User talk:Chipmunkdavis

Please click here to leave me a new message.

If you post on this page, I will respond on this page.

If I post on your talk page, I will have it watchlisted for the duration of the conversation (and possibly longer!)

Malaysia

I will look at this in the new year. Remind me if there are no edits by say Jan 5th. Johnbod (talk) 16:27, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

Sorry I wasn't around to help with this. I had it on my to-do list. Didn't realise it would be closed so quickly. It's still on my list, and I'll help with Johnbod in the next few days. Hope you had a good Christmas. Nightw 02:48, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

This is about the standard language, not every language in Malaysia.

i think this is a great topic, as a Malaysian myself I've been witnesses many Malaysian who are not able to speak Malay language or even read or write. I do not agree Malay language being labelled as " Malaysian" or " Malaysian Language" even though it is a standard language, people can labelled it as Standard Malay or so on, If you categorized Malay as Malaysian Language, Man! as a Malaysian myself i can even hardly speak the language or read it even.

Malaysia

Please, DO NOT reverted my edits as you did on it. — NZscout  04:13, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Please see Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Captions. Chipmunkdavis (talk) 10:09, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Regarding the header for the article Culture of Malaysia. I do think there is a wave of immigration from Indonesia to Malaysia. Else how do some cultural from Java ended in Malaysia? But it's your page. I'm just trying to help the public to have an understanding. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rosa lilian (talk • contribs) 00:04, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

Secular

Hi. You said you always welcomed my opinion, so I'm going to offer one, even though I think it's different to yours.

I think the Malaysia lead is better without that word. Most of my reasons are similar to those you've discussed with others, like: "why have it there if it's controversial?" or "it's just an opinion that it's secular", so I won't go into them in depth, except to say that I actually think they are enough of a concern not to include the term in the lead.

But, here's one aspect I wonder if you've considered. It read:

• "The secular constitution declares Islam the state religion while protecting freedom of religion."

But to me, that feels something like:

• The secular constitution contains this non-secular statement:...

Maybe a clumsy way to express it, but the main point is that I come away from that sentence wondering what a secular constitution is doing declaring any religion the state religion. I think there's enough potential confusion just there to make it unwise in the lead. I also think anything done to try to "fix" it would be likely to make it more clumsy and unnecessary.

Anyway, that's all this is, my opinion, and they are cheap. Begoon ^talk 02:02, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

It was one of my greyer decisions, and you're right, I hadn't considered it exactly along those lines. I had thought the contrast was quite interesting, and I thought not that confusing, but if it is... Another user has removed i (justifying it on my talkpage I see now that I view history). If secular isn't there, I think the paragraph would work better with the preceding sentence on multiculturalism and that sentence moved to the beginning of the paragraph. I'll definitely mull it over, and I suppose with two more opinions against consensus may be tilting against me. I don't have any great deal of time for a great deal of actual article work before early february anyway. Thanks for the opinion, Chipmunkdavis (talk) 16:31, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

That's cool. I just noticed it going back and forth in my watchlist, is all, and thought it would be wrong not to share a perspective you might have missed, once it occured to me. Turns out I might have been right, so I'll put that down as my one for the week. Consider yourself priveleged, I've got little else right this week :-) Begoon ^talk 12:38, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Ready to go

Is there anything specifically I can help out with on Malaysia? Is the to-do list on the talk page still relevant? Otherwise, I can look into addressing Johnbod's comments on the FAC page...? Nightw 03:10, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

I won't be doing much until February due to real life unfortunately, but thanks. The to do list is not fairly relevant anymore, with it mostly being done or unnecessary. Johnbod's comments should be addressed, and a few citations are needed as one was removed from the article. What I'd appreciate from an outside view most is a look through Biodiversity with a mind to making it more concise by removing undue information. That may apply to Culture too, although less so. Hopefully that'll mean Economy can expand. Chipmunkdavis (talk) 09:26, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

Haven't you read the biodiversity section? Never favour the economy at the expense of the environment! But seriously, to me it looks like all quality information, though could probably be condensed through style; I can see a few sentences that could probably be merged. I'm look into the sourcing now. Nightw 13:50, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Reply "Malaysia labelled map"

Hello, Chipmunkdavis. You have new messages at Ranking Update's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Hye, how about it? Is it ok ?? :) — иz нίpнόp  09:32, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

It still separates them from the geographic areas they're in. Recolour the actual areas to be yellow and green, and shift the legend for federal territory to a new column, which should also include a note that blue font is for states. The font colour for West and East Malaysia in the legend should be changed too. CMD (talk) 09:42, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Shift the legend for federal territory to a new column?, mm, you mean like Alaska and Hawaii on this map??. I hope you can shows some maps for examples. — иz нίpнόp  10:34, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

No, not the pictures, just the legend, so that there will be two columns, one for the geographical divisions (East/West), and one for the political (States/Federal territories). I can try myself, when I have more time. CMD (talk) 10:43, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Thank you

I didn't realize I had deleted someone's comment. Thank you for restoring it. Readin (talk) 19:24, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

No problem, the article history was there to recover the missing bytes. CMD (talk) 19:31, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

International School Manila

It would seem that the negative content in this article should be sourced or immediately removed. Cheers Jim1138 (talk) 08:22, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

The editor (assuming IP and new user are the same due to the edits in question) also changed "considered to be one of the premier high schools in the Philippines" to "considered to be the premier high school in the Philippines", so they're not blanking due to source considerations. Did some googling, and found court case in regards to local salaries and a separate case which mentions the 2006 issue as evidence. The source that was already in the article ([1]), seems to be almost a primary source by some involved parties, but covers the second paragraph.

