Revision as of 18:19, 26 June 2015 view sourceLivelikemusic (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, File movers55,493 editsNo edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 18:19, 26 June 2015 view source Jytdog (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers187,951 edits →Arbitration enforcement, the limits of WP:INVOLVED, and (inevitably) Eric Corbett: support blockNext edit → | ||
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*'''Support block''' per KoshVorlon. ] (]) 17:15, 26 June 2015 (UTC) | *'''Support block''' per KoshVorlon. ] (]) 17:15, 26 June 2015 (UTC) | ||
* '''Support unblock''' I am profoundly discouraged to see this discussion. It troubles me to see editors I like and respect on both sides of this. I sort of get that expressing disgust with a blantantly sexist proposal is technically a violation of the topic ban, but we should be rallying to support his point, not driving him away. --]] 17:58, 26 June 2015 (UTC) | * '''Support unblock''' I am profoundly discouraged to see this discussion. It troubles me to see editors I like and respect on both sides of this. I sort of get that expressing disgust with a blantantly sexist proposal is technically a violation of the topic ban, but we should be rallying to support his point, not driving him away. --]] 17:58, 26 June 2015 (UTC) | ||
*'''Support block''' i think gorilla warfare defended her block very clearly (and in a very civil manner in the face of some pretty uncivil comments) in . | |||
::What she wrote there is that 9 people commented, and "Not a single comment addressed the content of Eric's edit, and whether it was a violation of his restriction from "making any edit about: (i) the Gender Gap Task Force; (ii) the gender disparity among Wikipedians; and (iii) any process or discussion relating to these topics, all broadly construed". | |||
::The block was for by the way. If folks haven't read it, they should do. | |||
::The violation of the topic ban is very clear. As far as I can see the comment had nothing to do with Eric's content-creation work - it appears to be pure venting/soapboxing, in a new thread that he opened on his own Talk page, with no link to some prior discussion (in other words - not even something we could ~try~ to say arose in a heated argument) Apparently, very, very avoidable - the product of a lack of self-restraint. | |||
::A lot of people I respect are unhappy about the block... my sense is that folks are unhappy with EC's topic ban (I don't know that much about what led to it) If so, I would suggest they try to get the topic ban changed. But the block itself was good under the topic ban that actually exists, and in any case Black Kite should be trouted for a bad close (which are meant to be on the merits, not on sheer votes). (sorry to say that Black Kite) ] (]) 18:19, 26 June 2015 (UTC) | |||
===Proposal to close the arbitration enforcement noticeboard=== | ===Proposal to close the arbitration enforcement noticeboard=== | ||
The last time Eric Corbett was taken to the ] noticeboard, in January 2015, there was a strong consensus for no action, which on that occasion included a strong admin consensus, but ] cast a supervote and blocked anyway. This time GorillaWarfare blocked after the discussion had been closed as consensus not to block. Why do we have this noticeboard? As Black Kite puts it in his updated close note today: "{{tq|General consensus amongst admins and others appeared to be that there is no issue to pursue here. However, another admin (and arbitrator) has gone ahead and unilaterally blocked Eric after this AE report was closed. The purpose of this page (and indeed any concept of consensus on it) now therefore appears to be unclear.}}" Yes, the purpose is unclear, to put it mildly. Commenting on it is a waste of time, for admins and other users; at any point in time, a single admin can ignore consensus and unilaterally place the very strongest kind of block, which is an arbitration enforcement block. Those blocks may not be overturned by a second admin, on pain of desysopping: see the pink "Important information" box at the top of WP:AE, specifically the "Information for administrators processing requests". There is a First Mover Advantage carved in stone for AE blocks. (Unlike ordinary blocks, which have a much less strong Second Mover Advantage — see ].) That is to say, only the first move to ''block'' has that advantage. The first, second, third, etc admin movers have no advantage at all if they move ''not'' to block the user; not-blocking is quite disadvantaged; nobody gets desysopped if they overturn ''that''. On the contrary, people who overturn not-blockings place themselves in an invincible position. In January, the first three movers (not-blocking admins) were me, ], and ], and our non-blocks got overturned by Sandstein. This time the not-blocking admin was ] (who not-blocked per the consensus of the discussion as a whole), and he got overturned by GorillaWarfare. | The last time Eric Corbett was taken to the ] noticeboard, in January 2015, there was a strong consensus for no action, which on that occasion included a strong admin consensus, but ] cast a supervote and blocked anyway. This time GorillaWarfare blocked after the discussion had been closed as consensus not to block. Why do we have this noticeboard? As Black Kite puts it in his updated close note today: "{{tq|General consensus amongst admins and others appeared to be that there is no issue to pursue here. However, another admin (and arbitrator) has gone ahead and unilaterally blocked Eric after this AE report was closed. The purpose of this page (and indeed any concept of consensus on it) now therefore appears to be unclear.}}" Yes, the purpose is unclear, to put it mildly. Commenting on it is a waste of time, for admins and other users; at any point in time, a single admin can ignore consensus and unilaterally place the very strongest kind of block, which is an arbitration enforcement block. Those blocks may not be overturned by a second admin, on pain of desysopping: see the pink "Important information" box at the top of WP:AE, specifically the "Information for administrators processing requests". There is a First Mover Advantage carved in stone for AE blocks. (Unlike ordinary blocks, which have a much less strong Second Mover Advantage — see ].) That is to say, only the first move to ''block'' has that advantage. The first, second, third, etc admin movers have no advantage at all if they move ''not'' to block the user; not-blocking is quite disadvantaged; nobody gets desysopped if they overturn ''that''. On the contrary, people who overturn not-blockings place themselves in an invincible position. In January, the first three movers (not-blocking admins) were me, ], and ], and our non-blocks got overturned by Sandstein. This time the not-blocking admin was ] (who not-blocked per the consensus of the discussion as a whole), and he got overturned by GorillaWarfare. |
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(Initiated 101 days ago on 7 October 2024) Tough one, died down, will expire tomorrow. Aaron Liu (talk) 23:58, 5 November 2024 (UTC)
Misplaced Pages:Reliable sources/Noticeboard/Archive 459#RFC_Jerusalem_Post
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- would like to see what close is. seems like it was option 1 in general, possibly 1/2 for IP area. Bluethricecreamman (talk) 05:38, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
Talk:Genocide#RfC: History section, adding native American and Australian genocides as examples
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Talk:Australia#RFC: Should the article state that Indigenous Australians were victims of genocide?
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Talk:Israel#RfC
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- Note: Ongoing discussion, please wait a week or two. Bogazicili (talk) 14:08, 29 December 2024 (UTC)
Talk:Thomas Sewell (neo-Nazi)#RfC on the Inclusion of Guard Actions and Court Findings on Motivations
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Talk:Estado Novo (Portugal)#RFC Should the Estado Novo be considered fascist?
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Strange behaviour from several new accounts
There have been several throwaway accounts recently—Yumakotori9, Samuelliam, Rozsateka, Vincemio9 and Antontimo2—that all follow the same editing pattern. Their edits almost exclusively consist of overlinking, adding redundant sentences and incorrectly italicising titles. Is this disruptive enough to warrant blocking? I've been reverting them but the frequency of these edits seem to be increasing. —Xezbeth (talk) 08:37, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
Found some more: Reidan29, Emmaava17, Usagi40, Zoeemily, Ethanliam69, Yumiko69, Masonadam25, Aliceella25, Misako94. Obviously a sockpuppet of some sort, but I can't work out what the intent is. —Xezbeth (talk) 11:54, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- Similarly unsure about their actual edits, but an SPI might be a good idea. Sam Walton (talk) 11:55, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- They might be a class of students learning how to edit Misplaced Pages and told to start off with this kind of stuff. Or, they are all making a load of minor edits to get auto-confirmed and then go after their real goals which may or may not be legitimate ones. Voceditenore (talk) 12:33, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- I've not looked in a huge amount of detail but it seems like the edits are sequential, as if one person is moving from account to account. Sam Walton (talk) 12:35, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- I raised something similar at Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#Strange concentration of new accounts on new, obscure article. Number 57 14:42, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- I don't know about your examples, Number 57, but I left messages on the talk pages of all the ones named in this section asking them if this was a class assignment. This response indicates that maybe it is. But who knows? Voceditenore (talk) 17:12, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- I raised something similar at Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#Strange concentration of new accounts on new, obscure article. Number 57 14:42, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- I've not looked in a huge amount of detail but it seems like the edits are sequential, as if one person is moving from account to account. Sam Walton (talk) 12:35, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- They might be a class of students learning how to edit Misplaced Pages and told to start off with this kind of stuff. Or, they are all making a load of minor edits to get auto-confirmed and then go after their real goals which may or may not be legitimate ones. Voceditenore (talk) 12:33, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- This is possibly a continuation of the disruption first reported at Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive887#Suspicious activity at Kammavari Palem. One of the accounts was proven to be a sockpuppet of User:036386536a; a couple others made unprompted denials of being sockpuppets even though no one had accused them in the first place. (See Misplaced Pages:Sockpuppet investigations/036386536a/Archive#6 June 2015 and the following two sections.) All the accounts implausibly claimed that Misplaced Pages itself told them to edit certain articles after signing up for an account. My best theory so far is that User:036386536a is either running or taking an online course on Misplaced Pages. —Psychonaut (talk) 10:14, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- @Psychonaut:, @Lukeno94:, @WikiDan61:.
I'm not so sure it's implausible.
Presuming they claimed they were suggested to different articles, pretty sure it's entirely plausible. AFAIK Misplaced Pages:GettingStarted has been shown to all newly registered accounts after they complete registration for quite a while now. (Meta:Research:Onboarding new Wikipedians/Rollout suggests since 2014-02-11.) Definitely it was shown when I created a temp account just now to confirm it's still working.
As that page says you can add ?gettingStartedReturn=true to any page to see what's shown to new users. If they came from an editable article (and the software knows it), they'll be invited to edit the article they came from, but if they came from anywhere else (an uneditable article or something that isn't an article or the software doesn't know where they came from) except special pages, they'll be direct to something else to edit.
