User talk:John/Archive 24

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] AfD nomination of United States

An editor has nominated United States, an article on which you have worked or that you created, for deletion. We appreciate your contributions, but the nominator doesn't believe that the article satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion and has explained why in his/her nomination (see also "What Wikipedia is not").

Your opinions on whether the article meets inclusion criteria and what should be done with the article are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/United States (2nd nomination) and please be sure to sign your comments with four tildes (~~~~).

You may also edit the article during the discussion to improve it but should not remove the articles for deletion template from the top of the article; such removal will not end the deletion debate. Thank you. BJBot (talk) 08:04, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hello

Hi from India. I firmly stand by your decision as regards the block of Whitehouse90310. Regards. --Bhadani (talk) 20:38, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. No question this user needed a block. --John (talk) 23:24, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
Fgh 2000 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · block user · block log) is obviously the same editor. Thanks. One Night In Hackney303 22:17, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] No problem!

Hi, I noticed this. The user needs to be given time to prepare a fair use rationale so I have removed the speedy tag. --John (talk) 15:31, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

No problem but the image seems to me to be copyrighted, if you look at this http://jumk.de/astronomie/exoplanets/hd-15115.shtml then you'll see the same image

Thanks for telling me, I'm not perfect! --Kanonkas, Take Contact (talk) 15:34, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

It seems it is from the Hubble Space Telescope. See here. I'll adjust the copyright. --John (talk) 15:46, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
Yup, you find it, thank you!. I should have taken a copyright notice instead of fair use! Silly me :/ --Kanonkas, Take Contact (talk) 15:50, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
I've done that, it is all fixed now. Take care, --John (talk) 15:52, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Off Topic

Off topic [If you don't mind!] You seem to be very nice, I hope we can stay in touch! --Kanonkas, Take Contact (talk) 16:06, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! I am always willing to work with or help anybody. Let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you. --John (talk) 16:16, 2 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Afro-caucasian

(moved to User talk:Wedineinheck#Racial category) --John (talk) 16:40, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The Military history WikiProject Newsletter : Issue XXV (March 2008)

The March 2008 issue of the Military history WikiProject newsletter has been published. You may read the newsletter, change the format in which future issues will be delivered to you, or unsubscribe from this notification by following the link. Thank you.
This has been an automated delivery by BrownBot (talk) 01:35, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Depeche Mode, the real sense of those words.

IMPORTANT.

Dear John,

First at all, i'm glad of discussing with you.

But i cannot be agree with you when you say that i'm trying to insert commentaries of my personal analysis into this article. Why, because this is not my personal analysis but the truth, John !

Indeed, the words "Depeche Mode" (Dépêche Mode) are, as you know it, two French words which have a precise meaning, and only one ! The word "Dépêche" gave, in its original form in old or ancient French language ("Despesche"), the English word "Dispatch", and has only this sense, and nothing else. And you know the word "Mode" that is translated in English by "Fashion" which is, in fact, another French word (from the old French and Anglo-norman languages "Façun or Faichon").

Then, Depeche Mode (taken from the French fashion magazine "Dépêche Mode") means Fashion Dispatch (a dispatch about the fashion) and nothing else, it's not my personal analysis, but the real and only sense of those words, John !

The confusion with "fast" or "hurried" comes from the French verb "se dépêcher" that means "to hurry up", "to hasten" (from the old French "se haster", modern French "se hâter"). But in "Depeche Mode", "depeche" comes from "dispatch" and not from "se dépêcher" !

And i think it's important to specify that in the article. Why. Because when the people read the quotation of Martin Gore in the article ("It means hurried fashion or fashion dispatch. I like the sound of that."), they think, oh ok it's true, because that's written in Wikipedia, then it's true. But they are wrong John, because Martin Gore did a mistake saying that ("hurried fashion"), confusing the word "Depeche" ("Dispatch") with the verb "se dépêcher".

And if you let this quotation without specifying this, you deceive the people. And i think that Wikipedia has to say the truth, Wikipedia has not to mislead people. Do you understand.

I don't want to insert my "personal" commentaries, but i want simply to say and restore the truth about informations that are given in Wikipedia, to help people to understand them.

Give me your opinion about this, i would be happy to discuss with you.

See you soon.

Arkadiah. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Arkadiah (talk • contribs) 19:48, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

- John, a precision that proves i'm right !

In the italian article concerning Depeche Mode in Wikipedia, they note deservedly what i'm saying !

Read that John, i think you'll be able to understand :

"Su suggerimento del nuovo arrivato, la band cambia ancora una volta nome, stavolta però assume quello definitivo di Depeche Mode, tratto da un'omonima rivista di moda francese dell'epoca, che può essere tradotto come "dispaccio/comunicato/gazzettino di moda", ma che viene spesso erroneamente tradotto come "moda veloce", "moda pronta" oppure "nuova moda", a causa della confusione della parola francese depeche col verbo se dépêcher ("spicciarsi" o "sbrigarsi")".

As you can see, they say the same thing than me, so i think that what i want to add in the English article for Depeche Mode is correct !

Arkadiah. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Arkadiah (talk • contribs) 20:23, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your further message. Unless the Italian article carries a good reference for that, I am afraid it will not help us. Again, I suggest taking it to Talk:Depeche Mode. --John (talk) 20:52, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] About that riot good laugh

There you go! One Night In Hackney303 20:55, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Astounding. A great piece of work. Well done. --John (talk) 21:03, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, you should know my new articles don't tend to do things by halves. Although I do need to add some more stuff about reform to the aftermath section, but it was taking too long and it's certainly complete enough to be on display. One Night In Hackney303 21:05, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Dates Format

No problem. I'll keep that in mind.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Plane nerd (talk • contribs)

No worries. --John (talk) 22:20, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Query

In response to your recent soi-disant friendly reminder to comment on content, not the contributor, Is this how you define not commenting on the contributor?

