Coupled with your almost complete lack of edits and admin actions for years and years now makes it clear that you are no longer to be trusted to act as admins should. Fram (talk) 06:15, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

• Agree with both of the above, in particular the call to resign. As I said on another thread, "We seem to have a mini-epidemic of editors in positions of trust who don't know which way is up, possibly due to limited experience editing articles and discussing with other editors." An admin with 3600 article edits and 350 article talk edits??? [12] And how does someone with that few (not-deleted) article edits accumulate 3300 deleted edits? Plus, he still doesn't doesn't seem to understand what he did wrong. EEng 14:58, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

The reason of the high delete count is I decided to volunteer over recent years to helpout on WP:CSD as I have more limited time after my day job, and I hope you would find most of those deletions uncontroversial (like user request for their own userpages / obvious advertising etc). As I responded to another editor above I am happy to learn from this experience and review the latest policies, and if my next admin actions is still unsatisfactory I am more than happy to let the community to decide on my future. --WinHunter ^(talk) 15:46, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

OK, that explains the deleted edits, but that leaves everything else. You still seem unable to enunciate what you did wrong in this case, which is _______________________________ (fill in the blank, please). EEng 16:57, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

I'll do you one better. "The reason I need to be an admin is _____________________." --Tarage (talk) 19:30, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Winhunter, your failure to engage these concerns is extremely troubling. EEng 23:04, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

• Agree with Fram and EEng. As a fellow Hong Konger, I would also like to ask you to hand in your admin tools. Removing inaccurate contents is something everyone does, IP or registered. Your revert could be viewed as repeated insertion of "Introducing deliberate factual errors", which ironically is grounds for yourself being blocked. I also think everyone here agrees that the resignation of WinHunter's admin rights, if that happens is considered as done "under the cloud". OhanaUnited^{Talk page} 19:44, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Proposal: Kick to ArbCom with community recommendation

There's no result here that an administrator has any power to enact, so I am putting a lid on this spittoon. There is clear indication from the survey thus far and the discussion above that the community views Winhunter's recent actions as incompatible with present standards for adminship. If Winhunter so chooses, they may proceed to WP:BN to resign the bit. If any other editor so chooses, they may proceed to WP:ARC to begin the process of desysopping for cause via ArbCom. I have no power to compel either of these actions. Ivanvector (^Talk/_Edits) 18:35, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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It seems that WinHunter is either unable or unwilling to provide significant explanation or engagement regarding the substantial community concerns relating to the problematic way in which WinHunter has approached the use of their privileges--as well as other concerns regarding whether they have sufficient experience, perspective, and engagement in the project to be serving in an administrative capacity. At present, WinHunter seems to either be trying to ride out the scrutiny, or else the handful of brief and insufficient responses above represent the sum total of their ability and desire to explain actions which, consensus in this discussion seems to clearly hold, were deeply problematic (and if I can add my own impressions, indicative of a lack of even the most basic understanding of our blocking policies).

However, ultimately the removal of tools is ArbCom's purview, so I don't see what more is to be accomplished here. We could long-term block WinHunter, but that does not seem the most transparent way to address the root issue, nor do I think we should prevent the user from possibly returning to the project to contribute productively in other capacities (unlikely as that seems given the user's lack of activity over the years since getting the bit). I therefore propose that we resolve to open a report with ArbCom, but that the report be coupled with a link to this discussion and a strong community endorsement that ArbCom investigate the issues here (and, depending on the result of this poll, a strong recommendation to desysyop). I was hesitant at first to suggest such an approach on the basis of one major incident, but the responses above have been wholly insufficient to assuage my concerns as to whether the user is an appropriate steward of the ban hammer, and I don't think I'm the only one. Snow ^{let's rap} 01:28, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

• Addendum: Since WinHunter has said that they are willing to accept community consensus on their future role as an admin (without specifying a particular community process), we can also consider asking them to voluntarily relinquish their tools, if the poll suggests they should, thus saving some time in the process. If they are unwilling to part with the tools on the basis of the community consensus here, then we can proceed with the request for review by ArbCom, no harm done. Snow ^{let's rap} 01:40, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

• Support (as nom). Snow ^{let's rap} 01:28, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support WinHunter clearly has no real need for the tools, and no good idea about how they should be used. Please voluntarily tyurn in the bit. Beyond My Ken (talk) 02:08, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support - I'll take a look over this and file a case if consensus supports it. Twitbookspacetube 02:09, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Like Snow said, wait and see if Winhunter has the courtesy to simply resign ("under a cloud", of course). EEng 03:24, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Considering their behaviour so far, I seriously doubt it. But I'll give it a week or so. Hopefully the knowledge that another ADMINACCT case is heading there should be enough to get something out of them. If their response is anything like what it took Arthur a couple of months to produce, i'll be filing the case anyway. Twitbookspacetube 05:04, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

• Support per Snow and BMK. EEng 03:24, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support. And this should serve as a wake-up call for all admins that they can no longer dish out blocks with impunity if they cannot satisfactory justify their actions. OhanaUnited^{Talk page} 04:04, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

I do not concur with your sentiments. I do not believe that "all admins" need a "wake-up call", but that the vast majority of admins do a decent to very good job. They don't need or deserve to be lumped in with an egregious example such as this one. Beyond My Ken (talk) 15:33, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Well, just to be clear, I wouldn't be making this proposal, but for the fact that the issues are particularly egregious; I can't ever recall seeing another pattern of facts surrounding the improper use of blocking privileges quite like this. There are occasional sloppy or involved blocks that stand to have some scrutiny, but the distinguishing factors here are this user's tangential involvement with the project, single-minded reasons for wanting to be an admin, and lack of basic familiarity with the relevant policies. If not for that highly specific combination of factors, I would not have made the proposal--and I I'm not sure that all three apply to so much as a single other active admin. None that I've come across, certainly. Snow ^{let's rap} 05:26, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

@Beyond My Ken: "Vast majority of admins do a decent to very good job". That part I agree. But within last 30 days alone, we have 2 admins, including this one, who failed to satisfactory justify their actions (the other being this case which I'm sure you're aware of its existence because you commented on it). And these are the only complaints that surfaced because the affected party knows where and how to complain. Think about how many newbie biting incidents that didn't get reported and this number would have gone up. Two in a month isn't something we should be proud about. At any rate, admins have to be accountable for their actions and that's a given when they decide to run for it. OhanaUnited^{Talk page} 17:05, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Of course admins have to be accountable, and most of them do so willingly. As for 2 in a month - since there weren't 2 such last month or the month before, I'd say it's just random, the normal distribution of disconnected events, uncorrelated to the quality of our admin corps.

Look, I know there are some bad admins out there -- believe me, I've run into a few, and it's shocking simply because it's so rare. Most of the admins interactions I've had have been perfectly normal and justifiable, and if I'm being called to task, I've generally deserved it. We have 1,250 admins, over 500 of whom are active, and I'd be surprised if there were more than a couple of handfuls of bad ones, at the very most. So, I still think you're wrong about the necessity of a "wake-up call" to all admins. What we need is better procedures to get rid of the handful of bad apples, not swatting our admins en masse on their noses with a rolled up newspaper. Beyond My Ken (talk) 00:26, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

That more or less sums up my position; the fact that we've had two public discussions about possible admin misconduct this month doesn't add up to me to say much about admins on the project in general. I find most act with restraint; indeed, if there is a problem these days, it's in getting an admin to act definitively on a pressing matter--but that's another discussion altogether. I certainly didn't intend this proposal to be a wake-up call for anyone; the facts are just particularly compelling that there is are basic competency/engagement problems, in the present case. Snow ^{let's rap} 08:39, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

• Support. The user's inactivity, combined with their recent poor decision and poor response, suggests that they shouldn't be an admin. Perhaps this should serve as a lesson for us about having inactive admins. If you aren't a reasonably active contributor, you probably shouldn't be making administrative decisions. It's like any volunteer situation—while volunteer help is always welcome, you don't want some guy who only pops in a few times a year to be ordering other volunteers out of the building. Everyking (talk) 05:45, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support. The IP was first blocked for supposedly vandalizing Wikipedia. From the beginning, it was clear that this block was wrong, and wrongly done. And should have been reverted by the blocking admin, as soon as the consensus became clear on this matter. Perhaps (understatement) the IP has to be blocked for other reasons, by another admin. But it remains that WinHunter messed the situation... and failed to clean it. Don't keep the mop, if you don't understand what cleaning could mean. Pldx1 (talk) 16:52, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support on the stipulation that part of the case also be able the community's ability to restrict/revoke mops for behavior like this. --Tarage (talk) 01:37, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

ArbCom has no jurisdiction over the community's ability to desysop. The only non-ArbCom solution is to block the admin. 207.38.154.23 (talk) 01:09, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Then who does? --Tarage (talk) 01:52, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

The community itself. It would require a policy change, usually via RFC. ArbCom is not supposed to make policy, rather enact it. A community desysop procedure does not exist, although I share your opinion that it should. -- Begoon 02:50, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

• Support as per BMK. Bentogoa (talk) 15:35, 15 August 2017 (UTC)
• Proceed with caution I can only assume the author of this proposal has never actually dealt with an Arbcom case; the part about "with a community recommendation" is almost cute. Joefromrandb (talk) 03:01, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Are you intending to attempt to sound as if you are talking down to somebody there, from a place of superior / more worldly perspective, simply because you have gripes about ArbCom? No, I've never been a party to an ArbCom case, and quite happy to be able to say that. But like any other member of this community who has been around as long as I have been, I'm hardly ignorant of how matters are handled/unfold there. Or of the passive-aggressive contempt that flows in their direction from some corners of the community, regardless of the context in which their name is invoked. In any event, as I see it, we don't really have an alternative course of action here. Only ArbCom is empowered to de-sysop, so this matter has to be handled through that channel;the best we can do is share a link to this discussion and a comment about how concerned the community is with this particular user having privileges.

If you have a better course of action to suggest, I'm all ears. But I don't see what your comment contributes, at least in terms of actual substance with regard to the proposal. At least, I don't understand what "proceed with caution" would mean in this context, as a response to the proposal. The worst that can happen is that they don't act, and we have to consider another sanction if this user proves problematic. Maybe I'm missing something, but it just looks like you're taking the opportunity to register your low regard for ArbCom, but without actually say whether the proposal should be endorsed or not, or providing some alternative course of action. Snow ^{let's rap} 03:31, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

• Support per Snow Rise. Cjhard (talk) 04:22, 16 August 2017 (UTC)
• Oppose based on eventual outcome. Don't want Wikipedia to become best known for feeding its own trolls. Trout to Winhunter is good enough for me. 173.228.123.121 (talk) 06:18, 16 August 2017 (UTC)
• Comment The fact that Winhunter continues to pretend he doesn't know anything's going on here should cement it for anyone still not convinced: he is absolutely not someone we want as an admin. EEng 02:13, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

• Support. There also needs to be a clear reform of the way administrators have been able to retain and use their tools even in spite of vast inexperience and absences of nearly a decade or more. I've seen this problem arise several times in the past few years; it is insupportable and needs to be fixed with new and stringent activity & knowledge requirements for admins. (For example, while I find it understandable that an admin might be away from WP for a year, if one year stretches beyond more than two years of virtual absence, I personally think the tools need to be removed [pending a new RfA], even if they used the tools a few times in that period.) Softlavender (talk) 02:33, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Actually, I don't think the problem is absence per se, rather that very long absence takes us back to the time when RfAs were more, um, promiscuous, shall we say. Admins minted back then who have been active most or all of the time since have stood the test of time, but cases such as this one don't have that experience to reassure us that they should ever have been admins in the first place. EEng 05:25, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

It's mainly the long absence, since most early-minted admins have either grown up with the project and have at least learned on the job (or they have been de-sysopped). Those who split for a decade soon after being sysopped have no clue what they are doing and no sense that they should learn, or be held accountable, or why. Softlavender (talk) 05:32, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

I think we're saying the same thing. EEng 08:34, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

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The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Close discussion

• I think the close is inappropriate, and we should keep this thread open until we either hear from Winhunter or decide what to do as a community. EEng 20:09, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

To what end, though? We've already pretty clearly established that Winhunter isn't going to offer a satisfactory reply (it's been six days since the last one) and that nearly everyone who has commented here is, erm, uncomfortable with their status. The next steps are just as I said: either resign or Arbcom (or the third option that nobody really cares that much, which is not apparently the case). We can't force an administrator to resign, and we also can't force an administrator into a backdoor reconfirmation RfA which I fear this is turning into. I could file the Arbcom case on behalf of the discussion, but I'm not going to. There's the seeds here for a discussion about a community desysop process or revised activity requirements, for example, and I'd be pleased to see such a discussion, but this is both a bad venue and a bad frame for it, and a bad way to try to establish precedent. Ivanvector (^Talk/_Edits) 22:33, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Ivanector, respectfully, both your close and your response here suggest that you read neither my proposal nor the majority of responses to it thoroughly enough. I pretty clearly acknowledged that the community is not empowered to de-sysop Winhunter. Indeed, the very crux of the proposal is that we therefore forward the matter to ArbCom, which is one of the "alternatives" that you then propose in your close, despite the fact that this is exactly what the community members here are explicitly endorsing. Further, during the nine days this discussion has been open, no editor other than you yourself has so much as whispered the notion that we force this user to go through another RfA, and I don't think it was on anyone's mind until you mentioned it. That's a completely novel idea that has never been attempted before in the history of this community and I think we would have noticed if someone were suggesting it. It certainly was not remotely part of my proposal or hinted at in any response, so your concern that that this is "where this is headed" seems entirely unfounded.

I don't mind this being closed without a direct sanction (that was afterall, exactly what the proposal was suggesting) but I do think it is appropriate that the close reflects the community's strong condemnation of this misuse of tools; that could prove useful at ArbCom--minimally useful, I will grant you, but seeing as the use of such wording was basically the exact purpose of the proposal that was endorsed by the community here (as you say, anyone could have taken this to ArbCom at any time) and given that the !vote was a WP:SNOW result, I feel like your close missed the point of both the discussion and the community consensus, and unintentionally whitewashes the community's deep concern out of the close, which is supposed to be a summary of that consensus. Snow ^{let's rap} 00:32, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

There is an option the community can enact: an indefinite block. Indefinite blocks have been used when someone disappears to avoid scrutiny. If WinHunter decides to reappear and provide accountability, the community can decide whether to proceed with an ArbCom desysop request. If not, the bit will expire due to inactivity and I can't imagine the bureaucrats returning the bit to a user who lost it while blocked. 207.38.154.23 (talk) 00:28, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Tools do not, from the best of my knowledge anyway, expire after a period of inactivity. But if they did, I am certain the strategy you suggest above would have been employed a time or two here. Probably with some degree of contentiousness though, as it would be sure to be seen by some as a backdoor desysop in violation of ArbCom's present sphere of authority. It would still be niece of admins could time themselves out in that respect, but to the best of my knowledge, there is no need to see a crat about restoring full tool functionality after a long absence. Snow ^{let's rap} 00:38, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

WP:INACTIVITY 207.38.154.23 (talk) 01:51, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Huh. Thanks for that. Even so, I think that blocking an admin just for the sack of forcing their tools to be taken away through a technical/procedural process, would be viewed as an inappropriate manipulation of the process by too much of the community--even editors who might otherwise support that same user being desysopped by a community vote (if that were an option). Under the present circumstances, I continue to think that ArbCom is the appropriate venue here, under current policy. though, notably, a lot of the community at late seems to be considering the notion of whether the removal of tools should be something that can be mandated by a community vote. I'm kind of inbetween on that notion myself, but regardless, ArbCom is our only option if we want to be perfectly transparent about what we are trying to achieve. Snow ^{let's rap} 03:25, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Bypassing redirects in violation of WP:NOTBROKEN

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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For months now, User:Grouches101 has been bypassing redirects in violation of the guideline WP:NOTBROKEN. Despite many clear warnings from at least four users[13][14][15][16][17][18][19], the behavior is continuing[20][21]. —Granger (talk · contribs) 10:41, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Poster boy for How Not To Be A Wikipedia Editor. WP:NOTHERE section "Little or no interest in working collaboratively". After two years of unheeded inquiries, attempts to help, and warnings, I don't think the typical 31-hour first block would be enough. An effective "Guidelines, schmidelines. Stop bothering me!" is just not acceptable. ―Mandruss ☎ 11:23, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

User:There'sNoTime had closed this discussion with "Editor appears to have left the project, and hasn't edited for 19 hours (since this report was made). No admin action required until they start again" but I have reopened it as this seems counterproductive: there is zero evidence that they have left the project (they only edit a few times a day anyway, the current gap is way too small to suppose "leaving the project") and this closure means that someone has to open a discussion here while the other editor is actively editing, not a few hours later, which is not really the best way to serve the project or to help the OP. Fram (talk) 12:13, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict) @Fram: Bad close on my behalf - apologies all, but I'm still not seeing any admin action needed here. What do you think we should do? An editor violating NOTBROKEN is hardly a big deal, but them not wanting to communicate does fly in the face of NOTHERE and suggests a block may be in order. I read Why are you telling me this? I told you before I'm gettin the hell outta here. Goodbye & good luck!! from their talk but admittedly disregarded the timestamp, so I was entirely incorrect in saying they've left. They're rather clearly not up for discussing it, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth to block over NOTBROKEN -- There'sNoTime ^{(to explain)} 12:20, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Thank you for the reopen. I count 112 edits in the 12 days since their two emphatic declarations of retirement. ―Mandruss ☎ 12:18, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

@There'sNoTime: As you yourself suggested, a block would be for NOTHERE (and generally wasting a lot of good editors' time), not for NOTBROKEN vios. ―Mandruss ☎ 12:23, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Point taken, I'll bow out of making any decisions on this one given the above muck up, but I would at least give them the opportunity to respond to this thread -- There'sNoTime ^{(to explain)} 12:27, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

It appears they are declining the opportunity.[22] ―Mandruss ☎ 04:07, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

 Comment: That's unfortunate. I have issued a warning to the editor. Alex Shih^Talk 16:02, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

• Apparently User:Grouches101 has started making these edits again. Here they changed [[Mufasa]] to [[List of characters in The Lion King#Mufasa|Mufasa]], and they made similar edits on other articles today. I don't see any indication of willingness to discuss the issue or respect the community consensus. —Granger (talk · contribs) 21:19, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

• Will someone please block this clown? EEng 21:50, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

• This really doesn't seem like something that requires admin attention at this point; piping links isn't disruptive to the point of requiring action. But, say, if someone wanted to propose that Grouches101 should be subject to a community sanction of some sort for this behaviour, and if the community expressed support for that sanction, then an admin could enact that consensus. Some kind of topic ban, for example. Ivanvector (^Talk/_Edits) 21:51, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

  @Ivanvector: If you don't think the user should be blocked, how would you recommend getting the behavior to stop? Discussion and warnings haven't worked. —Granger (talk · contribs) 22:00, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

  We've blocked people for this before. People forget that there's often a reason to prefer a redirect over a direct link, because sometimes the redirect becomes its own article. Not to mention it's just a waste of everyone's time checking their clogged-up watchlists. EEng 23:29, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

  You really haven't made the case for WP:NOTHERE in my opinion, this editor is clearly intending to edit constructively. Alex Shih appears to be dealing with this in a most appropriate way. Ivanvector (^Talk/_Edits) 00:33, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

I didn't say he was NOTHERE; I said he's wasting people's time making counterproductive edits. It's great that Alex Shih gave a warning, but he's been warned over and over and even now keeps doing it. What do you suggest we do now? EEng 00:52, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Wait. Ivanvector (^Talk/_Edits) 00:58, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

For what? EEng 01:11, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

It appears to have stopped. I also provided more explanation at his talk page. nihlus kryik (talk) 01:16, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

@Ivanvector: The NOTHERE case was at the heading "Little or no interest in working collaboratively" and couldn't be much stronger. Perhaps that should be moved to WP:CIR, I don't know, but collaboration is not optional. This may be water under bridge in this case (finally), we'll see—but this is worth noting for future reference. ―Mandruss ☎ 04:33, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

• Pardon me for saying that we could have just saved time and trouble by blocking him. [23] EEng 01:23, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

• Two more of these edits today: [24][25]. The first one has the edit summary "My last edit here, just making it the same as the others. So long FOREVER Wikipedia". —Granger (talk · contribs) 18:05, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Seven edits since their second emphatic retirement in less than 3 weeks. Have they said anything at all to indicate that they intend to alter their behavior? If not, do we just cross our fingers and hope they will? Can editors simply choose not to respond to ANI complaints? What is the meaning of life? ―Mandruss ☎ 17:50, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Life is a cycle of repeated returns to ANI, each visit to which is an opportunity to gain wisdom and atone for our lousy wikikarma. This dreary cycle ends when either we've attained enlightenment and enter nirvana (i.e. pass RfA) or – better – we attain the eternal rest of an indefinite block. Go in peace, my son. EEng 18:13, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

FYI, user has requested to be blocked. Not sure why they're asking me though. nihlus kryik (talk) 02:25, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Attack page?

