User:Kafziel

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This is me.

I'm a 29-year old resident of Orange County, New York, and my screen name comes from the angel Kafziel, the angel of solitude. I've been contributing to Wikipedia since June 2005 and I became an administrator in February 2007. If there's anything I can do to help, please leave me a message.

I'm usually online throughout the day Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm Eastern time.

If you're a fellow admin, why not head over to CAT:CSD and get rid of any articles that start with your first initial? It only takes a couple of minutes, and every little bit helps. I clear out the "K"s several times per day, and the rest whenever I have time. Many hands makes light work.

About me

A few userboxes This user [1] an administrator on the English Wikipedia. @ This user can be reached by email. This user is a member of the United States Marine Corps. This user has been awarded the Kosovo Campaign Medal PWN This user pwns vandals all day. View his pwnage here. This user likes to huff kittens.

I served as an Arabic linguist in the United States Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999. I'm a graduate of the Defense Language Institute and I was stationed at 2nd Radio Bn, and aboard the USS Kearsarge with the 26 MEU. I was attached to Lima Company, 3/8 in Kosovo as a part-time sigint operator and full-time grunt; nobody speaks Arabic in Kosovo, so my linguistic talents (or lack thereof) were completely wasted. Life's a bitch.

I'm currently a business student and a refugee from the cubicle farm (I work from home via VPN).

• My userpage has been vandalized a bunch of times. This one is my favorite.

• I recently decided to focus more of my Wiki-time on creating articles for places near me that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. My main focuses are Orange and Rockland Counties, and I will be adding photos over the next several weeks as weather and time allow.

• I created the guideline Wikipedia:Notability (royalty), which turned out to be even more embattled than I could have predicted. Because I don't own it, and because I am not an expert on the subject, I got the guideline on its feet and then left its fate in the hands of the community.