We can almost guarantee that our best editors are able to understand and follow community norms. As you have previously expressed your contempt for these norms by your conduct at punk rock, I don't know why you would think your opinion is of any particular consequence to this discussion. If articles which don't follow our norms are being awarded FA status, maybe it is the FA process which is broken. I don't know either as all this is based on your flawed survey above which relies on articles selected by you and contains at least one error. Please bring something other than your opinion (eg a consensus, a proper survey) if you decide to continue here. Thanks. --John (talk) 14:32, 4 April 2008 (UTC) [see [1] if you've forgotten so soon]

I will happily oblige you by "not commenting" on you in precisely the same spirit that you have "not commented" on me, unless and until you (a) apologize and (b) improve your conduct on a consistent basis. All the best, Dan.—DCGeist (talk) 23:02, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the criticism. I stand 100% behind my statement though, which focussed on the weakness of your argument. Should you come up with a better one, I may have nicer things to say about it. See "However, when there are disagreements about content, referring to other editors is not always a personal attack. A posting that says "Your statement about X is wrong because of information at Y", or "The paragraph you inserted into the article looks like original research", is not a personal attack." at Wikipedia:No personal attacks for a full explanation. I have no apologies to make at this time as I do not think I have done or said anything I regret. However I think you have done the right thing in raising a question about my conduct here rather than taking discussions on article improvement or style guidelines off-topic with your rambling and uncivil (if always elegantly written) diatribes against me. Even though on this occasion I think your complaint was baseless, I encourage you to post any future complaints like this here rather than in article talk or Wikipedia talk. Best wishes, --John (talk) 00:47, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
John, you fail to recognize that there is a difference between statements that focus on the weakness of an argument and statements such as this: "I don't know why you would think your opinion is of any particular consequence to this discussion." That is not only personal and grossly uncivil, (a) it was raised in response to a substantive statement that made no reference to you, (b) it is based on your personal and uncivil assertion that I have "expressed...contempt" for "community norms" (i.e., disagreed with your interpretation of what constitutes those norms), and (c) you had to reach out to a discussion more than two months in the past on an entirely different topic in order to set it up. But...you continue to stand 100% behind it. I'm glad, John. I trust you'll enjoy the tone of our latest colloquy 1,000%.—DCGeist (talk) 02:14, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
You're right, on reflection that was uncalled for. If I hurt your feelings, I'm sorry. I am sure you can do better though if you put more energy into trying to ensure that this project stays true to its goals (of being a free encyclopedia, for one), than into constructing these elegantly constructed insults and ad hominems. You should probably also accept that if you take extreme positions and make weak arguments, it is likely to result in your arguments being pooh-poohed. You have a gift of rhetoric, but it frustrates me how seldom I seem to see you use it for what I see as good. Maybe I have been unlucky and seen you at your worst on Talk:Punk rock. I hope so, as you seem like a clever guy. So, sorry if that hurt your feelings, but your behaviour there has held the article back, with all respect to the good work you have done on it. If you have gained more respect for things like image use policy and MoS compliance over the last few months, I am delighted. You should definitely continue to try hard to comment on the arguments rather than on the personalities though, especially if you are going to get hurt whenever somebody pulls you up over something yourself. You should also, please, cut out the Yiddish endearments. Just John is fine. --John (talk) 04:37, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Clash/SP

My pleasure. I'm a bit more of a Clash man—"Complete Control" is just about my favorite song ever. But "Anarchy in the U.K." is surely the greatest single ever. DocKino (talk) 22:34, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] user:79.66.91.41

John, the block that you placed on this IP address a few hours ago really was out of line. Not that it makes a blind bit of difference because I simply logged in with a new IP address which takes me all of 5 seconds to do, but its the principle that matters here. You said that the block was in place for violation of the 3RR policy and for edit warring, even though there is not sufficient evidence of either from my actions (I made two genuine reverts). The user:Andi064 on the other hand has certainly broken the 3RR and has shown a clear propensity for edit warring (and not just with me either). And have you blocked him for it as well? No. Did you even warn him about it? No. You let him/her get away with the whole thing, despite his/her behaviour (not just reverting, but reverting arbitrarily without stating reasons). I'm sorry John, but this is a terrible abuse of your position as an administrator and you really should be ashamed of yourself. The Wiki community has to be able to trust its administrators to handle matters fairly and professionally and I don't believe that you have done either. Badly done. 79.66.80.39 (talk) 00:14, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