Would User:Morty C-137/SPI-Case be considered an attack page? I was under the impression that accusations of sockpuppetry should be confined to WP:SPI.

Recent reports regarding Morty C-137:

Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive956#Morty C-137: Battleground attitude, personal attacks and edit warring.

Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/3RRArchive343#User:Morty C-137 and User:Rjensen reported by User:Cjhard (Result: Warned)

Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/3RRArchive342#User:Pepe.is.great and User:Morty C-137 reported by User:KDS4444 (Result: Warned)

Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive953#Morty C-137

--Guy Macon (talk) 18:31, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

This discussion has already been had by administators and answered, and I consider Guy Macon's filing here to be in obvious bad faith. Morty C-137 (talk) 18:36, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

@Morty C-137: Where did this admin discussion occur? --Floquenbeam (talk) 18:45, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I have been attacked over and over [26] and I have every right to keep records given that we are "required to give evidence". Morty C-137 (talk) 18:50, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

That's not what I asked. Where has an admin told you this page is OK? This page has been up for over a month with no SPI case filed. We can't keep pages like this around, per WP:POLEMIC. --Floquenbeam (talk) 18:52, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I just linked a diff for you above. Take it up with them. Morty C-137 (talk) 18:54, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Since Morty's decide to revert the blanking, I've deleted the page per WP:POLEMIC. These type of pages cannot be left around for long periods of time. --Floquenbeam (talk) 18:55, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Well, that proves this whole listing is in bad faith, since you gave me no actual chance to save the material offline and you're ignoring policy. Morty C-137 (talk) 18:59, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I've undeleted for 10 minutes so you can copy everything. Then it's getting deleted again. --Floquenbeam (talk) 19:01, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Well I'm lucky I saw that at the 9th minute, such a "generous" amount of time. What a load of harassing crap. Morty C-137 (talk) 19:06, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

May I interject here? Morty C-137 none of those users nor an admin EVER said that you could do that. Dinah In Wonderland 19:18, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Seconding this. It's possible Morty linked to the wrong diff, of course. If you're collecting evidence in this manner, it's best to do it off wiki. UltraExactZZ ^Said ~ Did 19:48, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Two things here. A quick look through Cjhard's (very short) edit summary:

1. It screams "sock puppet" of the sleeper kind. The account has only approx. 815 edits but extensive knowledge not only of Wikipedia's policies and guidelines but it's internal politics, feuds, obscure cases and ANI reports (examples [27]. It made 16 edits in 2007, 8 edits in 2008, 4 edits in 2009, 4 in 2011, 3 in 2012 and then... it "woke up" and exploded with several hundred edits starting in May of this year. And a lot of these involve following and reverting Morty around - there's no freakin' way this is a legit account.
2. It's immediately obvious that the account HAS in fact been following and harassing Morty.

It's hard to tell who the sock master here is but at least this account looks like one of the socks of the same person.

I can easily see why Morty is frustrated here.Volunteer Marek (talk) 19:54, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

If you want to accuse me of being a sockpuppet, do it at SPI. Doing it here, incorrectly, without evidence, and without having the courtesy of pinging me in a conversation I hadn't already been made aware of, is an unacceptable personal attack. Honestly, I'm getting tired of it from Morty, and my tolerance for it is waning. Cjhard (talk) 21:28, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Better yet, provide your input to the SPI case Morty finally opened: Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Cjhard. Cjhard (talk) 21:39, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

If User:Morty C-137 doesn't understand why his behavior (both in maintaining a page full of un-substantiated attacks on wiki, and his recent contributions at Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard) is problematic, administrative action against him should be considered. Power~enwiki (talk) 20:15, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

AFAICT there's no "problematic" behavior at RN/B, which, incidentally, is not a discussion you yourself participated in. As far as I can tell.Volunteer Marek (talk) 21:23, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I've commented on it now, though I'm not sure what your remark regarding my lack of participation is supposed to imply. I hope that, after the fourth invocation of WP:IDIDNTHEARTHAT, he will let the discussion die on its own; it hasn't been about "Reliable Sources" for quite some time. That said, it's not actionable; as the SPI case is filed and the attack page is blanked, hopefully an admin can close this soon. Power~enwiki (talk) 00:50, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

• (copy of recent post to WP:REFUND): This page is covered both by WP:POLEMIC (a policy), and WP:CSD#G10 (a speedy deletion criterion that references WP:ATP, a slightly different but essentially similar policy page). I referenced the first policy in the deletion log, kind of assuming the link to G10 was clear, but if that's too lazy and if it helps in dotting the i's and crossing the t's, consider it deleted per WP:CSD#G10. We generally haven't considered short-term compilation of evidence an attack page, but they aren't allowed to linger in user space for a long time; in this case over a month, plus a week since its undeletion. From WP:ATP: "keeping a "list of enemies" or "list of everything bad user:XXX did" on your user space is neither constructive nor appropriate". If it's going to take a long time to compile evidence, that should be done offline. Morty now has this material offline if he chooses to use it. If an admin thinks WP:POLEMIC/WP:CSD#G10/WP:ATP doesn't apply here, they can certainly undelete (I'll say as much at ANI in a moment). Or ditto if Morty wants to take it to WP:DELREV instead. But it pretty clearly qualifies to me. --Floquenbeam (talk) 20:46, 10 August 2017 (UTC) (end of copy)

I'm not preventing Morty from continuing to compile evidence, I'm not preventing him from filing an SPI, I'm not claiming Sjhard is or isn't a sock, and I'm not Morty's enemies' newest buddy. But my experience has been that we enforce WP:POLEMIC/WP:CSD#G10/WP:ATP like this all the time. I even tried to blank it instead of delete it, and was immediately reverted. Again, if any admin thinks undeletion is warranted and WP:POLEMIC/WP:CSD#G10/WP:ATP doesn't apply, please feel free to undelete. Now I've been told I'm a stuck up jerk, that I'm someone's pet admin, and that I am intentionally harassing Morty, and I still temporarily undeleted the page for Monty to copy the contents, and I've explained myself sufficiently to satisfy WP:ADMINACCT. I've had more than enough, so I'm disengaging now. --Floquenbeam (talk) 20:59, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I agree. Whether the page in question should be deleted or not is subject to the usual administrative rules and guidelines (though I've seen other people do similar, just in a but less transparent way and get away with it). My point rather is that Morty's action were understandable and importantly, that this ANI report is completely pointless.Volunteer Marek (talk) 21:08, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Floquenbeam, I apologize for the jerk comment. That being said, I am frustrated because (a) the last person to blank that page was a freaking sockpuppet of a stalker and (b) you didn't explain ANYTHING of your blanking, followed by just up and deleting it when I reverted and tried to add the newest sockpuppet to the list. How the hell was I supposed to know what you were up to when you were too lazy to give an explanation? Morty C-137 (talk) 21:10, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Could be a sock puppet. Nothing has been proven yet. --Tarage (talk) 21:25, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I learned today that this user filed a false allegation of sockpuppetry against me. It's certainly "Not Here" behavior. It needs to be stopped either on its own or by a hasty door showing. The attack page is a symptom of the problem. --DHeyward (talk) 04:33, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

There's no shortage of symptoms; the repeated assumption/leap to accuse other users above (including intervening admins) of "harassment" demonstrates A) a pretty profound lack of understanding of basic process (which can always be remedied with experience) and B) a more fundamental sense of persecution and refusal to WP:AGF (which is more problematic). We already see enough users show up here on a revolving door basis who are convinced that any time their wishes are thwarted or their behaviour questioned, it is a form of harassment. Best to disabuse this notion early, before it progresses to the conspiracy theory stage and truly disruptive discussions that usually follow. Snow ^{let's rap} 11:18, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Dheyward ran right in after someone was blocked. The Clerk on the case admitted "I can see why it looks suspicious." But hey, go ahead and roundly misrepresent everything. Morty C-137 (talk) 12:31, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

There are two sets of sockpuppets attacking Morty. The earliest one is at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/D.H.110/Archive A second set is at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/D.Pearson/Archive. I'll quote Bbb23, who is sadly now inactive here: " I can see the confusion because of the usernames, all the pepes and earsons, but they are separate masters editing from different continents and using different other technical data. I don't know why this person is mimicking the other.-" That is my finding also. Two different continents but the later one is mimicking the earlier. I have my own thoughts on this but need to ponder on the evidence a bit longer. Doug Weller talk 13:27, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Holy mother of WP:IDHT; you really need to stop assuming (and vocally asserting) that everyone who questions you is out to get you, and listen to what the experienced admins and users here are trying to tell you. A few things relating to your last couple of posts:

A) I wasn't commenting on Dheyward's assertions, but rather pointing to your behaviour above of attacking every administrator who takes action to keep you from trampling on policy. I don't see how I am "roundly misrepresenting" anything by pointing out that this is an incredibly self-defeating strategy.

B) You have so selectively quoted mz7's comments in the SPI that you opened against DHeyward (and mischaracterized their role in the SPI) so as to have essentially reversed the conclusion they came to. Here's the full quote, with the context you omitted: "I am not an SPI clerk, but for what it's worth, I agree that the reverts alone are insufficient evidence. I can see why it looks suspicious, but DHeyward is a longstanding editor (created in 2005), and the Doorzki account is not exactly new either (created in 2012). If these were single-purpose accounts with no other edits besides these reverts, we would probably call it a WP:DUCK. However, that's not the case here: both editors have coexisted for a while now without drawing suspicion of sockpuppetry. Given this, I would need to see more evidence of interaction between these accounts or other idiosyncratic behavior (e.g. similar writing style/editing philosophies) before blocking or even recommending CheckUser in this case."

C) Your latest SPI is an absolute nightmare of disorganized non-cogent accusations and non-contexualized links. Moreover, you clearly knew what you were adding to that page, because this was your edit summary for your second edit: "Fuck it. I was trying to get my head wrapped round it and was going to start paring things down and reformatting, but since I got harassed today and told "use it or lose it", it's up. Have fun, whoever.". Uhh, no. That's not how this works. If you want the community to take your accusations seriously, the responsibility is on you to make the argument in a structured and intelligible fashion. It is not the community's responsibility to go digging through that mess of gibberish to make heads or tales of which of the dozens of editors you accuse might actually be a sock, just because you still wanted to open another SPI but you were also angry and wanted to make a statement about your attack page being closed.

You need to take a pause for the cause here, because at ANI we look at the behaviour of all involved parties, even once we've established that one of them is problematic. It will do you no good at all to identify a sock who may or may not be harassing you if, in the course of trying to make your case, you demonstrate a profound inability to contribute to the project yourself without accusing every good-faith contributor and admin you come across of being in on the harassment, and just generally demonstrating a highly WP:disruptive attitude. Snow ^{let's rap} 13:56, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Related: Wikipedia:Requests for undeletion#User:Morty_C-137/SPI-Case (2nd request). --Guy Macon (talk) 17:57, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Really, this user has been here for 4 months[28] and he has an enemies and sock accusation list. Not since Psycho in the movie Stripes has someone created a death list so quickly. It's hardly the type of activity new users find themselves embroiled in and arguing about. It's about time to call this one as an obviously returning editor. --DHeyward (talk) 23:10, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Considering his SPI against Cjhard is failing(unsurprisingly), I think we need to start limiting the amount of accusations Morty is allowed to toss around. Yes, it is unfortunate that he has been the target of two sock puppet editors, but that is no excuse for slinging accusations at everyone and hoping some stick. --Tarage (talk) 00:12, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Actually, the SPI is as much as done; the CU found no relationship between Cjhard and any of the other editors. I'm actually pretty shocked jpgordon decided to run a CU in that situation at all, but perhaps they recognized it may prove necessary to refer back to that SPI as fruitless. In light of the polemic/attack page, the recurrent fruitless SPIs, the constant assumption of bad faith and unsubstantiated claims of harassment (particularly the accusations against Guy Macon and Floquenbeam above), and just the generally WP:battleground and WP:disruptive attitude this user is bringing into every space they enter into, I'm fully prepared to support restrictions of some sort--a topic ban from SPI in particular. Frankly, at this point, it's beginning to feel less like IDHT and more like "I will never hear that", but the smallest targeted restrictions should be considered first. I definitely think something needs to be done though; this is a whole lot of drama for the community to have to contend with to indulge for a user who has been around for four months and spends half of their time grinding axes; harassment from socks gets one a certain amount of sympathy, but this user is primed to see foes no matter the circumstances. Morty either needs to learn what is an acceptable claim of harassment or, as has been suggested above, he will have to be shown the door. Snow ^{let's rap} 01:47, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

English Wikipedia has a history of sanctioning editors when they respond poorly to harassment. Some of this is unavoidable, but I still think we need to come up with a better approach. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 08:09, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

I fail to see how responding poorly to harassment by another editor gives Morty C-137 a free pass to abuse multiple editors who had no part in any harassment.[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] Morty C-137, given the wide variety of editors who you have accused of harassing you and acting in bad faith, could it be possible that the problem is you?

There once was a drunk driver who was driving the wrong way on the freeway. Upon hearing on the radio (over the honking horns) that there was a drunk driver who was driving the wrong way on the freeway, he peered through his windshield, noticed all of the headlights heading toward him, and exclaimed "My God! There are DOZENS of them!!" --Guy Macon (talk) 09:19, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Guy Macon presents a heck of a Gish Gallop, but none of those diffs show what he is saying, with the exception of one edit that I've already apologized for. Morty C-137 (talk) 15:58, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict)Respectfully NRP, multiple admins have attempted to approach this user with kids gloves only to be told to stop "harassing" him. I wasn't suggesting a block, but rather trying to isolate them from areas they don't seem yet competent to handle--areas in which they are currently sinking a lot of time into, and which are the nexus of all of the issues they are having with just about everyone they seem to be interacting with on the project now.

