User talk:Nyisnotbad

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Amir Taheri

You have made an edit that could be regarded as defamatory. Please do not restore this material to the article or its talk page. If you do, you may be blocked for disruption. See the blocking policy.

I've reverted your recent edits to Amir Taheri, because (1) your reversion took out some useful, solid information (mostly details of the books he has written) and (2) inserted stuff which is not allowed by Wikipedia's rules, primarily the rules about living people. It doesn't matter whether this stuff is sourced, it's just not allowed. Here's an example, from the Education section:

Details as to which university he attended, or what he studied, are not provided. Notwithstanding this fact, Taheri is advertised in Benador Associates promotional material as "an expert on Iran",ref>[1]</ref>, and this identification is in turn repeated by the mainstream English-language publications in the United States in which Taheri is published.

This violates WP:SYNTH, WP:NPOV, WP:ATT and WP:BLP.

OK, I've given you a lot to read. We don't expect you to understand it all instantly (it took me months), but we will ask you to try to understand it before you edit Amir Taheri again. I strongly suggest you pick an easier article to practice on, maybe an article about someone you admire.

Please do not revert Amir Taheri to a version without the ISBNs again. We do block people for violating WP:BLP.

Best wishes, CWC 15:48, 22 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You have made an edit to Amir Taheri that could be regarded as defamatory. Please do not restore this material to the article or its talk page. If you restore this material to the article or its talk page once more, you will be blocked for disruption. See Blocking policy: Biographies of living people. CWC 08:32, 4 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This is your last warning. The next time you violate Wikipedia's biographies of living persons policy by inserting unsourced defamatory content into an article, as you did to Amir Taheri, you will be blocked from editing Wikipedia. CWC 09:07, 5 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

July 2007

You currently appear to be engaged in an edit war. Note that the three-revert rule prohibits making more than three reversions in a content dispute within a 24 hour period. Additionally, users who perform a large number of reversions in content disputes may be blocked for edit warring, even if they do not technically violate the three-revert rule. If you continue, you may be blocked from editing. Please do not repeatedly revert edits, but use the talk page to work towards wording and content which gains a consensus among editors. Haemo 02:16, 9 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

August 2007

You currently appear to be engaged in an edit war according to the reverts you have made on Amir Taheri. Note that the three-revert rule prohibits making more than three reversions in a content dispute within a 24 hour period. Additionally, users who perform a large number of reversions in content disputes may be blocked for edit warring, even if they do not technically violate the three-revert rule. If you continue, you may be blocked from editing. Please do not repeatedly revert edits, but use the talk page to work towards wording and content which gains a consensus among editors. Ursasapien (talk) 09:53, 9 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You have been blocked from editing for a short time in accordance with Wikipedia's blocking policy for violating the three-revert rule at Amir Taheri. Please be more careful to discuss controversial changes or seek dispute resolution rather than engaging in an edit war. If you believe this block is unjustified, you may contest the block by adding the text {{unblock|your reason here}} below.

LessHeard vanU 21:20, 13 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You are back to edit warring. You continue to revert Amir Taheri without discussing it on the talk page. Please do not repeatedly revert edits, but use the talk page to work towards wording and content which gains a consensus among editors. Ursasapien (talk) 18:42, 16 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

LessHeard vanU

Sir, I have repeated suggested crafting compromise language on Amir Taheri. Unfortunately, the other editor who keep deleting criticism of Taheri's journalistic integrity refuse to participate in any compromise. What is one to do? Can you compel them to compromise?

Advice re Amir Taheri

Nyisnotbad, here's my advice. You might prefer to get it from somebody else, but I think it's still good advice.

Stop reverting/undoing the whole article.
Instead, go through the article (the version with the ISBNs), and make a list of the sections you want to change. (We start with the "bland" version because Wikipedia rules require the person adding stuff to justify those changes.)
Read WP:BLP, WP:RS, WP:NOR and WP:NPOV carefully. (You probably won't understand everything in them — I sure don't, and Wikipedians with far more experience than me don't either. Worse still, they keep changing.) You will need to base your arguments on these policies. If you are unsure about how some of these policies affect the article, you can ask me, because the WP:BITE rule says I should help you.
Work on one section at a time. It's probably a good idea to start with the one you think you have the best argument for changing.
Here you have a choice. You can either (1) edit that section and start a discussion of your edits on Talk:Amir Taheri, or (2) just start a discussion on the talk page by writing out your proposed new text or proposed changes. (Clicking here will help you create a new section on that talk page.) Remember, you have to make the case for your changes in terms of Wikipedia policies and guidelines. Also, being WP:CIVIL makes you a lot more likely to convince people.
Be prepared for lots of discussion and lots of edits. That's how Wikipedia works on controversial topics. The end result will be a compromise. You probably won't get everything you want, nor will the "pro-Taheri" editors.
Then pick another section you want to change and repeat the process.
Keep doing one section at a time until finished.

This probably sounds like a lot of work. It is a lot of work. But the result is (almost) always a better encyclopedia article, the most important thing at Wikipedia. That's why we keep doing things this way.

I hope this helps. Cheers, CWC 09:57, 18 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To Chris

I appreciate your advice and attempt at compromise. Your suggested route for finding a resolution is absolutely sound. The only problem is that there are some third party editors (Ankimai, in particular) who revert blindly without comment. Provided the other side does the same, will you be able/willing to prevent editors involved in this edit war who are of your persuassion from blindly reverting all attempts at compromise?

2 I would appreciate if you would take the first stab at a compromise edit bearing in mind the fact that an acceptable entry should contain a description of the criticisms pertaining to Taheri's journalistic credibility. If it came from you, it is less like to be reverted blindly.

Thanks again —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nyisnotbad (talk • contribs) 00:09:52, August 19, 2007 (UTC).

You have been temporarily blocked from editing in accordance with Wikipedia's blocking policy for repeated abuse of editing privileges. Please stop. You're welcome to make useful contributions after the block expires. If you believe this block is unjustified you may contest this block by adding the text {{unblock|your reason here}} below.

You had the proper method of addressing your concerns with the article explained above, yet you again reverted it to the version preferred by you. Reverting without comment and against the consensus is vandalism, which is the basis on which I have blocked. If you wish to improve the article to better reflect your concerns I suggest you improve your conduct. LessHeard vanU 10:59, 19 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

@LessHeard vanU

What are you talking about? I have not been reverting "without comment." To the contrary, I have made numerous comments to my edits (see page history; my comments number in the double digits). In addition, I have made *several* attempts at modified or compromised langauge (again, see page history), which have been summarily reverted by the *other* side, the majority of the time without comment and always without alternate compromise language suggestions.

Moreover, I take issue with your classification of one version of the edit as the "consensus" view and another version as "vandalism." This classification of two equally legitimate and sustainable perspectives in and of itself suggests a POV bias on your part.

Again, I urge you and whoever else who has issues with the criticisms of Taheri come up with some alternative compromise language which addresses the legitimate concerns people have with Taheri's journalistic integrity. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nyisnotbad (talk • contribs) 07:48, August 21, 2007 (UTC).

Doesn't the Contoversies section cover your concerns? What more would you like to add? Ursasapien (talk) 08:52, 6 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To Chris / Ursapian

I believe two things should be added.

1. The fact that critics allege, with basis in fact, Taheri deliberately concocts outright fabrications to discredit Iran, and that these stories are (at least in part) developed in conjunction with neo-conservative Israel supporters associated with Benador Associates, who are essentially Taheri's handlers.

2. Questions regarding ambiguities about his educational and professional backround, which render his self-proclaimed title of "Iran expert" suspect.