I make no apologies. To avoid future blocks for edit-warring, avoid edit-warring. After you have been warned for something, it is wise to desist. When you continue after a warning, you invite a block. In general terms, adding a template to an article is one of the least useful things you can do to help improve it. After all, you are expecting or demanding that others improve it. Next time, consider trying to address some of the perceived faults yourself. Good luck. --John (talk) 00:47, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
If you look at the edit history, you will see I did exactly that. I made three consecutive edits based on material that needed fixing - and provided reasons for doing so. I also open a discussion on the talk page to address one of the main issues, which was ignored. What happens next? All three edits are reverted - without reason - by user:Andi064. Rather than just revert his reverts, I then just placed a tag on the page so that other users would look at the problems with the page (whether Andi064 agrees or not, much of it reads like a fanpage). Andi064 then reverts the page tag -again without discussion or consensus. I therefore put the page tag back and another user (EscapeOrbit) then starts to edit away the peacock terms in the article. It's a start and shows that the tag was justified. You then come along and do a bit more editing yourself, then remove the tag. I read your edits and they seem well made, but so much more needs doing to make this a good article. I therefore (without altering your copyedits) place the tag back with a clear reason so that other editors will then join in getting the article cleaned up. Then Andi064 comes along again and reverts the tag off the page - again without discussion or consensus (and this was the fifth edit of mine he had reverted in little more than 24 hours). I put the tag back then you revert it (also without discussion, which I find a little hypocritical) then decide to block my IP address. You take absolutely no action against user:Andi064, which shows an outrageous bias on your part. My edits were in good faith, and were reasoned and I opened a discussion. Whether you're apologetic or not, John, if you cannot see what a mistake you made here then you shouldn't even be an administrator. 79.66.80.39 (talk) 01:43, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
Yes, I see what you mean. You might also say that as several editors had reverted your addition of your tag, maybe the tag was not justified; I am not sure it was. Your opinion on whether I ought to be an admin is noted. Next time I run I'll make sure to tell me so you can register an account and !vote against me. Registering an account may help you to be taken more seriously; many IP edits are vandalism, and, although I know yours weren't, that is the first thing a lot of editors are going to think when they see an anon adding something. Please read carefully my previous suggestions as well; adding a tag is not always the best way to improve an article, and edit-warring after a warning, however justified you may feel it was, is not wise. --John (talk) 03:07, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
The tag wasn't reverted by "several" editors...only by Andi064 and yourself (both twice). The two of you alone hardly constitute any kind of consensus and, again, it seems hypocritical that you are preaching about so-called edit warring. Adding the tag in this instance was the best way to improve the article and prompted editors to...well...edit. The fact that mine were done from an IP address isn't relevant as only the value of the edits themselves should be scrutinised, not the editor. The outcome would have been the same regardless because of the territoriality shown by Andi064 (a growing problem with many Wiki users that needs to be addressed by our administrators, not condoned).
There is another issue here. As you are an administrator, I am concerned that you still do not seem to be aware you have contravened policy yourself. You have blocked a user when you yourself have been involved in editing the article. As per [2], this is inappropriate. By now, you might also realise I have engaged you in this discussion for a reason and I certainly hope you have learned something about bias, judgement and good practice from this experience. The fact is, you never know who is watching. Anonymously yours, 79.66.80.39 (talk) 03:51, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
That depends on your interpretation of "Administrators must not block users with whom they are engaged in a content dispute". I saw you repeatedly adding a tag for which there seemed no justification. I warned you for it. You continued. I admit I had not noticed your post to the talk page; you appear to have made it from yet another IP address. However I do not regard this as a content dispute. Others opinions may well vary; if you have a WP:POINT to make here, you may consider it made. Now I suggest you get on with improving the encyclopedia. Oh, and don't edit war in future. Next time, I hope you will see there are better ways forward. Posting on talk pages, especially making constructive suggestions, is usually more likely to result in the improvements you say you want. --John (talk) 05:22, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
Having reviewed User talk:79.66.91.41 and Talk:The Human League, I think the idea of a peer review which andi064 has initiated is an excellent one. Moral for you, anonymous user, is: don't hop IPs, but register an account or log into your existing one. It makes your contributions easier to check, and hides your physical location. Use edit summaries. Don't edit war. If, at any point, I had seen your talk page comment, or even if you had referred to it in an edit summary, we could have got to a better outcome quicker, with less waste of energy for all concerned, and without the block that you say didn't inconvenience you but which you were nevertheless inconvenienced enough about to request unblock and complain here about. Best wishes, and please think about what I have said. --John (talk) 07:14, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] FYI

Hi. Thought you'd like to know that an anon is trying (sadly) to WP:SNOW an AfD by adding multiple keeps. One of the linked usernames he tried to use as a sig was yours, as seen here. Cheers, --- Taroaldo (talk) 21:18, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for that. --John (talk) 02:37, 7 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Pubic hair

John I WANT TO delete the photo because it very rude and might kid who under age of 12 will might read this and look at very rude photo.

so can you please undo your thing because the photo is very rude.

so pleasse dont undo the photo —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.148.180.50 (talk) 04:57, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

No, I'm sorry, but this encyclopedia is not censored. Please don't continue to deleted the photos, which are there to illustrate the subject of the article. --John (talk) 05:00, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank for you reply to. I want to make this webpage safe for under 12 kid. So please dont undo please John —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.148.180.50 (talk) 05:04, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

John, please block 122.148.180.50 again: adding unsourced info again, and repeatedly removing warnings not to do so from talk page [3]. -- Jeandré, 2008-04-26t20:12z
I've final-warned them. Thanks for letting me know, --John (talk) 20:15, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Edit summaries

Noted. Maybe I'm missing something, but there seems to be endless patience for repeat vandals, & I just don't have that much patience for it. I can restrain myself (usually), I just haven't been so good at it lately. Maybe just leave off the vandal patrol awhile, try & stick to doing something constructive. If I can avoid falling for infomercials... Trekphiler (talk) 01:05, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Edit Request

I left an edit request on Talk:Mark Bellinghaus. I think it's a pretty straightforward cleanup request, but this article seems to attract unwarranted controversy. Would you mind taking a look at it to see if it has any merit? Thanks. Delicious carbuncle (talk) 17:09, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll take a look. --John (talk) 18:45, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Some help if you can please