The smallest and most targeted sanction I could think of is a topic ban from SPI complaints, appeal-able in a few months once they have enough experience to know what really looks like suspicious activity, under this community's standards--not just the criteria of anyone who disagrees with them ever, on any article. Though, if I'm frank, it's the refusal to AGF / general hostility to anyone thwarting their will that is the real problem. If you think you can reach them, short of that sort of thing becoming a necessity, by all means have at it. But I'll direct you to the above, and this user's talk page, where numerous notably patient admins and veteran community members have tried. Snow ^{let's rap} 09:35, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Indeed. Whilst dealing with true harassment is something we need to do much better, dealing with tactical (or misguided) cries of harassment based on a simple disagreement or failure to gain consensus is something we do poorly too. CRYHARASS can be similar to CRYBLP: a diversion from the underlying issue by appeal to the authority of an inapplicable generality which deliberately invokes strong reactions. Both of these are gaming tactics, and, historically, we've not dealt particularly well with that, either. NRP makes a good point, but, as you say, the issues are wide and nuanced. -- Begoon 10:00, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

I think what’s clear is that since his block Morty C-137’s conduct hasn’t improved since his first block. His behaviour on the Reliable Sources Noticeboard is a great example of his personal attacks, tendentiousness and battlefield behaviour continuing unabated. His presence is almost inevitably disruptive in any political topic he engages with and his temperament appears to be inherently compatible with a collaborative project like Wikipedia. A series of increasingly long bans ending in retirement or an indefinite ban appears inevitable. However, Morty’s work on articles related to Rick and Morty suggests that he is able to contribute to the project positively in areas which require less collaboration and are less politically charged. The optimist in me would suggest that a topic ban on all political topics along with a sanction against making any personal attacks (specifically accusations of wrongdoing without evidence and/or outside the proper channels) might prevent his negative behaviour while retaining him as an editor. Cjhard (talk) 09:45, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

I suggest a short block for incivility and not assuming good faith, followed by longer and longer blocks until he either gets the point or is blocked indefinitely. His behavior has completely disrupted what would have otherwise been a calm, rational discussion on RSNB about whether a particular source, previously reliable, has become unreliable. This is interfering with the operation of the encyclopedia. I am agnostic on the politics topic ban, not having examined his behavior in that area. --Guy Macon (talk)09:49, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

I'd argue his behaviour on RSNB is an example of his behaviour in the politics topic, given the nature of the sources discussed and what they're being used for. Cjhard (talk) 10:03, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

I'd argue that, as a party, jumping on some sort of perceived bandwagon might not be the best thing for you to do here. Despite the very poor SPI, people may still have questions. Your last couple of posts have not helped to convince me that you don't deserve deep scrutiny, yourself. -- Begoon 12:41, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

What does that have to do with Morty's disruptive behavior and personal attacks? A Morty-free encyclopedia has a lot less drama overhead. Threatening his victims doesn't solve the problem. --DHeyward (talk) 14:54, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

DARVO. Those who have been through abusive situations recognize this sort of behavior when someone tries it on them. I've done nothing to warrant the torrent of abuse you've heaped on me, I legitimately saw something weird in a pattern of edits and reported it. You've been page hopping for the past couple days insulting me and trying to get me "banned" while calling me things like "ban-boy" and it needs to stop. Morty C-137 (talk) 15:53, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

No Morty. I've followed you to admin pages where you are abusing other editors including me. It needs to stop. Your behavior is deplorable and your accusations lack merit. I've not sought you out or even knew you existed until someone pointed out your merit-less SPI accusation in an apparent attempt to get me sanctioned and I learned that I was one of many. I have done nothing but point at your poor behavior. It's incompatible with Wikipedia. I have not started any ANI/SPI/3RR or any other process against you but that seems to be your sole contributions as there are at least 4 open ones about you. Your familiarity with these avenues, your long list of "bad users" and attitude suggest this isn't your first rodeo. I personally find that those that see sockpuppets at every turn are often the worse sock puppeteers and is why they think a torrent of socks are out to get them. --DHeyward (talk) 16:36, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

It would appear that DHeyward has now begun stalking my edits and reverting me wherever he can find me, in an attempt to get me angry. [40][41] [42] Morty C-137 (talk) 18:15, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

"Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw it, didn't you?"[43] --Monty Python and the Holy Grail

According to WP:WIKIHOUNDING, "Correct use of an editor's history includes (but is not limited to) fixing unambiguous errors or violations of Wikipedia policy, or correcting related problems on multiple articles. In fact, such practices are recommended both for Recent changes patrol and WikiProject Spam." DHeyward appears to be simply correcting related problems on multiple articles that you have edited. --Guy Macon (talk) 20:11, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

"Wikihounding is the singling out of one or more editors, joining discussions on multiple pages or topics they may edit or multiple debates where they contribute, to repeatedly confront or inhibit their work. This is with an apparent aim of creating irritation, annoyance or distress to the other editor. Wikihounding usually involves following the target from place to place on Wikipedia."

Repeat: to repeatedly confront... with an apparent aim of creating irritation, annoyance or distress. Dheyward has never edited those pages before - they were following me in hopes of creating irritation, annoyance or distress. Morty C-137 (talk) 20:40, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

If these edits you cited [44] [45] annoyed you, you are in the wrong place. You called them reverts when in fact your exact text and citation were retained. You didn't bother to check that the source and content were duplicated. --DHeyward (talk) 20:47, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Morty C-137, it appears that pretty much everything causes you "irritation, annoyance or distress", including the most innocuous of edits. Right now it looks like you are heading toward an indefinite block, and your continued claims of harassment and bad faith are making that block more likely. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:05, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Disruptive commentary by LynnWysong, lashing out at an editor she has a beef with, but irrelevant to this discussion, even if she unhats this, again. LynnWysong: You're rapidly putting yourself into a place where other editors are going to start considering you a net negative to the project if you keep inserting yourself into discussions you know nothing about, merely to slag off one of the editors you've taken a dislike to. My advice is to knock it off. Beyond My Ken (talk) 02:04, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

I would like to know if anyone's opinion here is influenced by this. Seems like whether or not keeping a page like this, the real issue here, is okay, depends on who you are. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 22:34, 12 August 2017 (UTC) I don't know Morty C-137, but what I see here is that he/she was brought here because they were keeping a page to prepare for an SPI. In the edit summary they provided, they were told that they shouldn't keep it more than six months without taking action. That forced him to file an SPI before it was ready. Now, he's being accused by the object of the SPI of having brought the accusation here instead of at SPI in the first place. Uh, no, he didn't. And now, he's being told that since he made that accusation, his own behavior is under review. In the meantime, a couple of years ago, an established editor was keeping a similar page. When it was pegged for deletion, the community rallied to her side. This is hypocrisy at it most pathological. If what Guy Macon (talk · contribs) was really upset about was the editor's behavior at other articles, that's what this ANI should have been about. Right now it looks like a bait and switch. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 01:52, 13 August 2017 (UTC) (edit conflict) This is just wrong on so many levels...first, Montanabw's page had only been there for two months, it was supplementing an active SPA of a LTA, and it was moved away to WP space once people noticed it and MfD'd it. Second, Morty didn't have to file the SPI at that time, he could have easily kept this stuff off-wiki as suggested by the deleting admin and others until he was ready (not that it would have affected the outcome; baseless accusations are just that no matter how polished). Third, Cjhard was telling Volunteer Marek to take the accusations to the SPI, not Morty. And fourth, there's no "whistleblower protection" here, per WP:BOOMERANG; everyone's behavior is scrutinized. ansh666 02:14, 13 August 2017 (UTC) But, didn't it say that Morty's page had only been there for one month? Yes, he could have, and, upon having not had his hand called, he may have not filed it all. Ah. I misunderstood How does WP:BOOMERANG apply when then the person supposedly being boomeranged didn't bring the action? Lynn (SLW) (talk) 02:30, 13 August 2017 (UTC) Lynn, I don't even know where to start. To begin with, most of the commentary here has nothing to do with the WP:POLEMIC page (which Floquenbeam was completely within their administrative prerogative to remove, regardless) but rather about their generally comabative and hostile attitude towards criticism in general, whatever the context and space it occurs in. Second, so you managed to dig up one occasion, from years ago, in which a similar page was retained? So what? I think you should read WP:OTHERSTUFF (even if it is just an essay); or better yet confirmation bias, because while that one page may have been retained (for a very short time) on the basis of a "no consensus" result, the standard approach on this project, applied time and time again, is to not allow such evidence to be compiled and stored longterm. There's an unambiguous policy about this: WP:POLEMIC, in case you've missed it the dozen or so times it's been cited here already. It doesn't matter if, once upon a time, in one discussion, the community failed to uphold that policy (or decided under the facts of those circumstances that it was appropriate)--that's not a reason for doing so again here. Meanwhile your argument that deleting that policy-violating page "forced Morty to file an SPI prematurely" makes absolutely zero sense. No one put a clock on Morty and no one tried to (or realistically could) prevent Morty from compiling his evidence offline, if he felt that was a worthwhile use of his time. He was simply prevented from hosting the information in his user space. Again, per policy. Certainly no one encouraged Morty to file any one of those SPIs without proper merit or evidence (other than "they got in my away, why else would they do that if they weren't out to get me?"). Lastly, I don't really care what Guy's other concerns with the user were and which issue he should have raised first, according to you. The community members who have responded here are all discussing what they perceive to be a complex of issues with this user, but all of them going back to a short fuse and an inability to have their actions questions or their will thwarted without lashing out with accusations of "harassment". And frankly, your off-base argument that they are being singled out or treated differently from other members of the community (when almost all longterm POLEMIC pages are deleted upon discovery) is not going to help this user correct course, but only encourage them to turtle up further into the comforting assumption that they are being persecuted. Snow let's rap 02:21, 13 August 2017 (UTC) I'm just bringing up what I see to be a true flaw with ANI, which is that it never seems to deal with the issue at hand. (edit) The editor was brought here ostensibly for keeping a page against policy, and he/she is being threatened with a boomerang, when they didn't bring the action. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 02:38, 13 August 2017 (UTC) Until Ansh's response to you above, WP:BOOMERANG wasn't mentioned once, and nobody is being "threatened" with anything. The user's conduct is being examined. There is no prohibition here against noting relevant problematic behaviours just because they happen to not be the focus of the OP's original comments; that would make zero pragmatic sense for this space. Certainly the community is not required to turn a blind eye to an issue that is explicitly on display in the ANI itself. Snow let's rap 02:54, 13 August 2017 (UTC) Unlike what many people assume, BOOMERANG doesn't just apply to the filer of a case (or whatever the applicable metaphor is), it applies to everyone involved. (oh, I see - I wasn't addressing Morty specifically on that last point, just speaking generally) ansh666 03:03, 13 August 2017 (UTC) "And frankly, your off-base argument that they are being singled out or treated differently from other members of the community (when almost all longterm POLEMIC pages are deleted upon discovery) is not going to help this user correct course, but only encourage them to turtle up further into the comforting assumption that they are being persecuted." I don't think that doing a bait and switch at ANI, bringing up a minor problem-a POLEMIC page that had only been up for a month when others are not only allowed to stay longer but even defended, and then switching to what "the community" perceives as the real problem, helps with a feeling of persecution either. Also, he's being taken to task for filing SPIs, that don't appear to be entirely frivolous or vindictive. In my experience, discouraging filing SPIs when someone thinks they have legitimate cause will lead to much worse behavior. Believe me, I've been the victim of it, so I'm coming from a different perspective here. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 03:55, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

This discussion is thoroughly off the rails. I request an un-involved admin close it with no action against any editors. Power~enwiki (talk) 04:44, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

I've changed the template from {{hat}} to {{cot}} to prevent edit warring. But hopefully off-topic discussions can stop here. Alex Shih^Talk 04:48, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Respectfully, with Lynn's divergence being now hatted, I must disagree with your description of the discussion and with your recommendation. There are real and substantial issues still being addressed here, and (Lynn aside) all of the community members who have responded to this thread are roughly of the same mind that the behaviour in question is problematic (even if no clear solution / response from the community has been proposed). Morty has responded to every halfway critical appraisal of his actions with cries of "harassment", even while under community scrutiny and while responding to admin directives here at ANI. If he's willing to shout accusations in the faces of admins trying to restrain him, how can we reasonably believe he's about to change his approach when dealing with the rank and file in disputes on some random article--especially the highly charged socio-political ones he favours? I don't see the point in closing this thread when it's virtually certain the user will be back here at ANI or back spamming SPI before we can blink. Snow ^{let's rap} 05:14, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Off topic Show me an ANI thread with this much activity that wasn't off the rails after 36 hours. I'd honestly like to know what that looks like. Absent some kind of ground rules, firmly enforced, there aren't any rails to be off of. ―Mandruss ☎ 05:18, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

My point also. The ANI was filed in response to what was called an "Attack Page". Now, I didn't see the page, and I don't know if there was anything on it that could be termed an "attack" rather than part of compiling an SPI case, but it sounds like that was what it was, and that it wasn't a frivolous case, as per Volunteer Marek. "Not frivolous" as opposed to "valid"...I'm not making judgements on the validity of Morty's suspicions, but it does seem to me that he was doing what he was supposed to do when one has suspicions of socking, and that is to file an SPI. Sounds like he filed a couple, ended up with egg on his face, and was being more cautious with the third, when all of a sudden his hand is forced. So, he files the SPI in response to that, and now he's being attacked himself on all fronts, for one being accused of "spamming" SPI. This is the problem with ANI. This thread went off the rails as soon as it stopped being about the "Attack Page" and whether or not it was okay to have it. Which means it went off the rails in lines 2-5 of the thread, when Guy Macon started bringing up the recent ANIs that had been brought against Morty. And, as to how long one should be allowed to maintain a page of difs related to sockpuppet suspicions, what is the "timely manner" (quote from policy) in which it should be used? The answers are: "It depends on whether or not you've recently been brought to ANI" and/or "It depends on what editor is keeping them, and who they are keeping them on," neither of which is an objective, rationale response that is going to diffuse an editor that is already feeling persecuted.

So yes, this should be closed without action. If another ANI is opened, there should first be a perusal of Robert's Rules of Order by all parties. The dogpile method that ANI currently uses is not just dysfunctional, it's something out of Lord of the Flies. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 13:37, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Cjhard has now been closed: "Checkuser finds nothing interesting connecting Cjhard with any of these accounts or with any problematic accounts at all."

Meanwhile, the previously listed problem behavior ([46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]) has continued with [57][58][59][60].

There is a broad consensus that the behavior of Morty C-137 is problematic. Everyone who criticizes Morty C-137 in any way is accused of bad faith, harassment, or sockpuppetry. If this is closed without administrative action, someone will open a new report when the behavior continues. --Guy Macon (talk) 11:44, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

A Proposal

Morty C-137 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is now editing 2017 Unite the Right rally, and while he has managed to technically avoid violating 3RR (because some of his reverts are of obvious vandalism), editing that page at all during this discussion is a sign of incredibly poor judgment on his part. As a friendly offer to him, I suggest that he voluntarily agree to a post-1932 American Politics TBAN for the next month. Power~enwiki (talk) 17:09, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

I note that I can't promise that other editors will consider this sufficient. Power~enwiki (talk) 17:09, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

And I note that I think that the object of the ANI has been met, which was to address the "Attack Page." It's gone. But you're right, he probably should walk away from articles like that for a while (why 1932?). I, for one, wouldn't touch one of those types of articles with a 10 foot pole (My focus is on the fur trade and nice, un-contentious articles about horses Oh, wait) My observation is that anyone who does edit those ends up getting regularly brought to ANI and blocked. Just part of the whole "encyclopedia anyone can edit" scenario. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 17:36, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

@Power~enwiki: Have I made any bad edits on that page? Can you point to any? I'm willing to bet you can't. Morty C-137 (talk) 17:57, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Not the right response Morty. He didn't say you made questionable edits, but that your editing the page was questionable. You need to walk away from all this for a while. Believe me, I know what it feels like to be dogpiled, and that's why I took hits here calling that out, but if you don't settle down you're going to be right back here and it will probably be for the right reasons next time. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 18:07, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

As far as I can tell, there is no "right response", ever. No matter what policy is complied with, there's another contradictory policy. Trying to report harassment results in more threats; filing quickly when there are likely sockpuppets gets attacked, trying to put it all together to get it right gets attacked the same way. Whatever I say, whatever I do, someone with an agenda will twist it and misrepresent it in some way. They won't do shit about people who hunt me page to page, they won't do shit about the people constantly making new accounts to harass me, but they'll go after me nonstop. Morty C-137 (talk) 19:20, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

And your belief that is the case is a good reason for the proposed TBAN. Your non-political edits seem to be stress free for you but your political edits have you seeing boogeymen at every turn. That's a problem for all of us much more than any problems you are dealng with. --DHeyward (talk) 20:56, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

And there's a reason someone who stalked my edits trying to irritate me will have no impact on my opinion. Morty C-137 (talk) 21:19, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

That's OK. Being blocked from editing Wikipedia has been show to be an effective method for impacting the opinion of editors like you.

You are claiming that it's always someone else, never you. For some inexplicable reason dozens of people who don't know each other have somehow gotten together and decided to harass poor, innocent you, while the vast majority of editors get along fine with everyone else.

The fact of the matter is that we do care about those who legitimately harass you, and we are putting in our absolute best effort to identify them and stop them from posting to Wikipedia. But none of that changes the fact that your behavior is a problem as well.

Here are some diffs. Study them, and identify the things that you are doing that others here are not doing. Then stop doing those things.

• "Bullshit and WP:WEASEL words"[61]
• "The repeated dishonesty ... just designed to try to irritate and provoke "[62]
• "Rudely and dishonestly misrepresenting ... false accusation"[63]
• "Fraudulent ... in bad faith"[64]
• "Obvious bad faith"[65]
• "Inappropriate and done in a manner calculated to harass."[66]
• "That proves this whole listing is in bad faith"[67]
• "You'd prefer to beat me up. Now I see why admins are considered suck stuck up jerks on wikipedia."[68]
• "What a load of harassing crap."[69]
• "Go away. You know you only posted that garbage to harass me."[70]
• "But hey, go ahead and roundly misrepresent everything."[71]
• "Not sure what game you're playing or if you just decided you hate my guts for some reason."[72]
• "Such a sad individual."[73]
• "So many personal attacks."[74]
• "Stalking my edits and reverting me wherever he can find me, in an attempt to get me angry."[75].

Free clue: The thing you keep doing that is pissing everyone else off involves accusing others of harassment, accusing others of bad faith, and in general acting like a total jerk.

