User talk:BanyanTree/Archive7

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Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Contents 1 Thank you! 2 Glitch 3 Dead End 4 username... 5 Hey! 6 Rwandan Defence Forces 7 Ouaddai or Wadai? 8 Recreates 9 note 10 Niger Delta Conflict 11 Date formats 12 Nice 13 Help 14 Chad 15 Rwanda photos? 16 rwandan genocide edit 17 thanks for the welcome 18 You are wrong 19 Uganda 20 Uganda National Rescue Front 21 Kop ango? 22 RfA Results and Thanks 23 Hey BanyanTree 24 RFA Thanks 25 ha! 26 IP block 27 thanks for the support 28 Talk Ex-Yugoslavia 29 Non-free images 30 Current Template 31 Strathclyde and Bradford 32 SPLM Communist Manufesto 33 My RFA 34 Concerning 198.20.32.253 35 65.174.230.75 36 Kodok locator map 37 Kitsumiti 38 Wau, Waw, Wow 39 Chamoru Wiki 40 Adminship 41 Admin 42 Thank you!

[edit] Thank you!

Thank you very much for your support during my recent Admin election, I appreciate the trust that you have put in me. Please contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding my work as an admin.

Kind Regards, Elf-friend 09:34, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Glitch

Your a moderator, right? I don't know what section a glitch oul go under in help, so could you tell me? The problem is when I'm logged in, on the upper maragine (correct me if I misspelled that, it looks like butters sister) where it has "My Talk My Prefrences etc., etc." Well when I move my mouse on it, it shifts left far enough that "My Talk" is under the Wikipedia main page link. That would cause problems. --Calvinsupergenius 16:59, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

I just found out somethong else!! The glitch starts when I go from Wikipedia to the Commons and back!! Go ahead and try it and tell me if the same thing happens to you!!--Calvinsupergenius 18:57, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, nothing like what you described happened to me when I tried. I would describe your problem at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) and see if anyone has any ideas. Please be sure to specify what operating system and browser you are using, and if you are using an alternate skin. Cheers, BanyanTree 22:14, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, BanyanTree.--Calvinsupergenius 13:20, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dead End

I can't seem to understand the rules to the dead end game at the sandbox. Could you help? Gadfium also seems to be ignoring me when I asked him how to put a word document or at least a link to one.--Calvinsupergenius 16:41, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, I have not ever been involved in the sandbox games and cannot help you. - BanyanTree 17:03, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] username...

Hello again. Regarding your username, the possible origin just occured to me. I'm guessing you are familiar with the song "Aja" by Steely Dan? — Mar. 2, '06 [19:55] <freakofnur_xture|talk>

Hi freakofnur_xture - That's pretty funny. Sorry, but I wasn't familiar with the lyrics until I googled them just now. When I created the username I was actually thinking of how in some Pacific islands banyans are the trees that the spirits of the dead congregate under, though I later found out that banyans are another name for strangler figs (which are cool) and include the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment. There's a personal connection I won't go into, but I'm thoroughly happy with my username even if the references are a bit obscure. You're the first person to actually bring up what it might mean. Thanks! - BanyanTree 00:05, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Surprising. I was listening to the album prior to making that comment and had a fit of déjà vu, whereupon I perused the history of my talk page to see if I wasn't completely insane. You should listen to it some time. — Mar. 4, '06 [08:40] <freakofnur_xture|talk>

[edit] Hey!

do you play go at all? --Calvinsupergenius 18:33, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

I tried putting a go board template on mt page, but I tried playing with Hobbes321, but it got really messed up. Look what happened before I delete it! --Calvinsupergenius 20:25, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rwandan Defence Forces

With reference to our earlier discussion, I did eventually find information on the Rwandan Patriotic Army having changed their names to the Rwandan Defence Forces, so I've gone ahead and updated the references. --Saforrest 04:18, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for dropping me a line to let me know. Cheers, BanyanTree 04:30, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ouaddai or Wadai?

It's a difficult question, but all in all I'd keep it as it is; Ouaddaï is the official Chadian name of the territory, and I think that in Arabic and the local language it is written in the same way. The difference probably come from the transliteration from the Arabic to the Latin script, a common difficulty with many Chadian names; for example, for another Chadian kingdom you can write Baguirmi, but also Bagirmi. Hope this helps. Ciao :-) Aldux 16:01, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Recreates

I saw you answer at the pump and placed {{Deleted}} on the article but did not protect yet. It has been created by multiple authors and an ip. Maybe the deleted page template will discourage them. I will watch it as much as possible. Thank you for your help.--Dakota ~ ° 18:46, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

You're welcome. I hope it works. Cheers, BanyanTree 18:49, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] note

Thanks for your support (Dragon Fire) - Dragon fire 20:43, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Section header and formatting tweaks above by BT.