Now, if many accounts claim they were all suggested to the same article (which wasn't were they started from) in in a brief timespan, that seems implausible unless there's a bug or weirdness in the design of getting started, those details I'm lazy to check.
- @Psychonaut:, @Lukeno94:, @WikiDan61:.
Where is Poland?
So, where's Poland? Is it in Eastern Europe or Central Europe? There was an RfC about this on Talk:Poland, which I closed today in favour of Eastern Europe (diff). Accordingly, I changed the article to say so. I've now been reverted, but the editor concerned has not explained himself on the article talk page or on mine.
Taking the most charitable interpretation of the revert, I'll assume that this editor wants to challenge my close but does not know how to do so. (I was half-expecting a challenge to my close in any case, because I went for a decision rather than a compromise.) Could I have an RfC close review please?—S Marshall T/C 18:48, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- This is primarily a question about how Europe should be divided, not specifically about Poland - perhaps you should try an RFC at Misplaced Pages talk:WikiProject Europe. עוד מישהו Od Mishehu 19:20, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- Hi @Od Mishehu: and thanks for responding, but I do just wonder if you might have missed the point?—S Marshall T/C 19:29, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- Yeah, I saw that close, and decided not to say anything if users seemed to accept it, but now that users have clearly not accepted it, I'm afraid I have to say that I disagree with it. Sorry Stuart, no offense intended, I appreciate your effort and good intent, but to me, that close reads more like a supervote rather than an evaluation of the arguments. In terms of arguing users, we have for a Central/Eastern Europe compromise: Cordless Larry, Piotrus, OnlyInYourMind, OwenBlacker, and Yatzhek. For Eastern Europe we only have Samotny Wędrowiec (though he would also accept, and even proposed, a Central/Eastern compromise), and TheGnome, while for Central Europe: Xx236. Of course the actual arguments are more important than the count of supporters, but Samotny Wędrowiec, Piotrus, and Xx236 each presented multiple links with evidence for their sides. It's pretty clear that the consensus is for a Central/Eastern compromise. I know you wrote that you also took the opinions of other people discussing elsewhere on the page into account, but that hardly makes it more clear, since there we have Oliszydlowski, Boston9, and Student7 arguing against merely Eastern Europe, and in favor of a compromise of both. (And of course there's Powertranz, though they merely revert rather than argue, so it's hard to tell what their argument is, it's still pretty clear they don't agree.) A closer needs to be able to put their personal opinions aside; if they can't, or don't agree with the clear discussion consensus, and think it should be listed as in Eastern Europe, then they can say so, and participate in the discussion, but they shouldn't close it as a supervoter. --GRuban (talk) 21:02, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
At the risk of complicating matters further, I feel I should point out that this RfC appears not to have been properly carried out, and seems not to have served the purpose for which they are designed. The intention is to attract the opinions of outside contributors - and for that purpose, a template is provided, which ensures that the RfC is added to the appropriate lists. As it stands, I can see little evidence that the 'RfC' amounted to more than a rehashing of arguments by involved contributors.AndyTheGrump (talk) 21:16, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- Well, I'd agree that there were no outside contributors. There was what seems to be a correct RfC template on the article until Legobot removed it on 26th May (diff); I closed it more than three weeks after the template expired. I think the usual amount of effort had been made to attract outside contributors but none had showed up.
GRuban's count is superficially accurate but I feel that to consider Yatzhek as "for a central/eastern europe compromise" is to disregard most of his posts on the talk page. Yatzhek hasn't been persuaded that Poland is in central/eastern europe, he's been exhausted into agreeing to it. I also don't agree with GRuban's apparent choice to disregard the IP posters.
Until I read the RfC I didn't think much about this subject, but now that I've read it (and the linked sources), I really do think Poland's in Eastern Europe. Its eastern boundary is the eastern edge of the European Union, and also the eastern edge of NATO. Its language is Slavic and its people are, with minority exceptions, Slavs. However, I'm happy to be overturned if there's a consensus that I'm wrong.—S Marshall T/C 22:41, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- Apologies for my earlier comment re the template - I thought I'd checked for it, but obviously missed it somehow. AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:49, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- (Non-administrator comment) The 'location' of Poland has been an ongoing issue. Please see all of archive 2 (which includes an RM), and the majority of archive 3 (which includes an RfC) for the Galicia (Eastern Europe) article. Personally, I'm neutral as to whether Poland is described as a Central European country or not... but I've also been worn out by the proposal to define Poland as being in Central Europe from as many different fronts as possible. In fact, I've been so far put off the subject by what can only be described as FORUMSHOPPING raising its head every six months or so, that I've started to believe the hype. I agree with S Marshal's evaluation of the RfC. While I was involved with the Galician disambiguation issue as a matter of compromise, I truly see this as something that can only be neutrally assessed via a crossroads talk page where a far more diverse group of editors can !vote and discuss the COMMONNAME for the region in Europe English language sources agree on. To be honest, Eastern Europe has been treated as an IDONTLIKEIT assignation which simply isn't reflected in the Anglophone world. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 00:59, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- Ah, yes, the conflict over Galicia (Eastern Europe) of November 2013. Since 2003, the article has been titled Galicia (Central-Eastern Europe), Galicia (central Europe), Galicia (Central Europe), Galicia (Central and Eastern Europe), Galicia (East Central Europe), Galicia (East-Central Europe) and Galicia (Eastern and Central Europe). Let's just say that identifying countries in this entire geographic area has been a ongoing subject of dispute. Liz 12:57, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- (Non-administrator comment) The 'location' of Poland has been an ongoing issue. Please see all of archive 2 (which includes an RM), and the majority of archive 3 (which includes an RfC) for the Galicia (Eastern Europe) article. Personally, I'm neutral as to whether Poland is described as a Central European country or not... but I've also been worn out by the proposal to define Poland as being in Central Europe from as many different fronts as possible. In fact, I've been so far put off the subject by what can only be described as FORUMSHOPPING raising its head every six months or so, that I've started to believe the hype. I agree with S Marshal's evaluation of the RfC. While I was involved with the Galician disambiguation issue as a matter of compromise, I truly see this as something that can only be neutrally assessed via a crossroads talk page where a far more diverse group of editors can !vote and discuss the COMMONNAME for the region in Europe English language sources agree on. To be honest, Eastern Europe has been treated as an IDONTLIKEIT assignation which simply isn't reflected in the Anglophone world. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 00:59, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- Apologies for my earlier comment re the template - I thought I'd checked for it, but obviously missed it somehow. AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:49, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- It sure looks like there were outside contributors. This RfC was OnlyInYourMind (talk · contribs)'s only contribution to Poland related topics, and OwenBlacker (talk · contribs) specifically wrote he was here from the Misplaced Pages:Feedback request service. Both were, of course, in favor of compromise. I strongly suspect that most other outside contributors would be too, because ... no offence to the participants ... to those without a dog in this fight, this likely just isn't worth arguing over. Please see Boris's view concisely expressed just below. Ahem.
- As for S Marshall's arguments, they are just that arguments for the discussion. They are not conclusive (I suspect Austria or Canada or a dozen other countries could have issues with the concept that NATO borders defined Europe) or even appropriate, for the closing. The closer is supposed to evaluate the arguments made in the discussion, rather than decide based on their own views. Let's quote directly from Misplaced Pages:Closing discussions: "If the consensus of reasonable arguments is opposite to the closer's view, he or she is expected to decide according to the consensus." With all due respect, it reads as if you have done the opposite. --GRuban (talk) 14:14, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- Yes, certainly I have no strong feelings on the matter. From my perspective as someone brought up during the Cold War in Western Europe, I was taught that Poland was in Eastern Europe — but where that term was a transparent euphemism for the Warsaw Pact nations. Now I would describe anything between the Rhine and Poland's current eastern border as being Central Europe. But I'd understand either term and, as GRuban (talk · contribs) succinctly put it, I don't have a dog in this fight and don't really consider it worth arguing over ;o) Personally, I'm far more interested in a stable Misplaced Pages than whether the limits of Central or Eastern Europe are clearly defined. — OwenBlacker (Talk) 14:25, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- Interesting, but why at Poland's Eastern border? To me that seems like a fairly arbitrary place to draw the line. Culturally, large parts of Belarus and Ukraine have a lot more in common with Poland than Russia. If you believe Poland and countries similar to it are in Central Europe, then why exclude Belarus and Ukraine? Would you include Germany with that definition? Linguistically it makes no sense, since as a native Polish speaker I can understand chunks of spoken Ukrainian and Belarusian without any prior learning of these languages (after learning the Cyrillic script I can also tell that their orthography is very similar to Polish despite of the difference in alphabets), the same applies to spoken and written Slovak and Czech (though reading that is even easier due to the similar alphabets), but I understand practically no spoken or written German despite of learning that language at school for 3 years. Even the political definition of Central Europe (nowadays often used as another term for Eastern European countries that are now allied with the US rather than Russia) shouldn't really end at Poland's Eastern border but about 3/4 into Ukraine. --Samotny Wędrowiec (talk) 17:58, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- Are we there yet? Short Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 02:44, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- Per GRuban, the closure statement does not reflect the consensus as presented, and should be reverted. The discussion does not seem to support the conclusion written by S Marshall. --Jayron32 03:34, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- Not meaning to be disrespectful, most of the 'discussion' took place well before the stub-end posturing as an RfC. The protracted discussions prior that which is found in the 'RfC' have, to my mind, been considered and well represented by S Marshall. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 04:00, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- {{Do not archive until}} added. Please remove the {{Do not archive until}} tag after the review is closed. (I am adding this because RfC closure reviews frequently have been archived prematurely without being resolved.) Cunard (talk) 04:53, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
I don't know if I'm allowed to post here (as someone who has been trying to change things in this matter for over a year now), but if I am then here it is: for me personally the matter is clear - Poland is an Eastern European country through and through. The arguments I have provided over time and the amount of sources I linked to are enough proof that most of the world seems to agree on that. Central Europe is a concept that largely overlaps with the idea of Western and Eastern Europe. Time and time again we hear of Austria as either Western or Central Europe, whilst Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia are most often referred to as Eastern or East-Central Europe/Central and Eastern Europe (different wording, but essentially same thing).