I propose a short block for the above behavior, followed by longer and longer blocks if he keeps doing it. --Guy Macon (talk) 21:21, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

I know full well you decided you hate me and want me blocked, and you won't shut up nor stop misrepresenting my edits till you get your way. Such as your rank mischaracterization of when I noted the many personal attacks from DHeyward after he launched a flurry of them including calling me "ban-boy". Morty C-137 (talk) 21:35, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Again, bad behavior (real or imaginary) by others does not excuse your behavior. If you think that either I or DHeyward have misbehaved, file an ANI report with diffs supporting your claims. Your continued assertions that it is never you, always someone else are making it more likely that you will be blocked from editing Wikipedia. --Guy Macon (talk) 21:45, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Morty C-137, your post right above is an example of the behavior Guy was pointing out. It probably isn't really helpful to your cause. May I suggest you consider moderating your behavior some? Ealdgyth - Talk 21:59, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

I've already posted the diffs here. LynnWysong was right about one thing, Guy Macon posted this just to cause a dogpile because this board isn't for resolving things, it's for a bunch of vultures to get their fill ripping into victims and engaging in DARVO. Morty C-137 (talk) 22:18, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Votes on action against Morty C-137

• Support short block Enough of this. This has wasted way too much time and the editor, even after a failed malformed SPI, still doesn't get it. --Tarage (talk) 22:12, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support short block as a minimum option to deal with Morty. Hopefully it'll cause him to look at the criticism he's received here and correct his behaviour, but his levels of IDHT are through the roof, so the more likely outcome is that he will add this to his list of grievances by the harrassers at Wikipedia and we'll be back here when he resumes editing. Cjhard (talk) 23:53, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Then what's the point? Lynn (SLW) (talk) 00:39, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

I also support a topic ban on political topics as a measure which might be more effective in preventing Morty's disruptive behaviour in the long term. Cjhard (talk) 01:05, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

• OpposeThis ANI has been a cluster. The fact that it started by characterizing Morty's draft SPI report as an "Attack Page" fatally flawed it from the beginning. Process should mean something. Even if you have to let someone off the hook that probably doesn't deserve it, you can't use flawed process to justify retribution. Let's piece the conch back together and do make people do it right. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 00:08, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Extended discussion on the "draft SPI report"

Of course it was an attack page. It was (quite properly) deleted under WP:CSD#G10 and undeletion was declined at deletion review. Read WP:POLEMIC: "Generally, you should avoid substantial content on your user page that is unrelated to Wikipedia. Unrelated content includes, but is not limited to the compilation of factual evidence (diffs) in user subpages, for purposes such as preparing for a dispute resolution process, is permitted provided it will be used in a timely manner. Users should generally not maintain in public view negative information related to others without very good reason. Negative evidence, laundry lists of wrongs, collations of diffs and criticisms related to problems, etc., should be removed, blanked, or kept privately (i.e., not on the wiki) if they will not be imminently used..." or read WP:ATP, which says "keeping a 'list of enemies' or 'list of everything bad user:XXX did' on your user space is neither constructive nor appropriate. Bear in mind that the key to resolving a dispute is not to find and list all the dirt you can find on somebody." --Guy Macon (talk) 00:41, 14 August 2017 (UTC) "...the compilation of factual evidence (diffs) in user subpages, for purposes such as preparing for a dispute resolution process, is permitted." Compiling evidence for an SPI is a legitimate action, and should not be termed an "Attack Page". The key words there are "timely manner" and "imminently." That should have been the focus of the ANI, unless there were things on there that didn't apply to the ANI. I don't know, and you didn't provide difs of any, instead you brought up his past ANIs. Not right. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 01:02, 14 August 2017 (UTC) Why do you keep insisting (although everyone else here keeps telling you otherwise) that it is somehow "inappropriate" to bring up multiple issues about a problematic user? This isn't a court case, nor is Wikipedia a bureaucracy. And Guy didn't pull any kind of "bait and switch" as you've implied repeatedly above. He brought an initial issue here, which could have been resolved quickly, except for the fact that Morty instead chose to accuse every admin and community member here who tried to get them to what was wrong with their approach of harassment. That is what lead to community looking into the broader issues with this user's conduct, insofar as I can tell from the above. Your insistence that Guy did something wrong or that the other community members here are acting inappropriately by no turning a blind eye to clearly problematic behaviours that were not mentioned by the OP has no basis in policy or community consensus and is, frankly, nonsensical. I appreciate that you identify with this user's aggravation and also that you don't have a high impression of Guy, but I don't think you're keeping proper perspective here and you're out on a limb as a result. Snow let's rap 04:06, 14 August 2017 (UTC) I have no impression of Guy at all, other than that I think he set up this ANI in an unfair manner. And, the fact that I am "out on a limb" for providing a dissenting opinion here is yet another indication of why this process is so dysfunctional. No, ANI is not a court, but it would serve the community much better if some ground rules, based on common court procedures, were established, rather than the free-for-all it currently is. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 11:41, 14 August 2017 (UTC) Well of all of the possible pro forma adjustments to the approach of ANI that you might suggest, the recommendation that we refuse to address behavioural problems not raised in the original post is pretty close to single most non-pragamtic and counter-intuitive suggestion you could make, and not one I think you will ever generate much support for, for that very reason. Snow let's rap 17:40, 14 August 2017 (UTC) Too bad. Because that is why ANI discussions constantly derail, resulting in bad decisions that don't resolve the issue at hand. I'm not saying that behavior can't be an exacerbating factor in a case, but in this case, the discuss veered so off-course the proposed "prevention of disruption" doesn't even fit the issue brought to ANI, and that is that Morty was planning another SPI report in the wake of two that were bad choices of action. So, the logical consequence would be to ban him from filing any more SPI's, but that doesn't seem necessary anymore, so, I guess the "community" has to find some other way to justify all this. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 18:27, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

• Support both block and TBAN - As a pending changes reviewer, I am witnessing the reversions made on Jenny McCarthy in opposition to Morty's acts. A temporary block will stop D.Pearson's hatred, while the topic ban will prevent further attacks. I also recommend page protection for any affected articles that Pearson is attacking Morty on, including the one I mentioned. jd22292 (Jalen D. Folf) (talk) 00:38, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Extended discussion regarding socks

O.M.G. You mean the reversions made by BanMorty (talk · contribs) and MortyKillYourself (talk · contribs)??????!!!!!!! No wonder the guy's got a huge chip on his shoulder. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 01:15, 14 August 2017 (UTC) Yes, but do notice that both of those uers has been already blocked. This community has done, and will continue to do, what it can to shield Morty from this trolling. What it cannot and will not do is allow Morty to see a foe (and then pursue them as such) in every person he comes across who questions his generally bombastic approach, for purely good-faith reasons. What would you have us do, block everyone he suspects of being a sock? Or just let him file SPI after SPI against longterm good-faith contributors, simply because they reverted him on an article that happens to be one of those where he has clashed with his troll? This user needs to learn that WP:DUCK ≠ "person who criticized me". Until they learn and internalize community standards on such things, it's hard to see any alternative to restraining their contributions. Snow let's rap 03:46, 14 August 2017 (UTC) Snow RiseI am simply pointing out that there are mitigating circumstances here. The guy is under attack and isn't dealing with it well. He was accused of seeing "socks everywhere" when in reality, there are socks everywhere. He filed a couple of un-advisable SPI's, (but I don't think they were entirely frivolous-it does sound like he had a reason to believe there was socking involved) and seemed to be realizing he needed to be more methodical if he did another one, hence the "Attack Page". He's like a high strung dog that was attacked by a pack of coyotes, when the other dogs came into help him he was so worked up that he couldn't tell friend from foe. He may have continued to calm down but what happens? He gets dragged here under the auspices that his more methodical manner of dealing with socks is an "Attack Page". Yes, the difs provided by Guy are concerning, and those are what he should be taken to task for. But that issue has been so buried in the red herring of the "attack page" that right now, any block or topic ban is probably not going to send the right message, and would instead seem arbitrary and capricious. That is why process is important here. This idea of "well, we can't really punish you for what you were brought here for so we'll find something else to punish you for is, in my mind, the sign of a "community" devolving into anarchy. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 11:41, 14 August 2017 (UTC) You seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of what this place is for and what the goals of the community are in a situation like this: no one is here to "punish" Morty, the goal is is prevent further disruption. Would it be nice if we could do that short of restricting his participation on the project? Of course. But multiple admins and community volunteers tried that approach, only to be told they were "clearly out to get/smeer/misrepresent/troll/harass" Morty, or something similar, all while the editor continues to exhibit problematic behaviours in both mainspace and in community spaces and on procedural pages. And I'm sorry, but your argument that if he had just been left in peace to plan his attack page, everything would have turned out rainbows and sunshine does not track for me, to put it mildly. Nor is the fact that a troll amped him up excuse for his lashing out at everyone else; we need our editors to show a more baseline level of restraint than that. And I think it's just plain histrionic to suggest that this project is "descending into anarchy" because the community has decided to do something about this situation; insisting that our editors comport with just the most very basic and essential provisions of our community behavioural guidelines is the opposite of anarchy. And like most community sanctions, Morty will be able to appeal any topic ban after a time, once he can demonstrate a period of non-disruptive editing and identify what went wrong here (without alluding to alleged harassment by the community). Snow let's rap 17:40, 14 August 2017 (UTC) Now you're putting words in my mouth and twisting what I said, which means this discussion, like this whole Action, has devolved into a hopeless mess. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 18:27, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

• Support either or both short block and topic ban. Morty C-137 has clearly indicated that he will not stop his disruptive behavior unless forced to do so. --Guy Macon (talk) 00:44, 14 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support block and AP2 topic ban. --DHeyward (talk) 02:16, 14 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support short-term block and (especially) topic ban from AP2 topics. The IDHT is off the charts here and Morty seems incapable of distinguishing community concerns from genuine harassment. In my opinion the troll who has pestered him (presumably after locking horns with him on some article or another) has only exacerbated an underlying and pronounced difficulty with the collaborative process that seems to be fundamental to Morty's approach on this project. In other words, I'm quite certain that Morty's battleground attitude is a feature of his general attitude while editing here, and that it has been (and will continue to be) present, even in the absence of any kind of actual provocation. A preventative block to temporarily disengage him from his current feuds, combined with removing him from the especially contentious areas until he has demonstrated an understanding of our behavioural standards stands the best chance of forestalling further attacks on passers-by. Personally I would have started with a much more narrow ban from SPI, but the AP2 topic ban being the one put forward, I can support it without qualms. Snow ^{let's rap} 03:21, 14 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support topic ban of some kind, no opinion on a possible block. I think that a tban from SPI (broadly construed to prevent Morty from throwing about these blanket accusations regarding others being socks in general - we're smart enough to be able to get rid of the two sockfarms when they pop up) would be better than a tban from AP2, but if that's the consensus there's no opposition from me. ansh666 05:57, 14 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support - both block and TBAN. Beyond My Ken (talk) 23:38, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Proposal for Snow Close

It is clear that there is community consensus for a short block followed by a topic ban.

I propose that this report be closed with a short block followed by a six month topic ban from filing new sock puppet investigations and from all edits about and all pages related to post-1932 politics of the United States, broadly construed. This should be accompanied by a warning about accusing other editors of harassment or bad faith, and an explanation that any further accusations should be in the form of ANI reports, not inline comments. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:11, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Absolutely not as a WP:SNOW close. However, I do support your proposal. Power~enwiki (talk) 22:48, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Not a block, that would purely be punitive; TBAN is another thing. By the way, any admins thinking of closing this might want to first examine the rev-del'd edits a few minutes ago to this section. Black Kite (talk) 00:23, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

A block would not be punitive if the behavior is ongoing. Beyond My Ken (talk) 00:39, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

...Which opens up a golden opportunity for User:Morty C-137. Are you listening Morty? All you have to do is give us the slightest indication that you understand why eight people just supported having you blocked and/or topic banned and indicate that you will make a good-faith effort to change. Pretty much everyone here (including me) would love to close this with "no administrative action required" and move on. Just give us a reason to think that things will change. --Guy Macon (talk) 00:57, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

Guy, that's good advice, and I've left a note on Morty's talk page urging him to heed it. It doesn't look like he's edited since you left the offer – let's see how he responds before this proceeds further. Mojoworker (talk) 19:00, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

For those of us who were unable to see the rev-del edits, can you give us some understanding as to how they pertain to this? --Tarage (talk) 02:12, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

It was a grossly uncivil comment against the editor in question from a likely sock. Alex Shih^Talk 02:25, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

A CU confirmed (by me) sock. There have been two unrelated sets of socks attacking Morty. Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/D.H.110/Archive stopped in April. The ones mentioned there in June are part of this set: Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/D.Pearson/Archive. They are definitely unrelated other than the target - the second set is mimicking the first. Except at the beginning, when D.Pearson suddenly appeared to defending Morty and to help him edit war, leading to a possible/inconclusive SPI.Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Morty C-137/Archive. Doug Weller talk 08:20, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

There's another one on there right now. So childish. Lynn (SLW) (talk) 14:19, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

Antisemitism

Could someone have a look at the Antisemitism in the United Kingdom page. There are two editors determined to include a picture of Jeremy Corbyn. The picture was added only two weeks ago, shortly after the 2017 UK general election. There was no discussion and no consensus was sought. There's little evidence of a consensus for such a controversial move. Garageland66 (talk) 08:42, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

As this is a content dispute, I have fully protected the article for one week and advised editors to gain consensus for the inclusion of these images. I don't believe any other admin action is necessary at this time -- There'sNoTime ^{(to explain)} 08:53, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

• Well, says User:Philip Cross, it fits "as the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn has been implicated in a tolerance of antisemitism by very many sources"--a ridiculous excuse for a BLP violation. One wonders (maybe) why Cross picked only Corbyn, when all major parties were indicted in the recent report. Drmies (talk) 18:30, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
  • I'm afraid I am with my honourable colleague Drmies here. I don't wonder at anything anybody does or says here any more, but I would be prepared if necessary to exercise a technical measure to prevent any such damage to our project. --John (talk) 22:11, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
    • Thank you. I looked at this a few hours ago and was going to post some thoughts but really I just think people who continue righting great wrongs in such an absurd fashion should be given a final warning and then indeffed. Johnuniq (talk) 23:49, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
• What Phillp Cross said is correct and the fact it hardly appears anywhere is an obvious NPOV problem (not opining on Corbyn's picture on that page, but the general coverage of the issue in this encyclopedia). Corbyn even had to commission an inquiry about it due to the pressure from the media, yet none of that appears on his page or the Labour page. Funny that, eh? No More Mr Nice Guy (talk) 18:07, 12 August 2017 (UTC)
  • [76] here they even call it Labour Anti-Semitism. Sir Joseph ^(talk) 14:34, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Here's a RS that states that the Labour party linked to increase in anti-semitic acts in the UK. [77] hiding behind PC policy is just wrong, here's another RS, where a third of voters stated they will not vote Labour because of alleged anti-semitism, clearly Labour and Antisemitism in the UK is relateable, [78] Sir Joseph ^(talk) 14:32, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

However Labour != Jeremy Corbyn. Its inappropriate to link a living person in that way absent reliable sources that do. That *Labour* has an anti-Semitism problem (allegedly) has been well covered. Only in death does duty end (talk) 15:02, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

How about this? The same percentage of Jews said they'd vote Labour as Muslims who voted for Trump, linked directly to Corbyn.

This is not the place to go over the content issue, but it's obvious noting criticism of how Corbyn deals with antisemitism is not a BLP violation. No More Mr Nice Guy (talk) 16:03, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

By the way, the fact nothing about this stuff appears in any relevant article despite years of coverage in places like the BBC, NBC, Guardian, etc, is an obvious WP:BIAS issue. No More Mr Nice Guy (talk) 16:48, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Oh that's just because Wikipedia is run by socialists... Only in death does duty end (talk) 08:00, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

Socialist activists, please. -- Begoon 13:30, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

Yeah, those pesky Jews who want to edit Wikipedia and include mention of increased antisemitism in the world, and antisemitism with regards to Labour and how it's affecting the party. Shame, really. Sir Joseph ^(talk) 13:53, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

Oh. Well at least you're neutral. I was joking, I have no position, but nailing your flag to the mast is ok too. I don't edit those articles. I have better things to do. They're full of people who make comments like you just did. Not a war I want to join. -- Begoon 15:08, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

You don't want to join the war, just take a drive-by shot. What's not neutral in what Sir Joe just said?

You guys can make fun of this as much as you like, the fact remains that editors try to add information about this issue to various articles and those attempts are almost always blocked, despite the fact there's a very large amount of coverage in the media. No More Mr Nice Guy (talk) 15:46, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

Yep, I was kicked off a page because I posted a different opinion about Sweden. It is true though, that antisemitism is now tolerated by the left, both in the UK and in the US, and it's a shame that Wikipedia is not allowing mention of that in articles where it can rightly belong, merely I guess for trying to be PC. Sir Joseph ^(talk) 19:21, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

Yeah, all those left-wing demonstrators in Charlottesville chanting "Jews will not replace us!" were quite a spectacle. Oh, wait... Shock Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 01:41, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for proving our point. Sir Joseph ^(talk) 16:29, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Possible template vulnerability used in Azad Hind to redirect to a Twitch channel/external website

I was attempting to click on a link on this article when I was suddenly redirected to some sort of satirical Twitch channel. Apparently, somebody managed to insert a page-long image that links to an external website. Editing the article's source doesn't reveal any suspicious links, so I presume that the vulnerability resides inside of a template used within the page, and I'm not good enough with reading/editing Wikipedia templates (even though they must be simple enough to use) to locate the vulnerability (perhaps the vulnerability resides within the MediaWiki software itself?). This could be dangerous, as the external link might be an IP logger or even worse, and prevents normal usage of Wikipedia.

You simply have to click anywhere inside the contents of the article to be redirected. The website's sidebar and top bar are normally usable as the link's reach doesn't leave the article's div tag. — Preceding unsigned comment added by WaryLouka (talk • contribs) 14:57, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

A remnant, I think, of some vandalism some days ago. Try purging the page's server cache by making a null edit on the page if you see it again. --Malcolmxl5 (talk) 15:07, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

It seems to be gone now - That being said, however, I feel that the incident around twitch links in templates does need to be dealt with. Twitbookspacetube 15:15, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Well, yes, I purged the cache by making a null edit... --Malcolmxl5 (talk) 17:54, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

It's still there. I just had this issue on the exact same article and was going to come here to report it. 81.98.14.109 (talk) 21:08, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

By the way here is what the page HTML source code looked like to me a few minutes ago. It is not longer appearing for me either. 81.98.14.109 (talk) 21:15, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, it's no longer appearing for you? Perhaps it was a lingering caching effect. :) (I did purge a few more times...). The ext link has been blacklisted so it should not be appearing on the wiki again. --Malcolmxl5 (talk) 22:23, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

The spoof here was covering the whole page a transparent png; is there a reason not to size-limit img= things? Do we need 7000x7000 images anywhere? --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 14:22, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Proposal: Entire template space is semi-protected

Nope. Ivanvector (^Talk/_Edits) 21:55, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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I would like to propose that the entire template space move to a minimum standard of semi-protection. Twitbookspacetube 15:15, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

• Support Twitbookspacetube 15:15, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Oppose this is trying to fix a leak with a hammer. Power~enwiki (talk) 16:51, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Oppose per Power, doesn't solve anything really. ansh666 17:33, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Oppose This is an overreaction. The incident has already been dealt with, any remnants can be cleared up very simply. --Malcolmxl5 (talk) 17:59, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Oppose Overkill. It has already been added to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. nihlus kryik (talk) 21:24, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
• Oppose IP and new users do make useful and productive changes to templates. There are better ways to handle this issue. Ravensfire (talk) 01:24, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

DYK nominations are the obvious examples. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 08:11, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Well, yeah, and when I find the editor who created that ridiculous structure for DYK I'm going to throttle them. EEng 01:54, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

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The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Alternative proposal : Audit templates and TE protect above a threshold

I like the idea of template editor protecting these sorts of templates; they are obviously high use, and vandals are likely to go for the ones that have the highest visibility. So, do we have an audit of the most widely transcluded templates (infoboxes and Twinkle-compatible templates must be high up the list)? And if not, can we make one. Once we know that, we can start identifying what should be protected, and act on that. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 19:28, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

We have Wikipedia:Database reports/Unprotected templates with many transclusions (highest). — JJMC89 (T·C) 19:52, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

See WP:HRT. nihlus kryik (talk) 21:24, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

The problem is edits that add large images or layers to templates by IP or new users. Would it be possible to create an edit filter to look for those and prevent them from happening, directing the user to the template talk page to request the edit there? Ravensfire (talk) 16:29, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

