User talk:Maxim/archives/jun07

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[edit] Re: my "Tip wage credit" article problem.

My apologies, but it's still not clear to me why my article shouldn't (or can't) stay where it currently is.  My principal concern is losing the edits I've made since I created the article in the main namespace.  If my Talk page edit history is a concern, it seems to me it should be easy to delete my user page edit history from February 26, 2007 through May 17, 2007, since all of that are my edits to my draft.  But other than that by all means, please do go ahead and do whatever Wikipedia policy says needs to be done -- as long as the current version of my article is retained!

Thanks again for all your help.  K. Kellogg-Smith 02:10, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Stanley Cup

You typed {{main article|Tradions and anecdotes associated with the Stanley Cup}} . Note that you spelled traditions wrong. And I wonder where did you paste the contents that you cut out from the main article. OhanaUnited 12:37, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Frankly, this is quite subjective and open to interpretion. So you make the call. Regardless of this, I'll pass this article GA. OhanaUnited 12:49, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Editing the RFA table

Could you please wait until the bot comes back, because your edits are messing up the format of the table on other people's userpages. I will not get into a revert war with you on a matter trivial as this. If people want to see what the current status of RFAs are, they can click the links on the tables. However, manual edits like what you are doing messes up the format on people's pages. Miranda 20:39, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Sure. Sorry for the mess. I was trying to fix it, more probably because the Armedblowfish RfA has changed so much (95% to 67% in a few hours). I was following all the necessary formatting steps, (compared to others), but probably I made a mistake. Evilclown93 20:41, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Okay, sorry for being harsh. But the table was messing up the format of others userpages. Cheers. Miranda 20:48, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

I talked to TangoTango on IRC, and he said that he accidentally deleted the file on the PyWiki framework on toolserv. It should be working now. Thanks for your efforts to change the count. If you need any help in editing wikipedia, let me know. Miranda 05:30, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not new at all, so I know WP very well. : ) Evilclown93 20:23, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Signpost updated for June 4th, 2007.

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[edit] Your review

I reviewed you. I included some criteria to a good RfA in there. BTW, I love your vow to not vandalise WP. : ) Evilclown93 19:51, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the review, I really appreciate your advice and will try to take it to heart :) Urdna 20:23, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

You're welcome! : ) Evilclown93 20:26, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Weird concept

Instead of having each person respond on their own talk page, it would be easier for everyone (including you) responding on each other's page. If you reply on your own talk page, and I forget about the conversation, the reply will go unseen. For example, if we were to have a conversation, and I say something on your page and you don't reply on mine, then it will be as if you never responded. Please consider this. Don't make things harder for yourself. Powerfulmind ^{please talk to me!} _{look at all of my edits!} 21:02, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

You can alway watch the page. Usually, the button is to right of "move" (move to the right of "history", history to the right of "edit this page".) If you do that, it adds the item to your watchlist, which allows you to track changes to a page. You can clearly see if I've replied. Also, it's easier for me to reply here, so please don't make assumptions like that, because I've used your method, and frankly, I just don't like it. Cheers! Evilclown93 19:03, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Editor Review

Thanks for the review, I have taken your suggestions on board. I am now using AFD instead of just letting others do it, and I am starting to vote etc and participate. I also have been doing NP patrol for a while, but becuase all my contributions are deleted (the only bad thing about speedying articles) you can't tell.

I have been considering going for an RFA, most likely once I reach 1K edits (I check in query.php or a user script I have). Would you recommend doing this or waiting till I get higher (At this rate, i'm getting several hundred edits per day due to user warnings and speedy tags). I currently have ~700 edits. I turned the remind me about edit summaries thing on several days ago, but it's still taking a while to show up.

I am not the best at major article contributions - almost every topic I know about is already a decent article, and i'm not sure how to improve them further. I have created some decent articles (see USB Decoration for my most recent try) however none have reached GA or FA.

Anyway, thanks again for the review, and I will try to improve in those areas. Matt - TheFearow 22:40, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Note: Please reply on my talk page. You started a convo there, so I will read replies there. Thanks! Matt - TheFearow 22:41, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Miami Dolphins staff template

Please don't make unnecessary edits to the Miami Dolphins staff template.Chris Nelson 21:09, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Like which? Evilclown93 21:10, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

All of them.Chris Nelson 21:12, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

They're not unnecessary, I've replaced them with the 2007 version; it's more recent. Evilclown93 21:13, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

The 2007 staff template was a mistake and will be deleted. There is no need for it, because any article in which we want to put a specific year's staff, we can just copy and paste the whole code rather than create separate templates. See the staff section in 2007 Miami Dolphins season.Chris Nelson 21:15, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

