Wikipedia:Deletion review/Log/2008 June 2

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[edit] 2 June 2008

[edit] Architectural design values (closed)

[edit] Barony of Qlejjgha

Barony of Qlejjgha (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) (restore|cache|AfD)

RGTraynor prodded this article and the other listed articles for deletion. Unfortunately the Prod wasn't viable as these articles have survived a prior bundled AfD (see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Barony of Tabria). I removed the Prods explaining in the edit summary why, a short while after doing so DragonflySixtyseven mass deleted all the articles. These deletions were totally out of process and were done on the grounds of the articles lack of verifiability and original research. These articles had been in existence for several years so why the rush to delete? Why couldn't the normal deletion policy be followed? Why the reluctance to send them to AfD?
Yes process can be irksome at times, but generally it is there for a good reason. When I see an out of process, mass deletion like this, I can't help but feel profoundly uneasy. I'm listing these articles as I'd genuinely like to know if the community considers such out of process deletions as acceptable or not. RMHED (talk) 11:47, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Baron de Pausier (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Barons di San Giovanni (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Barony of Bahria (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Barony of Benwarrad (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Barony of Buleben (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Barony of Gomerino (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Bibino Magno (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Brockdorff (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Bugeja (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Count Magri (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Count of Beberrua (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Count of Senia (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Counts Vella-Clary (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Counts di Santa Sofia (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Counts of Mont'Alto (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Counts of San Paolino d'Aquilejo (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
ZCount Fournier (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Marchesi di San Giorgio (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Marquis Testaferrata-Olivier (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Marquis de Piro (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Marquis of Ghajn Qajjed (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Marquis of Gnien-is-Sultan (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Marquis of Taflia (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Counts of Għajn Tuffieħa (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Testaferrata (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
Counts Von Zimmermann (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs)
  • To quote RGTraynor's prod, "Another in a line of articles on alleged titles of Maltese nobility created by User:Tancarville (see discussion here). While the article has been in substantively the same form since 2004, actual published sources (most unavailable to Wikipedia editors) were only added in 2006 - coincidentally, right after a blanket AfD was filed on these articles - and the sources upon which this article was actually based are the creator's own website and "unpublished research papers." Google turns up only this article, the creator's website and a handful of Wiki mirrors. Fails WP:V, WP:RS, WP:OR"; to quote my deletion summary, "Hell with it. This is unverifiable, and remains unverifiable. Tancarville has had YEARS to provide better sources, and has not done so."
    Procedure is important, but it is not all-important. To restore false articles solely to cross the t's and dot the i's of their writs of deletion is pointless. If independent evidence can be shown for the existence of the the subjects of these articles, I will gladly restore them (this is not a blanket offer; each existence will have to be shown separately); otherwise, they stay gone.
    (Interesting point: one of these articles was apparently cited in a court case where the Court ruled that it was "apocryphal at best") DS (talk) 13:06, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Endorse: The articles in question were created by User:Tancarville (Charles Said-Vassallo) in 2004 and 2005. The articles have been in substantively the same form since then, but “published sources” (somehow each and every one of them unavailable to Wikipedia editors) were only added the day after the mass AfD was filed last year, and the sources upon which the text was actually based are the creator's own website and "unpublished research papers." Furthermore, WP:COI and WP:COATRACK issues came up in that the alleged holders of a number of the titles were the creator’s own family members; one of the articles RMHED unprodded was a title claimed by the creator for his mother, for instance. Beyond that, the author of the alleged published sources is a "Charles Gauci," who himself was the subject of some of these articles as a “noble,” and who showed up as User:Count Gauci as an SPA in one of the recent AfDs, with phrasings oddly similar to Tancarville’s; for instance, "Please see sense and make comments rather then delete" cropped up in both of their comments at various stages.
    At the time of the mass AfD in 2006, the consensus was clearly going towards Delete (the best Tancarville was getting was “Keep if and only if the articles are vastly improved / if reliable sources are found”) when it was suddenly bucked over to Wikipedia:Deletion policy/Maltese nobility, a February 2005 discussion where Tancarville’s self-proclaimed credentials as a geneaologist were swallowed without question; the AfD was never properly closed. As it happens the only evidence we have for any of this is Charles Said Vassallo's word for it. While Tancarville holds himself out as a renowned geneaologist on his own and a number of websites, no reliable sources say so. A G-search for "Charles Said-Vassallo" turns up only 83 unique hits, all of them various webpages. There are zero hits on Google Scholar for him, something of an ominous sign.
    Those decisions would never be made today, and on the sixteen AfDs that myself and another editor filed last week on these articles, the near-unanimous opinion of those other than Tancarville, Count Gauci and SPAs have been for deletion. Since I do not pretend to be an expert on such issues, I brought the matter to the Royalty Wikiproject, and their unanimous opinion has been for deletion. Since those AfDs, citing huge WP:NOR, WP:V, WP:RS and WP:COI issues, have so far ruled for Deletion with overwhelming consensus, I filed prods on a number of the other articles, since (after all) prodding is supposed to be for non-controversial deletions. I only wish that RMHED had informed me of this deletion review, since he’s obviously curious as to my motives.
    My apology for being so longwinded, but basically, Tancarville has had a free ride on Wikipedia for four years, creating over sixty articles based on his own original research, claiming nobility for himself, his mother and father, and his other relatives, all stemming from an island two-thirds the size of Plymouth, Massachusetts, where such noble titles were abolished decades ago, and where such articles have survived so long only out of shaky process and startling misapplications of Wikipedia policy and guidelines.
    Like DS, I would be happy to see restored any article that passed WP:RS, WP:V, WP:N and WP:COI muster. I just couldn't find any in a couple days of search, and neither could half a dozen editors from the Royalty Wikiproject. If RMHED has some information we don't, I'd be grateful to see it.  RGTraynor  13:37, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Overturn and send to AfD if User:RGTraynor wishes. The removal of the PRODs was proper, since, quoting from WP:PROD:

Articles that:

  • Have previously been proposed for deletion using the {{prod}} process.
  • Have previously been undeleted
  • Have been discussed on AfD or MfD
are not candidates for {{prod}}.
(own emphasis added) Also nothing in the CSD meets the summary given in the deletion logs. There's nothing to support this sort of admin-discretion deletion. --lifebaka (Talk - Contribs) 15:03, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Endorse Tancarville created these articles out of WP:COI, and it's my understanding that almost all of them were deleted via AfD, not PROD. I did a bit of research myself, and like the members of the Royalty WikiProject, I couldn't find any reliable sources about these obscure titles, nor could I find any proof that the author was a "trusted" name in genealogy. Should these be relisted at AfD, I could only see them being deleted all over again; overall, I agree 100% with RGTraynor. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters(Broken clamshellsOtter chirps) 15:37, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Overturn speedy-deletion of the ones where there was not a relevant AFD decision after the "no consensus" decision from July 2006 that RMHED cites above. I spot-checked a number and found only a few that were deleted via a subsequent AfD. I share the skepticism expressed here that these articles will survive the AfD discussion. The evidence being presented here against the articles is compelling. But the process is important and DRV is not AFD2. We can spare 5 days to do it right. This discussion should have been held at AfD. Rossami (talk) 17:27, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Endorse Its inconcievable that these articles will survive AFd without further reliable sources being provided and this issues was raised years ago (eons in wikitime). Process is important but not to the point of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Spartaz Humbug! 18:54, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
    How is sending a few articles to AfD "cutting off your nose to spite your face"? If an admin considers that an article lacks verifiability or contains original research are you saying they should delete it on sight? RMHED (talk) 20:36, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • That's a straw man argument. Obviously these articles weren't "deleted on sight;" they've been unverified, unsourced messes for four years, they've been pawed over more than once, a pertinent Wikiproject's endorsed the deletions, sixteen similar ones have been under AfD, six all sixteen have already been deleted from AfD, and a couple already have been deleted after the prods expired; it is not remotely a case of a cowboy admin gunning down good articles at random after a moment's casual glance. It isn't even the case that you or anyone else here thinks these articles would survive AfD; in effect, this is process worship for the sake of process worship. As Howcheng cogently states, this is a sound application of WP:IAR.  RGTraynor  21:37, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Endorse. This appears to be a good application of WP:IAR. They were kept during the AfD on the condition that better sources be added. It's been years and none have been forthcoming. Ergo, deletion was warranted. howcheng {chat} 20:54, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Endorse per Howcheng. AFD survival was conditional, and the condition has failed. Bastique demandez 22:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Comment: There are several blue links at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Barony of Tabria that deserve a second look. Corvus cornixtalk 23:21, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Reply: Not all of Tancarville's articles merit deletion. One is of a town in Malta, one is of a CEO of a major Maltese bank who was murdered in mysterious circumstances, one is a Euro MP, and so on.  RGTraynor  13:09, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Restore, and probably relist individually after checking, starting with the weakest. AfD survival was not in the least conditional--it closed as no consensus to delete. Personally, i would very much like to see these articles deleted, and intend to so argue, but trying to use speedy to overturn the result of an Afd is just plain wrong. Its an improper use of IAR to support such a deletion--there was not consensus to delete. It's notsome technicality of the rules that by prevent us from deleting, its the lack of consensus to delete. Using IAR to override consensus is an arbitrary contradiction to the idea that its the consensus that decides what will improve the encyclopedia. DGG (talk) 03:29, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Overturn. Tough call. I would have argued in favor of deleting these, but DGG and Lifebaka really hit the nail on the head. They should be restored and sent to AfD properly. MrPrada (talk) 06:09, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Overturn - per DGG, essentially. It doesn't seem at all inconceivable that the "no consensus" result would be repeated. — xDanielx T/C\R 21:42, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