It's certainly possible to create an edit filter which checks when IPs (or any class of users) add images (or external links) to templates, tagging the edit, blocking it, warning the user or so. However, I do not think it'd be possible to check if the image is large or not, since technically you're referencing to the image location and not embedding the object in the edit itself. --QEDK (愛) 15:02, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

John McGowan article recreations

An article titled John McGowan (Canadian rock singer) has been created by User:Timmytimah (talk). I thought the name sounded familiar, and sure enough the article has been deleted multiple times over the past few months (example, John McGowan (singer). I am not the best at navigating the deletion log, but I am sure that more variants of this page have been created. Salting one or two articles does not seem to have stopped the spam, so I request further action be taken. SamHolt6 (talk) 16:16, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

Yep, I nominated at least one for CSD, and just did so to the most recent iteration. Sock-puppetry and willful ignorance of notability rules. ‡ Єl Cid of ᐺalencia ^ᐐT₳LKᐬ 16:19, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

I just called out one of the sockpuppets myself ♠Dinah♠ 🎤 16:24, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

Tagged and blocked, thanks guys. Alex Shih^Talk 16:25, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

Vandalism: TV station articles

User 98.22.136.242 keeps vandalizing articles on TV stations by adding incorrect information about digital subchannels. I undo them, but more of these edits pop up. Recent example KMSP-TV: [79] Mvcg66b3r (talk) 17:02, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

98.22.136.242 just undid one of my edits. KOCO-TV: [80] And another one, caught by Mrschimpf at KQCW-DT: [81] Mvcg66b3r (talk) 21:26, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

(Non-Administrator comment) You may wish to try AIV- Administrator Intervention against Vandalism. Jip Orlando (talk) 23:51, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

I tried that, I was declined. They told me to go here. Mvcg66b3r (talk) 00:00, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

It's not really obvious to me what's going on here. I don't know anything about Oklahoma television stations, and the content isn't sourced. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 00:33, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

98.22.136.242 keeps adding information about "new" subchannels, despite no official confirmation from the station. Mvcg66b3r (talk) 00:49, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

He's at it again: KSBI: [82] KCEB (Tulsa): [83] Mvcg66b3r (talk) 02:10, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

AIV report done after their newest edits; 31h block applied. We can close this up now. Nate • (chatter) 04:45, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

98.22.136.242 is back at it, as soon as the block ended: KMBC-TV: [84] I think a longer block or outright ban is in order. Mvcg66b3r (talk) 23:32, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

The same thing's happening, this time from another IP: 107.77.161.11 with WFAA: [85] [86] [87] Mvcg66b3r (talk) 00:17, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Edit-warring at AIV

There is some edit warring going on at AIV. The main people include User:Adam9007, User:kjelltyrid, and User:Coldandspicy. I just want to notify anybody, and I don't want to get involved in this dispute, but somebody should take a look at it. RileyBugz^会話_投稿記録 00:44, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

I pretty much explained the situation in a nutshell, here. 2601:1C0:10B:7D6D:19FC:80A1:3B49:6D26 (talk) 00:57, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Oshwah just blocked User:Kjelltyrid for 36 hours. As for the other users reverting at WP:AIV, I don't know what'll happen with that... 2601:1C0:10B:7D6D:19FC:80A1:3B49:6D26 (talk) 00:59, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

The issue began when Kjelltyrid filed an AIV report against Adam9007 for "aggressive vandalism on Henrik Steffens Professor with insertion of a blatantly false claim about the article being a duplicate when it's clearly not." This was in response to a CSD tag that Adam9007 added restored to Henrik Steffens Professor (an article the user started and was expanding) after it was originally added by Ukpong1 and then removed by Kjelltyrid. Both Adam9007 and Coldandspicy were removing the AIV report that Kjelltyrid added, and were attempting to add their own AIV reports against Kjelltyrid as well. In the end, I found that Kjelltyrid repeatedly removed Adam9007's CSD tag on the article and was also edit warring in a disruptive fashion (both on the article and at AIV), and I blocked the user for 36 hours for disruptive editing.

User:Adam9007, User:Coldandspicy: Remember that if things start going down this route at AIV (someone reports you and you believe or know it to be false, yadda yadda yadda...), instead of removing the report, you're welcome to add a response and input to it instead. This will avoid the edit warring and disruption on AIV that happened just a bit ago :-).

I think that about wraps this report up. Issue resolved :-) ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 01:08, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

@Oshwah: It wasn't my CSD tag; I was just restoring it because he (the creator of the page) removed it. Adam9007 (talk) 01:10, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Ah, my bad Adam9007. I apologize for the mistake in my response. It was Ukpong1 who originally applied the CSD tag on the article. I've redacted and updated my statement above in bold. ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 01:16, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

I thought Kjelltyrid's report on Adam9007 was a fake report attacking Adam9007, and my instinct is to revert that kind of report. Cold and Spicy 01:34, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

@Coldandspicy: That's what I thought too. Were we being naïve? Adam9007 (talk) 01:54, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

If there's any place that's going to see an insta-block for edit-warring or inappropriately removing reports, it's AIV - even the most stupid of reports, and users should pretty much never remove themselves from AIV. It's too busy for admins, trigger-happy admins with an appetite for blocking someone, to look too deeply and start lengthy discussions while there's edit-warring going on. If the situation isn't extremely clear, leave things in place and just add a simple comment. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 01:57, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Edit warring at AIV... Reminds me of a video I saw; a couple of kids decided to sneak up on a sleeping cat and suddenly yell in order to scare it. It was a skunk... --Guy Macon (talk) 04:05, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Adam9007 - I wouldn't call it "naive", lol. I don't believe that her report was true or had merit (obviously...), but I do believe that Kjelltyrid felt that her AIV report was legitimate and that she felt that you were engaging in "aggressive vandalism" - obviously not true; the user is just new and doesn't understand the rules yet. After she edit warred on the article with the CSD tag removal, she went to AIV. Once she saw you removing her report at AIV, those actions further instilled upon her that you were vandalizing and trolling - after all, you were now removing her report, right? You gotta see things from her perspective and understand that she's new... what would you had done if you were in her position and saw all of this? As Zzuuzz said above, edit warring at AIV isn't a good idea. There are admins (unfortunately) that will see the edit warring in itself and, instead of looking into the matter to find the root cause of the problem, will simply block everyone. It's not the wrong thing for such an admin to do, since edit warring was occurring - It'll just throw those involved into the pit before anyone has had a chance to explain and can end up putting a ding on your reputation. Just respond to the report and explain why it's wrong and discuss it. It's a much better way of handling the situation ;-) ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 06:27, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

The response I made above made me realize that the block I placed upon the account was too harsh given this user's tenure. Per the message I left the user on her talk page here, I've decided to unblock the account. We must be understanding and put ourselves into this person's shoes; she's new, she doesn't know all of the rules yet, and I believe that she felt that she was legitimate with her report and decision to revert the removal of it at AIV. I can't hold her to that harsh of accountability. I think her block length was sufficient given this perspective. Feedback, thoughts, disagreements, and community input is welcome should anyone feel the need to comment. ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 10:52, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

@Oshwah:Thanks Oswah for intervening in the issue. Zazzysa (talk) 05:53, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Ukpong1 - You bet! Always happy to help :-) ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 06:01, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

RileyBugz - It's a bit late now (so, no big deal - lol), but do remember that you must notify everyone involved in an ANI discussion with a notice on their user talk pages. I just realized that my messages to Kjelltyrid are probably going to confuse the living heck out of her since she wasn't notified of this ANI discussion. Again, no biggie - figured I'd let you know though :-) ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 11:00, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Ok, thanks. Is there a template or something that one can use? RileyBugz^会話_投稿記録 11:07, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

@RileyBugz: You'll find that near the top of this page. ―Mandruss ☎ 11:12, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Seattle tour company

• Argosycruises (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Argosy Cruises (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• 68.178.121.226 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log) - corp IP according to WHOIS
• 216.206.111.124 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log) - corp IP according to WHOIS

Cursory examination of these accounts/IPs shows that they are WP:NOTHERE to contribute, rather spamming a certain Seattle tour company for a number of years with repeated warnings. This could have been filed as an SPI, I suppose, but it's really so obvious maybe we can skip that and just proceed to next steps. ☆ Bri (talk) 03:46, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Re-addition of unsourced original research to Goodwood, South Australia

Since 14 August User:Phygoo has continued to re-add unsourced original research to Goodwood, South Australia. (See: diff 1 diff 2 diff 3)

While it's not linkspam, Phygoo may have a COI as this material consists of real estate puffery, and it's possible that he may be trying to spruik or sell property in the area. (In 2015 Phygoo made similar unwarranted peacock edits to Park Holme, South Australia, see diff 4, which have since been removed.)

Some of this material in the Goodwood article was added in 2016 by User:Kswikata, (see diff 5) and it's possible that this may be the same person, as Phygoo now seems to be also claiming it as his own research.

I've reverted all but the most recent re-addition (while trying to be civil and avoid 3RR) and put appropriate warning templates on his talk page (subst:uw-unsourced1, subst:uw-blog). He hasn't replied directly to these messages. but has instead made implied threats in his edit summaries (and on my userpage, see diff 6, which he reverted half an hour later, with another lengthy edit summary, see diff 7.)

Somewhat paradoxically, his latest move has been to award me an anti-vandalism barnstar (see diff 8), which I assume is an effort to avoid further action on my part, and to game the system.

His latest re-addition to the Goodwood article has since been reverted by another editor. Cheers, Bahudhara (talk) 07:51, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

If they revert that again, then there's a good chance they'll be blocked on WP:3RR if nothing else. Lugnuts ^{Fire Walk with Me} 12:34, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

There are now seven warnings on his talk page (including one by me; i am the other editor Buhudhara mentioned above), with four of them put there after his most recent edit. I'd suggest we close this, see what he does next, and go to the edit warring board if he continues the same behaviour. Happy days, Lindsay^Hello 18:48, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

PA is irking me

Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) said this, which I saw a few hours ago. I pointed out something here, thinking that, well, he would retract it. He didn't.

Although I usually just let PAs against pass by, I am really, really pissed with the implication that I am anti-semitic, which comes pretty much from nowhere and is chilling because that sort of mud sticks. Can someone please tell Norton not to bandy around things like that before doing their homework? There is absolutely no basis to it, either in my real life or in what I do on Wikipedia. - Sitush (talk) 16:02, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Yes, that's pretty low, Mister. But I thought you'd got a good handle on it: E.g., @Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ): implies someone is antisemitic on no basis; so @Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) gets told to Fuck Himself Off. The system works. Although I do not necessarilly blame you at all for wanting some official eyes on it- in the spirit of preventing similar suggestions in future, I suppose Sitush? — fortunavelut luna 16:27, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Some people perhaps don't get so riled by being labelled an anti-semite. I know the "he started it first" idea is childish, but he did and telling him to fuck off is not actually labelling him etc. I live in an area that has the second-highest density of Jewish people in the UK. I would be absolutely hammered if this baseless stuff got out. - Sitush (talk) 16:35, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Would Stamford Hill have the highest, would you say? — fortunavelut luna 16:37, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Eh? What is your point? Now he is piling it on with insinuations of hatred about other things. I'm seriously pissed with this. - Sitush (talk) 16:38, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

No, just idle curiousity, sorry- often wondered on a 253. Yes, the implications there are rather egregious. It's effectively envelope-pushing (in)civility, and certainly casting WP:ASPERSIONS upon an editor's motives. Mind you, RAN does seem to have form when it comes to that kind of incollegiality. — fortunavelut luna 16:49, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

• Since asking for/demanding apologies is a waste of time, let's do it this way instead:

  User:Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) will be blocked indefinitely if he ever says, or implies, that someone is an anti-semite. He will remain blocked until he agrees never to say something like that again, and can get the reviewing admin to believe him. This is not because we can't call things by their true names here; it is because apparently he is incapable of understanding the meaning of this very charged term.

The point being, it's OK to call actual anti-semites "anti-semitic", but if you don't understand the term, or (worse) are using it to score rhetorical points, then you can't do that here. Whether, as a human being, RAN owes Sitush an apology is not a matter for WP. --Floquenbeam (talk) 17:11, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Forgot to metntion here, but I've {{rpa}}'d the original insult that started this whole thing off, and {{collapse}}'d the resulting comments at the AFD. --Floquenbeam (talk) 17:21, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict) I agree that, after all, apologies aren't guarantees, whereas this way should achieve that. Seconded. 'Implies' is the equivalent of 'broadly construed,' here, I suppose. — fortunavelut luna 17:23, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

RAN's response is not encouraging; I'd switch the first sentence of that proposal to just "RAN is indeffed." GoldenRing (talk) 17:46, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

I prefer the warning first, but will not lose any sleep if we do it your way. --Floquenbeam (talk) 17:50, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Not encouraging, indeed! if they cannot see that you cannot dictate after the event how a remark is to be taken by those it is directed at. CIR, IDHT, are intimated. — fortunavelut luna 17:54, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Support block and talk later. This is an editor who flies to this page when he believes he's been insulted with post after post about the incident. He wants consideration when he thinks he's on the receiving end, but appears to care less about what he says to others. Deja vu from one year ago today. BTW-Has he been notified of this thread? We hope (talk) 18:14, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Notified. Reminder, @Sitush: when you start a discussion about an editor, you must notify them on their user talk page. nihlus kryik (talk) 18:22, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

@Nihlus Kryik: He knows. They know. The subject was notified, some time ago. Just bear in mind, because someone hasn't used a template, it doesn't mean it's not there. There is, after all, more to WP than templates, I hope :) Or at least, should be. — fortunavelut luna 18:49, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Sitush did notify Mysticdan (talk) 18:49, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Yeah, that's my bad. I missed it in all their friendly banter. :) nihlus kryik (talk) 21:37, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

• Well, I'm not going to let this thread archive until Norton responds here. As others have said above, he does have form for making wild accusations. Somehow, he needs to learn that it isn't acceptable. - Sitush (talk) 07:15, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

• I agree. When lines are crossed, people need to account for their actions, and just ignoring the community at ANI in the hope it dies a death just isn't appropriate. - SchroCat (talk) 12:07, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

It's not a very good sign at all, I agree. — fortunavelut luna 12:30, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

• I'm a little surprised no one seems to have noted this comment, which likely prompted RAN's explosive remarks. It's probably not a good idea to suggest that one's own draft comments would have been misconstrued as antisemitism. To me, that's just asking for trouble. I certainly don't believe that Sitush is antisemitic, nor do I think RAN should have made such an assumption based on the comment I've linked. My point is that trying to preemptively head off such an accusation is not a great idea. WP:BEANS and such. Lepricavark (talk) 04:30, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

• RAN may have misinterpreted Sitush's remarks, but that was over two days ago and the personal attack has not been retracted. There has been zero evidence to suggest the PA had any foundation. The only editor who said "I am not antisemitic, but..." is RAN—Sitush did not say that. Johnuniq (talk) 06:09, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

• The only credible comments above are those calling for an indefinite block. People can say unfortunate things and not be sanctioned provided they acknowledge their mistake. Ignoring this ANI discussion and doubling-down on the original accusation (see diff and RAN's talk) is unacceptable. Apologies are never required at Wikipedia but if, more than two days after the original accusation, an editor cannot withdraw their attack they are actively (right now) accusing an editor of antisemitism. That is an ongoing PA which requires an indef to prevent further disruption. Johnuniq (talk) 06:09, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Reporting User:Toohool, User:Ravenswing, User: Sandstein, User:Yosemiter for cyberbullying

Those users are bullying me and stoping from creating a Wikipedia page for City National Arena for no valid reason whatsoever NetWitz (talk) 20:12, 16 August 2017 (UTC)NetWitz

@NetWitz: Please notify each editor you have mentioned as per the requirements of this page. For reference, this request was first made here which I removed. There is also a ANEW report regarding this editor (here) which I have closed by fully protecting the page -- There'sNoTime ^{(to explain)} 20:17, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

• We did not stop you. You made it City National Arena, then had ownership issues with it by reverting whenever I tried to clean it up no matter what. The subject had been discussed to see if it was even noteworthy of mention, much less an article, on Talk:Vegas Golden Knights#Vegas Golden Knights practice facility. The article was deleted by consensus at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/City National Arena. You then continued to have an edit war with everyone and created City national arena, City National Arena (NHL Practice Facility), and City Aational Arena. If you would just cooperate and stop beating a now very dead horse, you would stop getting warnings. Yosemiter (talk) 20:22, 16 August 2017 (UTC)
• I note that on the ANEW report, NetWitz's response was "That is a complete lie, I've been trying to discuss about it and nobody responds." That is not in fact true. This was discussed extensively on the Vegas Golden Knights talk page, on the page for the AfD, and on more than one user talk page. NetWitz is obviously not getting the answers he wants to hear, but a number of editors don't seem to be inclined to set aside either notability criteria or consensus just because he's so very heavily invested in this practice rink being mentioned on Wikipedia.