This isn't a BLP, so I don't see why 'negative' content should be excised for sourcelessness while 'positive' content remains. I also don't think we should let anyone edit with the purpose of whitewashing an article. The above sources aren't the best, but 1) there's not going to be professional sources for high school (although for some reason all high schools are notable), and 2) it's more sources than the rest of the article has. Thoughts? CMD (talk) 09:41, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the detailed analysis! The IP is whitewashing again. I reverted it, but expect more. Cheers Jim1138 (talk) 17:59, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Re: Source Change

This is in reply to the message that you have left on my talk page.

I have read through both articles and found out that the first article did not mention anything about Jimmy Wong relying on the fact that his grandmother is a Kadazan, i.e. a native in order to obtain his native certificate. Unfortunately, both his parents were classified as Chinese and therefore he is deemed by the Sabah state assembly as 'not having a single drop of blood' of the natives, which in my opinion, is not entirely correct as if his grandmother is a Kadazan, then Jimmy Wong would at least have 1/8 of his blood being native blood. The second article expressly stated the above fact. I am unsure as to the mistake that I have committed in the article, but feel free to make any amendments you think is right. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kristalyamaki (talk • contribs) 00:26, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks - MAP

Hi Chipmunkdavis,

I saw you created the map for the Sharks MOU wiki page. Meanwhile the UK alongside with its overseas territories signed the treaty as well. May I ask you to add them to the map? Furthermore, I'd like to suggest to paint all EU member states which are not Signatories themselves in light red (rosé) as the EU signed sperately on behalf of the 27 member states.

Many thanks in advance. Cheers, Andrea

I was in the middle of editing this, adding circles for South Georgia and the BIOT etc., when I found out that earlier versions of the base map included more areas already. If the base map gets fixed, I'll remake the map from the base including the UK etc. I think a softer green may be more appropriate for the other EU states, so as not to give too much contrast, but I'll play around to see what works. Regards, CMD (talk) 10:10, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

A cup of tea for you!

Thanks for that :) Not alacrity, but a typo! Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 05:09, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Help!!!!!!!!!

Hello, would you mind to help me with something because I really need assistance? --Gironauni (talk) 10:48, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

I'll help if I can. What is the cause of concern? CMD (talk) 11:01, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Would you mind to re-write and correct what I added to the article Europe? I hoped to make it more universal and objective. I would be really grateful. --Gironauni (talk) 19:45, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

The main problem with your edit was that you made it without a source. It is called the western world yes, but you'd need a source that says 1) That the "western world" is a civilisation, and 2) that it was named as such due to its being in west Eurasia. Sources are needed due to out WP:V policy. I've reinserted your directions bit, as after checking it turns out it was in Britannica. CMD (talk) 05:01, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, Chip! you're amazing! --Gironauni (talk) 05:22, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Isn't the phrase Eastern Europe offensive nowadays? I heard it is --Gironauni (talk) 22:42, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Not particularly, although almost anything can be offensive to someone. Eastern Europe is in any case a widespread and understood term, especially for times where the iron curtain was up and history relating to that. CMD (talk) 03:26, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

I saw all over the Internet that there are issues about it. I mean... I agree with you in one way but actually even I don't know what Eastern Europe is exactly... European Russia alone is 40% of all Europe's landmass, so there is not much room for any other European regions percentage-wise. The midpoint of the continent is actually somewhere in Lithuania. I don't know... I know that to you it is all very clear but for others it might me not. I think we should avoid this kind of phrasing, especially if it offends people and impacts Wikipedia's objectivity... --Gironauni (talk) 06:02, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

English terms are quite often not created with mathematical precision, English geographical terms even more so. They're determined by convention. This goes not only for smaller areas like Eastern Europe, but even Europe and the rest of the continents themselves. The boundaries they have are merely the ones that have been given to them. English speakers are probably much more likely to understand "Eastern Europe" vs "Western Europe" than any other conventions, as they were well established in world politics for decades. Using Eastern Europe has no detriment to Wikipedia's objectivity, and if some people choose to be offended then that's their problem, rather than Wikipedia's. Similarly, we haven't renamed Americas to America based on those who feel offended that the USA uses "America" as a synonym, we don't change Persian Gulf to Arab Gulf based on Arab's feeling offended, and we don't call the Armenian Genocide something else, despite the fact that government's choose to use or not to use the term. CMD (talk) 08:05, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

I think you are right, CMD - a lot of things are the matter of convention. Not only in English but also in Catalan. However, conventions change and we may like to follow them to stay up to date. Please, don't get me wrong. I know that Eastern Europe is in use but so is the Balkans, or Central Europe, or Russia, today. Eastern Europe is at least a little bit prejudiced, isn't it? We don't say 'gypsies'. This is very difficult to understand without the identity theory. If people change their identity, we should respect it. In Kosovo, they say that they are not Eastern Europe but the Balkans. In Spain, people prefer Southern Europe, or in Sweden - Northern Europe, to Western Europe. We respect Spain, Sweden's identity... I think we should treat Kosovo or any other EE country equally. And, to be fair, Western/Eastern Europe are now becoming rare. --Gironauni (talk) 15:06, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

I never once heard of Eastern Europe being pejorative before I encountered it on wikipedia. It means different things to different people. Your example of Balkans shows how much it's a matter of identity. You suggest using Balkans instead of Eastern Europe, but I have many times encountered users who want to say thisorthat country is not in the Balkans, or that the Balkans should be replaced by Southeast Europe or some similar formulation. Western/Eastern Europe have definitely become less well defined and the other terms more common, but in my experience, none of the new terms have the sort of consistency Western/Eastern Europe seemed to have. In addition, many uses seem to be situational. Using Spain as an example, when discussing the Euro crisis, it's often referred to as part of Southern Europe. However, when discussing NATO, it's often referred to as part of Western Europe. One way in which Eastern Europe is still often used is when discussing communism, its fall, and its lasting effects. CMD (talk) 16:08, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Then I will be the first one: http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/07/%E2%80%9Ceast%E2%80%9D-dead It looks like most comments do support it. Communism didn't last forever. It was just a few decades and in many countries it was lite (Yugoslavia with opened borders, private farming in Poland...). I don't think we stick to ideas that seem to be outdated. I don't know... maybe the language has to change... but it is changing already. We should follow it. --Gironauni (talk) 20:32, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Yes, it has indeed come up ever more often. As I said before, new terms have come up. That doesn't mean the term is replaced everywhere by new terminology. When discussing the fall of communism, you don't discuss the fall of communism in central Europe. What that video you provided does is provide a bunch of new non-arbitrary divisions, which are definitely interesting, if not common parlance. It doesn't however replace it with new arbitrary terms, such as central Europe. Some sources have, but this is mostly in modern contexts. CMD (talk) 04:28, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

