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User talk:Semitransgenic

– General close. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

Post-disco is an obscure albeit controversial article that has a long history dating back to 2007. There were a dozen times of article being nominated for deletion over the claim that Allmusic Guide is not a reliable source however that was proven untrue. User:Semitransgenic's revision describes multiple "post-discos" while the previous, mine (which I adopted from a user from a previous conflict over the article, from User:Mjb) describes it in a rather general tone that a musical "movement" has occured which I found indisputable until User:Semitransgenic came and edited the article his way without showing no regard to sources. Problem I found with User:Semitransgenic's revision is that it is factually incorrect, too literal and does not hold on the weight of presented sources. This is basically the movement versus multiple unrelated genres argument all over again.

Resolving the Dispute (Part I)
I feel insulted he took time to respond to a pre-generated message I posted earlier than my actual concern about his editing ways and that he does not feel remorse about his trigger-happy actions. His work on Wikipedia is truly commendable in regard of cleaning electronic music dance articles from garbage but he is also reckless and his actions on the article were proven superfluous and dangerous. He burst in and chopped down any sources indicating a form of music and instead inserted appropriated facts the way he sees it contrary to how Simon Reynolds and Allmusic describe post-disco.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

(Part II)
I am all for cosmetic changes that involve elimination of waffles and all these little imperfections but diminishing the meaning of sources and ambiguating content in already an ambiguous article is not acceptable and that's why I think it would be best to have a debate in a public space which offers a possible solution.


How do you think we can help?

One of my most promising suggestions is to take the article to its previous state, before the changes, which is a stable revision, less controversial than the current revisions, with a few additional tweaks like import of the new sources.

Summary of dispute by Semitransgenic

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

User talk:Semitransgenic discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Sports in Newark, New Jersey

– General close. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

User Djflem does not seem to understand that the article Sports in Newark, New Jersey is specifically about sports teams that are based in Newark, New Jersey, they keep adding the New York Red Bulls to the article. The Red Bulls are based in Harrison NOT Newark, This has been explained on their talk page but they insist on continuously re-adding the information by justifying that Newark, New Jersey is a transportation hub of Harrison and therefore should be included which is an incorrect assumption.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Reverted edits by User:Djflem and put message on their talkpage attempting to explain why the Red Bulls should not be included as part of the article.

How do you think we can help?

Take administrative action if necessary to prevent Djflem from adding inaccurate information and then reverting it back to the inaccurate information when another user such as myself makes the correction.

Summary of dispute by Djflem

User TheGoofyGolfer's does not seem to understand that their assumptions are a POV and not what defines an article. Contrary to TheGoofyGolfer's claims, there has been no discussion on the talk page of the article, merely a unilateral claim based on those assumptions about what they think article is and a threat to go to the adminstrative noticeboard on my talk page about my contributions that s/he doesn't like. Despite their opinion, the info is correct. My edit summaries make clear the appropriate context for the text in the article as do its references provided by Red Bull and New Jersey Transit. (and this: http://www.newarkhappening.com/listings/Red-Bull-Arena/419/?menuid=999) It is balanced, neutral, correctly placed, and, verifiable. Djflem (talk) 07:40, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Sports in Newark, New Jersey discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

 Clerk note: I notified Djflem (talk · contribs) of the DRN request. Thanks, MrScorch6200 (talk | ctrb) 22:43, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Core of the Dispute

This case is now open for discussion. First lets establish the core of the dispute. It seems to me that the issue is concerning this information (below) which has been repeatedly inserted and reverted.