I'm having grave difficulty here - User talk:SamuelM555#Soprano (rapper) and other pages. After repeated unsourced attempts to add unsourced categories, we now have the ludicrous situation where Jewish categories were being added to David Beckham here based on him saying in an inteview he is "half-Jewish" (funnily enough I don't see a Category:English half-Jews do you?). In addition cats are being amended in edits such as this when the source actually says (scroll down) "Actually, Helen seems very Jewish since she is smart and funny, and in real life she is partly Jewish". I'm at my wit's end with his refusal to comply with policy and keep adding or amending categories based on what his own opinion (or his repeated citing of Who is a Jew?) a Jew actually is, so perhaps some input from someone else might be a good idea at this point before I say something blockworthy? One Night In Hackney303 21:22, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

I've commented at the user talk page. Thanks for bringing this up. --John (talk) 22:05, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks. Considering Julia Louis-Dreyfus was added based on "Louis-Dreyfus's paternal grandfather, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, was a French Jew who was a member of the French Resistance during World War II;", I'd say you're bang on the money with your response. One Night In Hackney303 15:15, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
I have unfortunately had to block the user. As normal in these cases I will ask a neutral admin to review the block. Thanks again for raising the matter with me. --John (talk) 15:28, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
I know, I was referring to the block. One Night In Hackney303 15:29, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Block of User: SamuelM555

Strong endorsement. I'm surprised you only gave him 2 weeks. I'm flattered you asked. Toddst1 (talk) 15:42, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

I definitely endorse the block. SamuelM555‎ just doesn't seem to be catching on, regardless of how often we try to explain it to him, and his next block will likely be indefinite. Thanks for the notice, John. - auburnpilot talk 15:48, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
You are welcome, and thanks to you both for commenting. Here's another similar problem. Maybe this one will take the warning. I hope so... --John (talk) 15:54, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Amelia Earhart

Hi John, you beat me to the recent edit. :) Anyway, would you mind having a look at the history of this article, and consider protecting the page for a couple of weeks or so please? There's been a lot of vandalism to that page recently, and I'd protect it myself, but since my last protection of the page, I've been quite active on the article, and a protection from me now on the Amelia Earhart page would be inappropriate. Thank you. Acalamari 21:07, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

I have semiprotected it for now. I hope that is ok. Good to hear from you. --John (talk) 21:15, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks so much: the semi-protection is exactly what was needed. Acalamari 21:20, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
John, I changed the term "declared dead" back to "declared deceased" because it is the civil litigation term and was used in the source material. If I am wrong, please change it back. Bzuk (talk) 23:20, 10 April 2008 (UTC).
That's fine. Maybe it should be in inverted commas if it is a quote? --John (talk) 23:57, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Apology

sorry pal —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.136.144.82 (talk) 21:34, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Alexander Graham Bell

John, I noticed that you semiprotected the Amelia Earhart article recently. Can you also look at the Alexander Graham Bell article where vandalism is ongoing. FWIW Bzuk (talk) 00:15, 11 April 2008 (UTC).

Glad I was passing by: done by me for two weeks. Acalamari 17:18, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, sorry I got distracted there and didn't notice this. --John (talk) 17:20, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Thread concerning you on AN/I, doesn't look like you were notified

Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#Pointless_conflict_with_John. Doesn't look like you were notified of this thread. Avruch T 14:16, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for that, I appreciate it. --John (talk) 14:33, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] "Biggles" and the F-111

Glad you liked my small addition the the F-111 article (which already was a very good page in my opinion). I should have added some citations myself, but for some reason, probably because the story is so well known here in Tasmania, it just didn't occur to me. BTW, the RAAF flew an F111 right over my house just recently during a display, which I really enjoyed. One of my favourite aircraft. Cheers. --Phil Wardle (talk) 00:45, 12 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Civility

Civility rules apply to everyone here John, don't they? I'd like your views as it appears that some Admins seem to think the police are above the law I have noticed. And fellow Admins can have a hard time spotting incivility from fellow members of the club. So I'd like your views on Awiseman's actions in slapping a "warning" template on my page for the suspected crime of WP:OR in one of the 1,000 or so edits I've made in the past couple of weeks. Sarah777 (talk) 17:08, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Civility is paramount on a project like this Sarah. Of course, being human we are allowed the occasional lapse. I wouldn't have sent you a template, I would have had you down as worthy of a hand-crafted, custom-written message. Still, I see you've made your views known to the admin in question. You might find WP:DTR of interest as it covers this in detail. Admins are not policemen though; it seems to me that as long as you hold onto this mindset you will restrict your enjoyment of this site. I, for example, am just an ordinary editor like you who the community entrusts with a few extra tools. Do you need any help resolving the actual situation over which you were warned? I haven't dug into that. Let me know if you do. --John (talk) 20:41, 13 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks John - you can be happy in the knowledge that you will be one of my first ports of call if I get into trouble! As Rock is off on a mission I thought I'd better alert you to the situation in case this Admin was "trigger happy", so to speak. But I've survived so far so maybe he ain't as bad as I feared. Sarah777 (talk) 00:10, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Dispute

Could you take a look at Mairéad Farrell as I would like to avoid an edit war. I have had a long discussion about the role of the ECHR. Their terms of reference clearly state The Court is not empowered to overrule national decisions or annul national laws. as I have cited. Some editors seem keen to insert the words 'Unlawful killing' which do not form part of the judgement of the ECHR. Although they consider that there was an abuse of human rights, the original verdict of the Gibraltar inquest remains.