Not at all. Don't hesitate to drop by if you have any questions. Cheers, BanyanTree 20:45, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Niger Delta Conflict

greetings once again BanyanTree, i just discovered the existence of this article and i am considering moving the information about the Ogoni conflicts, the Warri and Port Harcourt situations with the Ijaw and Itsekiri (except the page would need to be renamed to Niger Delta Conflicts). however, i also think it would be difficult to separate the conflict info from the subsequent dialogue about corporate responsibility and rights abuses. if i transfer the conflict information all to that page, everything might have to go to that page. it's a dilemma because of such close linkage between oil and conflict. transferring the whole page except for production and reserve info may be the most sensible option,and then simply make clear that the unrest in the region is primarily caused by desire to control the oil sector. let me know what you think, i will likely drop Wizzy a line also. thanks.

Also I recently saw the the movie Invisible Children for the second time last night, which documents the situation with the LRA and i would really suggest that you check it out. They're running a pretty large scale campaign in the US, info's available at their website. thanks again.--gozar 01:09, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi Gozar, I've gone over the two pages and I think we have a similar view of the options. The latter (a bigger move rather than smaller) seems to make more sense, though I wonder if it is possible to use/divide the corporate/rights sections as background to both, or if that would simply dilute the information. Another option that hasn't been mentioned is simply making Niger Delta Conflict a redirect to Petroleum in Nigeria. This is less intuitive to readers, but given the effort you have put into making the petroleum article a coherent whole, I would imagine jumping into a complicated split isn't be the most enjoyable thing imaginable. Sorry not to have come up with an imaginative way to solve it.

As for Invisible Children, I had missed it when it was in town, but will try to catch it next time around. Regards, BanyanTree 04:34, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Date formats

Hello,

Thank you for the heads-up on the date formats. I'm still fairly new to Wikipedia, and I learn something new about it every day. I did wonder why the date formats were sometimes different in edit mode from what they appear in regular mode - now I know. Thanks, again.

Be healthy,

Michael David 23:21, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nice

Nice job on Union of Congolese Patriots, I'm not sure I'd even call that a stub anymore. --W(t) 15:29, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! I tend to be really conservative about the line between article and stub, but would be happy to concede if others wish to remove the stub tag. Cheers, BanyanTree 15:32, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Help

where can I go to find out how to make my signature have colors? --Calvinsupergenius 18:25, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chad

I wanted to ask if you could temporarily put a partial block to Chad. The article is being constantly vandalised by anon. editor/editors and a partial block would stop him/them, while letting registerd contributors continue to edit.--Aldux 18:39, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi Aldux, Wikipedia:Semi-protection policy is quite clear that we cannot semiprotect articles for run-of-the-mill vandalism. See the history of Africa for a much more extreme case. I have temporarily blocked the most recent vandal to Chad, as s/he has already been warned multiple times, but normally we just revert and warn using the {{test}} series and then post vandal runs on WP:AIV. Let me know if I've been unclear on any of this. Cheers, BanyanTree 19:04, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for clearing things and blocking the vandal. I must confess I hadn't red the article on semi-protection policy. Bye :-) --Aldux 19:13, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rwanda photos?

Hi - you probably missed my reply to your message on my talk page as I left it a bit long. Was just interested what kind of photos or other material available on hand you might want to improve the genocide page? — SteveRwanda 15:55, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi Steve. Thanks for getting back to me. Yeah, apparently I was a overzealous in cleaning out my watchlist and missed your response. I was just thinking about how useful photos of places would be especially for Kigali, and then went and saw that you had added a bunch. They're fantastic as even the photos of Rwanda that you get from the US gov or at Flickr through usable licenses tend to focus something, like small children, that reduces its utility in describing a place. If I was making a wishlist for Rwandan Genocide, besides those obvious ones from memorials, I would want several of Butare including for the National Museum to illustrate Rosalie Gicanda and Butare, one of the shores of Lake Kivu or the Ruzizi River for all the bodies thrown in, the borders of Gisenyi and Cyangugu for Great Lakes refugee crisis and the bridge at Rusumo. Pictures of the densely inhabited terraced hillsides to illustrate high density of an agricultural population.