The concept of Central Europe isn't that new, but it has always been mostly about the central parts of the Austrian Empire/Austria-Hungary - a unique mix of cultures from the East and West. Calling Poland a Central European country is a much more recent idea and it seems ridiculous to me since present-day Poland has only very small parts of land that used to be under the control of the Austrians. Going by this, even countries geographically more to the East like Romania or Ukraine have more right to call themselves Central European. What disgusts me the most is that Eastern Europe, in the minds of many Eastern Europeans, is perceived as something objectively bad or something to be ashamed of. Pretty much half of the countries in Eastern Europe have a growing minority of loud people who argue that Eastern Europe starts to the East of their country. This results in some funny situations, where people from Poland, Latvia or Serbia argue that they are in Central or even Western Europe - both ideas are marginal at best. It's also annoying how people can't let go of the political connotations to Eastern Europe. The Eastern Bloc is gone, half of the Eastern European countries are now politically Western, but their cultures and history didn't change overnight in 1989 or 1991. And yes, whether they like it or not, influence of the Russian Empire and the USSR makes up a major part of the region's history.
Anyway, the only reason why I started arguing for a compromise is due to the fact that I became sick and tired of repeating myself. This turned into a frustration that has led me to take a break off Misplaced Pages by getting myself purposefully suspended. I came back (though I am still suspended on the Polish as I don't think it's worth appealing for the lifting of my suspension in that part of the online encyclopedia, because it is filled with POV-pushing and moderators abusing their powers) and realised that an inhuman amount of patience is required to see anything really change in the Poland article. So I just started taking it a bit less seriously and devoted less of my time to it. Eventually I started arguing for a compromise. But the same thing happens. I post countless arguments and sources supporting the change, yet all I get is lightning-fast reverts, vandalising of the talk page with personal attacks against me and so on. The only serious responses I was getting were from a very small number of mostly Polish Wikipedians who either replied by simply saying that they disagree, some of them occasionally posted a link to support their view.
So the main problem here is that, at the current moment in time, Misplaced Pages does not reflect the views of the world. It does not reflect how the UN or EU statistically group these countries, neither does it show what the majority of us actually think. The Poland article is strictly controlled by a group of Polish Wikipedians, some of them with connections to people with authority, who are destined to turn all things related to Poland on Misplaced Pages into the most biased travel guide available about a "country in the heart of Europe". One absolutely ridiculous example of this that I remember was when someone modified a quotation from Angela Merkel in the Poland article to say "Central and Eastern Europe" instead of "Eastern Europe" from the original source. Most of these people are unwilling to discuss anything related to this. They have had their way for so long and they probably will in the end also. The only reason why some progress actually started happening is due to users from the outside finally joining in. But it looks like it was very short-lived, because after the change we are now back to the same people repeatedly reverting any edits on the topic. In case anyone wasn't aware of this, Powertranz is the worst offender. He has been reverting these changes since February 2014 and he has NEVER taken part in the discussion about said changes. --Samotny Wędrowiec (talk) 17:47, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
- I'm on the verge of self-reverting and reopening the discussion here. Another independent person's input would be very welcome to me at this point.—S Marshall T/C 19:09, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
The wall of text above, with nothing but blatant soapboxing indicative of the more extreme parts of this whole affair, is not really acceptable at ANI. We are a community of (mostly anonymous) editors some of whom might have delusions of grandeur inflated to the level of accredited worldly politicians. Please note, Misplaced Pages is here to make use of internal links where applicable. Look at articles Central Europe and Eastern Europe. Where do you find Poland? Poland is "not" in Central Europe. Poland is in the article (!) Central Europe. Like OwenBlacker said above, Eastern Europe "was a transparent euphemism for the Warsaw Pact nations" during the Cold War. A Warsaw Pact would be a good i-link to use in article Poland according to WP:MOS, but Warsaw Pact doesn't exist anymore. Soviet Union doesn't exist neither ... understandably, the article Ukraine for instance would not have been written well if it began with: "Ukraine is a former republic of the Soviet Union." Instead, a sovereign state is the relevant i-link to use in introducing Ukraine to the reader according to WP:RS. Poeticbent talk 13:39, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
File upload wizard broken
FYI, apparently the WP:File Upload Wizard is currently broken, due to a change in MediaWiki's Javascript support. See thread on WP:VP/T#File upload wizard broken for technical details. I hope to see this fixed soon; in the meantime, could admins please keep some extra eyes on the Upload logs, since editors are currently thrown back on the old unguided upload form and there are large numbers of files with missing or bad file descriptions coming through. Fut.Perf. ☼ 05:46, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
Request Admin Attention at Global Positioning System
There has been edit-warring at Global Positioning System, and now admin User:TomStar81 has temporarily locked the article. It appears that progress is being made, and that the editors may be able to work out the content dispute, but admin attention is requesting just in case there are personal attacks or other disruptive behavior. Robert McClenon (talk) 20:14, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
Arbitration enforcement, the limits of WP:INVOLVED, and (inevitably) Eric Corbett
Last night I closed a WP:AE request about a topic ban breach by User:Eric Corbett. A number of editors had commented on it, all of whom seemed to agree that while it was a technical breach of the TB, it wasn't worth a serious sanction. I thus closed it in that way with no action. An hour later, arbitrator User:GorillaWarfare unilaterally blocked Eric for a month. There are a couple of issues here.
- Enforcement. I closed the report as "no action", but GorillaWarfare overrode it. Had it been the other way round (i.e. I'd blocked Eric and she had unblocked him without discussing it with me, or here) then it would almost certainly have resulted in a desysop. It seems wrong that AE decisions can be overridden in one direction but not the other. Why even bother having AE if admins can unilaterally ignore the discussion and the closing of them?
- Involvement. GorillaWarfare was one of the arbs that voted for Eric's topic ban in the first place. Whilst that would not normally meet any definition of involvement, she was also quite vocal in wanting Eric completely site-banned during that case (here is the PD page). I'm ... uneasy that it was GW who did the blocking. As I said on her talkpage, she should undo the block, and if another admin wants to re-block, that's their prerogative (but again, the above issue still applies).
AE blocks can be undone by a discussion here. Whether that is the outcome or not, I think the above issues need to be discussed. Black Kite (talk) 10:53, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock as out of process and against consensus. The AE request was filed at 21:45 UTC and Eric was blocked just before 04:00 UTC, during which time I was either reading articles or (mostly) asleep. A little over six hours is far too short a time to gain an accurate consensus; indeed, when I have entertained unblock proposals when coming across cases on CAT:UNBLOCK I have generally allowed 7 days as a suitable timeframe. I was very close to unblocking Eric myself, but I think a discussion here is a good idea - though one I fear will descend quickly into a mud slinging drama-fest :-( Ritchie333 11:03, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- AE is not based on developing a new consensus each time. As long as there was a violation of an arbitration sanction, an administrator can enforce the sanction without any discussion. The discussion happened when the arbitration case is decided, and after that the case itself provides the consensus behind any enforcement actions. 2601:5C5:4000:B14F:90D1:11E:D24C:CBF7 (talk) 12:00, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock - After the AE discussion, this unilateral action looked to be a second bite of the apple. This is inconsistent with our goals and policy. If we are to ignore consensus, then why bother having AE. I'm also bothered by GW's comments about how there was only one admin among participants, which seemed to be a disrespectful jab at non-admin, indicating their input is less important than those of us with the bit. If it wasn't an Arb block, I would have simply unblocked him myself without asking. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 11:08, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- So a little over six hours is far too short a time to gain an accurate consensus with which you disagree, but fine for one with which you agree? Hal peridol (talk) 11:14, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- I believe that GorillaWarfare has already explained her comment about only one admin . Amortias (T)(C) 11:19, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Insufficient. If her real concern was that the comments were simply off topic, she wouldn't have mentioned who had admin bits and who didn't, they aren't related. That might be her response, but it doesn't explain it. The words speak for themselves. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 11:25, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- I can see where your coming from and I certainly agree that your entitled to your opinion even though I don't see it that way. I was mostly posting it so others could easily find the response to the statement that had already been given. Sufficient or not I will let individuals decide. Amortias (T)(C) 11:35, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Insufficient. If her real concern was that the comments were simply off topic, she wouldn't have mentioned who had admin bits and who didn't, they aren't related. That might be her response, but it doesn't explain it. The words speak for themselves. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 11:25, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block Everytime Eric makes a comment he knows is likely to lead to a block he tends to be blocked. There is a surge of support for his unblocking. Eric returns continues to make comments that he is prohibited from making and ends up blocked. If you've been told dont do something and you carry on doing it the blame lies firmly with the person making the comments. My understanding of the process is that any uninvolved administrator can block with regards to arbitration sanctions they dont need to go via AE (please point me in the direction of something that says otherwise if it exists). Amortias (T)(C) 11:16, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Yes, this is my point really. What is the function of AE if a consensus discussion can be overridden like this? Misplaced Pages functions on consensus, this just seems ... I don't know, out of place. If I close an AfD discussion as "Keep", an admin can't come along an hour later and delete the article anyway. This seems analogous. Black Kite (talk) 11:24, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Actually, they can if the article meets one of the speedy deletion criteria. Nick-D (talk) 11:30, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I can think of several articles, most notoriously The Mariposa Trust, where I ignored previous consensus to delete, (deleted contribs here) and just went with what I thought was best for the encyclopedia. Which is what we should all do as priority. Ritchie333 11:42, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- I think you know exactly what I meant. Black Kite (talk) 11:47, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support Block Eric was placed on a discretionary sanction and understood what it was all about, he chose to violate that sanction not once, but repeatedly, and he's been repeatedly blocked for it. In fact, on his latest post he challenged an admin to block him, which as far as I'm concerned (and I'm also under a discretionary sanction, myself) is just asking for a block. I'd consider GorillaWarfare's actions to be more along the lines of WP:IAR. KoshVorlon Rassekali ternii i mlechnye puti 11:17, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock. Clear consensus not to block at the enforcement page. Besides it is, as others have already said, a minor civilly-worded statement on his own talk page