In Spain we say that the communism fell in Central Europe, actually - you know - Germany, Poland, Hungary... Few years later it was the Soviet Union. I agree that we should put always specific terms if we can, like names of the countries or supernational organisations. I hope this is where we could finally agree. --Gironauni (talk) 15:33, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

If those in Spain say it in Spanish, it's irrelevant to usage on the English Wikipedia. Anyway, I don't deny that it may have been used in quite a few instances in English. What I doubt is that it has come anywhere close to the usage of Eastern Europe. Specific terms should be used when appropriate. CMD (talk) 15:40, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

English Wikipedia is more than Wikipedia for English speaking nations. English is the most widely spoken languages. It is a lingua franca. Are my edits going to be reverted even without looking at them properly? --Gironauni (talk) 19:26, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

It's a wikipedia for the English language, other languages have their own wikipedias. CMD (talk) 05:08, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

True. Still, English is the world language, isn't it?--Gironauni (talk) 21:15, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

That's what they say, which is the reason we have pages such as wp:engvar and wp:commonality. So for terms we'll examine worldwide usage, and take what is most common. On the other hand, if a term is used differently in a few areas but worldwide retains another usage, we're likely to use the majority usage. CMD (talk) 10:42, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

Thank you. I didn't know that. It seems interesting. What I need to do in order to discuss something? Would you mind to tell? I am new :( --Gironauni (talk) 00:04, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Depends on what you want to discuss. For article content, mostly the article talk page. Policy and guidelines are discussed on policy and guideline talk pages. There are various other places to discuss different parts of wikipedia, discussion and noticeboards and the like. CMD (talk) 19:35, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Moving Burma to Myanmar - ongoing poll

This is to let you know that an ongoing poll is taking place to move Burma to Myanmar. I know this happened just recently but no administrator would close these frequent rm's down, so here we go again. This note is going out to wikipedia members who have participated in Burma/Myanmar name changing polls in the past. It does not include banned members nor those with only ip addresses. Thank you. Fyunck(click) (talk) 04:54, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Malaysian Language

I think this is very sensitive issue regarding the Malaysian language, malaysian language is clearly a language spoken by malaysian, if you wanna refer it to Standard language of malaysia you can invent the new term in Wikipedia called Malaysian standard malay or what ever you want, but when you talk about Malaysian language, this consist of 28 Million population of Malaysia. Malaysian itself are the language and the culture. i think i agree that each of us as malaysian speak diversify language, Malaysian language does not inclusive of just Malay only. because if you think that way, it is very sensitive to other races. i hope you take note on this, and thank you for your time. and hope fully my issue will be addressed soon by you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.135.45.24 (talk) 18:05, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

"Malaysian language" is singular. It refers to just one language, and is not about a people. The other languages of Malaysia are described at Languages of Malaysia, where "languages" is plural. CMD (talk) 18:35, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

What about the Indigenous language of Malaysia? are that clearly been ignored? for example, Chinese language , consist of many dialects. There are many Malaysian who does not even know how to speak Malay as well, therefore i would like to address this, there is no such thing called Malaysian as a language. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.133.36.97 (talk) 02:53, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

As CMD has said, all the langauges spoken in Malaysia can be described in Languages of Malaysia, but, Malaysian language (Bahasa Malaysia) is a separate topic with its own article. This is a perfectly reasonable distinction and adequately catered for on Wikipedia. I don't think this is too difficult to understand. Please do not keep reverting to your preferred version, or you will be blocked. Instead, use the article/s talk page/s to try to reach an agreement first. --Merbabu (talk) 03:12, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

as an Indigenous people of Malaysia, i disagree that "Malay" language are to be called as "Malaysian language". I do not care if you are threatening me with such statement. All i care about is to get the right information not by the facts you see. if you like the term so much, u can create a new pages called " Malaysia national language" but not "Malaysian Language" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.133.36.97 (talk) 06:11, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

Kindly refrain from baselessly applying general stereotypes to specific editors on my talkpage (and for that matter, on all of wikipedia). No article belongs to Malaysians, or anyone at all. CMD (talk) 08:59, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for August 24

Hi. When you recently edited Administrative divisions of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Goranboy (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 11:16, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Chipmunkdavis. You have new messages at Talk:India.
Message added 07:52, 3 September 2012 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Mrt3366 ^{(Talk page?) (New section?)} 07:52, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

The Olive Branch: A Dispute Resolution Newsletter (Issue #1)

Welcome to the first edition of The Olive Branch. This will be a place to semi-regularly update editors active in dispute resolution (DR) about some of the most important issues, advances, and challenges in the area. You were delivered this update because you are active in DR, but if you would prefer not to receive any future mailing, just add your name to this page.

Steven Zhang's Fellowship Slideshow

In this issue:

• Background: A brief overview of the DR ecosystem.
• Research: The most recent DR data
• Survey results: Highlights from Steven Zhang's April 2012 survey
• Activity analysis: Where DR happened, broken down by the top DR forums
• DR Noticeboard comparison: How the newest DR forum has progressed between May and August
• Discussion update: Checking up on the Wikiquette Assistance close debate
• Proposal: It's time to close the Geopolitical, ethnic, and religious conflicts noticeboard. Agree or disagree?