  That being said, full protection of the Golden Knights page is a poor idea and an overreaction. This is a National Hockey League team about to enter its first season, with training camp starting in a couple of weeks, and rather from enjoining many dozens of editors from making good faith edits, it would be preferable to prevent the one heavy edit warrior here from editing the page. Ravenswing 20:29, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

• Your comments are noted - I will revert my full protection (restoring the move semi-protection that was in place beforehand) and block NetWitz as suggested at the ANEW report -- There'sNoTime ^{(to explain)} 20:37, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

• Thank you for your prompt reconsideration! Ravenswing 20:40, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Ravenswing told a boldface life, I had asked further questions and they have yet to be answered!! Also, City National Arena is not just a practice rink, it's the headquarters of the Vegas Golden Knights, and will feature their official restaurant!!! I demand Ravenswing be removed from Wikipedia for his (or her) very rude attitude and behavior.NetWitz (talk) 05:38, 18 August 2017 (UTC)NetWitz

You got blocked for this behavior and the first thing you do after getting unblocked is to run back here and make more shit up? Away with you. --Tarage (talk) 06:20, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Also socking. — JJMC89 (T·C) 06:33, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Adorable. Block them both. --Tarage (talk) 06:36, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I did not make anything up, and you a rude for accusing me2600:8801:2D01:64D0:B834:3D91:9EC8:B6D (talk) 06:47, 18 August 2017 (UTC)NetWitz

You just keep digging don't you. Add the IP to the list to block. --Tarage (talk) 06:48, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Why are you being such a hurtful rotten bully to me? NetWitz (talk) 06:58, 18 August 2017 (UTC)NetWitz

Why are you sockpuppeting? --Tarage (talk) 06:59, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I just reported you for cyberbullying on Wikipedia2600:8801:2D01:64D0:7C98:12E:23D7:DE49 (talk) 07:12, 18 August 2017 (UTC)NetWitz

And I have added another IP to the sock puppet investigation. --Tarage (talk) 07:18, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I am not sock puppeting!!! NetWitz (talk) 07:25, 18 August 2017 (UTC)NetWitz

Adorable. You'll be banned soon. --Tarage (talk) 07:28, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

You know, Tarage, some editors seem to enjoy this ANI business too much. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by your persistent snarky haranguing of defendants, no matter how guilty they are. A defining characteritic of a bully is picking the easy targets, at Wikipedia or anywhere else. Lay off. ―Mandruss ☎ 08:08, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Tired of having a sockpuppetry case hanging over my head

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Can an admin please close Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Renamed user jC6jAXNBCg. Although I think the editor who opened the case was acting in good faith, the connections between accounts are based on flimsy pretexts. A checkuser was completed over a week ago and found no connection between any of the listed accounts (including mine). World's Lamest Critic (talk) 20:34, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Still waiting. World's Lamest Critic (talk) 14:58, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Recommend you to close this thread since you do not require separate administrator intervention, it'll be taken care of at SPI. --QEDK (愛 • 海) 16:45, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

I mean this with all due respect, but foot-stomping often has the exact opposite effect from the one desired. Just a thought. Dumuzid (talk) 18:12, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

I was falsely accused of being a sockpuppet. A checkuser was done over a week ago. I assume that the admins who regularly work at SPI are reluctant to touch the case. So I'm asking here because I don't like having this hanging over my head. If I thought it was going to be dealt with in a timely manner I wouldn't be asking here (and it obviously has not been dealt with in a timely manner). World's Lamest Critic (talk) 18:23, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Article recreation

Article Daniel Cepeda was recently created by editor User:JasmineJaye (talk). It is clearly a copy of Wikipedia's article on Money. The editor has also attempted to blank Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Daniel Cepeda to avoid being hit with a g4 or A11 speedy delete. Requesting action be taken, if it has not already been done. I would recommend liberal use of salt. SamHolt6 (talk) 21:03, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

I've blocked the user for disruptive editing, protected the AfD for a few months and salted the article. Aside from blanking various things (including this discussion) after being warned this clearly says they're not here to be constructive. Hut 8.5 21:08, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Confederate monuments list

There is a lot of editing going on at List of monuments and memorials of the Confederate States of America, including some trying to change the list-article to cover schools and parks named after Confederate leaders. The list-article has been in place since 2010, with current title since 2015, and IMHO it is clearly out of scope to add those. There has been some back and forth at Talk page, including at a discussion section about proposed name change / scope change, which is at least partly productive. I myself stated that I was following wp:BRD and removing the off-topic additions, and I expect that there should be discussion first.

However, it has gotten out of hand now. In this edit just now an editor accused me of vandalism, which is absurd, and there were other accusations that way in edit summaries and at the Talk page. I don't want to term it edit warring so far. I removed stuff and after it was all restored I removed it once more, with direction to the Talk page, and I don't plan to restore it now myself. But the list-article has been trashed, in my view, and is now non-encyclopedic. I suggest it would be appropriate to restore a neutral version of the article and freeze it, and force discussion by RFC or whatever, at the Talk page. I hope some attention can be given there. I may not be able to respond/participate much more myself. --doncram 23:56, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

I would advise that any matters dealing with this be passed to the Foundation for office action. I just don't feel, at our pay grade, it is safe or advisable to deal with.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:19, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Wehwalt: What a ridiculous statement. The current article's already pretty long, so it would make sense to spin off a new list of public facilities (schools, parks, buildings -- but not monuments, statues) named for Confederates. If there's no such list, someone start it (I would but I don't even have one thing I can put on it). EEng 00:28, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

I am referring to administrative actions and you are not. That is within the terms of what the OP is asking for.--Wehwalt (talk) 02:22, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I'm referring to potential administrative actions too. If you're too afraid of the drooling knuckle-draggers to use your tools, step back and let those made of better stuff do it instead. EEng 03:27, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

A bunch of editors added memorials like schools and highways and one editor took them all out, changing the lede in a number of places. A spinout might be ok with consensus, but we create the spinout and then remove the content from the origional while adding a hatnote pointing to the spinout. I agree this repeated removal of valid content across multiple edits borders on vandalism. It's hard to restore the removed content due to intervening edits. Legacypac (talk) 05:00, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

• Not a complicated problem. List inclusions are based on the defined criteria for the list. 'Memorials' is a not a great definition criteria because schools, roads, fountains, libraries etc are all named as memorials. Some even have 'memorial' in the name. This is not unique to the US. If the criteria is meant to include 'memorials' in general then there is no issue, if the list is meant to only include things like statues, then it clearly needs to say that. The answer is hold an RFC. Only in death does duty end (talk) 09:35, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Report of malicious edits by user ID: FuzhouneseMinpride on wikipedia page "Subei People"

I, as Subei People, am requesting administrator's attention to recent malicious edit to wikipedia page "Subei People", which is the page describing my homeland.

I have made substantial contributions to "Subei people". It was once full of discriminative worlds, unreasonable slander and narrow minded description.

However, user ID: FuzhouneseMinpride, deliberately deletes much of my contribution (my effort to make this page less discriminative and narrow minded).

He maliciously changed one of the notable people in "Subei People"page from Zhou Enlai, a respectable Chinese Premier to what he said, "one of the most infamous traitors in China's history." Here is an analogy: Someone change the "Notable people" section in "USA" page from George Washington to Dean Arnold Corll, "one of the most infamous American serial killer".

I sincerely hope that you could pay attention to this explicit malicious edit on my hometown's wikipedia page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kamikaze2017 (talk • contribs) 00:58, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

• OK, there is nothing to this: Kamikaze refuses to actually engage in conversation (on article talk page or user talk page) with the editor, and it's their edits that are really troubling; see the article history. There is no reason to escalate to a noticeboard and Kamikaze needs to be more mindful of such basic policies as WP:NPOV and WP:V. Drmies (talk) 01:11, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Disruptive editing by User:FuzzyCatPotato

FuzzyCatPotato (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is a member of the Board of Trustees for the RationalMedia Foundation and has blatantly been involved in conflict of interest editing on the RationalWiki article and on other articles by inserting links to RationalWiki, and I fear he is not here to build an encyclopedia. In January 2017, I noticed a link to Rational-Wiki added to Michel Chossudovsky that I thought was inappropriate, so I removed it per WP:BOLD, and left {{uw-coi}} on his talk page. He reacted defensively, reverting @Fyddlestix: and me when we were trying to remove the inappropriate link. He posted on the talk page, which is fine, and consensus was established per WP:BLPEL. Oddly enough, a community-banned RationalWikian troll known as Keegscee (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) appeared to interfere in the situation. FuzzyCatPotato once again added a link to Rational-Wiki in July 2017 on the vaginal steaming article. A few days later, I noticed the link and removed it per WP:ELNO but did not notice who added it. I did notice he was the one who posted it when reviewing my own edits in August 2017, so I left an escalated warning template on his talk page about promoting his wiki, following the standard procedure I would follow with any person repeatedly promoting an organization they are affiliated with. FuzzyCatPotato responded extremely defensively and sarcastically, stating "Spamming" I am shaking in my boots, accusing me of being a "Conservapedia editor demanding "respect", implied that he sees this as a war in his edit summary at EL/N, made a blatantly uncivil and disruptive comment on my talk page that he later reverted claiming it was the "wrong website" and later blamed on a friend, and made nonsense edit on his own talk page which he later reverted with the edit summary "fuck off" which is presumably directed at Wikipedians he disagrees with. A large percentage of FuzzyCatPotato's edits are related to Rational-Wiki, he describes his Rational-Wiki account as his "real" account on his user page here, and adding insult to injury is a suspicion of paid editing by @Beetstra:. At least four of the voters in RationalWiki's most recent AfD were affiliated with the website, and if there is ongoing paid editing or meatpuppetry, FuzzyCatPotato is at least involved in it. FuzzyCatPotato's most recent edit was to try and WP:Wikilawyer an excuse for continuing to add R-W links after the matter had previously been discussed, after previously claiming he would not interact with me anymore. I believe FuzzyCatPotato's overall behavior is disruptive and that he should be blocked or banned accordingly. PCHS-NJROTC ^{(Messages)Have a blessed day.} 01:41, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
FYI, I am unplugging from the situation and Wikipedia as a whole effective immediately (at least for two weeks) due to summer courses, leaving trust in the community to solve this matter. I invite any Wikipedian to WP:TROUT me should I do otherwise. PCHS-NJROTC ^{(Messages)Have a blessed day.} 02:23, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Frankly, though I would never encourage any editor to remain engaged here when their other obligations are demanding their time, it's less than ideal to make a broad ranging (if apparently actually factually accurate) behavioural complaint against another user and then immediately disengage from the project, since we may require additional information to contextualize and analyze the accusations. If you really cannot edit at all in the next two weeks, I guess that's just where we are at, but I must tell you that it greatly decreases the liklihood that definitive action will be taken to restrain the editor, even if they are genuinely disruptive. It's also not impossible that your own involvement might ome under scrutiny while you are not here to defend your involvement, just to give you a head's up.

That procedural observation made, I do see the problem being raised here with this clearly COI editor. There seems to be a clear lack of perspective and respect for Wikipedia's content standards, where they conflict with what this user considers to be the WP:TRUTH of matters. Of even more concern are the PA's/trolling, particularly where they are at their most WP:BATTLEGROUND, as with this edit, and the following sequence of comments/reversions, no matter the textbook Wikipedia:My little brother did it claim. More digging will be necesary here, but already I am inclined to believe a topic ban may be the minimum required to address the WP:NOTHERE, WP:COI, and WP:DISRUPTIVE behaviours.

An SPI is the next logical step, though, since an indef will be the almost certain result if it turns out that there is a sock party going on here, and there's no point in debating the seriousness of the other behaviours and what sanction should be applied to prevent them, if the indef for abuse of multiple accounts is going to be the ultimate outcome anyway. Since you are the most concerned editor here and the one with the most familiarity with the purported disruption/socking/gaming, I'd encourage you to either put together the basic evidence for the SPI for us to consider--or even file it yourself, if you are confident that there is enough to make the WP:DUCK argument, and assuming you have the time before taking your break. Snow ^{let's rap} 03:32, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

My only involvement here was at Michel Chossudovsky - the incident there ([88][89][90][91]), while odd, was eventually resolved and is pretty stale now. These, much more recent edits [92][93] are also pretty odd, but Fuzzy has self-reverted both of them and apologized. So assuming that we AGF and Fuzzy has learned their lesson there (ie, no more letting your friends use your account, no more decidedly un-funny "joke" posts) I'm not sure there's anything to be done there either.

The core of the problem seems to be the - thus far unresolved - question of whether RW can be used as an EL. See two separate ongoing discussions here and here, which (to my surprise) don't seem to have a clear consensus just yet. Personally I'd think it's obvious that RW is wholly inappropriate for use as a source or EL anywhere on wikipedia, but I guess that's neither here nor there. Those discussions should be allowed to conclude and both FuzzyCatPotato and PCHS-NJROTC need to abide by that consensus, whatever the result. Assuming they do that, there should be no further cause/reason for further drama or disruption here. Fyddlestix (talk) 04:59, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Well, regardless of the prudence of using those links on those articles, if PCHS's concerns about sock/meat puppetry turn out to be verifiable, you can bet there will be blocks. Snow ^{let's rap} 05:15, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Frankly, I was just plain confused by that bit. Where is the evidence? Keegscee is mentioned above but isn't FCP, and it's not surprising that people active on RW would turn up to !vote to keep an article on their own site. A COI issue, sure, but it doesn't mean they're socks. Am I missing something? All I see here so far is innuendo... Fyddlestix (talk) 05:24, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

• The situation is more balanced than may first appear. User:PCHS-NJROTC proclaims the editor is a member of Conservapedia, and has been since 2009. For anyone new here, the folks at Conservapedia and Rational-Wiki have, shall we say, diametrically opposing views. FuzzyCatPotato has a COI which the user acknowledges (example). However, PCHS-NJROTC's campaign to oppose Rational-Wiki has exactly the same COI. I noticed the fuss at a couple of pages on my watchlist and my guess is that FuzzyCatPotato has allowed exasperation to gain the upper hand a couple of times, and that is why a couple of recent diffs in the OP show silly edits. However, the shotgun OP is very weak—why make me look at Special:Contributions/Keegscee only to discover the user was indeffed over seven years ago? Johnuniq (talk) 05:17, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

[COIN: RW editor, RW mod, RW boardmember]

The above complaint is multifaceted; let's do line-by-line.

Conflict of interest:

• This is unrefutable. I have an obvious conflict of interest. Indeed, I note so in virtually every post I've made to this website.
• However, I do my best to avoid WP:NOTHERE in terms of WP:NPOV. Example 1: When PCHS-NJROTC asked for more negative coverage from reliable sources in RationalWiki, I stepped up and added three such sources, for which PCHS-NJROTC commended me. Example 2: PCHS-NJROTC suggested discussion move from Talk:Vaginal steaming to WP:ELN and I did so.
• However, I think my COI is sufficiently strong that I shouldn't add any links to RationalWiki outside the RationalWiki (and possibly Conservapedia?) articles. I will not do so, regardless of what WP:ANI decides.

Sockpuppetry:

• User:DefinitelyNotFCP is not me: (I reverted them from adding RationalWiki.org, b/c consensus at Talk:Michel_Chossudovsky#RationalWiki_link was against.)
• User:Keegscee is not me: (SPI finding)
• If PCHS-NJROTC wishes, I welcome an SPI.

Disruption:

• WP:BATTLE: PCHS-NJROTC cites this edit summary, which states: "must every comment be another salvo in your war?" For context, I recommend this comment. I was and am annoyed by PCHS-NJROTC's use of discussion policy as a way of "telling people off" (eg, [94][95]). PCHS-NJROTC added a comment for no reason other than to say "nuh uh, YOU'RE the real bludgeoner!"
• Wikipedia:My little brother did it: PCHS-NJROTC points to [96][97] and [98][99] as disruptive. PCHS-NJROTC clearly does not accept my (admittedly unprovable and thus flimsy) explanation & apology. From the viewpoint of ANI, this is probably good grounds for a short-term block. *shrug* So be it.

Paid editing:

• ??? Honestly not sure where this comes from. I'm on the (nonprofit!) RationalWiki board -- we don't have the money to pay one, much less multiple, Wikipedia-writers. But if PCHS-NJROTC has evidence more solid than an evidence-free assertion by another Wikipedia user, then they may go right ahead.

Wikilawyering:

• I don't know what this refers to.

A final note:

Though PCHS-NJROTC does not note so here, PCHS-NJROTC has a substantial personal bias against RationalWiki. In his own words, PCHS-NJROTC is "biased against their wiki" to the degree that he is "against almost everything Rational-Wiki promotes". In PCHS-NJROTC's words, RationalWiki is my "mothership"; a "hate site"; the cause of "numerous fecal hurricanes on Wikipedia" for "the last seven years"; content created by teenagers -- indeed, "most of them are juvenile"; and "more like E{ncyclopedia }D{ramatica}" (a low blow). This bias led to PCHS-NJROTC falsely accusing User:David Gerard of WP:COI for a copyright issue with Freeman on the land. This bias was also why I initially dismissed PCHS-NJROTC's concerns on my talkpage.

Summary:

A short-term block for disruption to my own and PCHS-NJROTC's user talk pages is probably in order, as is a ban on adding links to rationalwiki.org to other articles. All else is baseless.

Thanks. FuzzyCatPotato (talk) 07:35, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Comment: Having followed up on the context of each diff the OP provided, I haven't been able to find evidence of any recent socking associated with the present contest of wills. Yes, there are some extremely stale issues associated with numerous editors with an association to RationalWiki, but nothing connecting with FCP. FCP does have a rather large COI and could arguably stand to contribute to other areas if they want to prove that they are WP:HERE, rather than focusing on an organization for which they sit on the Board of Trustees, but they have not hidden the conflict and no evidence has been submitted to prove they are being disruptive to the level necessitating sanction. Those trolling comments certainly push the line, and I think FCP ought to read WP:COMPROMISED, because they very easily could have ended up with their primary account blocked (still could, technically speaking). It also calls into question just how responsible and professional an organization RationalWiki is, that one of its board members is either publicly trolling here or had a buddy who was willing to such, that they let use their account. I'd not want to have to explain that to the Board, if they became ware of this. But that said, and for our purposes on this project, I am willing to AGF on those couple of bizarre comments and I don't think they would amount to sanction in any event.