that supports treating genders equally. DrKiernan (talk) 11:18, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block per KoshVorlon. This is a sensible block given it related to a clear violation of editing restrictions. The notion that blocks should only be implemented when there's a consensus which is being advanced above is nonsense, especially in the circumstances here (including those which Amortias notes). The "involvement" section of Black Kite's post above is also dubious at best given that GW made those comments in her official roles. Nick-D (talk) 11:23, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Note that she specifically says "Please note that this is not an arbitrator action. GorillaWarfare (talk) 03:02, 26 June 2015 (UTC)" immediately below the block template. Johnbod (talk) 11:36, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block essentially same as KoshVorlon ChristopheT (talk) 11:26, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock per Black Kite and Ritchie333. Arbs blocking "along the lines of WP:IAR" should not be encouraged. Johnbod (talk) 11:36, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block per KoshVorlon and Amortias Kevin Gorman (talk) 11:30, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock per Black Kite, Ritchie333 and Dennis Brown. A pointless over-reaction on the part of GW, who should be considering their position. Nortonius (talk) 11:33, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock per Amortias. Obviously treating Eric like a child isn't working. Eric does not appear to be a threat to anyone nor is commentary on his own talk page disruptive; if he's saying things that are ill-informed - which I think he is - simply challenge him. Alakzi (talk) 11:37, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support Block Clearly a breach and given his history of ignoring sanctions imposed on him, 1 month is actually less than he deserves. HOWEVER - given that it is impossible for any policy-following admin to block Eric due to the administrator community refusing to pay any attention to the civility pillar and relevant policies - I would like to propose all Eric Corbett reports are forwarded straight to arbcom in future. No AE. No community discussion at the drama boards. Let them sort it out - although judging by previous cases they dont particularly want to uphold community standards regarding him either. Only in death does duty end (talk) 11:39, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Additionally, 6 hours is apparently not enough time to block, but it is enough time to declare one of the most long-term violators of community standards to be given ANOTHER slap on the wrist? Meh double standards somewhat there. Only in death does duty end (talk) 11:48, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock – per Rictchie333. GorillaWarfare stuck two fingers up at the consensus which was quickly forming at AE and allowed her own personal prejudices to queer her decision to either block or unblock. I'm still waiting, incidentally, for her to respond with regards to her rational when it came to ignoring this consensus. But it appears she ignores such discussions when things get a bit tough! Cassianto 11:39, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock - I was determined to speak up at AE (which I normally try to avoid: about the pettiness of reporting someone for a comment on his own talk, a behaviour which we should not support by even reacting to it) and found this block which doesn't improve Misplaced Pages. Read my comments elsewhere, including a woman-to-woman talk to GorillaWarfare. - If I was in her position, I would unblock myself without waiting for more display of no consensus. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:41, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Comment and probably unpopular opinion by totally uninvolved party: I have no opinion on the block (although it is pretty long, and that seems excessive). But I agree with this posted above: Everytime Eric makes a comment he knows is likely to lead to a block he tends to be blocked. There is a surge of support for his unblocking. Eric returns continues to make comments that he is prohibited from making and ends up blocked. If you've been told dont do something and you carry on doing it the blame lies firmly with the person making the comments. And baiting admins by saying stuff like "Callanecc can block me again for as long as he likes, for whatever reason takes his fancy", whilst apparently violating his topic ban, and then declaring he is forever done with Misplaced Pages when something of that nature actually occurs, is disruptive to the encyclopedia because it creates drama. To quote Floquenbeam (not sure if he meant it like I mean it): "What if they gave a drama and nobody came?" What if Eric served out his blocks without any protests from an army of fans (even if he was in the middle of an FAR)? Then he wouldn't feed on the drama/brinksmanship/defiance and create more of it. Softlavender (talk) 11:42, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- What a shame you have to resort to such incivilty by referring to Eric's friends as "fans". Cassianto 11:49, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- (edit conflict)Not sure how referring to someone who supports someone as a fan is uncivil?. Amortias (T)(C) 11:56, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Please don't pretend to be
stupidignorant. You and I both know what the comment meant. Cassianto 12:01, 26 June 2015 (UTC)- Unfortunately I know what the comment meant to me. If it means something else to someone else I seek clarification as I have done in my previous comment. I certainly don't expect to be referred to as pretending to be stupid for seeking clarification on someones opinion of something to allow me to better understand their opinion and therefore come to a more balanced understanding of the matter. If you'd be so kind as to strike that remark I would be grateful. Amortias (T)(C) 12:09, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Maybe words like "supporters" or something would be more appropriate, don't you think? Cassianto 12:20, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Amortias, see my comment below Ritchie333's, timed at 11:57, 26 June 2015 (UTC). Nortonius (talk) 12:13, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Seen and understood. If they were referring to someones contributions or opinions being less worhtwhile than someones because they were a fan of something/one I can see where thats uncivil. I Just didnt see taht comment being made in the above statement, its possible thats just how I read into it. On a side note I'm going to suggest we hat this bit as its getting further and further off topic and this page will soon be TLDR without our help. Amortias (T)(C) 12:20, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Unfortunately I know what the comment meant to me. If it means something else to someone else I seek clarification as I have done in my previous comment. I certainly don't expect to be referred to as pretending to be stupid for seeking clarification on someones opinion of something to allow me to better understand their opinion and therefore come to a more balanced understanding of the matter. If you'd be so kind as to strike that remark I would be grateful. Amortias (T)(C) 12:09, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Please don't pretend to be
- (edit conflict)Not sure how referring to someone who supports someone as a fan is uncivil?. Amortias (T)(C) 11:56, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- I have a slightly different view, which is going one stage back. What if Eric said "I hate Jimbo, arbcom smells, all admins look at me funny yada yada" and everyone ignored it? Indeed, does our no personal attacks policy not say "Often the best way to respond to an isolated personal attack is to simply ignore it"? Why don't we go back to square one with this and give that a go? I appreciate I am taking this personally, but that's because the last time this happened, Eric was in mid-review of Snake Pass and doing a good copyedit. Why should my attempts to improve the encyclopedia suffer? Ritchie333 11:55, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Ritchie, it wasn't a personal attack, it was daring admins to block him, while doing something blockworthy -- it was admin-baiting. And note that I covered the FAR issue in my comment. It is exactly because Eric and others feel he is indispensable that he feels he can get away with violating sanctions without getting blocked -- and he appears to feed off the thrill of the adulation, the feeling of indispensability, and the irrepressible urge to violate restrictions. That is just my observation from observing this time and again. I have no dog in this fight -- I have never worked with Eric (positive or negative) or had an FAR or anything. What if Eric's supporters, instead of protesting his blocks, urged him to be cautious and focus on building an encyclopedia rather than on defying admins/restrictions, even (especially!) if he is blocked in the middle of an FAR? Anytime someone is held up as potentially unblockable and outside the rules, that is bad for the encyclopedia. Softlavender (talk) 12:29, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- A problem with your analysis, Softlavender, if I may, is that none of us is a mind reader, although, FWIW, I think you misjudge Eric Corbett's feeding habits. And, I'm pretty sure that he'd be unhesitatingly "uncivil" to anyone, "supporter" (I think something like "like-minded individual" would be better) or otherwise, who suggested he moderate his behaviour. My impression is that he regards this sort of dramah as the politics of the playground, and imposes his own rules, to which he strictly adheres come what may; whereas his contributions to the encyclopedia speak for themselves. I really dread the idea of WP becoming an anodyne province of the mediocre. Nortonius (talk) 12:41, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Hear, hear, to both Cassianto and Ritchie333: dismissing the opinions of others as those of "fans" et al. is something that I find really offensive, yet people get away with it all the time. It's so inane and demeaning, besides being so sadly predictable. And I do have improvements to the encyclopedia in mind, for which I would ordinarily turn to Eric Corbett as a GA-meister. Nortonius (talk) 11:57, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Ritchie, it wasn't a personal attack, it was daring admins to block him, while doing something blockworthy -- it was admin-baiting. And note that I covered the FAR issue in my comment. It is exactly because Eric and others feel he is indispensable that he feels he can get away with violating sanctions without getting blocked -- and he appears to feed off the thrill of the adulation, the feeling of indispensability, and the irrepressible urge to violate restrictions. That is just my observation from observing this time and again. I have no dog in this fight -- I have never worked with Eric (positive or negative) or had an FAR or anything. What if Eric's supporters, instead of protesting his blocks, urged him to be cautious and focus on building an encyclopedia rather than on defying admins/restrictions, even (especially!) if he is blocked in the middle of an FAR? Anytime someone is held up as potentially unblockable and outside the rules, that is bad for the encyclopedia. Softlavender (talk) 12:29, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- The blocks are a series of escalating blocks hence the length. Amortias (T)(C) 11:44, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Appropriate block. Remember: the arbitration enforcement is not based on forming a consensus for each action. As long as there was an unambiguous violation of an arbitration decision, any administrator can enforce the appropriate sanction, even if a few other admins have said they will not enforce it. In this way, AE simply enforces decisions that were already made by the arbitration committee. In this case, the block seems to be well within the terms of the discretionary sanction, as EC acknowledged when he made the recent posts. Most of the comments in the closed AE thread were irrelevant to the process of enforcing an arbitration sanction. 2601:5C5:4000:B14F:90D1:11E:D24C:CBF7 (talk) 11:52, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- ... who's sock are you? Have you already commented elsewhere here? --Epipelagic (talk) 11:59, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- No, I have not commented as any other user on this thread, or elsewhere, about this block. But it is somewhat sad to see supposedly experienced editors who don't understand how AE works, so I thought I would comment. This will be it for me, anyway - I'm out. 2601:5C5:4000:B14F:90D1:11E:D24C:CBF7 (talk) 12:02, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- And by that I suppose you're referring to me? Cassianto 12:06, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- No, I have not commented as any other user on this thread, or elsewhere, about this block. But it is somewhat sad to see supposedly experienced editors who don't understand how AE works, so I thought I would comment. This will be it for me, anyway - I'm out. 2601:5C5:4000:B14F:90D1:11E:D24C:CBF7 (talk) 12:02, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- ... who's sock are you? Have you already commented elsewhere here? --Epipelagic (talk) 11:59, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock per Black Kite, Ritchie333 et al. SagaciousPhil - Chat 11:56, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Questions: As this has been opened on the topic of WP:INVOLVED, let's discuss that. Do you, User:Black Kite, User:Ritchie333, User:Dennis Brown consider yourself WP:Invovled with respect to User:Eric Corbett? If not, how are you differently situated than User:Gorrilla Warfare - note she was acting in an administrative capacity in arbitration. Under Discretionary Sanctions, does or does not Gorrilla Warfare have discretion? Alanscottwalker (talk) 11:54, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- As I stated on GorillaWarfare's page, yes I considered myself WP:INVOLVED for reasons stated there, which is one reason I have not unblocked. Ritchie333 11:56, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- (e/c)Do you agree that Gorilla Warfare was acting in an administrative capacity as an arbitrator in the arbitration statements that are being here used against her? Alanscottwalker (talk) 12:03, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- I don't believe it is permitted for any admin to lift a block that is imposed as part restrictions set by an arbitration case or a complaint brought before AE. The instructions there say