To start can we all agree that the content above is the core of the dispute?-- — Keithbob • Talk • 20:33, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Yes. TheGoofyGolfer (talk) 22:09, 6 September 2014 (UTC)
The point I am trying to make is that any references to the Red Bulls are not appropriate for this article irregardless that Newark is a transportation hub for Harrison as User Djflem has stated, Newark is a hub for a lot of cities and it would be like including the New York Giants and New York Jets as part of the article even though they play at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford just because New Jersey Transit provides bus and rail service from Newark, No that's not how it works. While I applaud User Djflem efforts to keep the fresh with up-to-date information his thinking and edits are extremely flawed. TheGoofyGolfer (talk) 00:37, 7 September 2014 (UTC)
No. While the material above would be appropriate (and preferred) it now reads:
Newark is the transportation hub for the Red Bull Arena, home stadium of Major League Soccer's Red Bulls, across the Passaic River from Newark's Riverbank Park in Harrsion, with shuttle bus service running from downtown train stations. PATH trains from Newark Penn Station are one stop to nearby Harrison station.
and is supported by references from the official websites of Red Bull and the City of Newark tourism bureau:
http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/HUB/NJTransitRBAShuttle
http://www.newarkhappening.com/listings/Red-Bull-Arena/419/?menuid=999
the NJT mention is for the good order and completeness of coverage
http://www.njtransit.com/sa/sa_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=CustomerNoticeTo&NoticeId=2204

Djflem (talk) 08:14, 7 September 2014 (UTC)

Ok, there is no agreement on the core of the dispute as I've outlined it, let's try it from another angle. User:Djflem what content, regarding the Red Bulls, would you like to add to the article that you feel User:TheGoofyGolfer is objecting to? (please provide sources). -- — Keithbob • Talk • 16:44, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

The material (and relevant references) in the article are acceptable as they are written. (While the 1st of the above paragraphs was deleted, and IMO is better, the 2nd is acceptable).-Djflem (talk) 21:24, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
So is the text currently in the article acceptable to both parties? Unless the two of you can clearly delineate the specific content and/or sources that are under dispute here I'm going to close this case. -- — Keithbob • Talk • 01:40, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
No one seems to be listening to what I am saying, this article is specifically about sports teams that play within the City of Newark, the Red Bulls are a Harrison team and therefore should not be included regardless that Newark is a transportation hub, as I stated before the Giants and the Jets play at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford and transportation is provided from Newark so does that mean the Giants and Jets should be included in this article just because Newark serves as a transportation point to the Meadowlands? Absolutely NOT! Why? Because they are not a Newark team and nether is the Red Bulls. I am just frustrated that I can't get this through to you guys. TheGoofyGolfer (talk) 02:06, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
I've heard what your are saying and that is your opinion. No doubt Djflem has his/her own opinion too. I'm not interested in moderating an abstract dispute. WP is about content, not opinions. Please go to the article talk page and discuss the issue by citing specific WP policies and guidelines. If there is no resolution please consult WP:DR and WP:DRR to explore other dispute resolution options. Since the core of the dispute is still in question and no significant discussion has yet occurred on the talk page I am closing this case. -- — Keithbob • Talk • 15:17, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Talk:South African_Republic

– New discussion.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

Spammy low quality page with reference requests from 2010, I have spent a week updating the page, added 41 citations and did a lot of work. It is all being undone now by a gang of editors, citing npov editing, etc. whereas I am very willing to discuss any pov, but not given any opportunity. My work is now basically all gone and with a gang ganging up on me I am, in their words, a lone wolf editor, and this apparently never works out well... as we all have to agree on hostory and facts, etc. - although nobody bothers to look at my citations and facts...

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

tried posting in talk pages, pleading to simply discuss changes before reverting - to no avail. the editors simply keep on restoring the page to the spammy version.

How do you think we can help?

maybe if another editor can assist me, so that i do not feel alone in my battle against the gang?

Summary of dispute by Dodger67

Zarpboer is propagating a biased POV of South African history. He cherry picks fringe sources and novel interpretations of mainstream sources to support his cause - he has even cited sources apparently written by himself as if they are WP:IRS. He violates several core principles and rules of WP editing. WP:NPOV, WP:UNDUE, WP:3RR, WP:Consensus. I'm afraid this editor is simply not here to improve WP but is determined to propagate a particular skewed version of history. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 13:23, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Mean_as_custard

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Summary of dispute by HelenOnline

I have no comment on the current content dispute because I have not had the time to review the edits. I intervened when Zarpboer removed talk page conversations with other editors and pointed out the talk page guideline to them, and have also advised them to discuss further changes instead of edit warring to avoid being blocked. HelenOnline 15:29, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Jeppiz

Zarpboer is involved in heavy POV-pushing. Four different editors have tried to explain the rules to Zarpboer who refuses to listen. The issue is already under discussion at ANI [2] containing a few diffs illustrating what kind of content Zarpboer keeps inserting despite all other involved users objecting to it.Jeppiz (talk) 13:06, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:South African_Republic discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

BlackLight Power

– This request has been placed on hold.

Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

There is discussion about whether an editorial in a well regarded physics journal is a secondary source, and whether it should be included in the article. For convenience, here is an extract from the editorial:

Despite the reservations about the “hydrino” hypothesis expressed by some members of the scientific community, we decided that, after ensuring that the paper passed all necessary refereeing procedures (review by two independent senior members of the academic community), we should publish this paper rather than silence the discussion by rejecting it. We view this as the most effective way to stimulate scientific discourse, encourage debate, and engage in a meaningful dialogue about what is admittedly a controversial postulate.

The following draft sentence has been proposed, but no consensus reached thus far: In 2011 the editors-in-chief of a reputable physics journal characterised the hydrino hypothesis as being worthy of further scientific discussion and debate while acknowledging the "reservations...expressed by some members of the scientific community".

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Engaged in discussions on my Talk page.

How do you think we can help?

Editors seem to be fairly polarised in their view of Blacklight Power on the talk page. It would be very helpful for people less interested in (or committed to) currently accepted physics to bring some dispassionate attention to the nature and quality of the source in dispute as such editors are less likely to be distracted by the implications of what BLP does in deciding on the issue of WP:RS.

Summary of dispute by Alexbrn

Trying to torture meaning out of a flimsy editorial comment in order to big up a fanstastical claim which would re-write the laws of science. I don't think so. Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 06:36, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Ronnotel

The article in question is from European Physical Journal D, a mid to high quality journal that consistently ranks in the top or second quartile related to other physics journals. It is unusual for a journal such as this to publish an editorial justifying a decision to publish a paper. The reason for doing so is that one potential interpretation of the results would have a profound impact on our understanding of quantum mechanics and the Standard Model. However, there could be other interpretations that would not be as impactful, but could still introduce new science. However, how will these interpretations be resolved if the results are summarily suppressed? How does it serve the scientific process to prohibit the mention of an article such as this? Ronnotel (talk) 13:43, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by LeadSongDog

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

One SPA disagreeing with all others]This argument about a source for a fringe free energy claim hardly deserves a serious response. Going fForum shopping when prospects at the article talk page dry up? Priceless. LeadSongDog come howl! 05:12, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Bhny

If something is "worthy of further scientific discussion" it will be discussed and maybe then we will have something to add to the article. Let us wait for a discussion! Most wikipedia topics are worthy of discussion and obviously we don't state that in an article. Being "worthy of discussion" is not a notable thing, and also the quote is from a primary source. Bhny (talk) 03:34, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by VQuakr

  • The source in question is the 1.1-paragraph editorial here, linked from here if the direct pdf hyperlink does not work. It does not mention the subject of the article in question, BlackLight Power (BLP).
  • The proposed edit badly misinterprets the source, which is much more a dry justification than an endorsement. That the editors felt the need to justify publishing one of Mills's papers is not relevant enough to BLP to merit inclusion in the article. VQuakr (talk) 04:52, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Johnuniq

Talk:BlackLight Power shows a large amount of activity focused on attempts to find something that might be added to the article to boost the impression that the company may be on the verge of a scientific breakthrough that will provide endless energy at low cost. However, the talk page also has a large section at the top regarding "Arbitration Committee Decisions on Pseudoscience" showing that scientific consensus determines what appears in articles, and by that guideline a throw-away editorial should not be used to suggest a positive result regarding hypothetical hydrinos. Johnuniq (talk) 04:33, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Comment by 2over0