I feel you are describing what I did. I replaced the good template with content from the bad template, but the bad template was more accurate. Evilclown93 21:18, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

You didn't do anything... http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Miami_Dolphins_staff&diff=prev&oldid=136665551

You changed the title, changed the color white and changed some dashes.Chris Nelson 21:23, 7 June 2007 (UTC) (Rm indent for sanity purposes. OK, #FFFFFF is HTML equivalent to white, I changed the title, my mistake, some dashes (is it a big deal), and I changed more importantly the content to reflect upon seasonal changes. Evilclown93 21:26, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't know what the hell you're saying. But as you just showed, your changes were unnecessary. So don't make them. Thanks.Chris Nelson 21:31, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

I was updating the template. They are necessary. Evilclown93 21:47, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Maybe in your own little fantasy world where nothing make sense to anyone else. But have fun with that.Chris Nelson 21:50, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

May I ask you that you be more civil here? Evilclown93 21:52, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

No you may not. Please retract your request.Chris Nelson 21:52, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Have you read that specific policy? Evilclown93 21:53, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Hell no.Chris Nelson 21:55, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Evilclown - what you may not realize is that the 2007 Miami Dolphins staff template nominated for deletion was just a copy of the current Miami Dolphins staff template. Pats1 21:56, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Well, you are being uncivil which may lead to unblock. Anyhow, it's distruptive. I'm trying to build an encyclopedia, and therefore updating a template. You are merely causing distruption at my talk page. Evilclown93 21:59, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

You are not updating the template. You are in fact reverting it. The Template:Miami Dolphins staff has always been more updated than Template:2007 Miami Dolphins staff. And keep living in whatever world you're living in. I'm contributing to a discussion. Live with it. Pats1 22:02, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Wow.Chris Nelson 22:00, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

OK, I looked over, and yes, I've made a mistake. In error, I thought there was a name difference, but upon further review, I am wrong. But, it doesn't take away the fact that Chris should have mentioned that fact explicitly to me that they are identical (expect the #FFFFFF and white), and not have been so uncivil on my talkpage. I will not retract my request that Chris be civil (I don't like having well-intentioned edits called "unnecessary"), but I will admit I made an error in doing the copy. Evilclown93 22:03, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Pats1: The comment you replied to was directed at Chris not you. I'm sorry if you've misread me. Evilclown93 22:04, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Chris was just screwing with you. Calm down. Pats1 22:09, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

<rm personal attack>Chris Nelson 22:07, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rfa

Just dropping by to say "thank you for supporting me in my recent my RfA. I passed the vote, and am now an admin. It will take me some getting used to with the new tools, but I thank you again for the trust. Have a good one, and, as always, happy editing! Jmlk17 04:53, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] re:User talk:64.229.26.28

Hi there, the user is already blocked. He's trolling his talk page, and there's a request for page protection already made. All we can do is revert and wait for the protection to come. Flyguy649^talk_contribs 14:27, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

He's already blocked for 48h, anyways. Evilclown93 14:29, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Evil clowns are bad

I HATE EVIL CLOWNS KILL THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.168.242.82 (talk • contribs)

Sorry, but Evil Clown are INVINCIBLE!!!!! Evilclown93 14:58, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Smile

James, La gloria è a dio has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Happy editing!
Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

Thanks! Evilclown93 22:09, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] My Rfa

Y Thank you for contributing at my recent request for adminship. A few issues were brought up there. I would like to tell you that I am not anti-gay. The creation of the userbox was for other users. If I was, I would have used the userbox within my own userspace. Nor do I seek power; just more ways to help the goals of Wikipedia. Thanks for attempting to de-escalate the situation, but some editors must have strong personal opinions. Thanks for your comments. It a shame it didn't pass. --Wikihermit ^{(Talk • HermesBot)} 04:15, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: User:71.229.11.82

Y Thanks for pointing that out. After looking at the contributions I made the foolish assumption that I was actually blocking User:Etacar11 (who, um, shouldn't be blocked anyway :). I've modified the block, sorry for messing up like that. ˉˉ^anetode╦╩ 11:51, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks...

For your prompt reverts to my talk page- I appreciate it. :) Cheers- CattleGirl ^talk 10:51, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
Y:You're welcome! : ) Evilclown93_(talk) 10:52, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Stephen Barber

Resolved.