I actually took a couple of these photos - the National Museum, Kivu from the campsite between Butare and Cyangugu and genocidaires in their pink uniforms walking along the beach at Gisenyi - but they are all on film in storage very far away. I've been kicking myself for not keeping them close. In any case, thanks for checking back in with me and please keep posting pictures of locations! Cheers, BanyanTree 19:06, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

OK, I've uploaded a few more of my photos to Commons... there's a brand new article for Rusumo Falls, with two pictures (and I managed to get it in today's 'Did you know?' section of the Main Page!) plus a picture of the exterior of the national museum (see Butare) and a view along the beach in Gisenyi (no pink prisoners visible though, I'm afraid). I've added a picture to Ruzizi River, taken on the Burundi side near Lake Tanganyika. I'm considering moving the article to 'Rusizi River' as that's the name used by everyone round here and in Burundi - not sure where the z version came from. Any ideas?

I'm probably going to Butare in a couple of weeks so can try to get some pics of actual artefacts in the museum... my recollection, though, is that it has very little material from the genocide or post-1994: it deals mostly with earlier history and is all in French. If you have any other Butare requests, let me know. Cheers — SteveRwanda 09:22, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

You are a veritable saint among Wikipedians.

I've already added a pic of Rusumo bridge (are there still loads of grim looking soldiers in camouflage tents around the hills?) to the Great Lakes refugee crisis article. I'll try to look through your other pics and see if there are some places that they can help. As for "Rusizi", we normally go after the most common usage in the English population, which I'm pretty sure is "Ruzizi". Occasionally a Ukrainian will try to move Kiev to Kyiv or an Ethiopian will move Addis Ababa to Addis Abeba because it's the most accurate transliteration and it always gets dragged back to the popular but incorrect spelling. Try a Google test and see if a high enough proportion to back up the spelling (50+% is best or maybe 40% and some ironclad credible sources to back up the spelling). In any case, congrats on DYK and keep up the good work. See you around, BanyanTree 13:49, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] rwandan genocide edit

thanks for the input, BanyanTree. i cited the mamdani book "when victims become killers" and the uncited text is my own work. i also added a couple of references to the list. is that good? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thelmabell (talk • contribs)

Hi Thelmabell, Thanks for following up on my note. I just bought the Mamdani book myself and will start whenever I get a free chunk of time. I do have a question though. When you say your "own work" do you mean your own words of something that someone else has researched or concluded, or do you mean your own research. If the second, please read WP:NOR for the policy on original research and remove the relevant bits. You would not believe the number of people with alternative theories about the nature of gravity (for example) who show up on Wikipedia and try to change the article and need to be rebuffed with this policy. Let me know if you have questions on this. Regards, BanyanTree 05:03, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] thanks for the welcome

sure I enjoy wikipedia, but I contribute especially in the french one : here, I would like help a while in the links, references or something easy in english. à bientot --Ayanoa 19:40, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] You are wrong

You are wrong in my opposition to Joturner's RfA. I do NOT oppose him because he believes something I do not, as you incorrectly stated, I oppose him because of the fear I have that, based on his zealous userpage regarding his religion, that he will NOT be able to maintain a NPOV. I am Catholic, pretty devout, and I would oppose a fellow Catholic if he/she too was overzealous in their POV. That said, I have the RIGHT as a sentinent life form to have my own opinion and that is something that the liberal left and the conservative right can NEVER take away from me, so don't even try. TruthCrusader 14:04, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

At least you live up to the "Crusader" part of your name. - BanyanTree 14:10, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Uganda

Hey BanyanTree... I am assuming good faith here, so I apologize if my actions are influenced emotionally - yet I added the admin divisions section because it is separate from Geography, and the info was missing (or old/incorrect) on a lot of sites (African or otherwise). I work with this stuff every day and volunteer for the UN, so I'm not trying to 'label' anyone either, but I don't appreciate when others remove/revert my work - as well as when they would not appreciate the same either.

Just because Ezeu is an established editor doesn't necessarily mean that his word is final. Wikipedia is built around a community that contributes, correct? So if someone feels that it "wasn't needed" aren't you supposed to discuss/contact the contributor? I don't think it is too much to ask, and administrative divisions are separate from Geography (or Politics). I did the same for many other pages, and don't have any trouble. Rarelibra 16:27, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi Rarelibra, Thanks for getting back to me and for your contributions. For what it is worth, I would probably keep the administrative subregions under a separate section as well, though there an argument can be made that political geography is under geography and administrative subregions fall under national political geography. If your rationale was that an administrative divisions section was needed to stay consistent with other articles, then you should have stated that rather than what you did in your edit summary.

I did not mean to imply that Ezeu's word was final. By "established" I mean "an editor recognized by other Wikipedians active in Uganda pages and who is trusted enough that they don't usually double check his edits". By throwing "vandal" at such a user, you hurt your own credibility with the users watching from the sidelines.