HOWEVER I anticipate there will be different views. --Gibnews (talk) 15:27, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

There will be no edit war unless you create one by removing WP:V and WP:RS sources.BigDunc (talk) 15:48, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
Let me have a look at it. --John (talk) 16:22, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I think that is resolved for the time being, thank you for your help. For the record there is no such thing as Gibraltarian law its Gibraltar Law, or the Laws of Gibraltar. Gibraltar law is based on English law, but we have the advantage of a written constitution. This was recently updated from the 1967 version to the 2006 one. The section on the right to life section was not changed. These days most of the laws are derived from EU directives. The UK can extend the treaties it enters into to Gibraltar, although the local parliament would need to implement anything in the law.

I think we shall see some interesting things on how European arrest warrants, are applied and the arrangements for speedy extradition between the US and UK do not apply here. It also presents a problem for Spain which does not recognise our jurisdiction, and insists on writing to the UK which has no authority.

However, apart from reporting it and discussing it the legal process is very expensive and takes forever and is best avoided. --Gibnews (talk) 21:21, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Guidlines

(refactored to User talk:Handicapper)

[edit] Socheid

Hi John,

Thanks for that. Nice for all the hours to be appreciated. I'll make it better yet. Can you advise me please how I attach a picture/photo?

Unbelievable events on Saturday afternoon.

Keep well, Stevie —Preceding unsigned comment added by Socheid (talk • contribs) 16:49, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Template

Is {{SSFreeWiki}} a speedy candidate? It's being spammed at a rapid rate of knots. One Night In Hackney303 21:28, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Question

Are you going to reply to the question I asked on my talk page?BigDunc (talk) 16:53, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

Oh sorry, I took you at your word when you said "Correct me if I'm wrong". You weren't wrong, so I didn't correct you. Do you have a problem with being civil there? Or with not revert-warring? Otherwise it seems like you don't have anything to complain of in being warned. As I explained, I made it clear on the article talk page what my expectation was regarding the article. If, having read that you continued to misbehave, as you did, you can hardly be surprised to receive a final warning. Rest assured I will treat everybody equally. --John (talk) 19:29, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
But I am not assured how did I misbehave? You state that you made it clear on the talk page, you obviously didn't as BHG, a good admin IMO, reverted what she claimed was WP:OR, I did the exact same when Gibnews claimed to speak for the paper in the ref by changing it. So please explain to me how calling someone who uses 'Paddy' to discribe the Irish and 'Muhammed' to describe muslims does not get a warning and I do for telling him it was a racist comment. Beginning to see what hack was talking about. BigDunc (talk) 07:31, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
I already told you how you misbehaved. You both got warned for some really silly breaches of WP:NPA. Don't make personal attacks and you need never worry about getting such warnings again. I suggest you move on from this and try to edit positively in future. If you feel another editor is attacking you, talk to somebody else rather than respond in kind. That is my advice to you. --John (talk) 08:53, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
No John you are wrong this is not a warning for racist comments that was for reverting which I got too fair enough, I agree with you on that even though mine was slightly spurious. None for his comments about the Irish or Muslims. Now I would like you to either warn him about the use of inflamatory and abusive words or stike through the final warning I recieved for saying his comments are racist. Which in NO way contravenes WP:NPA as it states "Your statement about X is wrong because of information at Y" this is not a personal attack against Gibnews. I look forward to your reply and decision on this matter. BigDunc (talk) 10:07, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
I am sorry you are still not getting it. "Twisted racist logic" most certainly is a personal attack, and it was done after I had warned editors in a conversation you took part in on the talk page. I decline to do as you ask, though I encourage you to let me know if Gibnews utters anything of the sort again. Warnings are preventive, not punitive, so a warning at this stage would be pointless, unless the misbehaviour is continuing. --John (talk) 16:09, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

BigDunc, I wonder if I could just jump in here? I realise that I'm probably not your favourite person, what with crossing paths/ swords at ANI and on your Talk page, but I can assure you that I've got nothing against you.

My first point is that you came slightly late to the great Anglo-Irish edit war, but the tactics of taking extravagant offense for quite minor or unintended insults, and then calling for bans, was one of the features of the war. This all took place before you started editing, and one of the effects was the slightly bumpy welcome that you received when you began editing. As you will probably appreciate, the only result of this sort of behaviour was to poison the atmosphere for everyone else and lead to a huge diversion of effort which cumulated in the ArbCom. No-one, surely, wants to go back there?

So far, you have involved BrownHairedGirl, John, and the wider community through AN/I in this complaint. No-one has accepted your wider point that a ban is warranted. You're flogging a dead horse here; move on.

Secondly, there is, at the moment, a user Talk page, on which you have contributed, which includes the following terms used to describe other editors: 'scum', 'shit', 'piss', 'cunt', 'lackey', 'ignorant assumption', 'fuck', and 'stalkers'. Two Admins have posted on that page, so they are aware of its contents. Yet no-one has called for a ban - fat lot of good it would do - or blanked the page. Comparisons are odious, I know, but frankly this is an order of magnitude worse; yet no-one's complained or moved to do anything about this abuse. There is an element here of 'what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander'; if you want others to take your complaint seriously, you should use your good offices to protect other editors from gratuitous abuse like this otherwise it just looks like you're gaming the system.

My final point is that you and me, and John, are all volunteers. We all have other, probably better, things to do. Banging this drum is not achieving anything; if you think John has got it wrong, that's your perogative; I can't see him changing his mind, no matter how often you post here. Can I suggest, in the gentlest way possible: give way gracefully; agree to disagree; and move on. God knows, Admins get a whole load of abuse, precious little thanks, and absolutely no respect. So my final point: respect John's position, even though you disagree with it and move on; when you next need his help, you'll find him more willing to give it.