Why did you delete my contributions to the Stephen Barber page? It was certainly not vandalism to give actual quotes from his books. This is what I actually wrote:

Barber's credentials as a political scientist and historian were called into question after the release of 2002's "Annihilation Zones," in which Barber made patently false claims. In the book, Barber says that Soviet leader Joseph Stalin sodomized Adolf Hitler (page 98) and that Allied General McArther and Japanese Emperor Hirohito had homosexual encounters (page 73). Barber also says that Pol Pot ordered a squadron of 16-year-old girls to insert grenades into their anuses and allow themselves to be sodomized by Lon Nol's troops, which the girls somehow survived, showing their bodies as trophies (page 137). Among other absurd claims, Barber says that "many of the city's [Manilla's] young female population were simultanously sodomized and eaten alive by gangs of [Japanese] soldiers" (page 57).

Now what did I write that is actually not true? Mvblair 14:54, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I didn't. User:80.47.80.243 vandalised and removed your contributions. I reverted the vandal, but I never reverted you. What happened is that after my initial revert, there was simply more vandalism. I've reverted everything to your final version. Cheers! Evilclown93_(talk) 18:57, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I think you're getting two Stephen Barber's mixed up - the Stephen Barber at London Metropolitan University's Global Policy Institute did not write 'Annihilation Zones' - see references at bottom of page.

OK, thanks for the clarification, EC. I looked at the references, but I got no clarification on whether or not this is the same Stephen Barber. I will look into it. If it's the same fellow, I'll repost my contribution. Mvblair 14:40, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Signpost

Resolved.

[edit] Signpost updated for June 11th, 2007.

Y

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[edit] Assesment script

Y From a few days ago... you asked me about WP:HOCKEY in the assessment script. I've added the ice hockey template now. Try the script now and see if you can get it work. –Outriggr § 05:42, 15 June 2007 (UTC) P.S. Your monobook is not set up correctly.. delete is all at put

winc('User:Outriggr/metadatatest.js'); 

–Outriggr § 05:43, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! Evilclown93_(talk) 22:47, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

I gave you bad advice. This code will work:

 // [[User:Outriggr/metadatatest.js]]      
 importScript('User:Outriggr/metadatatest.js'); 

–Outriggr § 23:13, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

I reverted the previous code. I'll try this now.

[edit] Proxies

Resolved.

Did you accidentally tweak your comment in the wrong way? It seems to have crossed into mine; I could fix it, but maybe you want to yourself. Mackan79 22:37, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

It's all fine now. : ) Evilclown93_(talk) 22:46, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Your note

Resolved.

It looks fine now, thanks. :-) SlimVirgin ^(talk) 22:45, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Great!! Evilclown93_(talk) 22:46, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] “this”

This passage

I edited for about a year with this, account.

is problematic on three scores:

1. User:Mbralchenko is now a redirect to the talk page, so clicking on the link causes the user to be returned whence she came, with only the little redirection notice elsewhere on the page to inform her.
2. Linking to bald “this”, “click here”, &c is a Bad Thing to do to the visually impaired. Their browsers consolidate links separately, identified by the anchoring text. If that anchoring text needs context to be recognized, then they are forced to follow random links.
3. The comma in “this, account” is out-of-place.

—SlamDiego_←T 14:03, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Is it really a big deal ? Evilclown93_(talk) 20:18, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

As to the first score: No, but what's the point of saying it at all if (by virtue of the redirect) it says something silly? As to the second score: It really is a good habit to make the WWWeb accessible to the visually impaired. —SlamDiego_←T 23:08, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Traditions and anecdotes associated with the Stanley Cup

Please check reference #23 and #28. OhanaUnited^{Talk page} 05:36, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Y Done. Evilclown93_(talk) 12:18, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Signpost updated for June 18th, 2007.

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[edit] Userpage

Done. Cascading protection has been applied to it from User:Evilclown93/DummyPage. --soum ^talk 12:01, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Oops, looks like we were writing to each other at the same time. :) Anyways, you are welcome. :) Cya around. --soum ^talk 12:02, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Stephen Barber Stuff

Resolved.

EC,

I got an e-mail from Stephen Barber, the political science professor. He said that he did not write "Annhilation Zones" as I had written on his page. I guess there is another Stephen Barber out of San Fransisco who wrote "Annhilation Zones." The Stephen Barber poli-sci prof page has been reverted.