  • overturn Essentially per DGG. I agree that it is unlikely that any of these will survive AfD. However, speedy deletion of articles which have survived AfD is a really bad idea. We don't lose much by relisting. JoshuaZ (talk) 02:08, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Overturn - per DGG. Dlohcierekim 03:44, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Overturn and send to AFD. Much as I'd like to see these deleted, there's a process for it and when they've had a PROD contested and an AFD closed without deletion, deleting at random is not really on. Stifle (talk) 09:47, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Endorse When did we become blind slaves to process? If we cannot exercise common sense from time to time, we become needlessly supine in our requirement for bureaucratic warrant for any action, as advocated by DGG above. I agree, therefore, with RGTraynor's rationale as laid out above. Eusebeus (talk) 13:21, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
WP:PROD and WP:CSD are for uncontroversial deletions. Having a previous XfD closed as "keep" or "no consensus" means most reasons for deletion are already proven to be controversial. This isn't process wonkery, the processes work the way they do for a reason. In this case a single admin proclaiming that he knows better (or different) than previous consensus (or the lack thereof) is wrong: "Consensus among a limited group of editors, at one place and time, should never over-ride community consensus on a wider scale". Just take the articles to AfD again. --lifebaka (Talk - Contribs) 16:39, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
Err, no. They may have been controversial a few years ago. They are proving to be almost completely uncontroversial now. Of the sixteen AfDs filed on those articles, except for Tancarville and the aforementioned "Count Gauci," who dissented on two, every single opinion proffered was for deletion. That's not merely consensus, that's fairly overwhelming consensus.  RGTraynor  18:02, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
While consensus can change, I've seen no evidence that it has. I'd like to note that I don't oppose the deletion of the article, I just don't believe that a single person gets to decide it. We wouldn't have XfDs if this was the case. And Dlohcierekim is right about the possibility of snowballing here if it does turn out to be uncontroversial, but I fail to see what harm it could do to have the pages back up for few days or so. --lifebaka (Talk - Contribs) 04:25, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
You've seen no evidence that consensus has changed? Allow me to help you. Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Marchesi di San Vincenzo Ferreri, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Count of Ciantar-Paleologo, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Marchese Drago, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Barons di Baccari, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Frigenuini, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Principe de Sayd, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Baron of Bauvso, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Saveria Moscati, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Alexandre Moscati de Piro, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Giuseppe Said (2nd nomination), Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Rosalea Mompalao, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Buttigieg De Piro (2nd nomination), Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Teresa Gauci-Beaujolais, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Barone Francesco Gauci, Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Royalty#Maltese_nobility ...  RGTraynor  12:14, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
Since these survived prior AFD, I would say the thing to do would be to AFD them again. Perhaps with the improved scrutiny of a number of editors some way to ave them can be found. If these deletions are so uncontroversial that PROD or Speedy is appropriate, they should snow-close pretty quickly. Cheers, Dlohcierekim 19:54, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
Even allowing for change in consensus, the thing to do is send back to AFD. Cheers, Dlohcierekim 12:36, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
  • Overturn and send to AFD. Process is important, no compelling counter-reason here. Sources unavailable to wikipedia editors, if this means “not online”, is not good enough. AGF until references are proven false or unreliable. “Merge all to Maltese nobility”, for example, is conceivably a non-deletion sensible outcome. This was not a good application of IAR. There are good rules written to cover this situation. --SmokeyJoe (talk) 11:41, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The Fling (band) (closed)

[edit] Template:Foreignchar (closed)

[edit] Gabriel_Murphy (closed)

[edit] Luv Addict (closed)