User talk:Simon Adler
User talk:Irondome/Archive 1
Help for patrolling
Hi, I'm Jai98. I need help for reviewing the pages I created recently. If you have any questions, please ask them on my talk page. Thank you.
Happy New Year!
Dear Simon Adler,
HAPPY NEW YEAR Hoping 2015 will be a great year for you! Thank you for your contributions!
From a fellow editor,
--FWiW Bzuk (talk)
This message promotes WikiLove. Originally created by Nahnah4 (see "invisible note").
This week's article for improvement (week 48, 2015)
.jpg)
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This week's article for improvement (week 49, 2015)
 The First Geneva Convention (1864) is one of the earliest formulations of international law.
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Request for assistance
Hello Irondome,
I'm new to Wikipedia editing so I hope I'm doing this the correct way. I feel like I'm being harassed/attacked by two people with respect to an article where I am trying to make what I consider to be a small addition (a one or two-paragraph sub-heading). The individuals involved don't seem to be interested in reaching consensus; they seem to be interested in shutting me down. They also repeatedly threaten to 'take action' against me for edit warring, whereas I believe that their constant and wholesale reversion of (literally) anything that I write is in itself an edit war.
You have many kudos for diplomacy and whereas I am certainly capable of being diplomatic (and in fact worked as a 'diplomat' in my nation's embassy for a time), I am considerably less so when I feel I'm being threatened. I would be happy to discuss the situation with those involved, but it appears that they have no interest in doing so and that their goal is to 'win'. I've also realized that they know very little about the subject in question - they recite 'facts' as to why their view should prevail, however their 'facts' are wrong. I feel very much put upon and the issue has become rather upsetting.
I do feel that the persons involved have some sort of connections and emotional, or possibly political, involvement with the subject as their reactions (to me) seem entirely out of proportion to issue involved. However I don't like being bullied, which is why I'm not willing to just walk away and say 'never mind'.
Anyway, I hope that you can help me get this straightened out. If you don't have time right now I understand, please try to let me know if that's the case. The reason I'm asking you rather than someone else is that your offer to volunteer was one of most recent (I believe third-newest) so I believe that you are more likely to be available than someone who wrote several years ago, you seem multi-faceted, and you don't appear to have any overt political or philosophical biases (even though I don't feel the instant matter is or should be controversial, the very strong dislike I feel coming from the other parties makes me believe that there's some underlying reason other than disliking the two brief paragraphs I added to the article).
The situation as brief as I can make it: The matter involves a Wikipedia article named "Newton Public Schools". It is about a school district in Newton, Massachusetts, U.S. The schools that comprise the district are state-supported (called 'public schools' in the U.S.; I believe however that term has a different meaning in the U.K).
Most of the article is standard and innocuous; however there is a section at the end called "Controversies" which is the source of the problem. There were three sub-headings to the "Controversies" section; I have been trying to add a fourth; I also made minor changes in one or two of the other sub-headings so that they accurate.
The headings are:
1. Textbook controversy - the issue as to whether supplemental material used by high school students in history courses is inaccurate, biased, or anti-Israel has been an ongoing controversy in the community for several years. It has been the subject of newspaper articles and a "Call for Action" by Jewish, community, and education groups and has been the subject of media reports in several U.S. states and in Israel. (I think there were three or four sentences in this section). Also, in an unusual move, the district removed a widely used supplemental text and also removed items from a list of recommended sources.
2. Superintendent Plagiarism - the district's superintendent was found to have plagiarized a speech he gave during a high school graduation ceremony and was fined. In another district where this happened, the superintendent was forced to resign. (I believe there were two sentences).
3. Violation of State Open Meeting Laws - in connection with the plagiarism, the state Attorney General (government prosecutor) found that the school district and Chair of the School Committee violated state law on eight separate occasions. (I think three sentences).
all of the above, plus the events in the fourth section below occurred within a few months of each other.
4. Last year, the state Department of Education found that the district and Chair of the School Committee had engaged in illegal retaliation against a student whose parent had been involved in the textbook issue. As far as can be ascertained, this is the first time in state history that a standing administrator has been found to have violated education law (in this case, student confidentiality law). A federal investigation is ongoing.