Thanks for your help. Sorry for the bother. Mvblair 15:05, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

It's no big deal, and you're very welcome. --Evilclown93_(talk) 15:11, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Email

I've replied :-) Ryan Postlethwaite 22:43, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] STOP THAT LOSER FAST HE'S DAMAGING PAGES EVERYWHERE

he is it Ivan Bogdanov

he's damaging many pages such like Rulers of Egyp

plz stop him fast thanx

[edit] Possibly unfree Image:Solo cup copy.JPG

-N 12:34, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Assistance on proper reporting re RV war

Sorry mate, not quite sure how to do this properly. First time have been moved to do so, and my apologies for bollixing it up collounsbury 13:24, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

It's not a big deal. I'll try to see what I can do... Evilclown93_(talk) 13:25, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, hate to make work due to my own ignorance. collounsbury 13:28, 20 June 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Hi,

Hi, Could you please review my case in the 3RR section. XGustaX 14:34, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

THere are two cases related to youm and just so you know, I'm can only do things that don't require blocking since I'm not a sysop. Evilclown93_(talk) 14:39, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Ok I added the information, please check now. Yes I know, but i did not violate it because it was minor as you said. If so please contact someone that can. I would be indeed happy to discuss with you what has happened. Please tell me whether or not he is. XGustaX 14:52, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Are you there? XGustaX 15:25, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, I was off for a few hours... Evilclown93_(talk) 16:33, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

The article is Protected. Evilclown93_(talk) 16:35, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mariam83

I want to ensure that you are aware that Mariam83 was first warned about the 3-revert rule at 12:49, 18 June 2007, two days before the spate of 3RR violations she has indulged in. A mere warning to her seems overly lenient. -- Lonewolf BC 14:45, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Your request

"I have determined User:Mariam83 should be blocked for massive editwarring." Please don't ever say that again. Going around Wikipedia exerting a false air of authority over others will get you into real trouble. And next time, please don't ask administrators in private to take action against someone. Administrative action have to be open and transparent and as such, please use the appropriate Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard instead of canvassing user talk pages. Thanks. --  Netsnipe  ►  17:03, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Obviously that didn't come out the way it should have. Actually, I always said when I was doing that I am not a sysop... I'd never go out and exert false authority over anybody. There was a report at 3RR, and there were no admins around, and I just found on AIV. The actions, in my opinion, were very transparent to everyone involved. But maybe that my notice was poorly written... Evilclown93_(talk) 17:14, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

That's understandable. I've just had a few bad experiences in the past where some editors have had the mistaken notion that they can get preferential treatment in edit wars by "befriending" an administrator or intimidating lesser experienced users by implying that they know one personally and can get them easily blocked. So I'm very wary when I feel that someone may be trying to lead me around. --  Netsnipe  ►  17:21, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

No, no... and you should be. If trolls and vandals can control admins, the project would implode on itself. Evilclown93_(talk) 17:26, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Barnstar

Many thanks for the barnstar. I'm very pleased to see that the essay is getting some positive comments; we'll have to wait a while to see whether it proves useful in ensuring that the RfA process is always a positive experience. Warofdreams talk 01:22, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 2007 NHL Entry Draft

Hi, I've removed your inline citations on the first couple of picks, as they aren't necessary, and only clutter the page, while adding to the size of the article. The full draft results are already present in the References section, so the lined citations are not required. Thanks, Resolute 00:14, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

I saw your revert via an edit conflict... Evilclown93_(talk) 00:15, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re:UAA

Actually, that was quite slow for me - I had to switch from IE to Firefox real quick so that I could report using Twinkle. Oh well, looks like we are both on the ball and awake today. Good luck fighting vandals and reporting usernames. -- Anonymous Dissident^Talk

Ok, well good luck with writing your articles then - a noble cause. Best wishes, -- Anonymous Dissident^Talk

[edit] Thanks

Thanks for the vandalism revert on my talk page. Its greatly appreciated. --soum ^talk 14:56, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

You're very welcome!! :-) Evilclown93_(talk) 14:57, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Portal:Ice hockey

Inasmuch, inter al., as quotes sections the components of which are unsourced even in the mainspace articles to which they refer are altogether common in featured portals and are generally not disfavored by the community (properly, IMHO), I reverted your excision of the quotes section from the instant portal. I promised in my edit summary to offer an explanation on the portal talk page, and I will offer one soon, but I'm a bit too tired to do it today; I write, then, to assure you that an explanation on the portal talk page is forthcoming, in order that a discussion, if necessary, might be had—I absolutely hate when one makes an edit the edit summary of which says see talk and then neglects, you know, actually to go to write anything on the talk page, and I'm not meaning to do that here. :) Cheers, Joe 06:01, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Your userpage

I opposed your RfA because you don't have one. Joking. I'm OK with that stuff, do you want a hand? Cheers, Riana (talk) 12:26, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

If you want to make one for me, I'm fine with it. Anyways, can you please un-protect, as might have something up there pretty soon (before RfA is closed). Evilclown93_(talk) 12:28, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Done! If you tell me what you want there, I can try to put something together. Or, you know, you can do it yourself... whatever floats your boat :) Riana (talk) 12:35, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm working a bit on it. I'll put it up in maybe five minutes, and then we'll see. --Evilclown93_(talk) 12:47, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