You're welcome to post on my Talk page if you like. Sorry for intervening in this discussion and taking up so much of your Talk page, John. Best wishes to you both. --Major Bonkers (talk) 18:22, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hello

Hello, John; trust I find you well.

Please could I ask a favour; I was trying to get my archives sorted out yesterday and I created the following sub-pages:

  • User talk:Major Bonkers/Archive Feb 2008
  • User talk:Major Bonkers/Archive Mar 2008
  • User talk:Major Bonkers/Archive Apr 2008

I reckon now that I don't actually need them - please could you nuke 'em? Many thanks in advance and apologies for being gormless enough to create them in the first place! (PS - no information will be lost by deleting these pages: I originally moved some of my old posts from my Talk page but then moved them back again.) PPS - God almighty - who'd ever want to be an Admin! --Major Bonkers (talk) 13:41, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

I've deleted them as you requested. --John (talk) 15:40, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
Thank you very much. --Major Bonkers (talk) 16:12, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
No problem, you're very welcome. --John (talk) 16:14, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Socheid

Hi John,

Have you seen that muppet comment added to the page? Is there some way to protect the page against nonsense like that?

Keep well, Stevie —Preceding unsigned comment added by Socheid (talk • contribs) 14:13, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately vandalism is an ever-present distraction on a project like this. I have removed it and thank you for drawing it to my attention. If the vandalism became more serious we could protect the page, but it doesn't merit this yet in my judgement. --John (talk) 15:47, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Book

Hi John - No, I wasn't trying to plug the book, but as a researcher who has spent years on the subject of Balcombe Street and the London IRA 1974 - 75 period, I wanted to correct some of the misperceptions that had been in the listings. Sorry if that is what you and ONiH thought...But there has been so many either inaccurate or just blatently wrong entries on the subject area, I felt compeled to jump in...

Best

Dr. Steve Moysey Smoysey (talk) 16:39, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Photo

Hi there,

The photo was taken by nephew. He is more than happy for it to be used. He hasn't copyrighted it though, it's a snap he's taken on a day out. He isn't a profressional cameraman.

Keep well, Stevie

[edit] Self created graphics to describe articles

Hi John,

I've stumbled upon a three articles (Birgenair, Birgenair Flight 301 and Alas Nacionales) where an image obviously taken from a flight simulator poses itself as "TC-GEN at night, prior to crashing". I'm having serious doubts about the use of these types of pictures in wikipedia articles. What do you feel about this?

Cheers, Nelievsky (talk) 01:11, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How do I add a link to this page?

Hi John,

How do I link from the English to the Ukrainian version of wikipedia, specifically

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%81%D1%82_%28%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D1%96%D0%B2%29 ?

Keep well, Stevie

Why do you want to do that? --John (talk) 03:03, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Giovanni di Stefano edit

Hey, can you explain this edit? (I added the tag) The citation given, http://www.studiolegaleinternazionale.com/cases.php4, does neither state that di Stefano runs the law firm, nor that he "has been involved in a number of major cases in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland". I'm not really disputing either statements, but the citation simply does not support them. I added another reference for the first statement, but the second still needs a better one, IMHO. --Conti|✉ 16:50, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Aha. I certainly agree that it doesn't support that di Stefano runs the law firm, but I don't agree on the second point; the page referred to is a list of the UK and Ireland cases he has been involved in. Am I missing something obvious here? --John (talk) 16:53, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
I wouldn't dispute the citation if the word "major" would've been removed from the article. The citation lists a bunch of cases, but it's not clear whether those are in any way "major" or not. Some of them are, of course (at least I think so), but the citation doesn't state that. --Conti|✉ 17:15, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
Fair point. I concur. --John (talk) 20:47, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
Alright. I reinserted the template until a better source can be found. --Conti|✉ 23:51, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Gibraltar

Can you have a look at Gibraltarian sovereignty referendum, 2002 this has been renamed by an administrator who has similarly renamed other Gibraltar elections and referenda and by virtue of him opposing my application for them to be renamed has blocked this despite a large amount of evidence that the correct name is Gibraltar and not Gibraltarian.

In the case of the sovereignty referendum the official title can be seen in the picture of the poster on that page. Its rather like referring to the English general election rather than the British General election.

--Gibnews (talk) 18:40, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

I've left them a message. --John (talk) 20:47, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
My move was to bring it into line with all the other articles in Category:Elections in Gibraltar. The editor above had done a WP:RM to have all the other articles in the category moved from "Gibraltarian..." to "Gibraltar..." (see this example). However, as they all failed I thought it would be a little silly to have one article with a different style of title to all the others so I moved it. Hope that explains it. Cheers, пﮟოьεԻ 57 20:50, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] List of Celtic F.C. players

Scheidt does not meet the outlined requirements to be on the list. I have reverted the edits to remove him. Here is the summary of the requirements, incase you have not read them.

This is a list of notable footballers who have played for Celtic. Generally, this means players that have played 100 or more first-class matches for the club. However, some players who just fall short of the 100 total but have made significant contribution to the club's history (e.g. Jorge Cadete) and are included.

I would also like to point out that the list is for players who have a positve influence. Can you tell please me what positve contribution Scheidt has made to Celtic Football Club?

Yatesy1988 (talk) 14:35, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] thank spam

Thank you for voting in my RfA, which passed with 194 supporting, 9 opposing, and 4 neutral.

Your kindness and constructive criticism is very much appreciated. I look forward to using the tools you have granted me to aid the project. I would like to give special thanks to Tim Vickers, Anthony and Acalamari for their nominations.