Any administrator that overturns an enforcement action outside of these circumstances shall be subject to appropriate sanctions, up to and including desysopping, at the discretion of the Committee
. The only way that Eric's block can be lifted is by action of the arbitration committee itself ora clear, substantial, and active consensus of uninvolved editors at a community discussion noticeboard
which is what is going on here. Liz 12:28, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- As I stated on GorillaWarfare's page, yes I considered myself WP:INVOLVED for reasons stated there, which is one reason I have not unblocked. Ritchie333 11:56, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- On the subject of involved, I would suggest that an admin who commented on the side of EC during the GGTF case here might not have clean hands closing an AE request concerning EC at very short notice before other admins have discussed whether a TB violation has taken place. This defense of EC appears not to be an isolated case either... here & here. GWs block looks like a good one to me. Spartaz 12:04, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Except I'm not really talking about the block itself (there is no doubt that, technically, it was a violation of Eric's TB), more how it was made. Meanwhile as far as the AE goes, I was simply closing per consensus in the discussion, something which doesn't always happen at AE. If I'd simply said "no violation" with no discussion then you would certainly have a point. Black Kite (talk) 12:11, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- If you acknowledge a tban violation, why did you not block? These are not discretionary sanctions. It's a topic ban. When intentional unambiguous violations occur, there is no room for admin discretion. EvergreenFir (talk) Please {{re}} 12:23, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- If there was no room for admin discretion, we have have a bot met out blocks. There is always room for discretion, after considering the totality of the circumstances and hearing from fellow editors. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 12:34, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- So what we have is an arguably involved admin deciding not to enforce a clear tb vio in the face of no consensus on this complaining about another admin enforcing a clear tb vio. Hmmm.... Spartaz 12:43, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- What we have is incredibly bad judgement. Reopening the AE discussion would have been fine, since really it wasn't open long enough. Whether GW considers herself involved or not, she had to be aware that many people do after her calls to ban Eric, so GW had to know this would spark a controversy, so GW acted knowing it would produce a drama-fest. Reopening the AE would not have, and the regular process could have continued. Eric is no angel, trust that I know this, but you can't say "he is no exception to the rules" while you are treating him differently than any other AE participant and having someone who is on the record as wanting him banned (and has the power) acting unilaterally. My problem is with the process here. I've yet to comment on the merits. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 12:50, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- (e/c)User:Dennis Brown What do you mean you have not commented on the merits? Are your retracting your ivote above because you are involved? Are you showing bad judgement here? Do you think you are applying a double standard to GW? By your "many people do" standard are you involved? Alanscottwalker (talk) 13:12, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Whether I'm involved or not is irrelevant as I haven't used the tools in this case. This isn't about me. This thread is just a little side show that doesn't address anything. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 13:18, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- What? Overturn requires: "active consensus of uninvolved editors." So whether you're involved has to matter. Alanscottwalker (talk) 13:25, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- This isn't about whether the block was deserved or not, it was whether proper process was followed, so again, involved is meaningless. I will trust the editor that closes this to make their own determination. So again, this thread is distracting from the real issue, and attempt to discredit those that disagree with you, ie: a fancy version of ad hominem. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 13:31, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- No. There is no ad hominem. And your claim that it is entirely unsupported. You are arguing she is involved, and it appears by your standard you're involved. That's not ad hominem, that's addressing the logic of your argument. Alanscottwalker (talk) 13:37, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- ad ho·mi·nem - (of an argument or reaction) directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining. You are saying the three of us shouldn't have a say because you think we are involved (even though we haven't used our tools), and your line of questioning doesn't address the merits of our arguments just our "status". THAT is the very definition of ad hominem, trying to disqualify our comments because of your idea of who we are, not what we say. Now shoo fly. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 13:43, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- No. Entirely incorrect. The questions are for the purpose of analyzing your argument that she is involved. Involvement is the stated reason this was opened isn't it? It's also the standard for analysing overturn !votes. Did you just refer to me as a fly? Really? What was that talk about respect, you gave in your Overturn comment? Alanscottwalker (talk) 13:50, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- ad ho·mi·nem - (of an argument or reaction) directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining. You are saying the three of us shouldn't have a say because you think we are involved (even though we haven't used our tools), and your line of questioning doesn't address the merits of our arguments just our "status". THAT is the very definition of ad hominem, trying to disqualify our comments because of your idea of who we are, not what we say. Now shoo fly. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 13:43, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- No. There is no ad hominem. And your claim that it is entirely unsupported. You are arguing she is involved, and it appears by your standard you're involved. That's not ad hominem, that's addressing the logic of your argument. Alanscottwalker (talk) 13:37, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- This isn't about whether the block was deserved or not, it was whether proper process was followed, so again, involved is meaningless. I will trust the editor that closes this to make their own determination. So again, this thread is distracting from the real issue, and attempt to discredit those that disagree with you, ie: a fancy version of ad hominem. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 13:31, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- What? Overturn requires: "active consensus of uninvolved editors." So whether you're involved has to matter. Alanscottwalker (talk) 13:25, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Whether I'm involved or not is irrelevant as I haven't used the tools in this case. This isn't about me. This thread is just a little side show that doesn't address anything. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 13:18, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- (e/c)User:Dennis Brown What do you mean you have not commented on the merits? Are your retracting your ivote above because you are involved? Are you showing bad judgement here? Do you think you are applying a double standard to GW? By your "many people do" standard are you involved? Alanscottwalker (talk) 13:12, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Eh? There was a very clear consensus not to block - not "no consensus". And I think you're deliberately misrepresenting this now. The more general questions I'm asking at the top of this section really do need answers, whether Eric's blocked, unblocked or fired into space on a big rocket. Black Kite (talk) 13:03, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- What we have is incredibly bad judgement. Reopening the AE discussion would have been fine, since really it wasn't open long enough. Whether GW considers herself involved or not, she had to be aware that many people do after her calls to ban Eric, so GW had to know this would spark a controversy, so GW acted knowing it would produce a drama-fest. Reopening the AE would not have, and the regular process could have continued. Eric is no angel, trust that I know this, but you can't say "he is no exception to the rules" while you are treating him differently than any other AE participant and having someone who is on the record as wanting him banned (and has the power) acting unilaterally. My problem is with the process here. I've yet to comment on the merits. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 12:50, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- So what we have is an arguably involved admin deciding not to enforce a clear tb vio in the face of no consensus on this complaining about another admin enforcing a clear tb vio. Hmmm.... Spartaz 12:43, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- If there was no room for admin discretion, we have have a bot met out blocks. There is always room for discretion, after considering the totality of the circumstances and hearing from fellow editors. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 12:34, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- If you acknowledge a tban violation, why did you not block? These are not discretionary sanctions. It's a topic ban. When intentional unambiguous violations occur, there is no room for admin discretion. EvergreenFir (talk) Please {{re}} 12:23, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Except I'm not really talking about the block itself (there is no doubt that, technically, it was a violation of Eric's TB), more how it was made. Meanwhile as far as the AE goes, I was simply closing per consensus in the discussion, something which doesn't always happen at AE. If I'd simply said "no violation" with no discussion then you would certainly have a point. Black Kite (talk) 12:11, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block This Corbett character looks like a big boy to me and I'm sure he's familiar with the unblock request process. Lugnuts 12:07, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block as filer of the AE. It was closed prematurely after only being commented on by people who follow Corbett's talk page and closed by an admin who has made clear his strong support of Corbett. There was an unambiguous breach of topic ban with a direct taunt to a previous blocking admin. All comments if the AE were either about me, about how wonderful Corbett is, out how stupid the tban is. None addressed the actual behavior. Performing arbcom duties and voting does not preclude any arb from performing admin duties and enforcing a tban that by definition was placed with majority support. The suggestion is absurd. The idea that any admin, regardless of their feelings for an individual user, would be either unwilling to fulfill their obligations to enact sanctions in the face of unambiguous violations or that they wish to subvert the arbitration means they are not fit to be an admin. EvergreenFir (talk) Please {{re}} 12:16, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Comment I'm puzzled by the comments about acting in opposition to the consensus expressed by editors who offered statements in this complaint. AE doesn't operate by consensus, not by the consensus of the editors and not by consensus of admins. A single admin can choose to block when other admins state that a block is unwarranted. I agree that