While there is a body of opinion on Wikipedia that every big change needs to be discussed beforehand, I am a big believer that WP:BOLD means that, in the absence of clear resistance and as long as you have a clear justification in your own mind, the best course of action is to simply go ahead. If someone objects, they'll either revert or bring it up on the talk, in which case you just negotiate a compromise or one side realizes that other has a good point and lets it go. Reverting a reformat with a "rev. VANDALISM" edit summary just raises the tension around the article unnecessarily. And, frankly, there aren't enough editors active in Africa topics that we can afford to increase the rate of burnout. Regards, BanyanTree 16:59, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm finally getting around to things again, so I apologize for the delay in response. I guess I reacted as users have to my edits - in cases where I have changed something and been quickly labeled a "vandal" - even when it wasn't vandalism! And while I am not an "established" (per se) editor on certain topics, I think that I do have some things to contribute, at least geographically. I don't want to get into qualifications, but geography and mapping are my life. In cases where I have been flat out wrong - I have appreciated the learning experience. But in some cases, sometimes users think they 'own' the topic or page because they are very much involved in the contributions. However, aside from ruthless vandalism, there is a lot to offer from a lot of sources.

That said, the separation of administrative geography from political or physical geography is important, especially in cases with countries that have unique and separate definition or division for political means as opposed to administrative means. And yes, I am trying to set a standard of sorts. So I appreciate the discussion! Thanks Rarelibra 14:16, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Hi Rarelibra, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this, and your expertise on the wiki. As I noted above, you have been making good edits and I look forward to seeing you around. Regards, BanyanTree 14:27, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Uganda National Rescue Front

With a comment like the one you made adding it to WP:CSB, I felt obligated to write it... :-) GRuban 17:11, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

HA! After over a year of telling myself I'd get around to it, you go and put up an article up in less than 24 hours. You are indeed most powerful. - BanyanTree 17:19, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

It's short, but I hoped you'd like it. The hard part was distinguishing between the UNRF and the UNRF2, many references were vague about the difference. To be on the safe side, I decided to make one article for the two. Side note, between Amin and the career of Moses Ali, Ugandan politics seem like a comedy of the absurd, except for the blood. GRuban 17:41, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

You obviously have a different perception of "short" than I do. Maybe I'll get around to an article on Ali at some point. Back in the day, I was in a couple meetings with him in the room and it's hard to believe that someone who moves so ponderously was once the head of major rebel group. I never did figure out all his titles. "Theatre of the absurd" describes much of African politics, the recent to-do with Charles Taylor being the latest case in point. It'd be hilarious if it wasn't so sad. - BanyanTree 17:55, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kop ango?

Ndugu, asante sana for arguing on my behalf.--Ezeu 18:34, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

Not at all. You've earned it. - BanyanTree 19:19, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] RfA Results and Thanks

BanyanTree/Archive7, thank you for supporting me in my recent RfA. Although it did not succeed as no consensus was declared (final: 65/29/7), I know that there is always an opportunity to request adminship again. If and when that day comes, I hope you will once again support me. If at any time I make any mistakes or if you would like to comment on my contributions to Wikipedia, you are more than welcome to do so. Regardless of your religious, cultural, and personal beliefs, I pray that whatever and whoever motivates you in life continues to guide you on the most righteous path.

--- joturner 02:31, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

Hi Joturner, thanks for your note. While I voted in support mainly to counter what I felt were incredibly unwiki rationales for opposition, I look forward to seeing you return to RFA with a bit more experience under your belt. Note: I have removed the image the above text was placed with per my stated grumpiness. No disrepect is meant and I hope none is taken. Regards, BanyanTree 02:39, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hey BanyanTree

for the Tomahawk reverse-engineering i have put an external link so dont worry about it...thanks Tere naam 03:07, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Hi Tere naam, thanks for getting back to me about Babur missile. See you around, BanyanTree 03:11, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks its just im new so..anyway i hope u look over the article again and maybe check the external link i put in it..thanks Tere naam 03:18, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] RFA Thanks

Thank you for your support vote on my RFA. The final result was a successful request based on 111 support and 1 oppose. --CBDunkerson 20:49, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ha!