YDone! Evilclown93_(talk) 12:54, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Nice! If you ever need prettifying gimme a call, I'll try :) Riana (talk) 12:58, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Sure. You can try now.. : ) Evilclown93_(talk) 13:00, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Got something there now, feel free to revert it if you totally hate it! :) Cheers, Riana (talk) 13:50, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

No, no... I love it!! Thanks a million billion infinity, Riana!! Evilclown93_(talk) 13:51, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

 :) My pleasure! Riana (talk) 13:52, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] User:Tehshitgoose

I tweaked the block. It's a mistake that I make pretty often actually. Nice userpage too. bibliomaniac15 ^{BUY NOW!} 02:35, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] My editor review

Thanks for the comment! You are indeed correct: when I first started doing vandalism reverts, a few months ago, I didn't issue any user warnings. However, since I came back to Wikipedia in May, I've done more to acquaint myself with policy and best practice. As such, pretty much every vandalism revert since then has been accompanied by a warning. Do you see any other ways I could improve? Thanks again! Charlie-talk to me-what I've done 10:38, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Eye Wrish

Sorry I had already indef blocked this user. Five blanking offences and no other contributions is enough for that. --BozMo talk 12:47, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] martha plimpton

hi evilclown

I edited the martha plimpton assertion that she is single handidly resposible for revitalizing then classic play HEDDA GABLER. This is an OUTRAGEOUS statement and has absolutely zero credibility. HEDDA GABLER has been a popular play for aver 100 years and will continue to be a popular play, with or without Ms. Plimpton's involvement. I have ammended the statemtn to read "some people believe..." although I'd be hard pressed to know who, other than Ms. Plimpton who surely believes this to be the case, thinks this to be anywhere near a truth.

thanks not a vandal

[edit] My article

--Tariq4s 15:24, 25 June 2007 (UTC)Hi I wanted to contribute very important history articles written by the Phd Alama Habibi the articles are not just street articles, the article is about Afghans, and the language Pashto. I will paste whole article here and then you can edit the page, wikipedia's system is a little hard to understand. The article is as under.

This Article is written by Mr.Alama habibi, originally it was written in Dari then translated into English. for further details you may read this article and or visit the website www.alamahabibi.com

The word Afghan which is today the national name of all the peoples of Afghanistan, represents an indivisible unit under all historical, economic and social conditions in the heart of Asia. It is a name with a historical background of one thousand and seven hundred years.

Some people think that the name came into being after the establishment of the Afghan empire by Ahmad Shah Abdali in the 18th century. Afghans who are unaware with the history of the country have asked me whether these names have a long historical background or not? In this article I want to shed light on different aspects of this national and historical issue.

As far as my knowledge is concerned, the name Afghan has a long historical background. People called Afghans have lived in this land between the Helmand and the Indus rivers. The details of which are as follows:

Twenty years ago the archeological delegation belonging to the Chicago Institute for the East while tracing the Naqsh-e Rustam of Shiraz found an inscription in the Zardusht temple, written in two languages. Pahlavi Ashkani and Greek. This inscription had been engraved by Shapur the First, the second king of the Sassanid Dynasty, after the defeat and imprisonment of Valaerian, the emperor of Rome in 260 A.D. in the battle of Odessa. The inscription was engraved on the tablets of the walls of the temple. Since Shapur the First died in 273, the date of this inscription is considered to be between the years 260 and 273. (The deficient Persian translation of this inscription can be found in Archeological Recollections, Vol. IV, after page 181. Printed in Shiraz in 1959).

The second line of the inscription mentions the city of Pashkabur as the eastern border of Kushan-Khisatar or the land of the Kushans. This word has been compared with Kaspapurus of Greek, Pl-lo-sha-po-Io as mentioned by Hsuen Tsang, the Chinese traveller and Parshapur and Parshawar of the Islamic historians. In the sixth part of this inscription, among the distinguished men of the Shapur empire, the name of Vindaparn Abgan Rismaud[1] has been mentioned. The inscription was read for the first time by Sprengling and in 1940 he wrote an article about it in the Sematic Magazine of America. He compared the second word, Abgan, to the present name of Afghan.

Furthermore it is said that Shapur the Third, who ruled for 70 Years from 309-379, was given the title of Apakan, and we can conjugate this letter with the mentioned Abgan, which probably has been used as a praise word, symbol of chivalry, rectitude, nobility or the line of decent. Due to these facts some historians, like Sir Olaf Caroe, believe that some ancestors of the Durrani and Yusufzai tribes were the noble men of the Sassanid courts. (The Pathans, Page 80). We can say that the name Vindapharn Afghan Razm Bad is a reference to Vindapharn, the Afghan chieftain of the war who probably was an Afghan general. The name has been twice recorded in the Shah Nama of Firdausi also, who is thought to be the commander of the armies of Feridoun.