consensus is preferable but the consensus model is not how AE has operated in the time I've been active on Misplaced Pages. A solitary admin can choose to block an editor or close a case regardless of editors' opinions. Liz 12:20, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Well, a "solitary admin" deemed it not worth blocking, then another "solitary admin" who has a known angst deemed that it was worth blocking. Can't have it both ways, especially with first-mover advantage in play. Go take a look at GW's RfA: it makes interesting reading. - Sitush (talk) 13:32, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support Unblock per Black Kite, Ritchie333 and Dennis Brown - He should never have been blocked in the first place, What's the point of Arbcom if admins can just do what the fuck they like regardless of the comments/consensus?, As I said on Erics TP - If this isn't a punitive block then I honestly don't know what is!. –Davey2010 12:30, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support Unblock, no harm in the comments, the only harm being done is unilateral action by an Arb that made it clear in the first case her first preference was to ban EC. I can certainly point to several examples of several questionable actions she has done. Hell in a Bucket (talk) 12:36, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock. The block disregarded consensus, and it was inappropriate. Everyking (talk) 12:38, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- What Black Kite is saying is that he believes he has a better understanding of ArbCom's intent than one of the active arbitrators on the case. I think it is a very bad idea to unblock, and a perfectly reasonable idea to ask on the AE page for clarification of the rationale, with input from other arbs. Guy (Help!) 12:42, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Don't put words into my mouth please Guy. I'm actually doing the same as you, asking for clarification on how this should work. There seems to be no consistency. Black Kite (talk) 13:00, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock I think it's clear that this isn't going to work and ends up causing extra time wasting and hostility. If there's disagreement within arb, what chance to the rest of us have? When the ruling is daft to begin with it's unlikely to do anybody any favours in blocking Eric for the sake of it.♦ Dr. Blofeld 13:18, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Everyone keeps mentioning how terrible the ruling was but no one has appealed the tban or addressed it on AE. But the tban exists and you can't just ignore it because you dislike it. It was passed by a majority so it clearly wasn't terrible to everyone. EvergreenFir (talk) Please {{re}} 13:52, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- You see, it is this obsession with due process that leads to so many problems here. We're building an encyclopaedia, not some sort of fascist state. Common sense has a role to play in enforcement, not merely strict application of the "law". Blimey, I've even seen common sense applied for 3RR, which *is* supposedly a bright-line rule. - Sitush (talk) 13:58, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Everyone keeps mentioning how terrible the ruling was but no one has appealed the tban or addressed it on AE. But the tban exists and you can't just ignore it because you dislike it. It was passed by a majority so it clearly wasn't terrible to everyone. EvergreenFir (talk) Please {{re}} 13:52, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
My concern, as an administrator (if that needs to be pointed out), is that the AE request was closed as no action and then a block was made. As mentioned earlier, if this had happened the other way around - the AE request closed recommending a block and another admin came around and unblocked - the unblocking admin would be desysopped for wheel warring. Why does it only work one way? Whether or not I as an administrator agree with whether a block should have been made should not matter if the AE request has already been closed, i.e., another administrator has taken an admin action (closing the request) in relation to that particular issue. If closing an AE request as no action is NOT considered an admin action - and thus shouldn't be overturned as wheel warring - then AE is simply a venue to wait for the one, possibly the only, admin who thinks it is block worthy - regardless of consensus - to come around and make a block. That disturbs me greatly. We're essentially allowing the most easily offended, the one who may have a grudge, the one who does not not the backstory (take your pick, depending on the request) to take action. Regardless of the outcome of this particular incident, we need to decide if this is what is best for the project, and the AE process. I do not think it is. Karanacs (talk) 14:11, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Well, one way this could have been avoided is if there was an actual discussion at the underlying AE. There was no actual discussion. There were statements made but the very section for actual discussion is and was left entirely blank. Alanscottwalker (talk) 14:18, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- There have been cases where there WAS discussion, where consensus was that there should be no action, and then another admin came along and blocked. AE request closed, we're done, no one can overturn the block. The key point is that an administrator made a decision. That decision was overturned. How is that not wheel warring? Karanacs (talk) 14:24, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- For as long as I have been here, an "administrative action" means using the tools. So wheel warring is using the tools to overrule someone else's use of tools without discussion. You might call this a supervote if you like, but I wouldn't support characterizing this as wheel warring. Resolute 14:28, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Well, it's odd, I grant you that an administrator "who may be involved" closes without any discussion and then complains about the other for "involvement" when they did not agree that there was an actual discussion. Alanscottwalker (talk) 14:33, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- (edit conflict)Closing an WP:AE request can only be done by an admin, and thus is essentially a use of a person's administrative rights, even though there is no actual tool use. What I have not seen is a clear statement from @GorillaWarfare: as to whether she was aware of the AE close prior to making the block. Obviously must trust GorillaWarfare's answer, but I think it is incredibly important to the procedural posture of this case, and has not been clearly stated anywhere. If GorillaWarfare did not know of the close, then its just a question of whether we support the block, and not a serious breach of protocol. Monty845 14:38, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Her statement here seems to indicate that she was aware of the discussion but chose to block outside of it, as she believed the participation was low quality and had too few admin, which is an odd thing to say in itself. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 15:48, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- I agree your reading is the most likely, but I think there is enough room in the language that it could be a post-hock analysis to justify not undoing it as a result of being informed. As its in my view an important question, I'd rather see a clear statement than read into that one. Monty845 15:54, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Her statement here seems to indicate that she was aware of the discussion but chose to block outside of it, as she believed the participation was low quality and had too few admin, which is an odd thing to say in itself. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 15:48, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- (edit conflict)Closing an WP:AE request can only be done by an admin, and thus is essentially a use of a person's administrative rights, even though there is no actual tool use. What I have not seen is a clear statement from @GorillaWarfare: as to whether she was aware of the AE close prior to making the block. Obviously must trust GorillaWarfare's answer, but I think it is incredibly important to the procedural posture of this case, and has not been clearly stated anywhere. If GorillaWarfare did not know of the close, then its just a question of whether we support the block, and not a serious breach of protocol. Monty845 14:38, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- There have been cases where there WAS discussion, where consensus was that there should be no action, and then another admin came along and blocked. AE request closed, we're done, no one can overturn the block. The key point is that an administrator made a decision. That decision was overturned. How is that not wheel warring? Karanacs (talk) 14:24, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Well, one way this could have been avoided is if there was an actual discussion at the underlying AE. There was no actual discussion. There were statements made but the very section for actual discussion is and was left entirely blank. Alanscottwalker (talk) 14:18, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block. Yes, Eric has numerous enablers that will defend him at every turn for every action in an attempt to lock any community forum into paralysis. Even despite that, the whole "this is so trivial, it was on his talk page, etc., etc." excuses might have some merit if not for the fact that this is already thefifth time he's breached his sanctions. To be perfectly blunt, almost anyone else breaching arbitration sanctions with such frequency would be looking at a site ban at this point. Resolute 14:17, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block. Eric intentionally violated the arbitration sanctions to see if another block would ensue, and it did. Arbitration sanctions do not require community consensus. Sitting on the arbitration committee that enacted the restriction does not make the blocking admin involved. Recall please that previous attempts to rein in Eric's inappropriate behavior have led to highly disruptive wheel wars and an incredible level of disruption. It has to stop, for the good of the wiki. I realize that means we could lose Eric Corbett as an editor. But his actions have to have consequences, so sorry -- Diannaa (talk) 14:34, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
Eric intentionally violated the arbitration sanctions to see if another block would ensue
: yeah, well... Nortonius (talk) 14:50, 26 June 2015 (UTC)- Yeah, that's my opinion. I think it's the latest in a series of intentional disruptive breaches of his restrictions. I think the block should stand. -- Diannaa (talk) 15:12, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- And you're perfectly entitled to it, thanks for the response. The trouble is, to my mind, that the idea of "intentional disruptive breaches" depends on a lot of assumptions about EC's motivations, and indeed his character. Cheers. Nortonius (talk) 15:25, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Procedural note As far as I'm aware, arbitration enforcement blocks may only be appealed by the blocked party (as per Misplaced Pages:Arbitration_Committee/Discretionary_sanctions#Appeals_and_modifications, which is the appeal process noted in the block template GW used: "Appeals may be made only by the editor under sanction and only for a currently active sanction."). Eric Corbett has not expressed the desire to appeal this sanction - in fact, has indicated that he very much will not appeal it and is done with all of this - which would mean that this entire conversation is moot unless and until he does. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 14:46, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Not quite. Per the modification procedure, one admin may modify another admin's action but needs consensus first. Roger Davies 15:00, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Is reversing a block a "modification"? I would have assumed that a modification was something like changing the length, whereas completely undoing was an appeal. But then, as noted in my comment below, DS procedures are best understood while sitting on a mushroom and smoking questionable substances. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 15:08, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- That seems a bit leftfield, in relation to Black Kite's opening statement...? Nortonius (talk) 14:53, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- In what sense? BK noted that "AE blocks can be undone by a discussion here," which is an accurate statement except for missing the part where the appeal apparently has to be initiated by the person under sanction. AE/DS policy is ridiculously complex, so it's not surprising that it would take a couple people to piece together exactly how this all works (and honestly, I won't be shocked if someone else is like "Yes but this completely separate policy page says something that clearly indicates you're misunderstanding this, ya dumb sandwich"). If BK simply wants the AE workflow/closure processes reviewed - as opposed to his appealing the AE block of someone else - that would be one thing, though it would make more sense to me to ask for an Arbcom clarification rather than just getting people to support/oppose "process approved/disapproved" on AN. But people here are voting on lifting a block BK doesn't have the standing to appeal. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 15:03, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- In the sense that you just explained, Fluffernutter, thank you! Yes it's all very complex and I confess that I don't plan to start studying it now. But as I understand it people here aren't voting on an appeal of the block, but on whether it's a valid or, perhaps more importantly, useful and appropriate block in the first place. Cheers. Nortonius (talk) 15:19, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock, per my comment here. Eric was unilaterally blocked by an admin who has been quite involved with this topic. The AE case should be reopened and left open until multiple uninvolved admins formally review the case. The generally disorderly mob that is ANI is not fit to this very borderline issue, in my opinion. --Biblioworm 14:52, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock: Echoing Ritchie333 way up the page and Biblioworm in the comment just above mine. I agree with the suggestion of a formal review of this unruly action. Fylbecatulous talk 15:02, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Block was forbidden - Black Kite took an administrative action pursuant to an active arbitration remedy, closing the discussion at AE as no result. Quoting from the relevant rule, "Administrators are prohibited from reversing or overturning (explicitly or in substance) any action taken by another administrator pursuant to the terms of an active arbitration remedy, and explicitly noted as being taken to enforce said remedy". By the rules set out by the full Arbcom in 2010, GorillaWarfare was prohibited from overturning the substance of Black Kite's administrative action unilaterally. --Noren (talk) 15:01, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- No real comment on the block/unblock other than to say being on ARBCOM and having voted on a case involving a use would seem to fall under "purely in an administrative role" and thus INVOLVED does not apply IMO. I would also say that I'd suggest when you have someone with as many supporters as Eric has, it would be wise to leave things open for a bit longer as his supporters are likely the ones that will show up in the first 6 hours as they will see this the soonest. All that said, BK closed the discussion per the discussion and I don't think it was wise of GW to block afterwards. No one looks real good here IMO. So, as with most things that touch on EC and our enforcement, the outcome is clusterfuck. Hobit (talk) 15:10, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock. Aside from all other considerations simply on procedural grounds. The premise of the block was AE. Another admin had already made a AE determination on the incident in closing without action. GW blocking after that point is no different then her unblocking if a different admin had applied a block first. That would have been an instant loss of the bit. That shouldn't happen here, as that's extreme, but she should perform the unblock herself. As far as the other considerations? The idea that discretion should not be applied to AE is so ridiculous as to be laughable. Why not make a bot that looks for particular words posted by a user and blocks automatically? Everyday at AE users are let off the hook though they technically violated some ruling. Admins are, hopefully, here to minimize disruption through judicious application of common sense. There was no disruption until this block was performed. A user posted an opinion on their talk page, an undoubted technical violation, that would have amounted to nothing if people weren't constantly hawking his page for anything to pounce on. The situation was diffused then an hour later blown up into this debacle. For what purpose? To make a point? To follow the letter of the law regardless of result? Or worse the continuation of a grudge? Either way the result is just increased acrimony and less content. A result anyone could have foreseen and avoided if that was their ultimate goal. Capeo (talk) 15:10, 26 June 2015
- Support unblock. (procedural). The block was perfectly apt and appropriate in so far as the clear and unambiguous AE infringement is concerned. The discussion never mentioned the AE and was rapidly closed while it was still being claimed that it was simply a case of hounding Corbett, which is another topic. I am only voting to unblock because there is sufficient argument to suggest that GorillaWarfare may have acted in good faith but out of process. And that's also another topic. And then we will know for the next time a user steps out of line in a similar situation. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 15:21, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- weakly support block If you are going to invalidate GW for being involved, you should also invalidate the AE "consensus" for being comprised of Eric's known supporters (and mostly non-admins). Is the block overly severe? maybe, but its his Nth violation. If you yell "Pig" at the cops, while intentionally jaywalking in front of their car, you should expect a ticket, even though jaywalking might not be a big deal. Gaijin42 (talk) 15:23, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Punitive block by an ax(e)-grinding administrator. Sorry Gorilla, but this has gone too far. Yes, the letter of the law blah blah, we've heard all that before. Next up, Eric's comment on what even I, a card-carrrying anti-essentialist yet still French-inflected feminist consider to be hooey, is driving all new editors away. Yes, those "long-suffering Gender Gap list members" must have been totally butt-hurt when they saw Eric's comment. (Seriously, we give grants for that kind of stuff? Can I get one? I got an article coming out on teaching a text about a woman who defeats not one but two patriarchies--how much is that worth?) I'm tempted to unblock him and then y'all can simply have my bit (I think GW's bit should be yanked), which is hardly a badge of honor anyway, but that would only contribute to the shit storm, and I do not wish to let the blocking admin and her supporters have yet another opportunity to sit back, popcorn and all, and say, "see? I told you!" Congratulations. I'll check back in later, like in a week or so, to see if there's any article writers left. Ritchie, it's up to you, I suppose. Drmies (talk) 15:25, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- This is one of the most patronising things I've ever read. If that's how you intend to behave, I can't speak for the IEG programme on grants, but as an individual I'll give you $50 and a coupon to retire. Ironholds (talk) 17:15, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Eh. This kind of stuff right here is why I quit AE. It's not worth the hassle. As soon as a popular user is the subject of a sanction, all semblance of process breaks down into a shouting match and whoever shouts loudest wins, as usual. That's repugnant. I think it is commendable that in this case an arbitrator took it upon themselves to enforce the committee's decision, and perhaps that should be the norm from now on. On the merits, this appeal is invalid, because per WP:AC/DS, only the sanctioned user themselves may appeal an enforcement action, and it seems that they have chosen not to do so in this case. There is therefore no need for any further action or discussion whatsoever. Sandstein 15:27, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Procedure above everything, Sandstein. Problem is, we're not dealing with a very popular user here but hey, we don't judge content, right? Drmies (talk) 15:35, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block as consistent with the Arbitration sanction. If a large portion of the community thinks that the blocks resulting from the sanction are hurting the encyclopedia, I recommend that they ask the ArbCom to amend its original ruling. Sjakkalle (Check!) 16:51, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Unblock Bad block, bad adminning. Arkon (talk) 16:56, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block per KoshVorlon. Ironholds (talk) 17:15, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support unblock I am profoundly discouraged to see this discussion. It troubles me to see editors I like and respect on both sides of this. I sort of get that expressing disgust with a blantantly sexist proposal is technically a violation of the topic ban, but we should be rallying to support his point, not driving him away. --S Philbrick(Talk) 17:58, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Support block i think gorilla warfare defended her block very clearly (and in a very civil manner in the face of some pretty uncivil comments) in this dif.
- What she wrote there is that 9 people commented, and "Not a single comment addressed the content of Eric's edit, and whether it was a violation of his restriction from "making any edit about: (i) the Gender Gap Task Force; (ii) the gender disparity among Wikipedians; and (iii) any process or discussion relating to these topics, all broadly construed".
- The block was for this comment by the way. If folks haven't read it, they should do.
- The violation of the topic ban is very clear. As far as I can see the comment had nothing to do with Eric's content-creation work - it appears to be pure venting/soapboxing, in a new thread that he opened on his own Talk page, with no link to some prior discussion (in other words - not even something we could ~try~ to say arose in a heated argument) Apparently, very, very avoidable - the product of a lack of self-restraint.
- A lot of people I respect are unhappy about the block... my sense is that folks are unhappy with EC's topic ban (I don't know that much about what led to it) If so, I would suggest they try to get the topic ban changed. But the block itself was good under the topic ban that actually exists, and in any case Black Kite should be trouted for a bad close (which are meant to be on the merits, not on sheer votes). (sorry to say that Black Kite) Jytdog (talk) 18:19, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
Proposal to close the arbitration enforcement noticeboard
The last time Eric Corbett was taken to the WP:AE noticeboard, in January 2015, there was a strong consensus for no action, which on that occasion included a strong admin consensus, but Sandstein cast a supervote and blocked anyway. This time GorillaWarfare blocked after the discussion had been closed as consensus not to block. Why do we have this noticeboard? As Black Kite puts it in his updated close note today: "General consensus amongst admins and others appeared to be that there is no issue to pursue here. However, another admin (and arbitrator) has gone ahead and unilaterally blocked Eric after this AE report was closed. The purpose of this page (and indeed any concept of consensus on it) now therefore appears to be unclear.
" Yes, the purpose is unclear, to put it mildly. Commenting on it is a waste of time, for admins and other users; at any point in time, a single admin can ignore consensus and unilaterally place the very strongest kind of block, which is an arbitration enforcement block. Those blocks may not be overturned by a second admin, on pain of desysopping: see the pink "Important information" box at the top of WP:AE, specifically the "Information for administrators processing requests". There is a First Mover Advantage carved in stone for AE blocks. (Unlike ordinary blocks, which have a much less strong Second Mover Advantage — see WP:WHEEL.) That is to say, only the first move to block has that advantage. The first, second, third, etc admin movers have no advantage at all if they move not to block the user; not-blocking is quite disadvantaged; nobody gets desysopped if they overturn that. On the contrary, people who overturn not-blockings place themselves in an invincible position. In January, the first three movers (not-blocking admins) were me, HJ Mitchell, and NuclearWarfare, and our non-blocks got overturned by Sandstein. This time the not-blocking admin was Black Kite (who not-blocked per the consensus of the discussion as a whole), and he got overturned by GorillaWarfare.
I don't understand why we have a noticeboard that works like that. The amount of time wasted by non-admin users on it is even greater. When I block persistent POV-pushers and talkpage trolls, I sometimes point out that wasting the time of the community is very disruptive. A noticeboard that wastes our time by drawing us in to uselessly give our opinion, non-admins and admins alike, is disruptive. I suggest we close it per WP:TNT. People who want to draw admins' attention to AE violations can do it on ANI.
- Support as proposer. Bishonen | talk 15:04, 26 June 2015 (UTC).
- I was pinged by something in the above. My view is that the discussion is moot: the AE noticeboard exists because of Arbitration Committee decisions that provide that it be used, and accordingly the community cannot discontinue it, because it can't overrule Committee decisions. That's a proposal to make at WP:ARCA, if at all. Sandstein 15:09, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Sure the community can overrule ArbCom. ArbCom is the servant of the community. Trying to push this into an obscure corner won't profit you, Sandstein. As for what proposals I'm allowed to make "at all", meh to you. Bishonen | talk 15:22, 26 June 2015 (UTC).