I am uninvolved in this particular dispute but have edited the article in the past. EPJ D is a fine journal (not first tier, but top quartile sounds about right), but the editorial in question is a good reason to continue treating the issue of hydrinos as outside of mainstream physics. Using this source as proposed would be to severely misrepresent it. If post-publication peer review shows interest from the relevant community of physicists, then we can talk about new physics. As it stands, this remains a WP:FRINGE claim. - 2/0 (cont.) 14:45, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

BlackLight Power discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

Hello. I am a dispute resolution volunteer here at the Wikipedia Dispute Resolution Noticeboard. This does not imply that I have any special authority or that my opinions should carry any extra weight; it just means that I have not been previously involved in this dispute and that I have some experience helping other people to resolve their disputes. Right now I am doing a bit of research, reading all of the talk page comments before opening this up for discussion. This should take less than a day. In the meantime, I encourage everyone involved to review our Wikipedia:Dispute resolution and Wikipedia:Consensus pages. Thanks! There is one thing that I need everyone involved to understand right from the start; DRN is not a place to keep doing the same things that did not work on the article talk page. In particular, we only discuss article content, never user conduct. Many times, solving the content dispute also solves the user conduct issue. Do not talk about other editors. If anyone has a problem with this, let me know and we can discuss whether I should turn the case over to another dispute resolution volunteer. --Guy Macon (talk) 21:17, 2 September 2014 (UTC)