I wonder what he could be tallking about... :P Thanks for the congrats message on my talk page BanyanTree! - Ta bu shi da yu 07:41, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] IP block

I unblocked the IP 198.20.32.254. This IP is a shared address of the Thames Valley District School Board and is shared by over 50 separate and distinct schools, and literally tens of thousands of students. Although the vandalism that eminates from this IP is surely aggrevating, please keep blocks on the shorter side of things. I believe the recommendation found here at [1] are for 15 minutes or less. Short blocks will discourage the immediate vandalism, and most students don't have time or access to computers for extended periods of time. I mean absolutly no disrespect in regard to your efforts in blocking vandalism, but only ask that you consider the benificial users affected by longer blocks, such as the one you placed on this IP address, which was for a one week duration. Thanks in advance for your consideration. Best regards, Hamster Sandwich 16:22, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Replied (unusually) at User talk:Hamster Sandwich#removing the block. - BanyanTree 17:05, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your prompt response! I do understand your argument and sympathize with the underlying frustration I sense in your post, but unfortunatly when this IP is blocked, it blocks everybody, including users signed in with proper user accounts (like me!). It just means we have to work harder (or just more often) in reverting vandalism. It's the kind of glitch that the devs should be working to fix. I have just undertaken to mentor an editor, so it is vital that I am able to communicate with him and other intersted parties. It would be a shame to keep these other editors hanging simply because some idiot-child decides to write about how cool they are, or even worse the kind of racist garbage that was posted to David Suzuki yesterday. Believe me when I tell you, thats the kind of vandalism where I LOVE to block indefinately. Its going to try your patience, but please consider the points I'm trying to make. I ask you, in the event that you must block, shorter, rather than longer. I just had the thought to post to Jimbo's page to let him know that this type of problem is a very real and serious one, and that he should start kicking some developer ass to find a solution. :-) Keep up the good work BanyanTree! Best regards, Hamster Sandwich 17:35, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Hi, Thanks for getting back to me. I had missed in your previous post that you were affected by the block. I, of course, do not have a problem with you unblocking your own IP. I would be interested to know if any contributors have emailed regarding blocks on that IP.

It looks like the "IP only block" has been suggested at Bugzilla, but is stalled. The current proposal appears to be to be to allow all accounts that have an "autoconfirm" flag (four days old at this point) to edit through the block. We can only hope that it gets out shortly in a MediaWiki upgrade. - BanyanTree 18:45, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] thanks for the support

Hi BanyanTree- thanks a lot for your support on my recent, (barely) successful rfa. Please feel free to leave me any comments or criticisms on my talk page! Hope you're having fun out playing. --He:ah? 22:19, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Talk Ex-Yugoslavia

Talk:Kosovo#2 Administrator for Ex-Yugoslavien articels in Wikipedia- The voice of Kosovar —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.183.73.212 (talk • contribs)

[edit] Non-free images

Hey BT, good to hear from you! Yeah, probably better just delete that night commuters thing as we already have a PD USAID one. You've reminded me I really should start editing something other than New anti-Semitism, which is currently bogged down in the most intractible bitter feuding I've ever seen (see Talk:New anti-Semitism). Perhaps I should "come back" to East Africa! TreveX^talk 12:41, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Hi TreveX, I think you should come back. It's better... much better... over here where we would be happy to get enough editors together to have an argument. I went ahead and handled the LRA image. Hopefully see you around, BanyanTree 14:03, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Current Template

I see what you're saying and agree, I was looking at from the point of view that the current events section of wikipedia listed those two sections as "current events" but only some of the current events had that template so I thought I would add to every conflict in the current events section. With what you're saying I would almost go on to say to remove the Ituri conflict and Lord's Resistance Army from that section of current events because like you said those articles haven't been updated in months and there really isn't any pressing news about them compared to Iraq War or Darfur Conflict. I have no problems with your removal of the templates and thank you for notifying me and I'll start a consensus on the current section to remove those two conflicts from current events section. Thanks - Patman2648 02:17, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

That's not precisely what I was getting at. "Current events" is used in two different ways on Wikipedia. One is in the conventional sense of "something that is happening now", in which case both the LRA and Ituri conflicts are definitely current events. The other meaning is code for "article whose exposure has just rocketed and may have become unstable as a result" and this is how {{current}} is used. I also would not make the statement about no pressing news. I follow news about the LRA and Ituri rather closely and there have been a number of significant developments, I'm just normally the only one who bothers to update them and I've been lazy recently. It should be noted that Darfur conflict is in its typical state of stagnation as well. I would think removing any of these from the current events section would be counterproductive if we're trying to attract attention to some significant, but underserved, articles. - BanyanTree 02:28, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

On that note then, I'll just leave everything how it was. On an interesting side-note, how do you know so much about the conflicts in Africa and the current news about them? Half of these uprises and rebellions I hadn't even heard of. Thanks for the quick reply and have a good night's sleep. - Patman2648 06:19, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, it's odd that I seem to have specialized in Central African conflicts on Wikipedia. I have worked with displaced populations in Uganda and am fortunate enough that I have a job where I have the opportunity to discuss and write about governance issues in conflict-affected states. It doesn't leave me blocks of time to do all the wiki writing that needs to be done, but that's a different story. Cheers, BanyanTree 13:00, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