"Their commander was Qaran Kawgaan And generals Sheroi and Awgaan.

                                              (Shah-Nama 1-110) 

The mighty soldiers had gathered around the castle, Armed with golden cudgels and golden helmets, Their commander was Qaran Kawgaan,

Led by the valiant general, Awgaan".

                                             (Shah-Nama 1-116) 

Although the stories of the Shah Nama do not have any historical merit there are some old facts recorded in it. For example in some of its verses the word Qaran has been mentioned which was the aristocratic family of the Ashkanian Period, and during the year 50 the Ashkanian governor in Mesopotamia was known by the name of Carenes. (Wais and Ramen by Minorsky page 341, Tehran).

The word Awgan of Shah Nama resembles the Abgan of the Sassanid period. But in ancient narrations he was a general in the armies of Feridoun related to Awa, the son of Samkanan. The German Carl Justi, in his book The Iranian Names says: Awa is an Avesta word meaning kind and patron. (Ferhang-i-Shah-Nama, p. 12, 1941) But in Shah Nama these two persons are heros of the era of Kaikhusrow who are mentioned in the great battle with Afrasiab as follows:

When Kaikhusrow saw the battle of Turks ln which the sun shone no more on earth. He glanced at Awa and Samkanan

Two pugnacious lions of the battle field.

                                 (Shah Nama, Page 281, Vol 5). 

However, we can conclude from these facts that Awa and Awagan were used in ancient Aryan narrations and Shah Nama, and if we consider the word to be originating from Avesta, as Justi has put it, then they probably mean kind and patron, for the heroes of that era were worthy of such titles. There is a possibility that subsequently the words became the names of tribes or nations. On the other hand if the words Abgan, Apagan and Awgan have been given prominence in ancient stories of the Sassanid period, just as Sprengling and Olaf Caroe believe, we can claim that the noun Afghan was used in the form of Abgan and Apgan in the third century and was also common in the courts of the rulers of that time. This is the most ancient document tracing the history of the word, and the Awgan of ancient narrations is similar to this word.

Other more ancient documents are the old texts of India where the word has been written as Avagana which resembles Abgan and Apagan of the Sassanid period. Varaha Mihira is an Indian astronomer and poet, who was born in the later years of the fifth century A.D. in Rajeen of India and about 505, became a celebrated figure. Pancha Sidhantika written by Mihira is a summary of five books on astronomy and he has also written other books on astronomy in which he gives descriptions of precious stones and the geography of India. This book is called Bahrita Sanhita and in verses 11, 16, 31 and 61 the word Afghan has been mentioned in the form of Avagana. A. Foucher, the French scholar in his book The Ancient Way of India and Bactria toTaxila (Page 235-252 Note 17. Paris 1947) says that the word has been mentioned in the middle of the 6th century since Varaha Mihara died in 587. It is further said that be believed in Greek astronomy and stated that the world was round. Abu Raihan Beiruni has translated two books of this Indian astronomer into Arabic and his fame and knowledge has always been given prominence by scholars. On this basis the word Afghan has a historical background of 1400 years in Indian literature and Indian scholars have constantly mentioned it in their works.

In pre-Islamic era the name Afghan has been mentioned in two documents, to the west in Sassanid Pars and in the east in India. At that time Buddhism was widespread in eastern and southern Afghanistan. Large Buddhist temples existed in the cities of Afghanistan like Balkh, Kunduz. Kapisa, Hadda, Laghman, Ghazni and Kandahar. Since the people of China were followers of Buddhism thereby a large number of Chinese pilgrims visited these cities. One of the Chinese pilgrims was Hsuen Tsang who came to Afghanistan in the first half of the seventh century. At that time Islam was appearing in Afghanistan but the Arabs bad not yet begun their conquests of Afghanistan. Hsuen Tsang left Liang Chu on the first of August in the year 629 and arrived at Samarkand on March 5. On March 20 he was in Khulm, April 20 in Balkh and April 30 in Bamian. He arrived in Kapisa via the snow capped Hindu Kush on May 10, and stayed in the capital of the Kabul Shahs until the end of summer and later journeyed as follows: On August 15 he arrived at Laghman where he stayed for three days. On August 15 he was in Nangarhar where he stayed for two months. On November 1 he was in Gandahara, later in the beginning of December he was in Peshawar. In the beginning of January 631 he travelled along the Indus river and reached Taxila on April 10.  Hsuen Tsang spent 12 years in India and returned to Taxila on December 15, 643  and once again visited the following cities of Afghanistan. On December 21 he crossed the Indus river on elephant back. On March 15, 644 he arrived at Laghman and stayed at the court of the King of Laghman for one month. On June 15 he reached Fa-La-Na or Banun. On June 20 he reached O-Po-Kien. On June 25 he arrived at Tsau-Kue-To or Ghazni. On July 1, he reached Aur-Tsa-Pa-Na or Kabul. On July 5, Kapisa, July 20 Andarab, August 1, Tukhara, and  December 8 Badakhshan. December 12 Pamir and after that he went to Yarkand and Khotan. 