• My gallery of photos I've taken for Wikipedia
• Wonkapedia essay

Wikipedia philosophies

1. Third Opinion, Articles for Deletion, Featured Article Candidates, Good Article Candidates, and Requested Moves, although they are all important to Wikipedia, should each be taken in small doses. Wikipedians who spend all their time lurking around AfD, or just waiting to pounce on the newest FAC, are bound to become embittered by the process, self-important, and uncivil. Everyone needs an outlet for peaceful creativity, not just criticism, destruction, and arguing. Roam Wikipedia. See the sights. There are some cool people and some cool pages out there, and it doesn't always have to be a battle.
2. There's a difference between assuming good faith and ignoring bad actions. Although I believe in assuming good intentions, it may become clear to me that a user's intentions are not good. As the guideline says, I don't need to "assume" anything if I have facts to the contrary right in front of me. Unlike a lot of vandalism patrollers, though, I always try to take the time to leave warnings on talk pages and/or explain what the issue is. Don't get defensive and don't try to turn it around by calling it uncivil or a personal attack. Those warning templates are there for a reason. If you've received one from me (or any other editor), chances are you deserve it.
3. There is a cabal. Many of them, in fact, and I myself am a member of four. We call them Wikiprojects, and they mostly serve as central meeting places for like-minded members to violate WP:OWN in a more organized way. From there, those members can be directed to every current deletion discussion, featured article candidate, merge proposal, or move request, and make sure that the will of the Wikiproject is upheld. People have joked about cabals for so long that, now that they exist, anyone who dares to notice them will be automatically written off as paranoid. But they're out there. It's important for cabal members to remember that being part of a WikiProject doesn't impart any special rights, and our guidelines should do more to discourage vote stacking, meatpuppetry, bullying, and article ownership.
4. Voting is evil but unfortunately, in practice, it's all that seems to matter. "Support per nom" is a vote. It adds nothing new to the discussion except an "aye". So if voting is evil, they shouldn't even count. But get enough "support per nom" votes and your proposal will fly. Three "support" votes (or keep votes, or oppose votes, or what have you) will overrule almost any well-reasoned argument to the contrary when the final determination is made. If you want an article to avoid deletion, just get a couple of friends to say "keep per nom" and harrass any dissention until they either give up and leave or the discussion is closed. You don't need to win; you just need a stalemate to maintain the status quo. If someone opposes your FAC nomination, just keep arguing and arguing and arguing until their objection is assumed to be unreasonable. The "support" votes (maybe from your cabal; see above) will pull you through. If Wikipedia isn't a democracy, one perfectly reasoned argument should be able to counteract 100 pile-ons to the contrary. But it doesn't. Sad but true.
5. The Featured Article of the Day should be semi-protected. Featured Articles of the Day become Featured Articles of the Day because they are Featured Articles. A brand new editor has never shown up, made a major improvement, cited his sources in the proper format, and made everyone say, "Wow. That contribution was so awesome, it made the past five hundred vandalism reversions worth it." Never happened, never will. The main page links to a lot of articles. New users should be free to edit any of them except the Featured Article of the Day. If not being able to edit one article for one day is enough to discourage a person from ever using Wikipedia again, then chances are they weren't cut out for it anyway. Think about it: when people tell you they don't like Wikipedia, do they say, "There was one time I couldn't edit an article so I never used it again"? Of course not. They say, "Any idiot can edit it so I don't trust it." Because, on their first visit to Wikipedia, they clicked on the featured article and saw nothing but a page full of "suck my dick" or "Jimbo is a pedophile" written a thousand times. We lose more potential editors when that happens than we ever will by semi-protecting an article for a day. No anonymous contribution can ever make up for that. But just like "there is no cabal" and "voting is evil", people will tell you that the Featured Article of the Day should never be protected even though they can't back it up with any concrete reasons. For similar reasons, I would also support any proposal to semi-protect articles on letters of the alphabet, numerals, dates, and first names. Childish vandalism and vanity posts are absolutely out of control on those pages, and I can't remember the last time anything of value was added to them. What new and wonderful thing is going to be added to our article on the letter "E" that isn't there already and can't possibly wait? Nothing.
6. Deleting Fair Use images has its merits. You know, in a way I kind of like how our Fair Use policy is being interpreted as of late. It's going to force Wikipedians to stalk celebrities, sneak cameras into concerts, and run around like tourists in their own towns, snapping photos of the most inane bits of art and architecture. It's like a worldwide scavenger hunt. (Plus, the publicity will be excellent the first time a Wikipedian kills a celebrity Princess Diana-style. Or the first time one of us is killed trying to take photos of genocide victims in Darfur or something. Don't worry, though: we'll award you a posthumous Photographer's Barnstar. But I digress...) It's a major pain in the ass right now, but I do think this change will, in the long run, be good for Wikipedia. The best articles and projects I've seen are the ones whose editors are dedicated enough to take their own photos. It fosters team work, real-life interaction, creativity, improvisation, and a stronger community spirit. The deletions themselves could be handled with a lot more tact and consideration than they have been, but the end result will be a Wikipedia that is more able to stand on its own.

Things that make me laugh

Penguins swarming to feast on human flesh

• The intro sentence from this version of the Stephen Hawking article
• This question on the Jedi talk page
• The fact that evil gets its own article while good is a disambiguation page. From the disambiguation page, the only article about "good" only deals with it in juxtaposition with evil. The fact that we are unable to discuss goodness on its own merits just might say something about the world.
• Listcruft like this, and the people who voted to keep it
• The extent of the Puritans' devious machinations, as noted here
• The dark side of Gwyneth Paltrow [2]
• This all-too-accurate review of one of the worst films of all time
• Watch out, Morgan Freeman! [3]

A few articles I've started

No matter what happens with Invasion, featured or not, you have worked so hard improving the article and abiding by everyone's requests. There is no one that deserves this more. RENTA^{FOR LET?} 06:10, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

= Featured Article · = Good Article · = Featured on "Did You Know?"