That's really cool that you're able to have such an interesting career dealing with issues like these. Good luck in the future and keep up the beautiful work on the Central African pages, they really are nice, they all have relevant pictures, nice sectioning and good grammar, I'm glad that those topics don't get ignored and reduced to stubs like so many others. Best of Luck - Patman2648 23:53, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Strathclyde and Bradford

Please do further research as both of these schools are very old, very respected in their countries and worldwide. Please do not treat them in this manner it is unbecomming. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.26.178.121 (talk • contribs)

Ah, I see that Strathclyde was actually pointing to the wrong article and I hadn't bothered to check with Bradford after that. Apologies.

Now that that is out of the way, why don't you want to say that Riek Machar had basically allied with Khartoum against the SPLM? I don't see how you can avoid it, but you somehow have him starting the SPLM with Garang, leaving the SPLM to fight it alongside the government, and then leaving the government to ally with Garang, all while refusing to admit that Riek made any compromises. Interesting... - BanyanTree 00:48, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] SPLM Communist Manufesto

Although I do not currently have a copy of the document, it is well known that Mengisto of Ethiopia was the close friend and greatly influenced the early days of the SPLM. The SPLM communist manufesto is a fact not disputed. If you would like something added about the horrible outcome of trying to reform the SPLM/A, that can be arranged. The split in the movement was precipitated by a document called the Nassir Declaration which demanded democracy in the movement and objectives (including self-determination) and the respect of human rights withing the movement. You are right there are many political factors and human factors that have led to the outcome of the events, however nothing written here is false. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.26.178.121 (talk • contribs)

I think that there is a bias of omission here. I am using as my primary source in this Douglas Johnson, The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars, 2003, specifically his sections on the SPLM's origins in Ethiopia and then the Nasir split. He is partisan to the SPLM, but not fatally so, in my opinion. On page 63, he notes that the SPLM takes on the Marxist terminology then used by Ethiopia in its manifesto, which was in turn taken from the USSR. However, he argues on the next page that, when actually speaking on Radio SPLA, Garang dropped the Marxist jargon as it was an affectation he used as part of his alliance with Mengistu. Quoting from Johnson, "The Marxist rhetoric of the Manifesto was used as an excuse by Nimairi, the US government and opponents of Mengistu to dismiss the SPLM/SPLA as a Communist-front organization." So whether or not the SPLM was actually Communist in nature (keeping in mind that prior to the Ogaden War, Ethiopia was the US proxy and Somalia was the USSR one, so I am rather skeptical about proclamations of alliance) is arguable and I would need to see another source of at least equal credibility before accepting that (1) the SPLM acted as a Communist organization at any point and (2) even if this first point is made, Riek, as a founding member, was somehow not a communist.

I could go on to the details of the actual split, but maybe that's enough to respond to. Since you appear to be one of the few people on Wikipedia that has some knowledge of these topics, you may be interested in commenting on a half drafted article on the SSDF that I started a while back at User:BanyanTree/Work/Sandbox, which has stagnated since. In any case, we should probably continue further discussions specific to Riek at Talk:Riek Machar. Also, please sign your posts with four tildes (~~~~).- BanyanTree 02:35, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] My RFA

Hello BanyanTree/Archive7, and thanks for supporting me on my recent request for adminship! It has succeeded with an unanimous support of 67 votes, so that I am now an administrator. Please feel free to leave a note on my talk page should you wish to leave any comments or ask for any help. Again, thanks a lot, AndyZ _t 21:52, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Concerning 198.20.32.253

User talk:198.20.32.253 is back at vandalizing. You blocked the school IP for a week at one point and it has now come back, so I just thought I should bring this to your attention. Thanks. Cowman109^Talk 19:07, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the heads up. I blocked for a month after doing a spot check of the edits since the IP returned. - BanyanTree 19:13, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 65.174.230.75

Can you please block this IP. The person has been adding extremely offensive and nonsensical edits to Armenian Genocide. Although such edits to any article would warrant blocking, such editing to this particular article appears to reveal the user's dehumanizing world outlook, utterly unfit for the wikipedia community. Stanley011 20:30, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

My goodness. Am I on a wikilist of hanging judges somewhere?

In any case, I threw up a 3 hour block as the IP hadn't been blocked before. If you don't mind a bit of advice, try to brush off juvenile vandalism like this, regardless of where it happens (except for high profile articles linked from the Main Page of course). Every page will get this sort of drive by vandalism. The topic of the article might be taken into account as an aggravating factor only when the subject is targeted in some way, such as the racist edits to Rosa Parks, Africa, etc. You may find such vandalism less distressing if you view cleaning up vandalism along the lines of brushing your teeth or taking out the trash, something that is necessary but not something to get excited about.