I have just realized that the other editors have deleted a post I made in the 'Talk' section of the article and also deleted the last six months of History for the article. This is beyond outrageous.
This is the last couple of posts (including mine) from the Talk section:
This week's article for improvement (week 50, 2015)
.jpg) Princess Leia with characteristic hairstyle cosplayed.
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March Madness 2017
G'day all, please be advised that throughout March 2017 the Military history Wikiproject is running its March Madness drive. This is a backlog drive that is focused on several key areas:
- tagging and assessing articles that fall within the project's scope
- updating the project's currently listed A-class articles to ensure their ongoing compliance with the listed criteria
- creating articles that are listed as "requested" on the project's various task force pages or other lists of missing articles.
As with past Milhist drives, there are points awarded for working on articles in the targeted areas, with barnstars being awarded at the end for different levels of achievement.
The drive is open to all Wikipedians, not just members of the Military history project, although only work on articles that fall (broadly) within the military history scope will be considered eligible. More information can be found here for those that are interested, and members can sign up as participants at that page also.
The drive starts at 00:01 UTC on 1 March and runs until 23:59 UTC on 31 March 2017, so please sign up now.
For the Milhist co-ordinators. Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) & MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:23, 26 February 2017 (UTC)
This week's article for improvement (week 9, 2017)
 Parallel goods traders queuing outside Sheung Shui Station in Hong Kong
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The Signpost: 27 February 2017
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This week's article for improvement (week 10, 2017)
Hello, Irondome.
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Happy Purim.
Drink safe.--Bolter21 (talk to me) 01:18, 11 March 2017 (UTC)
- Hi Bolter21 good to hear from you :) I hope all is well. Good Purim to you too, have a laugh and drink safe too, like wearing leak - proof underwear and some form of head protection. It works for but it may be an age thing. Be Seeing You Si. Irondome (talk) 14:47, 11 March 2017 (UTC)
The Bugle: Issue CXXXI, March 2017
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The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here.
If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 23:20, 12 March 2017 (UTC)
This week's article for improvement (week 11, 2017)
Hello, Irondome.
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Spring
You mentioned you are visiting Manhattan in the spring. Well, the Carnegie Deli has indeed closed, but here are Anthony Bourdain's recommendations of even better: [1] (cf. Russ & Daughters, Katz's Delicatessen). Plus don't forget Zabar's -- another must-visit, must-experience, must-smell, must-taste. Softlavender (talk) 05:08, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
- Hi SL I really appreciate the update and links :) Timetable is slipping a bit due to R/L chaos (uurrrrg) also seriously impacting on my editing time, but 2017 is still the plan. Hope you are not being hit too badly by the snow I hear the north-east is being hit with! Regards, Simon Irondome (talk) 16:36, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
- Re: Snow: Well, no. I haven't lived in NYC since 1992; I live in Hawaii now, and the only snow we get is at the summit of Mauna Kea, at 14,000 feet (4,300 m). :) Hope your plans shape up and that real-life sorts itself out! -- Softlavender (talk) 20:34, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
- By the way, in regards to your (natural) interest in Jewish culture: Although NYC is in general a noted Jewish enclave, what is also cool are the enclaves of Hasidim. The Diamond District – 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues – is overrun by Hasidim and Orthodox Jews in traditional dress (and often also hair). I find it really cool. I used to work in midtown close by, and when I was broke I sold my gold high-school ring in the Diamond District (which is also the gold district). Harry Winston is the face of the district on Fifth Avenue (but at 56th rather than 47th). There are residential enclaves of Hasidim in the outer boroughs such as Brooklyn (as depicted in the film A Stranger Among Us), but the most famous, Williamsburg (which I visited in 1986 to visit a [non-Hasidic] Jewish artist friend who had a loft there; it was a scary and rough high-crime area for other reasons), has been gentrified and is now over-run with yuppies and hipsters. Softlavender (talk) 21:57, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
- SL Priceless info from someone who (By the sound of it and from the great affection I'm getting from the timbre of your words) is intimately aware of, and emotionally connected to NYC, the real New York. I would have liked to have visited in the 70's and 80's when certain districts were still economically and demographically "authentic", and had not been gentrified (in terms of time frames, London, including some of the old East End and central districts, were subject to exactly the same sweeping changes). Obviously the downside would have been the higher crime risks you mention. I remember NY being considered a "risky" destination to visit in the 70's by the media. All the same, you paint a wonderfully evocative picture. Appreciated SL! Si a.k.a. Irondome (talk) 22:40, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
This week's article for improvement (week 12, 2017)
 The long-legged buzzard is an example of a bird of prey.