- The process for the community over ruling Arbcom on a matter like this by changing the arbitration policy is in place, but there are some significant hoops to jump through. Monty845 15:25, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- I'd actually agree in a limited way, but for the opposite reason. I think AE noticeboard gets to be a way for a popular user to avoid a sanction because of vote stacking. And I'm not just talking about EC here. I'm not sure ANI would be better, but it would attract a wider audience (at the price of likely more drama for situations that really don't need it). However, I think Sandstein is correct and this isn't the place to hold that discussion. Hobit (talk) 15:16, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Nope The arbitration enforcement page is there to enforce arbitration decisions. The arbitration committee is there for situations the community is unable or unwilling to solve. We need a place where facts are considered and the person being discussed cannot benefit from a group of cheerleaders who wish to disregard facts in favour of their desired outcome. We all know that enforcement on ANI has a lot to do with a popularity contest, we need a venue where fan clubs can be put aside and facts considered instead. Chillum 15:40, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- And that place is AE? The place where an admin can act unilaterally against consensus? Look at this situation. You have an admin who views an editor favorably closing without action then an admin who views the editor unfavorably blocking. And look at the above. Admins, all of which could have acted unilaterally, on complete opposite sides of how the procedure should have played out. Seems just as broken as AN/I to me. Capeo (talk) 16:06, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Bluntly, I struggle to view this as anything but a bad faith proposal. Resolute 15:57, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Theoretically Bishonen is quite right. However, the AE page should stay and simply serve in the same way as AIV with its mini template closures: for those without tools to bring an issue to a place where it will be noticed by the first admin who comes along to enact if there is a clear infringement. The AE page should not be a venue for deciding to let a user off just because they are a prolific content provider or because their block log is already long enough. The process should certainly not be moved to ANI - the amount of time wasted there by non-admin users on it is even greater still. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 16:11, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- AE was set up because it was observed that bans and the like were not being enforced. In controversial topics there is still a distressing lack of active administrators willing to rein in irresponsible editors. AE continues to provide a focal point for drawing attention to arbitration rulings that need to be enforced. It isn't intended to and indeed does not preempt the actions of administrators enforcing arbitration rulings individually. If more administrators were willing to do so we wouldn't have created the board. All administrator actions can be reversed either on review by another administrator or on appeal. This is the way it works, folks. It's the way it's supposed to work. --TS 16:16, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Its Arbitration ENFORCEMENT. Not Arbitration Second-guessing. Discussion at AE is for two purposes: 1)Has editor breached their restrictions. 2)Having identified they have violated them, what is the appropriate response? AE is *not* there to say 'well they have but we dont agree with it so we are not going to do anything.' Most admins who contribute there realise this which is why lame reports generally result with a 'no block, dont do it again' warning. Eric has had the 'dont do it again' warnings multiple times. If any other editor had that many warnings and blocks, they would have been indeffed by now. Any new editor who did that would have just been blocked out of hand by any number of admins. I would submit that closing that report as 'no action' is an abuse of admin tools (if you accept the argument that taking no action at AE is an 'administrative action') - its a clear breach, it was intentional and in full knowledge it violated it, and the editor has been warned/blocked for violating his restrictions before. Refusing to take *any* action shows that the administrator's judgement cannot be trusted. It merited at least a 'Look eric, seriously now, stop fucking about, this is your last chance really this time. No I mean it. Stop laughing at me.' warning. Only in death does duty end (talk) 16:37, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- This is one of the supremely rare occasions on which I agree with Tony Sidaway. Arbitration Enforcement is not made to enforce remedies only when there is a consensus for it. In principle the remedies are supposed to always be enforced when a sanction has been breached. Sjakkalle (Check!) 16:48, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- I tend to agree with those who are saying that the purpose of AE is enforcement, not debate. But, if there is a disputed case like this, then there seems to be an easy way to resolve it — refer the matter to Arbcom for a quick ruling on what ought to happen in this case. It seems that all concerned agreed that there had been a technical violation and so the arbs just need to indicate the length of block which they consider appropriate (including zero and indefinite). Such feedback will then provide guidance in any further cases of this kind. Andrew D. (talk) 17:01, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Bish, you note here the super-strong 1st mover advantage at AE vs. the default of the less strong 2nd mover advantage. And I think that is the heart of the problem above in this case about EC. However, I don't think AE is the thing you should be targeting here. The thing to target is the nature of discretionary sanctions and arbcom sanctions in general. Even without AE we'd *still* have a strong 1st mover advantage for blocking admins, because that is the nature of WP:ACDS (see "Modifications by administrators"). "No administrator may modify a sanction placed by another administrator without..." – that is the 1st mover advantage. It's DS, not AE. Getting rid of AE won't change the 1st mover advantage. ErikHaugen (talk | contribs) 17:06, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Hooray and I can't believe it took that long, well yes I can someone has actually addressed the problem that I posted about above, not a surprise that it was Bish. The AE noticeboard needs to be closed until the community addreses the problem that any random admin can block someone on their whim and not be overturned without coming here. If this is to be a community noticeboard there absolutely needs to be a consensus to block, whether that be a consensus of unnvolved admins, any admins, or any editors. At the moment it's subject to the IRC or other off-wiki crew (witness recent blocks of Corbett, hello Callannec!) and is frankly a disgrace. It needs to be changed so that no-one can be blocked without a proper consensus, whether that be of admins, editors, or other. Black Kite (talk) 17:38, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- The problem DS and, buy extension, AE are meant to tackle is that, frequently, when an issue or an editor become controversial, it's possible for the members of the community on the two sides to deadlock any discussion of that issue or editor into a no-consensus close; for that, ArbCom have given any administrator the right to enforce DS without having to wait for a consensus to do so, but requiring a consensus to undo such actions instead, knowing however that admins misusing DS can be sanctioned, up to and including a desysop.
Now, when admins disagree at AE, best practices suggest that the admin who intends to close the report take the opinions of his colleagues into account, but in the end he's not bound by consensus (though it would be a good idea if consensus is against a block not to impose it).
Finally, there is doubt as to what constitutes an admin action for the purposes of the "don't revert on pains of desysopping" provision of the DS policy, but, for what it's worth, I believe that closing an AE thread with no action counts as an admin action, as opposed to simply saying "I don't think a block is warranted here" (and I have the feeling I have already said this, though at the moment I can't find where). Salvio 18:03, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- The problem DS and, buy extension, AE are meant to tackle is that, frequently, when an issue or an editor become controversial, it's possible for the members of the community on the two sides to deadlock any discussion of that issue or editor into a no-consensus close; for that, ArbCom have given any administrator the right to enforce DS without having to wait for a consensus to do so, but requiring a consensus to undo such actions instead, knowing however that admins misusing DS can be sanctioned, up to and including a desysop.
- Oppose Classic kneejerk drama and not thought through. Lugnuts 18:14, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
Closure Review
This is a request to review the close at Talk:Grand_Theft_Auto_V#Merger_proposal to determine whether the closer interpreted the consensus incorrectly. I discussed this with the closer at User_talk:SNUGGUMS#Closure_Of_Merger_Discussion.
The closure appears to have been made based on the opinion of the editor that closed it rather than the actual consensus. As I said when talking to the editor that closed it, I am aware that consensus is not determined simply by counting heads but there are significantly more editors in support of the merger than against it, and neither side cited any rules. Mainline421 (talk) 11:59, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- Overturn and merge as per consensus - and I will tell you for why: The closer concentrated mainly on sourcing/notability of the re-release, however that was addressed clearly by the support voters. Demonstrated notability means that a subject *can* have its own article, not that it *should* have one. In this case the support merge group clearly demonstrated that a re-release of the game for a later console can easily be incorporated into the original article. Its just not that different a product *its the same game*. There are differences but if we had different articles for re-releases of all media.... At best it merits two paragraphs with a list of the major changes and its reception. Secondly a number of the oppose votes are along the lines of 'otherstuffexists' which is not a valid reason for not merging. Lots of other stuff exists. Often those articles have their own reasons, or often, no one has got around to propose merging/deleting them. On the whole, the support merge group had both stronger arguments and none that are against policy. Only in death does duty end (talk) 12:57, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- ANI is not the place for this. As I previously stated, the closure isn't something I made based on my own opinion. If you look again, another editor did cite that the re-release meets WP:GNG, and WP:Article size was also brought up (even if indirectly). Snuggums (talk / edits) 12:55, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
- According to Misplaced Pages:Closing discussions#Challenging other closures this is exactly the place to bring a challenge, I'm not making an opinion on the close but just pointing that out. Kharkiv07 (T) 13:20, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
Misplaced Pages:Village pump (technical)#Misplaced Pages:Freedom of Panorama 2015
I'd like to bring the above issue to the general attention of admins since it involves the site-wide notification. -- A Certain White Cat 12:26, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
Owning issue with another editor, Part 2
In followup to this report, Gabrielkat has continued their owning on The Bold and the Beautiful and continues to revert my edits, has made ZERO attempt to discuss this issue with me properly and per Adjwilley I am to notify of this issue happening once more. This user is clearly interested in being the only editor to update the episode count, and is unwilling to co-edit, which shows severe signs of owning the page. User returned to reverting my edit (see here) to only replace it seconds later with their own (see here). I am requesting that this editor be held responsible for their irresponsible editing patterns. User was issued a notice by Adjwilley about this issue, and they chose to neither respond nor attempt to resolve the matter; instead, they're choosing to continue their editing behaviors. In turn, user also uses the same exact edit summary as I use, therefore it's even more suspect that they are editing this way to bait a potential edit-war out of this situation. They are clearly not here to edit cohesively in a community forum. User previously also admitted that they want to update the episode count by stating "Let me update the weekly episode count" as I noted in my previous filing, which shows they are still exhibiting the same pattern of behavior. And upon adding the AN-notice on their page, it was immediately removed, which shows they are not interested in acting in a civil manner with other editors. livelikemusic 18:07, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
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