Under normal circumstances I would say we could stand to wait a little while to let PCHS-NJROTC substantiate their claims a little more. But since that user has made it clear that they planned to check out of Wikipedia for a couple of weeks starting immediately, that doesn't seem like a fruitful approach. Given the ambiguous and unsubstantiated nature of the claims made against FCP, no likely further involvement from the OP, the perspective of other editors (who are much more neutral than either the OP or FCP appear to be) who present an interpretation that suggests this is at least a two-way street, and the fairly even-tempered mea cupla of FCP, it is my opinion that this thread should be closed fairly quickly, with a thorough trouting for both editors, but probably no other action required. Snow ^{let's rap} 08:23, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

(RMF board member here) The complainant is on a mission against RW, as detailed above. His spurious COI complaint against me was because I reverted a violation of copyright on his part. This complaint is more of the same, which is why the cites are so shoddy and spurious. I suggest a neutral editor examine the evidence and close it — Preceding unsigned comment added by David Gerard (talk • contribs)
I am going to go ahead and reply since several people seem to desire my response, but I don't desire to spend the day watching this. Blocks are preventative, not punative. To clarify, the paid editing suspicion was raised by @Beestra: and he is the one that would need to provide insight on that. I am not saying that FCP is Keegscee, but they are from the same site and I fully believe the Rational-Wiki community collaborates to influence Wikipedia, as supported by the fact that another board member came to his defense in this discussion. There's also a description of an interesting organization that sounds an awful lot like a meatpuppetry ring on Rational-Wiki's article on Wikipedia. Some people have pointed out that I am a Conservapedian, and while that is correct, I have been a Wikipedian longer, have made more contributions to Wikipedia, I learned about Conservapedia only through Rational-Wikian shenanigans on Wikipedia, and unlike FCP, I do not go around promoting Conservapedia on Wikipedia except to acknowledge my involvement on my talk page. People bring up my dislike for Rational-Wiki, but honestly who here does like groups who have been responsible for disruptive behavior? I think bringing that into the equation here is a clear indication that some people think this is a WP:BATTLE, but I'm frankly not interested in a war with them; I'm interested in the integrity of the encyclopedia. FCP has acknowledged that his actions are block worthy, but he has also promised to change his behavior. Blocks are preventative, not punative, so I think the question is whether we are to believe he will change. Based on his response, I would recommend WP:TROUT for now per WP:AGF, possibly a topic ban, and an immediate revisitation of the issue if he does not change. PCHS-NJROTC ^{(Messages)Have a blessed day.} 12:51, 17 August 2017 (UTC) Something else I am going to add is that the first {{uw-coi}} template was honestly to help Fuzzy, not to slap him/her. In round two of Fuzzy's links, I was (and still am) annoyed, and I'm annoyed that he would push the issue as a COI editor. I don't have a problem with Fuzzy being here as a RationalWikian, but he needs to follow our rules and assimilate to the culture of Wikipedia. PCHS-NJROTC ^{(Messages)Have a blessed day.} 13:15, 17 August 2017 (UTC) (No smart ass pun intended; I just realized the similarities to political arguments)

"There's also a description of an interesting organization that sounds an awful lot like a meatpuppetry ring on Rational-Wiki's article on Wikipedia." You can in fact link to RW to demonstrate your claims about RW, you know. So please back up such claims. (I asked you to do so when you tried it on with your copyright violation, and you didn't then either.) You have yet to make a supported claim for action, and appear to be attempting to cover up such with sheer weight of verbiage. You have supplied nothing to show that FCP did anything wrong, and you really need to do so. Supply actual evidence, rather than piling on more claims - David Gerard (talk) 16:45, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Here and here. I don't like messing around with links when editing from mobile devices. I know very little about that organization in all honesty, but I am skeptical of any non-WMF/non-community based efforts to get people to edit Wikipedia a certain way, and Rational-Wiki seems to be promoting it, or at least in favor of it. You seem awfully defensive of your fellow board member who is here because he did something undeniably (and admittedly on his part) stupid, David. 74.5.231.189 (talk) 17:43, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

The accusation that Guerrilla Skeptics on Wikipedia is in any way associated with Rationalwiki is a frequent one, but in several years of it I know of zero people involved in both. (As per the second link.) Unless you can actually produce some. Also, there's no evidence Guerrilla Skeptics on Wikipedia has done anything wrong and that there would be anything wrong with being associated with them.

You're still not substantiating your claim at all, just stacking unsubstantiated accusations even higher - David Gerard (talk) 19:30, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

I'm inclined to agree. All those links do us provide coverage of Wikipedia's own policies from a "skeptics" point of view and celebrate the fact that the MEDRS/scientific contet policies align so well with their objectives already. They do not organize or encourage gaming, vandalism, trolling, or disruption in any way. There's a tempest in a teapot discussion of whether or not another group entirely had edit warred on a single article, four years ago, but zero incitement to replicate that that behaviour--in fact, the very tone of the coverage seems to suggest that the editors of that Rational Wiki article would disapprove of such a thing. Frankly, offsite speculation about a four-year-old edit war that doesn't relate to the present dispute in the slightest doesn't much interest me. If someone wants to go check out Rupert Sheldrake to make sure disruption is not an ongoing issue there, that's fine, but I see no way in which those links provide even indirect, tangential or circumstantial support for the claims they are being affixed to regarding FCP or an alleged rational wiki conspiracy.

It seems increasingly likely that there is no hard evidence at hand to support that notion, which seems to be pure supposition on PCHS's part, based on the fact that there are a large number of editors from RationalWiki commenting on the article about RationalWiki--but, as Fyddlestix points out above, there would hardly be anything surprising about that being the case, and it doesn't require a sock/meat conspiracy to come about. Frankly, I'm beginning to feel like we are playing a shell game every time PCHS is asked to substantiate their claims and I strongly feel they should consider WP:DROPPING THE STICK on this (and better yet would be a quick close by someone who has not yet commented here) before this starts to enter into WP:BOOMERANG territory. Snow ^{let's rap} 01:08, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I would second closing it per WP:AGF + WP:TROUT anyway because the accused acknowledges that he needs to adjust his behavior in COI editing and refrain from trolling or allowing other people to use his account to troll, which are the chief issues prompting this thread. It would indeed be difficult to prove WP:MEATPUPPETRY (the paid editing issue was raised by someone else, I have no idea what prompted him to believe that, and he has yet to comment here). PCHS-NJROTC ^{(Messages)Have a blessed day.} 01:29, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

A few things on your comments there: First off, there is no "accused" here; this isn't a trial in even the most remote sense. Second, What FCP actually said was that both your behaviour and theirs could have been less bombastic. I'm inclined to agree; the community is having to AGF with regard to both your approaches. Lastly, while you keep invoking Beetstra's name here as the source of the socking allegations, that user didn't file this report and hasn't commented here. You are the sole editor putting forward this vague assertion of an off-project conspiracy to vandalize the project (which claim you have repeated even through your most recent comments below), which you further say FCP must definitely be involved with, but without providing anything that looks even remotely like what we would consider evidence of such a strong claim. You can't vaguely cite another user from ages ago about some half-formed suspicion which they are not even themselves forwarding and then expect it to be taken seriously as context that proves that we should be closely scrutinizing the activity of another editor. That's not how this process works.

If you have anything concrete to suggest that FCP has socked or coordinated organized vandalism, gaming or disruption (either through on-project channels or off), then by all means supply it in the form of diffs, user comparisons, external links, or any other form of evidence used in the usually methodology for establishing these things. If you can't do that (and it seems pretty likely at this point that you have nothing that is compelling at this level), then I agree with others who have commented above that you are basically peddling innuendo without evidence here, and you should drop this line of discussion. Yes, you're right, it would be extremely difficult to prove meatpuppetry in this instance, but that doesn't mean you get to just make/imply such accusations again and again without evidence. I suggest your further commentary here avoid it altogether; you can't continue to introduce it into the discussion with a sly reference to an editor who is not even involved here and expect us to not notice that its you who is implying this supposed conspiracy without any real evidence. Snow ^{let's rap} 03:49, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

• As an uninvolved administrator, the impression I get from this thread is that a Conservapedia admin has crossed paths with a RationalWiki Trustee, both of which projects happen to have opposite views, and goals fundamentally incompatible with this project, and yet this neutral project happens to have become the site of their battleground. Unfortunately, we can't preventatively action users unless they've obviously violated our policies or consensuses, and this does not appear to be that kind of situation. It appears to be two ideologically-opposed users trying to get each other suppressed. Short of a two-way interaction ban, I don't see how we can realistically take either side, and would advise both users to quite simply leave each other alone as there is apparently no way you will be agreeing anytime soon. If you're really that unable to avoid each other, on this big project, I fear the community will have to impose a restriction. Swarm ♠ 01:42, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I could care less about getting into a fight or winning a fight with anyone from that site on Wikipedia (as a matter of fact, I find their WP:BATTLEGROUND reactions to be annoying). I could care less if FCP is blocked as long as he doesn't act disruptively (and those trolling edits are irrefutably disruptive, regardless of who committed them with Fuzzy's account). I actually would rather avoid indefinitely blocking him if at all possible because I think he will get mad and create socks if he is blocked indefinitely like Keegscee did. I just don't want people from Rational-Wiki (or Conservapedia, or any other organization for that matter) introducing links or content that are at odds with Wikipedia policy (WP:RS, WP:ELNO, WP:BLPEL, WP:NPOV, WP:ADV, WP:SPAM, WP:OR etc.), and I don't want them vandalizing or trolling either. The integrity of the encyclopedia is the top concern for me as a Wikipedian; Conservapedia, my own ideology, self glorification, etc is second to that when I edit here. PCHS-NJROTC ^{(Messages)Have a blessed day.} 01:55, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I'm also going to add that I think you hit the nail on the head when you said both sites' objectives are fundamentally incompatible with Wikipedia's neutral encyclopedia project. That's what brings us here today, the addition of links to RationalWiki escalating to a point that I have felt that a RationalWikian was being disruptive. Although I might not get involved in the situation if only to avoid off-Wikipedia consequences, a Conservapedian doing the same thing would be just as wrong. I think the simple solution would be to just spamblacklist both sites with a whitelist exception for the links on the sites' own articles. PCHS-NJROTC ^{(Messages)Have a blessed day.} 02:10, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

As James Baldwin put it, "I can't believe what you say because I see what you do." You've had a thing about the Rational Wiki folk for a while now, with spurious COI reports, block shopping, and most of the other sorts of behavior we see from editors who let strongly-held views cloud their judgment. In light of your recent efforts the "I'm not interested in picking a fight" line rings hollow. A focused topic ban on Rational Wiki and its editors would spare the rest of us this ongoing dispute and ultimately would be for your own good. It would remove the temptation to go too far in what is clearly a hot-button topic for you while allowing you to contribute in other areas. Shock Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 02:12, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I do take issue with Rational-Wiki, just as I take issue with blatant vandals (and they are known in reliable sources as a pro-vandalism site, at least historically), but I'm not interested in a fight. Certain people make it into a fight. The recent issue with the link at vaginal steaming should have been a simple matter of a link that violates policy being removed and User:FuzzyCatPotato reading the policies I provided to him, but instead he decided to respond in a smart ass way (ooooh, I'm shaking in my boots, to paraphrase). I have made very few edits to the RationalWiki or Conservapedia articles, whereas FCP has made many. Spam blacklist both Rational-Wiki and Conservapedia, or issue a decree regarding RationalWiki and Conservapedia editors making edits related to either of the two subjects per WP:COI (as Swarm points out, it's a two way street) and my interest in having anything to do with those sites' coverage on Wikipedia will vanish, and at that point I would have no opposition to a topic-ban. Unless consensus is established in favor of the link at vaginal steaming (which I do not foresee; it will either end in consensus to remove or no consensus), you bet I would object a topic ban if there's nothing in place to stop people from adding links to R-W and Conservapedia, and I would appeal to WP:ARBCOM about it. I don't care about a fight and never have, I care about maintaining the integrity of the encyclopedia, and as supported by Keegscee's case, at least some RationalWikians have been a threat to that. PCHS-NJROTC ^{(Messages)Have a blessed day.} 02:47, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

If your interest is in the content outcomes and not in suppressing the voice of an opponent, then I suggest you take the content matters to any one of the numerous forums that can handle said issues. There are certainly spaces where you can propose that Rational Wiki be blacklisted. I don't give you great odds based on such a broad-ranging proscription, especially if the evidence you provide (alleging that allowing links to that Wiki are inherently disruptive) have a similar quality to the "evidence" you've provided of behavioural problems in your opponent above. But the option remains open to you to make such a proposal. And really, it is probably your only option, since most the community who have responded here (who were previously uninvolved in the dispute) seem to be in agreement that this is a content dispute, at its core. Snow ^{let's rap} 04:01, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

There's on-going threads at WP:EL /N and Talk:Vaginal steaming. There's a few WP:USEFUL and WP:ILIKEIT arguments, as well as a WP:OTHERSTUFF/WP:HARMLESS argument, but everything else points to WP:ELNO. I don't engage with the Rational-Wikians about it (outside of necessity) or try to start fights over it, but I have been scrubbing blatant violations of WP:RS and WP:BLPEL and likely violations of WP:ELNO for seven years with no objections that I can remember except from Rational-Wikians. The exception is the one I removed from Freemen on the land, which I removed because I didn't see the correlation between that article (or previous versions) and the Rational-Wiki article (or previous versions), but since the community disagreed, I dropped the stick (even though I personally think the article needs to be firebombed and rewritten since it is apparently a paraphrase of a non-neutral publication with admitted incompatibilities with Wikipedia policies). I'm sure it's obvious that I'm agitated at the moment, but it's frustrating to see someone who refuses (until this AN/I post) to back off per WP:COI. If the community took issue with my removal of the links, I'd have stopped years ago, but until now, there's been almost nothing but support.

I brought this to AN/I mainly because his (or his friends') blatant troll posts and incivility were troubling to me as I worried that the situation was going to escalate, but he has taken responsibility for his actions since the posting of this AN/I and I am content with accepting that, unless he engages in more blatant disruption. PCHS-NJROTC ^{(Messages)Have a blessed day.} 04:28, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

• I just want to chime in that I've been involved in this, and PCHS-NJROTC started out on a great first foot; they were engaging and interesting and civil almost to a fault. That lasted about a day. Things went downhill from there. He brought up creationism in a discussion about the relative accuracy and usefulness of RW, proceeded to argue about it, and try to win me over, then (I'm guessing when it became clear that he wasn't going to win me over) proceeded to accuse me of proselytizing "anti-Christian nonsense". After that, he proceeded to berate me for beating a dead horse when I was providing some clarification to another editor, condescendingly lecturing me about "responding to every comment that disagrees with" me, and then immediately start bludgeoning another editor and misrepresent the process of the discussion in an obvious attempt to sway any closer (the correction I later added was to but one false statement among several). I started out thinking I'd met a great new Wikipedian, and by the end of it just felt disgusted with the whole thread, as well as the editor. So I can't speak to whether FCW has been disruptive at all, but I can tell you this: PCHS has been. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 04:33, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
• Support indefinite topic ban for PCHS-NJROTC from all RationalWiki topics and from commenting about the actions of editors that PCHS-NJROTC has publicly acknowledged as being associated with RationalWiki. Plenty of people are available to clean up unwarranted external links, and PCHS-NJROTC's attention is disruptive and not required. This is per Shock Brigade Harvester Boris above. Johnuniq (talk) 06:19, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Misformatted arbitration case?

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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At the end of Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case#Arthur Rubin and WP:ADMINACCT there appears a separate request for arbitration: Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case#topic-banning Supermann from all pages related to film for one year. The request involving and submitted by User:Supermann does not appear in the list at Template:ArbComOpenTasks. I don't know the best way to fix this. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 03:27, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

In the future, I would make the request at Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee, but I went ahead and added it for you. nihlus kryik (talk) 03:57, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

It's a malformed nonsensical request by Supermann, who was recently topic banned and is now appealing to ArbCom for...something. Blackmane (talk) 06:52, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Book sources (ISBN) link correction

Sorry not sure where to request it... The page Special:BookSources/9781300973294 has an incorrect link for Google Books.

Current link:

 https://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&q=isbn:9781300973294

Correct link:

 https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=9781300973294

Obviously "9781300973294" is just an example ISBN.

Thanks in advance for your assistance :-), Nux (talk) 07:42, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

 Fixed. Thanks for the heads up, Nux :-) ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 07:56, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Duplicate articles

Not sure if anything is wrong here, but there's the possibility that the duck may be clearing its throat in preparation for a quack: This image was uploaded to Commons yesterday, just 30 minutes later a different editor uploaded a complete biography using that image to Mohammed Muntari Tageo, 5 minutes after that, the same user made a copy of the article at Mohammed muntari tageo. Working back to WP from the Commons user there were also user pages that looked like article biographies as well. As I said, I'm not sure if this is anything more than a duplicate article problem, an article being reposted after deletion or something else. - X201 (talk) 08:23, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Carmaker1 aggressive edit summaries, again

Hi. Despite two previous incidents on the same issue (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Archive265#Someone_needs_a_chill_pill 1]), (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/IncidentArchive946#Edit_summaries_and_talk_page_warnings_from_Carmaker1 2]), Carmaker1 is still making aggressive Edit Summaries:

• "I am tired of ignorant, that remain too thick to realize production dates have NOTHING to do with MODEL years that are merely designations, NOT timelines based in real time. STOP using them for timelines or I'll simply report you for disruptive editing"
• "To clueless IP user 99.42...., please don't anymore unproductive changes to this article"
• "Stop wasting my time"
• "As usual SteveofC00 has an lazy inability to understand model years and thinks..."
• "Stupid wording. Why can't some of you figure out how to use prepositions..."
• "Miss me with that "citation needed" nonsense 1292"
• "1292simon it is so obvious that"
• "It is not "confusing", I don't give damn about..."
• "Some of you continue to stubbornly ignorant of model years usage"
• "Stupid vandal"
• "I really shouldn't be saying, but is utterly disappointing that there are users who are allowed contribute such contradictory information. They have no business editing here, if such simple info cannot be submitted correctly"
• "Editing things like this is a waste of time"
• "Please get the damn timeline right. I was totally thrown off, by the inability of someone else to CORRECTLY list the..."

I think something should be done to stop the personal attacks and hostile environment for other editors. 1292simon (talk) 09:31, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Well in the past few days, I've written "This article is crap. Time for at least a decent intro" and "not notable my arse", neither of which were directed towards any editor but more an exasperated sigh before I tackled some improvements to that article. I need context. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 14:58, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Unilateral undo of a consensus move

A couple of weeks ago, there was a discussion to move Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to Artsakh Republic, as the country had changed names. Consensus was obtained and the move was approved on August 7. Then people industriously performed the needed changes and moves.

Today, Norvikk (talk · contribs) appears out of nowhere and decides to move them all back. When I complained on their talk page, they reverted me, so now I come here.

I note that this is not Norvikk's first brush with edit warring, nor their first time declining to participate in any discussion; an edit summary from them, [100], translates as "Nobody wants to participate in your "fucking discussion", maybe that's why you can not discuss it." So, they're charming and willing to work with others.