The itinerary of Hsuan Tsang entitled Si-Yu-Ki meaning the memoirs of the land of the East has been translated into the English and printed several times. A part of this book has valuable information on Afghanistan's geographical, religious, political and social events of that time. When Hsuen Tsang reached the province of Fa-La-Na, after staying in India, (Page 265 Vol. 1 of Si-Yu-Ki, English translation) he mentions a place called O-Po-Kien between Banun and Ghazni, north-east of Fa-La-Na and south-east of Ghazi. Before Hsuen Tsang, another Chinese traveller Fa-Hi-Yan has called this land Lo-Ye or Roh.[2]

Many historians especially General Cuningham, the author of the Ancient Geography of India (Page 89), correspond O-Po-Kien to be Awa-gan (Afghan) and further goes on to say that Hsuen Tsang did not consider their language to be Hindi, but he says that it somewhat resembles the languages spoken in India, thus it must have been Pushto. On the other hand since O-Po-Kien has the same syllables as the ancient A-Wa-Gan, therefore we can say that he meant the present Afghans which still lie between the Indus and Ghazni and is the dwelling place of ancient tribes of the Afghans, who settled in the provinces of Paktia, Urgoon and Ghazni. Hsuen Tsang travelled from Bunun to Ghazni and crossed these mountainous provinces which were the home of O-Po-Kien or the Afghans.

      From the pre Islamic period we have the Sassanid, Indian and Chinese documents in which the name of Afghan has been mentioned. During the Islamic period the name has been consequently used in 

Arabic and Dari books. The most ancient of these books is Hudood-ul- Alam which was written in 993 by an anonymous author. Minorsky, the late historian, says that the author of the book was from the family,

or related to the court of the Al-Ferighun of Jouzjan. In this book Afghan has been mentioned several times. Later Mohammed bin Abdul Jabbar Utbi in Tarikh-e Yemeni mentions the name in the reign of Subuktegeen and his family. Ibn-e Asir has, however, noted it down as Abgan. Similarly other historians in their authentic volumes have noted the name. Some of these are Fakhr-i-Mudabir who mentions it in Adab-ul-Harb Qazi Menhaj Seraj in Tabakat-e Nasseri, Hamdullah Mustufi in Tarekh-e Guzida, Mohammad Qasim Fereshta and others also discuss the Afghan and Awgan tribes.

We can say that the word Afghanistan is also not a strange word which came into being in the reign of Ahmad Shah Abdali. A trustworthy proof of this is Tarikh-e Herat authored by Saifi Herawi (circa 1342) who calls the western lands, as far as the Indus, by the name of Afghanistan. From this it is evident that when Herat was the capital of the Kurts, and after the passing of the period of polItical unity of the Ghaznavids and the Ghorids, when the country was being vanquished by the belligerent armies of Genghiz, Afghanistan was a customary name but not to the extent as in the period of Ahmad Shah Durani.

During the Temurid period, Maulana Kamaluddin Abdul Razaq Samarkandi Herawi, who was born in 1337 in Herat, was a distinguished scholar, historian and statesman of the court of Herat. In Tarikh-e Mutala’ Sadain and Majma Bahrain he describes Afghanistan's geography as Saifi has recorded it to be a part of the large Khorasani empire ruled by the Temurids of Herat.

In 1553 when Babur headed for India with his armies and establIshed the Mughul empire in Delhi we can see in history books of the Babur Dynasty that the name of Afghanistan has been mentioned according to its formal geographical background. And the people of this land, in order to safeguard their independence, were always engaged in wars with the tyrannic armIes of the Mughul Empire of India and the Safavids of Iran. Until finally, the great Mirwais and Ahmad Shah consolidated and brought unity among the people of Afghanistan and successfully established the Greater Afghanistan. Now we consider the one thousand seven hundred years old name Afghan and the seven hundred years old name of Afghanistan to be the origin of national unity and significant historical events in our country.