Read the entire first edition of The Olive Branch -->

--The Olive Branch 18:54, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

India Economy Section Images

There is a voting process going on for selection of Images for Economy section of the India article. Voting ends on 15th November 2012. --Anbu121 (talk me) 22:19, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

Removal of useful map NOT

ERROR LAYING OUT AS PDF... YOU CAN TRY IT WITH YOU'RE USEFUL MAP ..

Can you Understand??? Oceania WARNING: Article could not be rendered - ouputting plain text. Potential causes of the problem are: (a) a bug in the pdf-writer software (b) problematic Mediawiki markup (c) table is too wide An orthographic projection of the Pacific Ocean showing much of Oceania.Map of OceaniaOceania ( /ˌəʊʃɪˈɑːnɪə/ or /ˌəʊsɪˈɑːnɪə/)Pronunciation: The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) ISBN 0-19-861263-X - p.1282 "Oceania /ˌəʊsɪˈɑːnɪə, -ʃɪ-/". is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean.For a history of the term, see Douglas & Ballard (2008) Foreign bodies: Oceania and the science of race 1750–1940 Opinions of what constitutesAustralia had ruled International cricket as the number one team for more than a decade, and have won four Cricket World Cups and have been runner-up for two times, making them the most successful cricket team. New Zealand is also considered a strong competitor in the sport, with the New Zealand Cricket Team, also called the Black Caps, enjoying success in many competitions. Both Australia and New Zealand are List of International Cricket Council members#Full MembersFull members of the International Cricket CouncilICC. Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea are some of the List of International Cricket Council membersAssociate/Affiliate members of the ICC from Oceania that are governed by ICC East Asia-Pacific. Beach Cricket, a greatly simplified variant of cricket played on a sand beach, is also a popular recreational sport in Australia. Cricket is culturally a significant sport for summer in

australian biota

hello there! would you happen to know who i could go to to participate in this project? many members seem to be inactive, and i wanted to join and perhaps do some needed work. please let me know. Thank you! FoCuSandLeArN (talk) 12:42, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

The project is, as you noted, not very active. If you want to work on Australian biota, you should go work on Australian biota! No agreement should be needed, and there's always work that can be done. CMD (talk) 14:34, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

Abkhazia karabakh

Ur resent edites in "Caucasus" is vandalism, nothing more. Abkhazia and Karabakh are official territories of Georgia and Azerbaijan recognized by 99% of World governments. I sent a letter to Administrator about ur vandal actions, i hope u will get a permanent BAN. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.73.208.159 (talk • contribs)

Why did you delete my contribution?

Hi, could you please tell me why you deleted my contributions? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rmbarrow (talk • contribs) 12:07, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

Greetings. Your contributions were unfortunately made without sources, which is against the wikipedia policy of WP:Verification. Contributions should be backed up with WP:Reliable sources. Also, keep in mind that each page is focused on a topic. Sabah should be just about Sabah. Comparisons belong on other pages, such as States and federal territories of Malaysia. Good luck, CMD (talk) 12:24, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

Nomination!

An anonymous editor has nominated your name for Wikipedia gifts here --Tito Dutta (talk) 20:45, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Malaysia biodiversity

Following your kind suggestion of adding a fungal component to the Malaysian wildlife page, this is a quick note to let you know that I've finally started to address this. I began by revising the biodiversity section on the Malaysia page. There is a new checklist of Malaysian fungi recently published, and I am hoping to use the information there to fill the gap in the Malaysian wildlife page.Middgeaugh-Botteaugh (talk) 22:01, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

Revising the Malaysia page, or any country page, is not a good way to start address wide coverage problems. You've made a section that was already quite long even longer, and given every paragraph its own header, which is quite overdoing it. As for the added Fungi information, aside from the first paragraph, the only useful information about Malaysian fungi is that they haven't been very extensively studied, something that could be said in just a few words. If you create a paragraph from one source that is as long, or even slightly longer, than similar paragraphs, there's clear balance issues. The detail there is far too undue for an article summarising all of Malaysia.

I support adding information to various wildlife pages, but if you're forcing information into places it shouldn't be just to try and reach a certain amount of information, that's a sign the information shouldn't be there. Keep it concise and clear. This is far more helpful to the reader than a slew of tangential information. The reader of the article Malaysia doesn't need to know for example, that Fungi are found in different habitats and that they carry out ecological services for the planet (we don't mention anything like that for other groups of biota). Such information belongs on the Fungi page. Fungi are less studied than animals and plants, and as wikipedia is based off other sources, that is something that is likely to be reflected in its pages. This needs to be changed in the real world, not wikipedia. Cheers, CMD (talk) 07:21, 12 December 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for your kind and helpful comments. After reflexion I will try to improve the Biodiversity entry for the Malaysia page. You have mentioned balance issues. Balance depends on point of view. Devoting most of a webpage to the cultural and other activities of humans (who are, after all, just one species) and cramming the whole of the rest of life with all its myriad species (on which we humans depend) into one small section entitled Biodiversity doesn't seem very balanced to me. Biodiversity is much more than just vertebrates and flowering plants. Virtually all of the animal text is about vertebrates (a small group), with no mention of molluscs, nematodes, sponges, arthropods other than insects or a whole raft of other huge invertebrate groups. That isn't balanced. Fungi are a whole biological kingdom. It is unbalanced to omit them. The section on fungi deals with only the two most speciose groups of fungi - the fungal equivalent of arthropods and nematodes - that surely gives it some internal balance. It is unbalanced to omit the other biological kingdoms too - bacteria, chromistans and protozoans. Unfortunately writing about them is above my pay scale. It is relevant to discuss which fungal groups have been explored in Malaysia - work on Malaysian freshwater and marine fungi, for example, has been exemplary with the discovery of wonderful organisms, some apparently endemic. It is also relevant discuss the unknown where that can be done meaningfully. In Malaysia it can be done meaningfully, because the recent checklist of Malaysian fungi specifically identified unexplored habitats. You are surely right about good places to begin. Unfortunately, when there are very few people interested in editing Wikipedia for a particular topic with so much to do, there is no good place to begin. The ethos of Wikipedia, to be an encyclopaedia which is neutral and balanced is admirable. At present, its presentation of fungi, which really are important, has the neutrality and imbalance which come from absence. In the country where I live, it is common for people to dismiss Wikipedia as inaccurate, but it's also common knowledge that everyone uses it as a first call for information. If you want to change the real world and resources are limited, Wikipedia is not such a bad place to begin. I mean that as a compliment to Wikipedia!Middgeaugh-Botteaugh (talk) 11:40, 12 December 2012 (UTC)