Relevant prior discussions:
OK, I have carefully studied the article, references, and talk page discussion. Before I continue, I would like to address one minor issue: User:LeadSongDog, would you be so kind as to strike or delete your comment about forum shopping? Here at DRN we only discuss article content, never user conduct.
Getting back to the case at hand, I am now opening it up for discussion. Please note that it is my duty as a DRN volunteer to remain neutral in matters of editorial judgement and consensus building, but to also take a stand if I believe that Wikipedia's core principles are being violated.
As I hope everyone already knows, this page is under standard discretionary sanctions, according to the following arbcom ruling:
Standard discretionary sanctions are authorised for all articles relating to pseudoscience and fringe science, broadly interpreted. Any uninvolved administrator may levy restrictions as an arbitration enforcement action on users editing in this topic area, after an initial warning.
Passed 8 to 0 by motion, 22:35, 15 November 2012 (UTC)
I encourage anyone who has not done so to at least read Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Pseudoscience#Final decision and if possible to read the details of the case. It has many parallels with what we are discussing here. Pseudoscience pages often devolve into one side wanting too turn Wikipedia into a public relations arm of a particular pseudoscience (arguably, many of User:Blippy's proposed changes over the 9 months he has been working almost exclusively on this page fit this description), while the other side tries to turn Wikipedia into The Skeptics Dictionary while a few lonely voices stand for Wikipedia's core values.
I have looked over this page carefully, and it is my considered opinion that the editorial choices to include the terms "fraud" and especially "loser technology" show that the current article lacks WP:NPOV in spots, is unencyclopedic in spots, and may very well contain WP:BLP violations. I don't see anything that leads me to believe that Philip Warren Anderson is qualified to differentiate between someone who is committing scientific fraud and someone who truly believes a particular bit of pseudoscience. I see no reason why we aren't simply quoting IEEE Spectrum magazine as saying that "most experts don't believe such lower states exist, and they say the experiments don't present convincing evidence". Adding the "loser technology" is blatant editorializing and completely unencyclopedic.
I also have not seen a good argument for excluding European Physical Journal D. Certainly Blippy's suggestion ("In 2011 the editors-in-chief of a reputable physics journal characterized the hydrino hypothesis as being worthy of further scientific discussion") goes way too far in the other direction into advocacy, but why can's we just neutrally describe the paper and then neutrally describe the accompanying comment and editorial? It really looks like we are applying a higher standard than used in other pseudoscience topics.
Finally, the comments by User:Ronnotel -- an experienced editor and an administrator -- appear to have been dismissed with any real effort to seek consensus concerning the issues he brings up.
Based upon the above observations, I am going to recommend that we have a discussion here and attempt to come to an agreement on the above issues, and if we cannot do that, to escalate this to a less-informal forum. --Guy Macon (talk) 00:07, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
Thanks for your assessment, Guy. In particular, I appreciate you pointing out that my concerns on the page have never been adequately addressed, especially the use of the term "fraud" which is a continuing source of injustice. I believe this is a direct violation of WP:BLP, no where else on WP am I aware of this type of language being used on so flimsy a pretext. Ronnotel (talk) 14:09, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
It was discussed at BLP/N[3] which I believe led to the current wording. Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 14:19, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
That discussion, as well as this comment, is similarly unresponsive. How does the language in the article meet the demands of WP:BLP? Ronnotel (talk) 14:37, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
A theory (the "it" of the phrase in question) is not a living person. Does BLP apply to ideas? (Add: the point is it's wrong to say this hasn't been discussed, it's been discussed at a noticeboard where editors with BLP expertise are assumed to be on hand.)Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 14:43, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
An interpretation of WP:BLP that relies on highly legalistic reasoning is a red flag. The intent of WP:BLP is to look for reasons to exclude possibly defamatory language rather than reasons to include it. Ronnotel (talk) 14:52, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
There is nothing legalistic in saying a criticism of a scientific hypothesis as being bogus (which is what fraud means in that context) does not fall under the remit of WP:BLP. It is you who is crying BLP. There is the hydrino hypothesis, it was criticized in robust terms by a eminent scientist, he was quoted and published (and is still published online) by the Village Voice – who as a professional outfit presumably take care in what they publish. Wikipedia cites that criticsm to give the mainstream view in line with our core policy. As Guy has wisely said, we need to paid heed to the core principles of Wikipedia. Neutrality is one of them. Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 15:05, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
I think we agree on the need to be skeptical regarding the theory. We can do that without using the word "fraud", which is poorly sourced and therefore must be removed per WP:BLP. Ronnotel (talk) 15:12, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
Oh, I just noticed it was you who originated the BLPN discussion. I agree with others that only a bad misunderstanding of the word "fraud" in this context could lead to any suggestion of a BLP aspect to its use. Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 15:48, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
I've alluded to this a number of times, so now I'll make a direct request. Can you please address the specific language in WP:BLP that spells out the circumstances when poorly sourced, defamatory language is acceptable. I don't see an exception for "bad misunderstanding". Ronnotel (talk) 16:27, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
Irrelevant. The point is BLP doesn't apply to criticism of ideas, as you cannot defame an idea. I have no particular attachment to this particular form of words being in the lede, but invoking the BLP aspect here is badly off-beam in my view (and, it seems, in the view of those who frequent BLPN). Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 16:37, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
So I'm afraid I have no idea how to proceed in a dispute resolution when told that referencing WP:BLP is irrelevant to a poorly sourced allegation of "fraud". Perhaps the moderator or some other uninvolved observer can provide guidance here. I certainly can't lend my support to this view - I don't believe that is how WP is meant to work. Ronnotel (talk) 16:54, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
I don't know how many ways I can say it. Let me give it one more go. There is no allegation of fraud against Mills. That is a misreading (as I and other have said, yet I'm not seeing any acknowledgment.) The hydrino hypothesis was described as "a fraud". You are insisting that somehow this criticism of the idea is transitive to criticism of one of its proponents. I and others disagree. Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 17:02, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
I accept that you are making this claim in good faith. However, can you accept how a reasonable person might visit the page, fail to make this distinction and come away with the notion that the WP page has labeled Mills a fraud? Can you show me any other page on WP where a similar accusation is leveled at "an idea" on such flimsy evidence? Ronnotel (talk) 17:18, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
The WP page has not "labeled Mills a fraud", as we have belaboured at some length, and as has been repeatedly observed. People may infer what they will. We do not spin for a desired outcome, we neutrally report what is so. The evidence that the hydrino hypothesis is considered bogus is not flimsy: it's the unanimous consensus of all authorities. Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 17:54, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
bogus is not a synonym for fraud. Ronnotel (talk) 18:06, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
As the DRN volunteer who is trying to help you folks resolve this case, I am going to ask the two of you to slow down, let someone else weight in, and try to avoid creating a "wall of text" with rapid-fire responses. If you desire, you can continue the back-and-forth discussion on the article talk page, but DRN needs to be more structured and deliberate. Thanks! --Guy Macon (talk) 21:40, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Arbitrary break 1