I'd like more eyes on this, both because we probably need to deal with this user in a way other than "pretty please," and also because this is a lot of busy work they've created for us. --Golbez (talk) 13:50, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

They have now vandalized my user page. --Golbez (talk) 13:59, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

And they blanked this section. Surely we're at the level of not-here? --Golbez (talk) 14:00, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

• Totally NOTQUITEHERE, I think. This and this is actually consistent with this ediotor's M.O.- that of a blatant IDHT-unilateral-MyWayOrTheHighway attitude. Overiding and ignoring a community-established consensu? Dictating the contents of another editor's user page? Dictating what may or may not be posted at a community discussion board? No way is that a collegiate behavioural pattern, and one way or another, it needs to be discouraged immediately. — fortunavelut luna 14:07, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

I see User:Floquenbeam has successfully attempted to discourage that behaviour for at least 72 hours. — fortunavelut luna 14:09, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

They've contributed a lot to en.wiki, so I don't think NOTHERE applies. But this is clearly disruptive behavior (the moves, plus screwing with Golbez's user page, plus blanking this section), so I've blocked for 3 days to prevent further disruption. I don't think this solves the problem of this thread; we should decide what to do at the end of three days, and we should decide if the block needs to be longer to prevent re-reverting the moves (which I assume are going to be fixed by then) when the block expires. This block is only a temporary solution to the immediate disruption. --Floquenbeam (talk) 14:09, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Yes, I prefered the NOTQUITEHERE to the other ;) It's odd though. See, they've been a useful member of the community for 2¾ years, with no blocks (as touched on above) and sound editing, it seems. Then this February went on a mad 3RR one, and now this. I wonder if there's something going on we could find out from them? That, of course, would need asking... — fortunavelut luna 14:28, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

• If we are assuming that 99.53.112.186 is the same as the registered user, there have been CheckUser blocks on that IP address, so it's probably worth while to get a CheckUser involved. It's an AT&T Lightspeed IP address and could be dynamic, so that's something that will need to be taken into consideration. PCHS-NJROTC ^{(Messages)Have a blessed day.} 14:27, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

You're misunderstanding; that IP helped by reverting the disruption on this page, and actually has a long history of good work. No one thinks that IP is Norvikk. --Floquenbeam (talk) 15:40, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

176.181.72.89

It seems that 176.181.72.89 (talk · contribs · WHOIS) has been committing cross-wiki sneaky vandalism since May 2017. All of the IP's edits were reverted by other users. Could someone please block the IP? Thanks, 153.206.109.8 (talk) 15:44, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Don't forget to inform the user of the ANI case, I have done so this time, but in the future it is important to inform a user of an ANI case as soon as you report them. Tornado chaser (talk) 16:01, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Request a tempory block for user 'Lugnuts' and 'Ponyo'

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Lugnuts made a page called 'Walter Handschumacher'. It contained very little content and did not seem to fit the guideline so for a suitable article. I recommended the article be referred for deletion under section A1 of the speedy deletion guideline she due to a lack of content. Lugnuts removed the recommendation without giving a valid reason why. I then posted on Lugnut's talk page why I had said the article would be deleted. However, he deleted my comment and called me an 'idiot with a grudge' in the description for his edit. I then decided to add a speedy deletion tag seeing as my normal tag had been removed. Ponyo then deleted the tag, describing me as a 'bad faith nom'. I then reinstated it but Ponyo again repeatedly removed it without saying why.

Walter Handshumacher https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Handschuhmacher

Page history *Evidence* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:History/Walter_Handschuhmacher

Lugnuts talk page https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Lugnuts

Lugnuts talk page history *Evidence* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:History/User_talk:Lugnuts — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.6.72.59 (talk) 16:57, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

That's odd; your thread title implies you want Lugnuts and Ponyo blocked, but then everything underneath it implies you want your own IP blocked. --Floquenbeam (talk) 17:03, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict)*No, unless we're also going to block you for the incivility for edit summaries such as [101]. A1 was inapplicable to the article you nominated because A1 "applies to articles lacking sufficient context to identify the subject of the article." The subject of that article is obviously Walter Handschuhmacher, a German Olympic swimmer. Stop edit warring. Ian.thomson (talk) 17:08, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Amazinganime4&diff=795981876&oldid=793631046 - Possible Edit War

I have to complain in the strongest possible terms about user Amazinganime4, who continually and without any real reason changes or mis-edits my contributions to sections of LIST OF POKEMON: SUN AND MOON EPISODES. The edits he or she does are minor but unnecessary and demonstrate that he or she possibly does not use English as a primary language. I have asked this user to desist and have informed him/her that I would bring this matter to your attention, but have apparently been ignored.TonyPS214 18:49, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Checking... ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 19:08, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Edits and content aside: the messages you left on Amazinganime4's talk page here and here look to demonstrate behaviors consistent with ownership of content; Amazinganime4's edits to the article include simple changes to numbers and grammar (diff), and your first message stated how you've "run out of patience" with the user (even though you have not communicated with this user before) and proceeded to tell the user to stay away from your changes. This is not how Wikipedia works; there is no such thing as ownership of content. All editors are equally welcome and encouraged to contribute to any and all content on Wikipedia. Absolutely nobody on Wikipedia has special or more control or "rights" to edit content than anybody else. If the information that the user is modifying is not correct, that is a different issue and this should be discussed on the article's talk page. But telling someone to "buzz off" because they're modifying something you've added or are working on is not acceptable and goes against Wikipedia's principle of complete and total open collaboration and expansion to it's content. ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 22:02, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Accusations of vandalism-only account and being a troll

Joseph2302 recently filed this report claiming my account to be a vandalism-only account. He was then enabled by admin Floquenbeam (who previously told me "fuck you, asshole"), departing with "If you and he want to argue/fight/try to get each other blocked/etc, be my guest" despite me not having done anything wrong. Joseph2302 then closed the discussion calling me a "troll". I realise that some admins aren't doing anything to help me, but I'd like to hope that at least one of you out there would actually do something about this. Incidentally, Joseph2302 has deliberately vandalised Ipswich Town F.C. in the past (I'll need to work to find that diff). The Rambling Man (talk) 19:14, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

In what way did Floquenbeam "enable" me? And your block log clearly shows you're a disruptive editor. Yes I've made mistakes in the past (I moved Ipswich Town F.C to Tractor scum), but there's no evidence that I'm a disruptive editor unlike you. Joseph2302 (talk) 19:18, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Another accusation of being a troll. The Rambling Man (talk) 19:25, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

TRM: Ignoring and moving on and away from this editor...have you tried that? -- ψλ ● ✉ 19:28, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Winkelvi I don't go anywhere near this user. I deliberately ignore it since its deliberate vandalism (which went completely unaddressed), now two or three personal attacks (which are going completely unaddressed). Why is this my doing? The Rambling Man (talk) 19:31, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

This is the guy who was told by User:Newyorkbrad after initiating a bizarre ANI thread against User:Ritchie333 in May to "not ever do anything like that again." It seems he has not heeded this warning.--Pawnkingthree (talk) 19:29, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict) @Joseph2302: Unless I am missing something, I don't see anything wrong done by TRM. All I see is you violating WP:NPA, WP:HARASS and WP:AGF numerous times, and then disrupting noticeboards (aka WP:NEEDSMOARDRAMA). nihlus kryik (talk) 19:31, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

I've blocked Joseph2302 for 36 hours. Jauerback^dude?/_dude. 19:37, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Jauerback he is still making personal attacks in his unblock attempt. Can you revoke his talk page access? --Tarage (talk) 19:50, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

GoldenRing beat me to the punch with the request and revocation. RickinBaltimore (talk) 19:52, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Without prejudice to the block being extended if anyone thinks it necessary. GoldenRing (talk) 19:55, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

I also won't have any problem with any changes to his block. However, I'll be offline, so hopefully there won't be any further need for me to participate in this discussion. Jauerback^dude?/_dude. 20:04, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Side note: Floquenbeam wasn't enabling anything. They saw the report, figured it was a mistake, saw Joseph2302 was serious, and backed out immediately as they didn't want to be part of this. 129.9.75.194 (talk) 20:38, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

• No, Floq didn't figure it was a mistake: they said it was wrong and disruptive. Don't quite see how one gets "enabling a personal attack" from "Please try harder not to be silly and disruptive. TRM is not a vandalism-only account, and reporting him at AIV is 100% guaranteed to be a minor waste of time", esp. not after this, "oh for crying out loud". Was Floquenbeam supposed to have let the AIV report stand? Drmies (talk) 01:49, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Side note: no, this is an admin sidestepping duty because of the target of the personal attacks. It's pretty obvious, if they didn't want to get involved they should have stayed out of it from the start. The edit summary at AIV demonstrated it wasn't a "mistake". The Rambling Man (talk) 20:55, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

This is also you continuing to harbor a grudge against Floq. We don't need you to keep reminding us that he called you a name and swore at you once. That's not relevant to Joseph2302's foolish behavior. TRM, you seem to be perpetually complaining that the admins don't respond fast or forcefully enough to attacks on you, but have you considered that you are probably contributing to this problem by holding grudges and being quick to criticize and complain? It doesn't make sense to antagonize people and then complain when they don't rush to your defense. Lepricavark (talk) 04:14, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

So let me get this straight, TRM reports a personal attack, and rather than a quick close, he gets asked why he can't just ignore them? That's not how personal attacks go. This is what contributes to the toxic atmosphere at Wiki and especially at ANI. Sir Joseph ^(talk) 21:10, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Just ignoring is, I've now realized and discovered, the best tactic when dealing with someone who is trolling. What contributes to the toxic atmosphere in Wikipedia is contributing to things escalating. It's the same as on the playground when you were a kid: ignore the bullies and eventually they will go away because the fun for them is in the chase and the responses they get. No response = no fun. -- ψλ ● ✉ 21:26, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

So an established editor breaks policies continuously and you just recommend that people ignore them? Why would we need policies then? nihlus kryik (talk) 21:58, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

I recommend that the editor who feels they are being attacked ignore them, yes. Personal attacks are immature behavior. Immature behavior doesn't need immature behavior in response. Such a response will only escalate and increase incidents of the immature behavior. If it administrators notice it and do something about it, fine. But to make a huge issue of it and go on and on at talk pages and noticeboards...it only gives the attacker more reason to continue either now or later on. It also gives other editor trolls more ammunition to use at a later time, possibly at a noticeboard discussion started as a complaint about the attacker. There are a lot of immature people in Wikipedia who like the anonymity it provides so they can take out their aggressions or sadistic impulses on others. I've learned this the hard way. From something I borrowed from another Wikipedia and put on my user page a couple of years ago: "...be mindful of...how the opposition will stalk and target your articles, try to get you involved in an edit war, and make up a rationale for blocking you. Don't be fooled by this game. To avoid falling for this trap...Understand that some editors have antisocial attitudes, others are drunk or on drugs, and still others have psychological problems that we can't address. Above all, remain true to yourself and stay above the fray...". Running to an admin board for every infraction you (think you) see or perceive isn't the answer. And, admins don't really appreciate it, either. Wish I had realized this sooner, to be honest. -- ψλ ● ✉ 23:11, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Gee, if only there was some sort of official stance on civility. An... oblong shaped object. Maybe with some fancy carving on it. Used to support the whole of Wikipedia? We could probably use five of them. Not sure. Maybe that's something we should look into. --Tarage (talk) 00:18, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I propose derailing this thread by diverting the discussion to the question of whether a pillar is oblong or cylindrical. EEng 02:21, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Oppose. Seems to me that individual pillars deserve the right to their own geometries, and we should not bully them by trying to determine/impose our opinions or stereotypes. -- Begoon 04:32, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Priceless. Enigma^msg 04:54, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Sad to see the history and culture of our great five pillars being turned into oblongs. You can't change pillars, but you can learn from them! Pillars, Talk pages – what's next, Visual Editor? Flow? So foolish! EEng 05:00, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

It can't be oblong as that is a 2 dimensional shape, now if you were to say a rectangular prism.... Also, what if the pillar had a polygonal cross section? Are we discriminating against pillars with hexagonal, heptagonal or even octagonal cross sections?? -Blackmane (talk) 06:32, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I knew all that stuff but humor comes first. EEng 06:49, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

• Joseph2302 should be indeffed per the absurd report linked in the OP, and the "bizarre ANI thread" linked above by Pawnkingthree. Those links, plus their reaction which required revocation of talk page access, show that Joseph2302 is unable to contribute in a non-disruptive fashion. TRM should receive a massive trout for misinterpreting Floquenbeam's action to revert the absurd report and the subsequent discussion at Joseph2302's talk. @TRM: Not everyone is on the lookout for an opportunity to poke their opponent. Floq undoubtedly remembers the old discussions with TRM, but Floq does not keep pots boiling—Floq saw some nonsense, reverted it, and spoke gently with the user. TRM really had to work hard to assume bad faith in what Floq said, and bringing up the old fuck you is pathetic. For those familiar with TRM's history, the fact that someone told TRM "fuck you" merely indicates that TRM regularly gets under people's skin. TRM's ability to get under people's skin is what needs attention. Johnuniq (talk) 06:39, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

User getting politics into Wikipedia

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Hey I want to report the user ( ZxxZxxZ ).

I saw some of his contributions and found some suspicious things..

He removes things that offend his country ( iran ) and add lines that offend a country that is an enemy of his ( Saudi Arabia) From a qatari-owned news channel ( Knowing that qatar is an enemy of Saudi Arabia which means most likely it's fake news with the aim of offending Saudi Arabia) as his sources. For example https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/794850202 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Technical Peace (talk • contribs) 21:16, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

The diff in question seems like a simple re-ordering of paragraphs and a slight re-wording. Do you have anything more damning? --Tarage (talk) 21:29, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

You also failed to inform them of this report, which is required. --Tarage (talk) 21:30, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

...And you ALSO posted on the AIV board. This is getting into boomerang territory. --Tarage (talk) 21:32, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

This is by far my favorite: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:ZxxZxxZ&diff=prev&oldid=794996524 "If you are Qatari/iranian/turkey i hope that you don't get politics into Wikipedia". Technical Peace seems to be a SPA intent with pushing a pro Saudi Arabian POV. --Tarage (talk) 21:36, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

So is this not obvious https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/794850202 ? Technical Peace (talk) 21:42, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

There is nothing wrong with that edit. --Tarage (talk) 21:42, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

And I'm sorry for not complying with some of the rules since i thought what i told him is enough, and I'm not trying to " push a pro Saudi Arabian POV " i requested from him to not use the Qatari-owned news channel as his sources due to an obvious reasons Technical Peace (talk) 21:49, 17 August 2017 (UTC) And is there any reason of you removing my edit on Red Sea ? Technical Peace (talk) 21:52, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Al Jazeera is currently an accepted reliable source on Wikipedia. Also I removed your edit because it was not notable for that article. --Tarage (talk) 21:53, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

It's reliable http://www.pif.gov.sa/media/projecttheredsea_en.html search about it

The reason why i requested him to not use Al jazeera because it's owned by Qatar's government and you probably heard about the crisis. And i hope that you don't count as an enemy . I only want to make Wikipedia a better place . Technical Peace (talk) 22:06, 17 August 2017 (UTC) I hope that you read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/794850202 because I think you wouldn't continue the argument if you did. Technical Peace (talk) 22:09, 17 August 2017 (UTC) I just went to the page that he edited and found out that an anonymous has edited he same way as before. I swear I'm not that anonymous person so suspicious eh? Technical Peace (talk) 22:14, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

It doesn't matter if you don't think it's a reliable source. It is considered by Wikipedia to be one. I have read that diff three times. It's fine. --Tarage (talk) 22:16, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

(e/c) Please describe what exactly you think is wrong with the edit you keep linking to. Perhaps the problem is with Special:MobileDiff (which is nearly impossible to read, and maybe confused you); if you look at it in desktop mode, the diff shows ZxxZxxZ moving a couple of paragraphs around and slightly rewording them. What, specifically, is wrong with it? It's not good enough to keep just linking to the edit. --Floquenbeam (talk) 22:20, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Will my issue isn't on this page exactly as i stated. And this is not related but i hope that you don't take Al jazeera news as a reliable source on anything related to KSA Technical Peace (talk) 22:30, 17 August 2017 (UTC) Sorry but i have to go for now since it's 1:32 AM here tomorrow we'll talk. ( tomorrow for you ) It isn't a critical issue tbh I don't care if he says anything bad about SA since we lived all of our live living with people who are against SA. Technical Peace (talk) 22:36, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Then why did you keep linking to that same diff over and over? I spent several minutes looking at it in detail to see what you're complaining about, only to hear "my issue isn't on this page exactly". I guess this thread can be closed as a waste of time. Please have some respect for other people's time and effort. We will certainly not "talk tomorrow", as I am done with this. --Floquenbeam (talk) 22:40, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

User is an SPA boardering on WP:NOTHERE. If they come back tomorrow and do this nonsense I request a block. --Tarage (talk) 22:52, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

E.M.Gregory's behavior at AfDs

As you can infer, I am here to report E.M.Gregory's behavior at AfDs, particularly his WP:UNCIVIL edits and habit for WP:BLUDGEONing the process. The issue has a long history; here are a few instances of editors addressing his excessive comments: [102] [103] [104] [105] [106] [107] [108]. Even when he is not called out on it, Gregory can still be found blugeoning the process as far back as 2016, mainly in terror or political discussions (diffs can be provided if needed; a simple AfD stats check may suffice however). Here are also examples of Gregory's tendency to cast aspirations, make comments on editors, or be uncivil in order to taint the discussion: [109] [110] [111] [112]. He suffers from a bad case of WP:IDHT and always continues commenting at the same rate. When he is not doing this, however, Gregory can be highly productive content editor which is why I propose a three month tban from AfDs related to politics and crimes. He can appeal the ban in three months on the condition he is not bludgeoning other AfD discussions.TheGracefulSlick (talk) 04:28, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

EMG is a skillful editor and has a knack of expanding articles to meet AfD objections. TGS and I have been bested by EMG in many AfDs. But EMG has a habit of drowning AfDs in a flood of comments. See this AfD for instance, where they make an astounding 34(!) comments. No one else is even close. I even told them to give a rest when they were half-way through (at 18 comments), but they don't listen.

Examples can be multiplied easily. Just look at any AfD which they participate in.

I suggest the following solution: let EMG make !votes on AfDs, but forbid any follow-ups. In other words, the are allowed exactly one comment on any AfD. I recall that this solution was used for behaviour at RfA by a certain editor who I am not naming here. Kingsindian ♝ ♚ 05:53, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Reporting User:Tarage for Cyberbullying

Nothing to see here Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 07:14, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
User:Tarage is constantly making hurtful, untruthful, and rude comments about me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by NetWitz (talk • contribs) 07:03, 18 August 2017 (UTC) Please provide more information. Per the guidelines at the top: Please include diffs to help us find the problem you are reporting. Before posting a grievance about a user here, please consider discussing the issue with them on their user talk page. I see no attempts at either one of these. (Please do not construe my reminder as validation in your complaint.) nihlus kryik (talk) 07:08, 18 August 2017 (UTC) You got blocked for this behavior and the first thing you do after getting unblocked is to run back here and make more shit up? Away with you. --Tarage (talk) 06:20, 18 August 2017 (UTC) Also socking. — JJMC89 (T·C) 06:33, 18 August 2017 (UTC) Adorable. Block them both. --Tarage (talk) 06:36, 18 August 2017 (UTC) I did not make anything up, and you a rude for accusing me2600:8801:2D01:64D0:B834:3D91:9EC8:B6D (talk) 06:47, 18 August 2017 (UTC)NetWitz You just keep digging don't you. Add the IP to the list to block. --Tarage (talk) 06:48, 18 August 2017 (UTC) Why are you being such a hurtful rotten bully to me? NetWitz (talk) 06:58, 18 August 2017 (UTC)NetWitz This is a revenge complaint for another thread earlier on this page. Close. EEng 07:13, 18 August 2017 (UTC)