Your point of view, unfortunately, is different from the way country articles have been set up. Wikipedia is written for a human audience, based off the way other sources write. Sources dealing with countries talk much more about human activities than to wildlife. Countries are after all a human creation. Wildlife don't particular care about political borders. The animal text, and other text in that section, is based off the sources used. As wikipedia is a tertiary source, it reflects the real world, rather than seeking to change it. Malaysia is one <50kB article. While Fungi deserve mention, an exploration on how they could be studied does not belong on it. Why not ask around at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Fungi, they may know areas that could be used as good starting points. CMD (talk) 17:49, 12 December 2012 (UTC)

Malaysian Africans

Hi Chipmunkdavis, I think you need to check out this. Is Malaysian Africans been considered as one of Malaysian ethnics?. I didn't found any sources for this. I think this article should be deleted as the article with the same title has been previously deleted but the user create it again. — иz нίpнόp ^ʜᴇʟᴘ! 06:55, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

It's not an ethnic grouping I've ever seen, at least under that title, and as you noted not one google is throwing up any immediate results for. I don't think it qualifies for speedy deletion, but it doesn't meet our notability criteria, and the one purported source looks terrible. Any sourced information that comes up post-deletion should be added to Demographics of Malaysia, which currently doesn't mention Africans at all. CMD (talk) 07:30, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

 Done — иz нίpнόp ^ʜᴇʟᴘ! 07:51, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

Meet-up: Editors from Malaysia

Hello! You might or might not have seen me around here as I've not been active in Wikipedia the past few months. Before leaving for NS, it was my intention to form a Malaysian user group. I'm still very much interested in forming the group. However, before forming the group, I would love to organize a meet-up between editors of the Malaysian editing community to test the waters and hear what you guys might have to say. To my knowledge, there has not been a Wikipedia meet-up in this country before. I don't mind organizing the meet-up but need to know if anyone is interested in joining the meet-up. So... please reply and let me know if you would be interested in joining a meet-up and your ideas/thoughts about a user group. Thank you.

Looking forward to hearing from you, Bejinhantalks 12:27, 15 December 2012 (UTC) (Message delivered by EdwardsBot (talk) 12:27, 15 December 2012 (UTC))

Clear COI

I had a brief moment of mental gear-shifting with this diff, but then it made me laugh. Thanks for brightening up an otherwise mundane Monday. onebravemonkey 11:18, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

The coincidence seemed almost too good to be true. Thanks, I appreciate the message. CMD (talk) 16:49, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

2012

Kingroyos (talk) is wishing you a Merry Christmas! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the cheer by adding {{subst:Xmas2}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

Merry Christmas Chipmunkdavis

— иz нίpнόp ^ʜᴇʟᴘ! is wishing you a Merry Christmas! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the Christmas cheer by adding {{subst:Xmas3}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

WikiProject Malaysia Skype chat

Hello, thank you for participating in WikiProject Malaysia! As per my previous message and the responses made, I'm organizing an informal Skype conference call on February 5th, 20:00 - 21:30 (Malaysian time). I'd love for you to join this chat. If you do not have a Skype but wish to join the chat, let me know and I'll try to work something out. iFurther details can be found at the Meetups page. You can also leave any suggestions or comments on that page. Please RVSP and hope to "meet" you there! Bejinhan talks 14:17, 1 February 2013 (UTC)

Hurry back

Saw your "real life" note, but as WP's most valuable (and accurate) editor in the various aspects of geography, we hope you hurry back (and continue your great job of tolerating and educating the well-intentioned but misinformed editors, and ignoring whenever possible the most annoying and misinformed!) DLinth (talk) 20:10, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

You have a new message....

Hello, Chipmunkdavis. You have new messages at Talk:Vatican City#What is the capital city of the Vatican?.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Wikipedia:Dispute resolution noticeboard

You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia:Dispute resolution noticeboard#Talk:United States, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject United States/Defining the United States of America. TFD (talk) 19:59, 5 March 2013 (UTC)Template:Z48

		Possible compromise resolution
		The Dispute Resolution Noticboard volunteer, Noleander has offered a compromise solution here. Please take a minute to add your response as to whether you agree or disagree with this solution. There are no "ground rule" limitations but please consider using brevity if commenting . Amadscientist (talk) 00:15, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

Coat of arms of Western Sahara/SADR

Hello,

There's a discussion you might be interested in at Talk:Coat_of_arms_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republic#Move?.

Regards,
--Omar-toons (talk) 22:07, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Reverting the work of other editors

It is rude to undo an editor's work, even more with no comments ( Collaborating with Other Editors - read the "Minimize Your Reverts" section). Wikipedia asks to minimize the use of the undo function to extreme cases, mainly vandalism. It is recommended to edit directly what you do not like in the work of other editors and explain your edits in the talk section.

In addition to that, it seems you don't understand the purpose of the talk section, so please go explain yourself in that section next time.