I have fixed these eras from the mentioned documents, but the history of the Pakhtas=Paxtoons=Afghans is even older in this land and dates back to the Vedic eras of 1400 B.C.

Afghanistan, VOL. XXII No.2, Summer 1348 (1969)

[1] Sir Olaf Caroe. the author of the Pathans (Page 79) has written the three words of the inscription from the Greek text as read by Prof. Sprengling (The Sematic Magazine of America 1940) as Goundifer Abgan Rismaud. But the Persian text which has been prepared from the English by Prof. Sprengling (Archeological Recollections Vol. Four, Printed in Shiraz) the three words have been written as Vindapharn Aba-kan Razmi-yad. In the first letter the proper noun, Vindapharn is Pahlavi and Goundifer is Greek. In the second letter Aba-gan stands in place of the Greek Abgan. But the third word is probably razma + pat=razma+wad=razm+ pat. Pat=bad=baz=wad=baiz are different spellings of one word and take its source from Pati of Vedic, Sanskrit and Avesta which means the Owner or Lord. The spelling of ramzi+yad equals ramz+aud of Greek. For example Tabari (Vol. 1, Page 683) says: In the reign of Bashtasab Keyani, there were seven great chieftains, one of whom, Mehkabiz lived in the village of Gergan. Since the word Razma is ancient Persian and Ramsa in Avesta means a battle array and Raja, compared with Raji of Sanskrit (Rada meaning row), which is still used in the Pashto, therefore Rasma-wad or Rasmi-yad or Razma+pat=Razma + bad means a chieftain of war, thus Razmi+yad as compared with Mehkabiz, as Tabri has put it, is also likely to be correct.

[2] In the reign of Babur after 1521 most historians refer to the eastern parts of Afghanistan as far as Hasan Abdal as 'Roh'. Mohammad Qasim Fereshta has noted that its borders stretched from Herat to Hasan AbdaI. Similarly the name is used subsequently in the Pashto literature. In fact this name has been used since ancient times in Hindi. In India, Afghans have been called Rohila and their dwelling places Rohil Kahand. This name is still used in India. In the southern Multan dialect of Punjab and Baluchi Roh means the western mountain range of that land which is the Suleiman range (The Pathans, By Sir Olaf Caroe, London 439).

[edit] Article vandalism

Hey Evilclown,

I'm pretty new to editing Wikipedia. I've been working on the entry for Petros Papadakis since April or so, and recently there's been quite a bit of vandalism on the page. You reverted one of these incidents. There have been quite a few edits since then that are also obviously vandalism. I'll edit them out, but are there any further steps I can take to monitor vandalism to the page or report users/IP adresses that are vandalizing the page?

Thanks,

Nick (AKA uhalln00)

Thanks for the response and welcome - both were very helpful. --Uhalln00 18:56, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Signpost updated for June 25th, 2007.

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[edit] re: RFAs

To be honest with you, I wasn't really upset by the comment. I switched to neutral on your RFA after you left this messae, and wouldn't have switched to oppose in the first had another user not taken issue with the comment. And to be honest with you, having someone issue a "protest vote" against me was slightly empowering. Black Harry (Highlights|Contribs) 13:58, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] e-mail

I have replied to your e-mail. —M (talk • contribs) 15:50, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nancy Benoit

It's listed as semi-protected here. SirFozzie 18:09, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Haymarket/London

Hmm - I thought we were still discussing this move! Am I going to have to chase this item all around wikicyberspace to update it?! regards, Lynbarn 14:28, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

And the article title is now missing a comma! I'm also trying to find out whether it should be UK or U.K. or something else. I agree. Discuss before any more moves, even though I was the first to actually perform a move. At least create redirects to help people find the article and stop other articles being created at similar titles. Carcharoth 14:42, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] RFA thanks

Hi Maxim/archives. Thank you for your support in my RfA, which passed with 95 support, 1 oppose, and 1 neutral !votes. Your Q8 was nice in that it had a definite answer. It was as though you lobed me a slow pitch knowing that I could knock it out of the park. And it does means a lot to me to have your individual support and the collective support of so many others. I truly will strive to carry myself at a level representing the trust bestowed in me as I use the mop to address the never-ending drips of discontent in need of caretaker assistance. Jreferee (Talk) 07:08, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ladybirds Can Fly

The non-notability of the above might have been a mistake. Checking the article's "what links here" shows they played Glastonbury and will be playing T in the Park, although their additions to those articles may be hoaxes. - Dudesleeper · Talk 23:34, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Seems to be hoax additions (they're not listed here). - Dudesleeper · Talk 23:37, 30 June 2007 (UTC)