Military culture and history

Rifleman's Creed · Naval Air Station Oceana · Iron Mike · General Orders for Sentries · Tiberius Sempronius Longus (consul 218 BCE) · Tiberius Sempronius Longus (consul 194 BCE) · Hanno the Elder · First generation warfare · Second generation warfare · Third generation warfare · Spirit of the American Doughboy · Ontario Knife Company · M6 Bayonet · M7 Bayonet · Radio Battalion · William H. Rupertus · Follow Me · John W. O'Daniel · Robert Ingersoll Aitken · Order of Blue Sky and White Sun with Grand Cordon · Society of Red Tape Cutters · Camp Monteith · Gathland State Park

Entertainment

Glory Daze · Cole Hauser · Rebel Yell (whiskey) · Douglas Preston · Zev Braun · Wes Studi · Lines on the Antiquity of Microbes · Strickland Gillilan · Paul Dieter · Jerusalem's Lot · Crewcut Man · The Diamonds · The Heartbeats · Frank Pentangeli · List of Thief episodes · Tyrannosaur Canyon · Dance of Death · Vincent D'Agosta · Yancey Arias · Atlantis (song) · Joe Gould's Secret · Jimmy D'Aquisto · Bob Seidemann · Jimmy Jean-Louis · The Substitute · Rosie and the Originals · Angel Baby (song) · Highland Records · Zola Taylor

New York history and geography

21 Club · 124th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment · Woodbury Common Premium Outlets · Esopus Meadows Lighthouse · Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame · Doodletown, New York · Stony Point Battlefield · Stony Point Lighthouse · Webb Horton House · Sugar Loaf, New York · Popolopen · Esopus Wars · Wappani · Kieft's War · Benjamin Tusten · Iona Island, New York · Winter Garden Atrium

India-related articles

Kallada River · Ithikkara River · Pattazhi · Pattazhi Vadakkekkara · Paravur Kayal · Kesh (Sikhism) · Bhai Taru Singh · List of kayals in India · Gurmeet Singh Dhinsa

Miscellaneous

Fudgie the Whale · Rent-A-Wreck · Blaschko's lines · Cervical conization · McDonald's Menu Song · Rack (billiards) · Clermont, Kentucky · Super Fantastic Bubble Plastic · Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, California · American Candy Company · Wax lips · Event Data Recorder · Alternate side parking · John Lim

A few of my project articles

Asymmetric warfare · Defense Language Institute · Invasion · Battle of Minisink · Compact Cassette

This user is a member of WikiProject Indigenous peoples of North America, a WikiProject which aims to expand coverage of the indigenous peoples of North America and related topics on Wikipedia. Please feel free to join us.

This user is a member of WikiProject Military history, a WikiProject dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of topics related to military history. Please feel free to join us.

This user is a member of WikiProject New York, a WikiProject dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of topics related to New York State. Please feel free to join us.

This user is a member of WikiProject Sikhism, a WikiProject dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of topics related to Sikh history, religion, and culture. Please feel free to join us.

A few reference and editing tools

• {{subst:User:Kafziel/welcome}} (for new users)
• {{subst:User:Kafziel/welcome2}} (for controversial new users)
• {{subst:User:Kafziel/spelling}} (when editors change regional spelling)
• {{subst:User:Kafziel/anonvandal}}
• {{subst:User:Kafziel/vandal}}
• {{subst:User:Kafziel/spam}}
• {{subst:Vw-n|TITLE}} (unhelpful edits)
• {{drmmt}} (removal of maintenance tags)
• {{Advert}}
• <!--insert hidden text-->
• {{SUBJECT-stub}} (stub template)
• {{anonblock}} (for long-term hard blocks of shared IPs)

Last updated 11:30, 6 April 2007 (UTC) by Tangobot (maintained by Tangotango)

Links to useful pages

• Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism
• Wikipedia:Templates for deletion
• New user edits
• Subpage index
• Wikipedia:Articles requested for more than a year
• Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links
• Interiot's backup edit counter
• Wikipedia:Template messages
• Today's AFD list
• Did You Know...
• Wikipedia:Article Creation and Improvement Drive
• WhoIs IP database
• Essjay's IP tool
• Category:Candidates for speedy deletion

To Do

• Red links at List of Registered Historic Places in Orange County, New York