Adrien16 (talk) 13:50, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

Same-sex marriage map

Hello, it seem Denmark, which was shown as having legalised same sex marriage, isn't anymore in the new map you edited. Denmark do recognise these marriage. --Aréat (talk) 15:57, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

Thank goodness someone is on the ball. Should be fixed now. CMD (talk) 16:17, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Chipmunkdavis. You have new messages at Talk:Flag of Abkhazia.
Message added 01:10, 23 March 2013 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Emmette Hernandez Coleman (talk) 01:10, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Van cat

Hi, if you find out anything wrong with the sources used at Van cat, discuss at talk for the first. You're just reverting (editwarring) with an unclear editsummary [2]. If you really have reliable sources supporting Turkish/Kurdish view (I think this is just your fantasy) why to not use them? 109.172.53.161 (talk) 10:39, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

Other users are well within wiki spirit to revert your edits, per WP:BRD. Also per BRD, it is your WP:Burden as the user wishing to make the change to establish a WP:CONSENSUS to make this change on the talkpage, before you continue to edit war your change in. CMD (talk) 15:01, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

re United States

You're probably right; on the other hand I'm reasonably sure I have made statements to that effect on Azer/Arm pages. I don't comport myself well when frustrated with rambling people. :P --Golbez (talk) 22:09, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for April 13

Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Wildlife of Antarctica, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Niche (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 14:06, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

Please contact me :)

Someone thought that you deserved something a bit extra for all of the amazing work you've done for the project. They nominated you for a gift from the Wikimedia Foundation!

It you can contact me via email that would be great (Jalexanderwikimedia.org) and I can get it out to you. Jalexander--WMF 09:06, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

File:Asia (orthographic projection).svg

Please, could you provide a clear explanation for the speedy delete motion on this file at its talkpage? I don't see how the map constitutes "Patent nonsense" (is the projection description wrong?).

In any case, I suggest you elaborate such delete requests a bit more at the talk page, in order to save time and make these processes quicker.

Take care, Mariano(t/c) 12:34, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

The map isn't patent nonsense, but the map is just a projection of commons. Maybe it's different for administrators, but when I go to edit the page, all I can see is the random text added by the only edit aside from mine in the edit history. CMD (talk) 12:44, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

OK I understand now. I was seeing the deletion request, but not that text. Mariano(t/c) 13:03, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Wildlife of Antarctica

I rather hit lucky in picking your article for my first DYK review.[3] I'll have to look for a poor article next time! Best wishes. Thincat (talk) 15:37, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Well, it certainly looks like your DYK review was very very thorough. If that was your first review, project DYK could make good use your time. Sorry about the unusually long article, I hope your searches for easier work are fruitful! Cheers, CMD (talk) 18:19, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Graphic Designer's Barnstar
	Thank you very much for the graphics listing at Falkland Islands.-- MarshalN20 | Talk 23:12, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Wildlife of Antarctica

Panyd^{The muffin is not subtle} 08:02, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Wildlife of Antarctica ref

On that subject, you wrote: With regards to the ref you added to Wildlife of Antarctica, how much of the preceding text did it cover? Previously the paragraph was all covered by the cybertuffle reference, and as I can't access your source and there's no quote I can't tell if it covers all the text preceding in the paragraph or just the one sentence. Regards, CMD (talk) 17:01, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Good catch. The sentence I had in mind for that new ref was the one right before the note. I wasn't sure about the text before that sentence. Thank you for pointing that out; I'll 'jump' the footnote now.--Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 17:05, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! CMD (talk) 17:09, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

RfC:Infobox Road proposal

WP:AURD (Australian Roads), is inviting comment on a proposal to convert Australian road articles to {{infobox road}}. Please come and discuss. The vote will be after concerns have been looked into.

• Wikipedia:WikiProject Australian Roads/RfC:Infobox Road proposal

You are being notified as a member on the list of WP:AUS

Nbound (talk) 06:18, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

May 2013

Hello, I'm BracketBot. I have automatically detected that your edit to List of sovereign states may have broken the syntax by modifying 1 "()"s. If I misunderstood what happened, or if you have any questions, you can leave a message on my operator's talk page. Thanks, BracketBot (talk) 18:24, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

Associated state‎

Excellent work on the rewrite! It has desperately needed it for some time now, but I've avoided doing it myself due to the inevitable WP:IDHT debates that Ci/Niue issues tend to descend into. TDL (talk) 19:45, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

It wasn't even a matter of removing bad sources. I just went with what was actually in sources that were already being used. It could still use more curation I'm sure; the last sentence seems fairly pointless. Dependent territories often have their own nationality and immigration procedures, and even some country subdivisions. CMD (talk) 20:01, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for May 19

Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Abkhazia, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Meskhetians (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 23:05, 19 May 2013 (UTC)

File:World marriage-equality laws.svg

Info por favor (talk) 23:43, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

Hello, Chipmunkdavis. You have new messages at File talk:World marriage-equality laws.svg.
Message added 23:43, 20 May 2013 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Template_talk:Infobox_country

Hello, Chipmunkdavis. You have new messages at Template_talk:Infobox_country.
Message added TDL (talk) 16:01, 22 May 2013 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Responded

Responded to your query on my talk page. Regards, Jersey John (talk) 22:50, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

Commonwealth

Dear Chipmunkdavis,

The Commonwealth of Nations is an "intergovernmental organisation of 54 independent member states", therefore not a state, consequently it has no relevance to the article about state leaders. Furthermore the link which I keep deleting and you keep re-adding is about the list of members of this organization (only 16 of which have the head of the organization as their head of state). And Elizabeth II is correctly listed under each Commonwealth realm as head of state in the List of current heads of state and government article, therefore a link to the membership of the Commonwealth adds no relevant information.

Could you please explain how you see this question?