Thank you again, VanTucky

[edit] Guidance please

Hi John,

Can you give me some guidance please? As you know I've been trying to do a bit to improve the QOS page. There seems to be some issues around the bibical references. When first updating that section I noticed that the wording already there was the QOS are incorrectly referred to as the ony team in the bible. I didn't change that and added a couple of others team who could also make the claim. One of the editors (possibly yourself?) came back and said I could make that claim just because there were words that were mentioned in passing in the bible that also happen to have the same spelling as a football team. Fair enough. I amended the wording accordingly to reflect that the issue is up for debate.

Someone seems to have a bee in their bonnet about this and keeps changing this back to "incorrectly". Can you give some guidance on this please?

Also is there a way to message you rather than having my comments, questions etc plastered in here?

All help much appreciated.

Best regards—Preceding unsigned comment added by Socheid (talk • contribs)

[edit] Photos

Hi John,

Can you tell me please what do I have to do to be able to add my own photos? I don't have any copyright on them.

Regards, S—Preceding unsigned comment added by Socheid (talk • contribs)

Hi John,

Description info is:-

Where was the picture taken? Hampden Park

When was the picture taken? April 12th 2008 at full time (2pm)

What are the names of all the people and notable objects visible in the picture? No people in the picture

What is happening in the picture? Scottish Cup sem-final score

Any more questions, let me know.

Regards, Steve

[edit] Andy Partridge entry

Hi, John:

Thanks for the message ... I'm still a newbie when it comes to editing Wikipedia entries, but just to let you know about the Andy Partridge entry, he had reviewed it and wanted to correct some inaccuracies and add a bit of detail, rather than toot his own horn or created potential conflicts of interest. As a long-time editor and writer, that was my intent as well. I hope that comes through in the edits I made. Please let me know if you have questions or need to explain some of the finer points that I might have missed here.

(Oh, and I'm happy to pass along your greetings! Andy always appreciates hearing from a fan.)

Cheers, Todd, aka Bernhtod (talk) 01:27, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] List Deletion dispute

Ref: 'Lists of Indos' linked to ao 'Indo People'.

Dear John,

Noticed youve deleted am article. Strongly disagree with this rigorous approach. The unique value of Wikipedia is the opportunity granted to all users to enhance all articles. I understand you are trying to maintain quality levels, but simplistic deletion of complete articles without offering the possibility to our Wikipedia community to reflect on objections and correct content appropriately is not stimulating or facilitating the group effort of making wikipedia the great single global database of encyclopedic information it intends to be. I therefore believe the page shld be restored, so it can be revisited by editors. If you clarify yr comments on the respective talk page, Im confident the editors active in this knowledge area will bring the article to its desired quality levels.

Best rgds, JAGO It's just HIS story... (talk) 01:58, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi, and I am sorry that you were unhappy with my deletion. However, as the article was almost entirely a list of redlinks to articles not yet written and contained no references, I felt that there was no point in keeping it. If you feel strongly about it I could bring it to an AfD discussion, but I doubt that the end result would be any different. Best wishes, --John (talk) 03:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
Thats BS administration. Just a show of power tripping without any consideration to the people working on this article. Ever heard of the Talk page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.94.191.131 (talk) 22:23, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Rfa thanks

Thanks for supporting my recent request for adminship which was successful with 89 supports, 0 opposes, and 2 neutrals. Unfortunately all I can offer is this lame text thanks rather than some fancy-smancy thank-you spam template thingy. I was very pleased to receive such strong support and to hear so many nice comments from editors whom I respect. I’ll do my best with the tools, and if you ever see me going astray don’t hesitate to drop a note on my talk page. Thanks again for your support!--Bigtimepeace | talk | contribs 03:59, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Carl Ng

Not sure I see the problem here. His ethnicity is a fact covered in the cited cources. I've added inline citations to the statement you find controversial, but it wouldn't have killed you to actually look at the references yourself. PC78 (talk) 16:35, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Well done. I'm sure it didn't kill you to add references. Next time, consider doing that first instead of reverting. Also, please check out WP:BLP and WP:V. --John (talk) 17:07, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
I'm familiar with the policies, thanks; there was nothing in the article that wasn't covered by the sources. And I didn't just revert, I moved the references inline. If you had made it clear in the first place exactly what you wanted citing, you might have saved us both time and effort. PC78 (talk) 17:18, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
I made that very clear indeed in my edit summary ("cleanup category; insufficient referenced evidence that the subject belongs in this cat. please replace it only with proper references"), thanks. If you had read that and provided the references first time round instead of reverting, you might have saved us both time and effort. If you are as familiar with BLP and V as you say, you will be aware that the onus is on the editor wishing to retain the information to provide references. As you have now done this I don't know what else there is to say. --John (talk) 17:22, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Navi Rawat

I appreciate that you're cleaning up categories that don't have proper references in the articles, but are you taking the time to check? Navi Rawat is described in the article as having a German mother and an Indian father. The main source for the article says the same thing.[4] ·:· Will Beback ·:· 21:44, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for that Will. I agree that one should retain the category on the basis of the reference. I am trying to check but it's difficult to remain alert for the occasional one which is accurate when the vast majority are complete crap. I appreciate your letting me know. --John (talk) 01:48, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Another photo

Hi John,

I have tried to upload another photo from the weekend of the cup semi. I've had a roboreply telling me the copyright info I have listed is inappropriate. Please pardon me as I have yet to get me head round what I am supposed to enter/select when answering the questions asked in uploading a pic. I have added info in the free text field that I hope provide the required info.