I would like to address one point brought up in the above discussion: the value and authority of prior discussions. Some prior discussions, such as arbcom rulings and warnings by uninvolved administrators, are authoritative. We can point at them and say that they settle a particular issue. Noticeboards such as Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard -- and indeed DRN itself -- can be good indications of consensus on a particular issue (if a bunch of uninvolved experienced editors say that something is or isn't a BLP violation, it is a good idea to listen to them), but the actual decision as to whether something is or is not a BLP violation must rest with an uninvolved administrator. It is, of course, far better for us to come to an agreement here rather than asking an admin to intervene, but BLP/N discussions -- especially ones with only a handful of participants -- are not authoritative. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:12, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Here are a few working definitions (subject to debate, of course: DRN volunteers purposely have no authority):

  • BLP Violation: Anything that violates WP:BLP, anywhere on wikipedia. Specifically not limited to actual biography pages, but must refer to a living person, not just a company or a theory. That being said, some companies and some theories are so closely associated with an individual that BLP protection extends to them.
  • Financial Fraud: What most people think of when they see the word "fraud". Source must be reliable on the subject, such as a prosecutor or grand jury for accusations of financial fraud, and a conviction in a court of law for financial fraud.
  • Scientific Fraud: Purposeful falsification of data or results. Source must be reliable on whether the scientist was purposely lying as opposed to being mistaken or even being a crackpot who believes his own pseudoscience. An example would be a university making an official finding of scientific fraud by one of its researchers. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:48, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
"some companies and some theories are so closely associated with an individual that BLP protection extends to them" ← I don't believe that's in the policy, which reads to me as being tightly circumscribed to "living persons". Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 03:51, 6 September 2014 (UTC)
By your own analysis Alexbrn, a theory is not a living person and so cannot commit or be a fraud of any kind. Only a natural or corporate person can do that, so there is unfortunate ambiguity built into the use of this quote in the lede - compounded by the fact that the article is about Mills and Blacklight Power - not the hydrino theory - so a reader could be forgiven for thinking that the it being referred to is one of those things which can commit fraud. This is completely avoidable, and to my knowledge there has been no proof of any fraud in the intervening 15 years - if anything Mill's case has gotten stronger (e.g. the editorial in question) - so it isn't clear to me what NPOV or WEIGHT benefit accrues from such an extreme and old quote being used so prominently in the lede. Cheers, Blippy (talk) 13:03, 6 September 2014 (UTC)
Right, a theory is not a living person. So the word "fraud" applied to it must have one of that word's meanings that apply to things (e.g. "something false or spurious"). Anybody who thinks the "it" here is anything other than the hydrino hypothesis would lack basic reading skills; we don't write for such people, but assume at least basic competence in reading. As I have said, I have no particular attachment to this particular word. But the point is that the hypotheis has long been dismissed by reputed scientists as tosh: if some way could be found to convey that by paraphrasing I'd not argue with it. (And I'm not entirely sure why this is being raised now anyway, since it was not a matter included in the DR request). Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 13:46, 6 September 2014 (UTC)
Well that isn't how the word is predominantly used - the usage you suggest is more akin to fake, not fraud. Here's a quick definition from the web where you'll note the tone is decidely one of deceit:
fraud frɔːd/ noun: fraud; plural noun: frauds
wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain. "he was convicted of fraud"
synonyms: fraudulence, sharp practice, cheating, swindling, trickery, artifice, deceit, deception, double-dealing, duplicity, treachery, chicanery, skulduggery, imposture, embezzlement; informal monkey business, funny business, crookedness, hanky-panky, shenanigans, flimflam; informal jiggery-pokery; informal monkeyshines; archaic management, knavery a person or thing intended to deceive others, typically by unjustifiably claiming or being credited with accomplishments or qualities. "mediums exposed as tricksters and frauds"
I would suggest that since at least three editors here consider it to be ambiguous, then perhaps - by definition - it is. Cheers, Blippy (talk) 14:09, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Re: "some companies and some theories are so closely associated with an individual that BLP protection extends to them" ← I don't believe that's in the policy, which reads to me as being tightly circumscribed to "living persons"

My reasoning is at as follows: Consider the following extreme case: A company consists of one person and the person and the company are intertwined in the public eye. Would Wikipedia really be allowed to say things about the company that would be BLP violations if said about the person? I think not.