ZBukov (talk) 15:11, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

It verifies which 16 states have Elizabeth II as their heads of government. It's not a link, it's a reference, in line with our WP:V policy. CMD (talk) 15:23, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

If you want it to be included as verification for who the head of state of all those countries are, than the consistent solution would be to add the websites of the presidential offices of every country. Without that it's just an arbitrary exception to include this source and not others. Furthermore if you want to verify the head of state of those 15 countries than a link to the government webpage of the affected countries would be more relevant. But all the heads of state and government are listed the UN protocol list (http://www.un.int/protocol/documents/Hspmfm.pdf) anyway, which makes the inclusion of this particular reference unnecessary. ZBukov (talk) 15:33, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

It'd be great if more sources were added! In the meantime, simply removing a source won't add to the article. At least at the moment a reader can comfort their suspicion that Elizabeth II is the head of state of Antigua and Barbuda by checking a reference. CMD (talk) 16:03, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

Adding the UN protocol list to the article as reference makes more sense as it includes all the states. And you don't seem to react to the argument that the reference you want added is about an organization, not a state. ZBukov (talk) 16:33, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

The reference has information about all the states that are part of the organisation, that it has information about an organisation as well doesn't change that. There's no reason for the UN list to replace other references, although it could also be added. CMD (talk) 16:55, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

The UN source is comprehensive unlike the Commonwealth source, which then renders the latter completely superfluous as there is no relevant piece of information in it which is not included in the UN list. ZBukov (talk) 17:08, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

The Commonwealth source also provided the background information for the footnote next to it. While we could base the majority of the article just off the one source, that should at least be discussed on the talkpage first. Would you mind reverting the source deletion you insist on edit-warring in? CMD (talk) 17:17, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

State of Palestine

You can see on www.rulers.org or on www.worldsatesmen.org, in the sections about history of the Palestine, it is a State of Palestine, proclaimed in 15 Nov 1988 by Palestine Liberation Organization which remains ineffective but receives diplomatic recognition from some states) which has a own organization of the state and which has in common with Palestinian National Authority only the person of the president. Te Parliament is Palestinian National Council and the government of that is Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization. For PNA the Parliament is Palestinian Legislative Council and it is a government lead by a prime minister. On 29 Nov 201 2 Palestine represented by PNA obtained the status of non-member observer state status in the United Nations and in 6 Jan 2013 Palestinian Authority renamed itself State of Palestine (move not recognized by Israel). So, at this moment it is a big difference between the state of Palestine proclaimed By OEP, which has nor a prime minister nor an elected Parliament and State of Palestine which is the new name of PNA. Maybe in the future will be an unification between the two entities, but in present they are totally different. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bogdan Uleia (talk • contribs) 10:58, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Palestine was represented in the UN by the PLO, who declared the State of Palestine, not the PNA. You should post this, with sources perhaps, on the article talk page. CMD (talk) 17:53, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

NK, France and Estonia

Regarding this; it could be because of France–North Korea relations page. It states, "France is one of the only two European Union members not to recognise North Korea, the other being Estonia." Source I believe only talks about d-relations, but have you heard anything that this could be the case? Outback the koala (talk) 22:25, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

It's a claim I've heard somewhere before, but I haven't seen any sources supporting it. They don't have diplomatic relations, but France didn't object to the North entering the UN, if that means anything. The relations page should probably be changed. CMD (talk) 23:15, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

NPOV

STOP your pro-abkhazian edits ! Folow NPOV !!!--Balakhadze ^{ႫႨႼႤႰႠ} 10:47, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

I could say the same, replacing abkhazian with Georgian. Note that one aspect of NPOV is to "Indicate the relative prominence of opposing views". A government in exile does not hold the same prominence as a government in control. CMD (talk) 10:50, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

You could say, but you would lie, I'm not removing separatist Abkhazia's signs meanwhile as you are removing Georgian signs.--Balakhadze ^{ႫႨႼႤႰႠ} 10:57, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Displaying them both with equal prominence is not neutrality, as it doesn't reflect reality. CMD (talk) 10:59, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Read these articles and then you'll understand what is or not reality: Battle of Gagra, Kamani massacre, Siege of Tkvarcheli, Sukhumi massacre.--Balakhadze ^{ႫႨႼႤႰႠ} 14:37, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

I'm familiar with the 1992 war, its individual events aren't important for determining which CoA is currently in use on those territories. CMD (talk) 14:54, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

CMD, maybe it's better to be balanced.Recent info (talk) 20:27, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

...yes? CMD (talk) 20:52, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Chipmunkdavis. You have new messages at Emmette Hernandez Coleman's talk page.
Message added 12:07, 6 June 2013 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Emmette Hernandez Coleman (talk) 12:07, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Re : KK barnstar

Thanks for the barnstar CMD! :) — иz нίpнόp ^ʜᴇʟᴘ! 09:26, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Holy See and the Vatican City

Hello, Chipmunkdavis! Answer please, why does the Holy See not a member of the UN? Has it a plan to become its member? User02062000 (talk) 07:33, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

It's never applied. CMD (talk) 13:58, 12 June 2013 (UTC)\

Why does the Vatican City is often considered a state, but the Holy See is an observer state in the UN? User02062000 (talk) 18:42, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

The Holy See is the sovereign entity, and is legally separate from the Vatican. It is the Vatican however that is the territory required to qualify for statehood. By not making themselves identical to the territory they hold the Holy See portrays itself as an international entity for all Catholics, and creates continuity with the period before the Lateran Treaty of 1929. CMD (talk) 18:49, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

But then why the Holy See is in a category 'Non-member states in the UN list? On all pages in Wikipedia the Vatican is considered a state, not the Holy See! Even on the website of the Vatican City it is considered a state, not the Holy See! Why the Holy See holds a STATE section in the UN, not international organization? Please explain! User02062000 (talk) 12:21, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

Because they applied to the UN under the name "Holy See". CMD (talk) 17:08, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

Chipmunkdavis, Thank you very much! Your answer has solved so much my questions about Holy See and the Vatican City! User02062000 (talk) 13:03, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Gibraltar

Gibraltar and the UK may claim whatever they want, but what they cannot do is to change the Treaty of Utrech. The history cannot be rewritten according to what you would like it to be. So please read the Treaty of Utrech and inform yourself before introducing misleading information. Whether you like it or not, there are no maritime borders between any British Overseas Territory and Spain. Have a little bit of respect for History and for international treaties. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Flmtnez (talk • contribs) 13:39, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

. . .

