Wikipedia talk:Articles for deletion/Simon Strelchik (second nomination)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

These discussions were refactored from the main AFD discussion page to aid readability. Stifle (talk) 17:10, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Evidence that Theonlyedge is a sockpuppet of Pm_shef

1. After Alan Shefman's son User:Pm_shef writes that he will abstain from editing articles related to Vaughan politics, and confirmed that abstention at 05:55, 11 April 2006 here, "Theonlyedge" goes after Pm_shef's longtime Vaughan target (who he nominated for the AfD a month prior) a few hours later, at 22:02, 11 April 2006 here. Coincidence?

2. The name of Pm_shef's father's company is simply The Edge. It is involved in anti-racism, which we know Pm_shef/ Corey Shefman has been involved in too, both personally and through his edits. The Edge sounds a lot like The Only Edge... a coincidence? See main link to his father's bread-and-butter for 25 years: [www3.sympatico.ca/theedgeq/]

3. Roughly 50% of all Theonlyedge's edits are also articles that Pm_shef has edited. Compare Pm_shef's contributions to Theonlyedge's contributions.

4. Both accounts in question were created within 5 weeks of one another; Pm_shef on Oct 31 2005, TheOnlyEdge on Dec 11 2005.

5. 4 hours after Pm_shef nominates this article for deletion (which he ultimately lost), Theonlyedege comes around and does NOT vote Keep or Delete but rather, after two consecutive Keep votes, adds a comment that the article should be shortened to 2 or 3 paragraghs. This was Shef's way of cutting his losses. See original AfD Keep debate: [[1]].

6. Both users are from Thornhill, as they have both have edited the article on Thornhill and are obsessed with their politicians.

7. Both are obsessed with adding positive POV edits to their favorites Susan Kadis (as well as Michael Di Biase) and negative edits/blanking to their political competitor Mario Racco and political opponents Anthony Reale, Tina Molinari and Josh Cooper.

8. Why did Pm_shef / Theonlyedge create this article on a previous opponent? So that he can control it. He can keep it down to 2 or 3 sentences and maintain control over content.

9. Pm_shef added the deletion notice of this article to Wikipedia:Canadian wikipedians' notice board at 22:04, exactly 2 minutes after his sockpuppet created this nomination at 22:02. See edit history Coincidence?

I hope this is enough evidence, but if you want more, I can find more. Theonlyedge, as I see it, is the sockpuppet that does the dirty work for Pm_shef. He comes out of hibernation when needed, like a trusty administrative assistant. Leotardo 12:39, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

For the benefit of all, I decided to investigate this despite my doubts. These two are definitely not sockpuppets. Admittedly, their contributions are similar. However, from 21:41 to 22:05 on April 11, Theonlyedge's made about 14 edits to Simon Strelchik and related pages, trying to create an AfD on this article. He was fairly inept about it; earlier on he had tried to mark the article with {{delete}}, but reverted himself; he created Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Simon Strelchik 2 in addition to this page, and he never listed this AfD in the Log of AfDs. Pm_shef, on the other hand, from 21:43 to 22:06 on the same date, was very busy, making 22 edits, and nominating several other articles for AfD correctly and cleanly, and then informing other users about them at Wikipedia:Canadian wikipedians' notice board. Pm_shef used edit summaries for virtually every one of those edits, while Theonlyedge only used one edit summary. Furthermore, how could they have both been so active over a period of 30 minutes if they were the same person? Mangojuice 15:48, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Sorry I don't buy it, it's a ruse. There are just too many coincidences. Leotardo 20:16, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Wow. I was on holiday for three days, and come back to find out that I'm being accused of being pm_shef, or, apparently, his father. It's very funny that pm_shef's father's company, according to the above, is named 'The Edge', which quite evidently is a phrase that inspired my username. Allegedly, because my edits are very similar to pm_shef's, I am pm_shef. This logic is quite clearly faulty. I am not a so-called sockpuppet of this user. Yes, I presume we both lived in the same area, or even went to the same school, or perhaps even support the same political parties--which, of course, I also find a neat coincidence. Howver, it is just that, a coincidence, and I most definately am not pm_shef. As an aside, I also find the above "detective work" by Mangojuice very, very cool. Its an amazing concept how you can control and see so much on Wikipedia, like me trying repeatedly to put the deletion template on the Strelchik article--which, by the way, should be deleted, because he's only a local representative for Free the Children. Leave a message if you have any questions, Theonlyedge 12:28, 18 April 2006 (UTC) P.S. I've taken the liberty of deleting the sockpuppet template. Please do not put it back. Oh, and I'll start using edit-summaries now. Thanks for the heads-up.