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Request for assistance
Hello, I would like some assistance editing these two articles List of active separatist movements in Asia List of active separatist movements in Europe
I have explained what I think the problem is on the Talk pages of thes articles under 'Russia'. I am aware that the sources I have provided may not be the best sources, but I do not speak Russian so am unable to find Russian sources. Given that people are arrested for talking about separatism in Russia, it seems unlikely that you would find a Russian political party talking openly about independence, and so the best sources are likely to be external third party sources (or groups in exile). The exact definitions of what constitutes a 'movement' and what constitutes 'active' are also nebulous. I think these problems apply to all sections of the article, and that better principles should be hashed out and applied across the board, but at the moment I am concerned that valid material on Russia has simply been removed. Perhaps it should be removed and my understanding is flawed, but I'm not sure the evidence for this has really been provided. Really I think it needs someone who is an unbiased expert on modern Russian politics to have a look at it (or Modern Politics in general to look at the non-Russian sections), but I don't know where to find such a person. Does wikipedia have any outreach with external experts? There are an awful lot of movements on this list which are unsourced and even the sourced ones may not be particularly significant (e.g. autonomy for London, Wessex independence, Yorkshire independence), but I don't think it's for me to judge what is and isn't significant, and a lack of sourcing shouldn't mean we delete 'sky is blue' well known movements.
I have had an incident opened about me on the Administrators' noticeboard: Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#Halon8 I don't fully understand what this means and whether I should try to defend myself there or what. I understand that I have made some mistakes by not assuming that the editors were acting in good faith, but I'm really not sure what I'm supposed to do (and I don't think calling me a sockpppet is acting in good faith either). If I had looked at the identities of the people making the edits rather than the edits themselves I would never have made the reverts (but I'm not sure what this says about the impartiality of Wikipedia). I do not intend to make any more edits until this is resolved (and to be honest I dont edit very often anyway). I would really appreciate your advice. Thank you Halon8 (talk) 13:53, 23 March 2017 (UTC)
- Hi Halon8. This appears to be primarily a content dispute. I have interacted with user Ymblanter (talk) on several occasions during my time here, and is a long standing editor with a good reputation. Firstly, try not to over-personalise any events here. Please also be careful in terms that you deploy. Vandalism and bad faith tend to create a defensive reaction. There appears to have been a suspicion that you were a sockpuppet of a banned user, but that appears to have been withdrawn. I can only advise that this be taken back to the relevant talk pages, so that a consensus can be reached as to the advisability or otherwise of the content removal that appears to be the nub of the issue. Also you can seek WP:RFC which allows other, uninvolved editors to comment (who usually and hopefully have some knowledge of the subject) and also check outWP:DR, which is very useful and gives a variety of options. I would suggest the current ANI be abandoned, and dialogue resumed, but that's just my 2p. I hope all parties get this resolved, and your impression of WP being a hostile environment is lessened or removed over time. WP is just a reflection of the real world, and one's perceptions of WP are often reflected in one's current WP:REALLIFE experiences I have found. Good luck! Regards, Irondome (talk) 15:49, 23 March 2017 (UTC)
- This is not even a content dispute (from my side), I was reverting a contribution of a blocked (block evading) user and got myself reverted with a comment that this is vandalism. I have no interest in the content of the article (though I actually find it a trash can of all kinds of unsourced claims).--Ymblanter (talk) 15:52, 23 March 2017 (UTC)
Thank-you for your advice Halon8 (talk) 15:13, 24 March 2017 (UTC)