I also dropped by your user page. Please note that when creating articles, such as Johnny Kilbane, categories are hugely useful for subsequent editors. You may want to double check to make sure that your creations are all categorized. Cheers, BanyanTree 20:53, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kodok locator map

I happened to notice your edit summary at Wikipedia:WikiProject Maps/Requested and orphan maps. Since I've been meaning to learn how to make SVGs for quite a while now, I figured this would be a good time to start. So just for you I made a locator map for Kodok. ;-) —Bkell 06:07, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

You are a saint amongst Wikipedians! I feel so thoroughly collaborated with that I may have to lie down.  :D - BanyanTree 10:09, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kitsumiti

I kind of actually do mind, but you seem to know then me so that is fine I guess as long as I am not banned! Thank you for corecting the article for me! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shadow ruler (talk • contribs)

Hi Shadow ruler, Sorry to hear that you feel out of sorts about it. I remember when I first arrived, I created three articles that were promptly put up for deletion. I know how that feels. You're certainly in no danger of being blocked for not knowing the various internal guidelines.

Yeah, the line between a Wikipedia article and a Wiktionary article can be fuzzy at times (especially as most people don't know about Wiktionary) but, generally speaking, if you are giving a definition and etymology, then it's a dictionary definition. If you have found information that is not in the Wiktionary article I linked to on your page, please update go ahead and update it just as you would in Wikipedia. (You'll have to create a separate account for Wiktionary though.) If you have a concern or question particular to that article, then you can use the discussion page there to ask it. Let me know if you have any questions and I hope to see you around. Regards, BanyanTree 18:12, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wau, Waw, Wow

It's me again. The city of Wau, Sudan has three spellings listed (Wau, Waw, and Wow). The sources I can find (the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Hammond Explorer Atlas of the World, Goode's World Atlas by Rand McNally, and the CIA World Factbook) all use the spelling Wāw. Where do the other spellings come from? —Bkell 21:20, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

There was a question about this at Wikipedia:WikiProject Sudan#Waw-City. Some Human Rights Watch reports used "Wau", as does the United Mission for Sudan [2] and IRIN News [3], and they are much more likely to be on top of the most current transliteration IMO. Many more more Google hits for "Wow Sudan" but a lot of those appear to be the exclamation or related to the spelling given by NBA player Luol Deng, who was born there. It's not immediately clear to me that one is definitely preferred, so I went with the one I see in the documents I use regularly. If you do feel strongly about it, it may be worth bringing it back up at the WikiProject to make sure that the three other people who would be interested are informed.  ;) - BanyanTree 22:42, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

All the maps you're inserting into Sudan state capitals are great! Normally the only traffic those articles get is bots, AWBers and stub sorters. Sad but true. - BanyanTree 22:57, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't feel strongly about the spelling of W-Town; I was just unsure what spelling to put on my map. I went with Wāw, but it's very easy to change it. I'll drop a note at the WikiProject just to report my sources. —Bkell 22:59, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Not a big deal. I was going to put the new map over at de: but noticed that you uploaded it locally to en. If you're going to be making these neat maps, I would strongly encourage you to upload them to the Commons; non-English users will often check the English language version to see if there is a usable image for their local version. It's always neat to see how many different language editions an image you upload appears on. Cheers, BanyanTree 23:56, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I realized that after I uploaded seven of them. I also realized that all seven still contain the "Kodok" metadata. So I'm going to go through them, fix the metadata, and upload them to the Commons. There isn't a way to move an image to the Commons while preserving the file history, is there? —Bkell 01:41, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Not that I'm aware of and, since it requires a separate login, I rather doubt that one exists. Of course the history here will overwrite the Commons image, but once you throw {{NowCommonsThis}} on it, then it's only a matter of time before an admin deletes the local version. - BanyanTree 01:53, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Okey-doke. Migration to Commons is underway. Thanks for your help. —Bkell 01:54, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

All my maps are now over at Commons; see commons:Category:Maps of Cities in Sudan. Future maps will be uploaded there. —Bkell 03:47, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chamoru Wiki

I'm currently desysoped, I was temporary for some weeks, and now I'm normal user. I don't speak chamoru, only I fix vandalism and other spam pages. Is a good idea if you propose as sysop in ch.wiki. Go ahead. --Taichi 03:32, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

OK, thanks! I'll give it a try. - BanyanTree 23:27, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Adminship

Hello, BanyanTree. Sorry for taking so long to reply, I wanted to think it over. I would accept a nomination for adminship because it would increase the contributions that I can make to Wikipedia. There are often things that I would like to participate on or things need to be done that require administrative access. Also, I would be able to help more people. Here is some information that you might find useful if you decide to nominate me.