User Chipmunkdavis my disfavour to you! You like "paranoid" reverting all my edits. -_-. --Balakhadze 18:48, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

I haven't nearly reverted "all [your] edits". Perhaps you should try editing through discussion and consensus, rather than your current technique of edit warring changes in. CMD (talk) 18:51, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

File:Democratic Republic of Georgia (en).svg

User Chipmunkdavis do you realy can't see neighbour countries on this map? This map actually gives same information as this file:Democratic Republic of Georgia map.jpg, the only difference is in borders. Also this map is more correct.--Balakhadze 21:46, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

No-one could see the neighbouring countries on the map. There's an amorphous white mass with a few names scattered around. The former one is nowhere near perfect, but at least there's a couple of dates and a difference between Russia and the southern countries. The legend in yours is also strange in that it uses present tense for a past entity. As for accuracy, neither presents a source, but the former doesn't claim as a source an international body that never accepted it as a member. CMD (talk) 22:27, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Re : Malaysia map

 Done + I do some improvements based on the old discussion. :) — иz нίpнόp ^ʜᴇʟᴘ! 16:44, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

Georgian–Armenian War

Hi Chipmunk, just a note to say that the reverting at these articles has reached inappropriate levels. If someone makes an edit against consensus and continues to revert, the best thing is to get others involved, including through article RfCs, or to request admin assistance. In any event you should be careful not to violate 3RR. Many thanks, SlimVirgin ^(talk) 02:14, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks Slim. I haven't touched the article in 6 days though, and in the time I did edit it I don't think I violated 3RR. Do your dates show differently? Also, since Alæxis went as far as to file a 3RR report on a user whose standard approach is to edit war in their edits, and it was ignored, what am I supposed to ask admins? CMD (talk) 08:13, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

Your dates are correct, but you did violate 3RR: the four reverts were 18:43, 18:48, 19:05 on 18 June and 17:02 on 19 June; then another one at 20:36 on 19 June. Also bear in mind that the spirit of 3RR matters too: reverting for a fourth time just outside the 24 hours would count toward it. I understand that this can happen, but it's not only at this article, and any uninvolved admin is likely to see only the reverts, rather than delving into why. So you would be safer to get others involved rather than reverting yourself. Article RfCs (for example) are slow, but they can be very effective.

It's unfortunate that the 3RR report went stale, but consider posting on an admin's talk page in future if you can't get help from the noticeboards. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 18:12, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) I don't usually insert myself into other people's business like this, but I do feel I should make some comment here. CMD, in the course of the very valuable work he does, often finds himself pretty much alone defending good articles against POV warriors and/or vandals. Many of our "Country" and Geography articles owe a significant part of their quality and stability to his efforts. It's a very tricky position to be in. I know, because I find myself in it from time to time, as I know you have too, SlimVirgin. Whilst it is true that the policies and guidelines need to be enforced evenly, sometimes it's also important to consider the effect on the morale of good editors.

I, for instance, have just spent nearly 3 weeks trying to get a steaming pile of POV, copy/pasted unintelligible nonsense masquerading as an article deleted, necessitating long discussions with ARS type editors, and other well meaning, but basically poorly-informed !voters who would seem to default to keep just about anything without really considering the situation and understanding it. It's very draining, and takes up an enormous amount of time which could otherwise be devoted to improving the encyclopedia. Now I just await the next round when the POV editor returns from his block, or creates a new sock. Rinse and repeat.

We need to avoid biting newbies, sure - but we also need to avoid making our good editors feel like they are banging their heads on a very hard wall. This is in no way a criticism of any actions taken here - it's just an observation from someone who has often himself been very tempted to say "stuff it", in the face of the sheer Herculean effort involved in doing the right thing. Perhaps this is a big part of the problem: any uninvolved admin is likely to see only the reverts, rather than delving into why. My 2 cents. Begoon ^talk 02:26, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

Hi Begoon, I agree completely. Another editor has explained that Chipmunkdavis does great work at these articles. But that last sentence that you highlighted is unfortunately what most admins will see – the behaviour rather than the reason for it. I agree that it's a major problem when good editors are left isolated, trying to maintain standards and being judged according to "blind" policy application. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 17:13, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

Well, one day we'll change the world, eh? For now I guess we have to live with it and share our little 'rants' occasionally. There are so many people doing good work, unappreciated, and this medium can be very impersonal at times. I'm as guilty as anyone else on occasion. Cheers. Begoon ^talk 17:50, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

State of Palestine

Many pages say that Palestinian territories are under Israeli occupation. Then there is a conclusion that Palestine is not an independent country (even a lot of websites which try to answer how many independent countries are there in the world say that there are 193 UN members, Vatican and Taiwan). I don't argue that Palestine is not recognized by the UN, but it is not independent! User02062000 (talk) 08:04, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

That's the opinion of a few European countries as well. Another conflict of de jure and de facto. CMD (talk) 08:48, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

Why are you hell bent?

Do read the article Hindu Nationalism and Akhanda Bharata. Hope u r not a pov pusher. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.213.65.173 (talk) 10:40, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

Neither of those articles mention, let alone source, that there's a proposed state merger between all the countries you mention. Per WP:V, wikipedia needs WP:Reliable sources. CMD (talk) 11:26, 27 June 2013 (UTC)