Re: I don't believe that's in the policy, which reads to me as being tightly circumscribed to "living persons"

The very first sentence of WP:BLP is "Editors must take particular care when adding information about living persons to any Wikipedia page" (emphasis in original). If we cannot accuse Randell L. Mills of fraud directly, we cannot call his theory a fraud either. And, as I pointed out before, Philip Warren Anderson is not a reliable source on the question of whether Randell L. Mills has committed scientific or financial fraud. WP:BLPGROUP specifically says: "The extent to which the BLP policy applies to edits about groups is complex and must be judged on a case-by-case basis. A harmful statement about a small group or organization comes closer to being a BLP problem than a similar statement about a larger group; and when the group is very small, it may be impossible to draw a distinction between the group and the individuals that make up the group."

I think that we have heard all the arguments on both sides of this issue, I am going to give it a bit more time for discussion, (I am really hoping for something from someone who has not already weighed in) and if we cannot arrive at a compromise that everyone agrees with I am going to close the DRN case and put out a call for a couple of uninvolved administrators to deal with what some experienced editors believe to be a BLP violation while other experience editors think it is not. --Guy Macon (talk) 20:16, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

(Could you please sign that, Guy.) I consider myself very uninvolved here. (I semiprotected the article once for a couple of weeks, that's all.) Just to place me in general, even if it does involve mentioning a user: I most often find myself in agreement with Alexbrn on fringe and pseudoscience pages. Not on the question of talking about "fraud" in this article, though. Fraud means "an act of deception carried out for the purpose of unfair, undeserved and/or unlawful gain". It implies dishonesty on the part of the person(s) perpetrating the fraud. Compare the quotes above. Bogus means "Counterfeit or fake; not genuine". "Not genuine" can, depending on context, sometimes imply deception (that would be the fake/counterfeit aspect), but doesn't necessarily do so. (I'm quoting the wiktionary definitions.) Fraud and bogus just aren't synonyms, to my sense. I feel strongly that the word "fraud" is a BLP violation, and shouldn't be used in the article. Shouldn't be used anywhere on Wikipedia unless deliberate deception has been proved, preferably in a court of law.
On the other hand, the quoted editorial from the European Physical Journal shouldn't be used either. The phrasing can't bear the weight put on it. Especially, it doesn't support any conclusion that the hydrino hypothesis is worthy of further scientific discussion, in my opinion. Saying so would be drawing a conclusion that the journal doesn't itself draw. Bishonen | talk 17:21, 6 September 2014 (UTC).
Just to be clear, I also don't think that the quoted editorial from the European Physical Journal bears the weight put on it or supports any conclusion that the hydrino hypothesis is worthy of further scientific discussion. I think that it should be referenced (and possibly *appropriately* quoted -- that's an editorial decision and not something a DRN volunteer should try to influence) in such a way that we end up with a purely neutral description of what the paper actually claims and a neutral description of the editorial and the notes pages, mentioning how uncommon such additional comments are. Nothing added, nothing implied, just a straight NPOV description. --Guy Macon (talk) 21:49, 6 September 2014 (UTC)
You might like to rewrite WP:SYNTH before promoting that idea. DRN volunteers should not inflame cases such as this article where a company promises to revolutionize physics and provide inexhaustible and cheap energy. Such topics do not warrant grasping-at-straws editorial comments on why a particular paper was published (are the journal editors experts on hydrinos?). It is reasonable to discuss whether "fraud" should be mentioned in the lead, but conflating an article on a company with BLP is not going to fly because the article does not assert than an individual committed fraud. Note that the "sure that it's a fraud" comment is attributed to an American physicist who won a Nobel Prize in Physics—that's not your average smear, and a very good reason would be need to omit it. Johnuniq (talk) 01:34, 7 September 2014 (UTC)
Everything in the article is correctly sourced and Blacklight is a company not a person. Nothing more needs to be said. Bhny (talk) 17:53, 7 September 2014 (UTC)
I have carefully considered all of the above arguments, and it is my considered opinion that the article in its present state clearly violates WP:IMPARTIAL. --Guy Macon (talk) 12:40, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