Regards, S

I fixed it for you. Have a look at the code I used and you will see what I did. All the best. --John (talk) 01:50, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] QOS - Hibs photo

Hi John,

Are you sure that the photo is from Feb 07? That game was the cup quarter final - always played in March. Rather than saying 'Feb 07' it may be easier to say something like 'Q.O.S. v Hibs, 2007/08 Scottish Cup'.

Regards, Socheid (talk) 23:40, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Saturday, 24 February 2007. See here. I was there, at the QoS end even though I wanted Hibs to win, which was weird. --John (talk) 01:41, 27 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Zobel/Spanish heritage

Hi, John , how are you? I am ussually called John myself in the real world and Jondel by my family. Thanks for your edits on the Zobels. I don't have much time anymore to attend to this matter, but please understand that it is common knowledge among Filipinos that the Zobels are of Spanish heritage. They are also that notable that you can look them up and see for yourself that they indeed look Spanish. Cheers.--Jondel (talk) 03:51, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi Jondel. We don't work on common knowledge here. If you are able to provide proper references for these then the categories can be restored. If not, not. Best wishes. --John (talk) 05:37, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sunita Williams already properly referenced

John, The information on Sunita Williams' heritage is already properly referenced in reference number 20 under the heading 'Personal'. Perhaps you missed it. Mhjohns (talk) 21:22, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

I did miss it. Thanks for pointing me to it. Best wishes, --John (talk) 22:18, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
Great! Since you agree, I'll leave it for you to fix. All the best, Mhjohns (talk) 16:07, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hello John

Im messaging in reference to the site that I link on the halitosis wiki. Its a forum for those who suffer. Now this is for people who have chronic bad breaath. Recently, one person wrote on the ofrum that their battle with halitosis is so bad and they were considering suicide. that is until, until they found a forum where people like themselves are there for support. While the site operator does have advertisements, they are few. I understadnw hy this would be a conflict but the value of the forum for support should be considered.

Thank You. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.7.253.18 (talk) 08:29, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks

You may get one or two false positives but you're doing great work. I've had subjects of biographies complain to me about their categorisation, and we need to be very careful about it. --Relata refero (disp.) 20:55, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank you, that was very nice of you. It is hard work and generates a lot of hassle, so I really appreciate your kind comment. --John (talk) 21:15, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Noted thrice

Thanks for your note. I had not before come across a triple threat in my quest to eradicate "it should be noted that" from these pages. This morning, though, I found this monstrosity. [5]

Happy hunting. Coemgenus 13:57, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

There should be a way to stuff or otherwise preserve such examples so that future generations can see them. Well done and thanks for the note. --John (talk) 14:00, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Diana Yukawa as Eurasian

I noticed that you removed the category Eurasian from the article on Diana Yukawa with the comment that "insufficient referenced evidence that the subject belongs in this cat". I don't see what additional references could be required since in the article itself it states that she is "Anglo-Japanese" and that she was "born ... to English ballet dancer Susanne Bayly and Japanese banker Akihisa Yukawa". That fits the definition of Eurasian. Tweisbach (talk) 15:39, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

In that case you may wish to read WP:V and WP:RS. --John (talk) 16:32, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Refer all article questions to article talk page.

Hi John,

Actually bhattacharya is a Bengali name, only found among Bengali and the Bengali language, much like Gonzalez or Fernandez is a hispanic name, found only in the spanish language.

Next time John, if you're disputing something as simple as a ethnic category, leave a message on the Sameer Bhattacharya article talk page, or ask for a citation or reference to be made, do not leave a message on my talk page "telling" me not to add a ethnic category. You do not own wikipedia, it is open to all, and the manner which you did this, can be seen as rude.

If you still have a problem with the ethnic category, continue this on the article talk page, not yours or mine, and next time mind WP:Civility.

Hi John,

As a administrator you might feel you are able to do things others can't, we can still be civil and follow etiquette, i.e. start with the article talk page first, then if you must, move on to leaving messages on people's pages. You jumped way ahead of the game there by going straight to my page, and not leaving room for WP:Good Faith. On top of that instead of just asking to cite the info, you just tell me not to do it? If we had a edit war or had a problem with your edits or message on the article talk page, then we possibly move on to personal talk pages. We must not let power go to our heads. Remember WP:Good Faith 1st, then remember [[WP:Civility}] before you leave a message that can potentially sound patronizing and chastising. You already made the edits to the article, it should of been left at that, with a message of why you edited. Any of the information not specifically cited, is actualy common sense and common knowledge info, he is of South Asian descent, specifically bengali, and any body familiar with the name and region could not mistake otherwise. I will though look for a cite and not put a category until I find the info. Please have a good day, and we'll leave it at that--Kathanar (talk) 20:17, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi John,

I didn't wish to continue this conversation, but if you must know as far as WP:Civility, I feel by going straight to my talk page and "telling" me not to do something, first of all is patronizing, can be 'taunting' and crosses over into 'rudeness', and this way of doing this does not evince 'cooperation'. I hope I am wrong and just misread you, but that what the action touches upon. Please do not take any of it personal, it just took me by surprise. Please have a good day--Kathanar (talk) 21:06, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Very well, I will not continue the conversation with you. Obviously I do not agree that my message to you violated WP:CIVIL. Have a good day yourself. --John (talk) 21:07, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Aerial landscape art

Thank you for reverting to my version on this article, MdArtLover does not seem to be an experienced editor. Please have a look at my Talk Page for a point-by-point reply to him. Thanks again. Best Wishes - Adrian Pingstone (talk) 18:48, 30 April 2008 (UTC)