I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I just don't buy the paragraph above. Again there are too many coincidences; your username Theonlyedge, like the username Pm_shef, being named for something important to C. Shefman (his dad's company, see homepage [http://www3.sympatico.ca/theedgeq/ here); your springing into action as soon as the login Pm_shef agrees not to get involved anymore; the fact that the activities of the logins are so alike; that the accounts were created at roughly the same time; that you've tried to pursue the ends of Pm_shef on the previous AfD; that you both your usernames have an interest in the same politicians, and an active interest in helping those you approve and slamming those you don't; that Pm_shef, like magic, read your mind 2 minutes after you posted this AfD and added it to the Wikipedia:Canadian wikipedians' notice board. It's almost as if he knows what you're going to do before you do it... similiar to the relationship between hand and mouth. Leotardo 20:56, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

• Or, it's that I saw he'd posted it, so decided to be helpful. Please keep in mind the wikipedia policy that asks editors to Assume good faith, something you continue to violate. - pm_shef 23:31, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Free the Children

CLARIFICATION: I've decided to move on from these allegations that I am a sockpuppet. Anyways, Simon Strelchik is not on the board of directors for Free the Children. This is a lie. He is a failed local candidate, and is a part-time representative for the charity. If he makes it onto Wikipedia, so should another six billion people. Please contact me on my talk page, Theonlyedge 21:49, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

Comment The following links should back up what Theonlyedge is saying: Simon Strelchik is not mentioned in the History of Free The Children or on the page listing its Board of Directors. He also doesn't appear on the list of staff, and a search on the Free The Children page for "Strelchik" returns no results. Mangojuice 23:19, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

I averred similarly supra, although at the time I was not altogether confident that we ought to conclude that Strelchik was not involved with Feed The Children in the fashion described in the biography; I think we can make such conclusion. At the very least, any determination as to notability per WP:BIO should rest solely on the other relevant details of the subject's biography. Joe 23:28, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

On the other hand, the references in the article clearly back up the claim that he was a founding member of Free the Children. This is something different than being on the board of directors, and apparently he played no particularly important role as it's not covered in the History page on the Free the Children web page. That history mentions that Craig Kielburger gathered 11 friends to begin fighting Child Labor, and those friends are never named, so presumably Strelchik is one of them. Mangojuice 23:31, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

As well, both the CBC and the Canadian Jewish News have published his being a founding member of Free The Children in 1995. From WP:V: ""Verifiability" does not mean that editors are expected to verify whether, for example, the contents of a New York Times article are true. In fact, editors are strongly discouraged from conducting this kind of research, because original research may not be published in Wikipedia. Articles should contain only material that has been published by reliable sources, regardless of whether individual editors view that material as true or false. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, the threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth. Leotardo 07:20, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree entirely, except that CJN and CBC ostensibly publish the information only in view of Strelchik's having included it in his biography; that is, they don't make an assertion as to its accuracy, they simply pass along Strelchik's bio. If this is indeed the case, in the absence of other independent, verifiable information, the article should be edited so that it is clear that the Free the Children association is claimed by Strelchik (cf., reported [as fact, rather than as background from the candidate]). I should say, though, that I agree with Mangojuice when he says, as also I wrote in my initial post, that if, as the relevant timelines would seem to suggest, Strehlchik's involvement was at the age of 13 and was only with the genesis of the group (or even of the idea of the group), it is altogether likely that we'd not find any Ghits to verify the involvement. Joe 22:15, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

The nominator has used the word "lie". He has clearly not assumed good faith. An afd already voted keep in March, what is this a monthly occurrence? Leotardo 07:20, 20 April 2006 (UTC)