I've participated in various aspects of Wikipedia. I've created 146 original articles and 130 based on public domain articles, mostly 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica articles that I tried to clean up. 18 photos that I took myself are on Wikimedia Commons and I intend to add more soon. I uploaded them there so that other Wikimedia projects can use them. I've wikified and cleaned up thousands of articles, which make up the majority of my article edits. I've participated in discussions on AfD, Wikipedia guidelines/policy and the administrator's noticeboard. I am a bit stricter than most about what I consider encyclopedic on AfD, but I think my contributions indicate that I would act in good faith and not delete articles improperly. I've identified many copyright violations, which probably make up most of my deleted edits, though quite a few are probably deletion nominations on articles that ended up being deleted. There has been at least one copyright violation blunder on my part. I failed to notice permission given in an edit summary. A few other mistakes have been cases where there was no indication on the article, the talk page or edit summaries that permission to use the content had been given. I'm only on the IRC channel occasionally, usually anonymous, since my IRC application does not work properly. Unfortunately, I have no significant contributions on Meta and no contributions on the mailing lists.

I checked my edit count and I have 10,793 edits total edits, 7,486 of them on articles, 573 on talk, 339 on user talk, 1,869 on project, 171 on project talk, 170 to categories, templates, images and their talk pages and 185 to user pages. I also had 1,192 deleted edits, which as I mentioned above, are probably mostly copyright violations, but with a significant portion of deletion nominations. Thanks, Kjkolb 04:35, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Hi Kjkolb, I figured that you were giving it some thought. I'll work on putting together the nom today after I recover from the shock of waking up. In the meantime, you can look over Wikipedia:Guide to requests for adminship and start thinking about how you want to answer the three standard questions. Later, BanyanTree 14:25, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Admin

Hello BanyanTree! Since you were of great help to me, I have another question for you. How does one become an Admin? I was hoping to be able to help around Wikipedia (as it says in my user profile) because it would be very interesting to work with all of you and perhaps even most relaxing. I do hope you will be able to infrom on such short notice. Thank you and best regards, --kitsumiti 16:31, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Hi kitsumiti, I would recommend reading Wikipedia:Miniguide to requests for adminship for an overview. Generally speaking, voters want to see steady levels of involvement in multiple areas of Wikipedia over at least three months, with no major questions about knowledge of policy or civility. My advice is to find an area that you feel comfortable getting involved in - Wikipedia:Community Portal has a great To do section. I should note however that the majority of things that need doing on Wikipedia don't need the admin buttons and you can make a contribution regardless of whether you are aiming for adminship. Let me know if you have more questions. Cheers, BanyanTree 17:19, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Thank you!

Thank you BayanTree! I will keep that in mind! I was wondering if it was commen that some people flame new people such as myself because people seem to be sending links that show as chnges in the top tree and the last message I had recived was a pop up that flew around the computer screen with the words "You are an Idiot" in bold lettering. Is there anyway to find who had done such a thing? Best regards, --kitsumiti 17:32, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Hi, I don't understand where this happened. There is no such edit in the history of either your user page or user talk page, and your email is not enabled so it wasn't by email. Are you sure that it was related to Wikipedia and not a virus on your computer? I don't think popups are possible on Wikipedia. - BanyanTree 17:37, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Well I clicked on the thing that said "New Change" And it closed the Wikipedia site and then continued the pop up bit. I restarted the computer and it was finished so I don't think it would have been a vrius. I seem to be getting flamed a lot lately and I am very polite on Wikipedia and I don't have any enemies so i'm not sure why that happend.--kitsumiti 17:44, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

You mean Special:Recent changes in the left hand column? - BanyanTree 17:50, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

yes, somthing like that. the border it was in was orange and so was the background. I clicked on somthing like that before and it redirected me to some articel about practical jokes.--kitsumiti 17:55, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh, I get it. You were on someone else's user page and got what looked like the "New messages" orange box at the top of the screen and when you clicked on it, it was a practical joke page. Yeah, I've seen those. The people who do them think that they are funny. It wasn't directed at you; everyone who goes by that page sees it. If you really were bothered by it, see if you can find the page again and inform the user that it bothered you. I tend to ignore things like that. - BanyanTree 17:59, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Okay thank you! i was very confused but now you cleared it up for me! Thank you! --kitsumiti 19:21, 15 May 2006 (UTC)