Guy, many thanks for taking the time to review the article and provide your feedback. I agree that there are many problems with the article as I have mentioned above. However, given that ArbComm has placed the article under discretionary sanctions, many editors are reluctant to edit the page and risk falling under these sanctions. For instance, User:Blippy has been cautioned for his behavior for simply trying to raise these issues. Do you have any guidance on how we can move forward? Ronnotel (talk) 13:07, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
So on the stated matter for which resolution was sought (the use of an editorial), the conclusion is ... ? Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 13:17, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
DRN cases don't actually have any "conclusions" other than the participants coming to an agreement or a compromise. In particular, the opinions of DRN volunteers like myself are, by design, non-authoritative and may be ignored without any consequences. That being said, DRN volunteers may make suggestions and administrators and users who have worked with us in the past often pay close attention to those suggestions.
If I had to close this case right now, I would draft up a recommendation that it be sent to ANI with a call for two or three uninvolved admins to look into this and possibly a few other pages involving some of the same editors. Fortunately, I don't have to make that decision now, and I am still holding on to the hope that with further discussion we can arrive at some compromise that is agreeable to all involved. --Guy Macon (talk) 15:18, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
  • Please note that Guy, the "uninvolved" volunteer has previously edited this article, and specifically has made edits in line with his recommendations here. For example, he states "I have looked over this page carefully, and it is my considered opinion that the editorial choices to include the terms "fraud" and especially "loser technology" show that ...". Well, of course he thinks that, because that's an edit he made before on the wikipedia article under discussion. [4]. His last edits on the talk page where June 2013 [5], and May 2013 [6]. Second Quantization (talk) 22:25, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
  • Before the above was pointed out, I honestly did not recall having edited that page two years ago. If I had, I would not have taken this case. Now that it has been pointed out, I am recusing myself and asking for another DRN volunteer to take over the case. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:37, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

Arbitrary break 2

Considering there is an WP:RSN thread on the core issue, this DRN discussion is redundant. If there was to be another DRN, it should take place at a later stage once reliability has been discussed at RSN. Second Quantization (talk) 23:10, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
Please note that the RSN discussion was started during an ongoing DRN case by one of the parties in the case. Do we want to set a precedent that says that anybody can shut down a DRN case by WP:FORUMSHOPING if they don't like the way things are going for them? --Guy Macon (talk) 16:12, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Apple Watch#Lacking_neutrality

– General close. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

An IP editor has continually added warning tags to the Apple Watch article, suggesting it is non-neutral and written like an advertisement because it does not include a section addressing positive and negative assessments of the product. Another editor (User:Zziccardi) and I have observed that the tone of the article is fine, it is not unduly promotional, and that it would be premature to include a substantive evaluation of the product, when it remains months from release. After all, no "reviews" exist at this point. Even so, this IP editor has made no effort to add this sort of information to the article, only the warning templates. Meanwhile, this IP editor has made various attacks on our motivations, accusing us of "deliberately misinterpret[ing] obscure rules" simply by citing guidelines to support our view that the templates are unnecessary.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Have tried to explain to the IP editor why the warning templates are unproductive and misapplied. We have tried discussing content with the other editor, but the IP seems more interested in an argument.

How do you think we can help?

Help to demonstrate if there is consensus that the warning templates are being incorrectly applied, are unproductive in this usage, and that the IP editor is behaving inappropriately by challenging our motives (for example, referring to us as "fanboys") rather than our interpretation of the content. A recommendation on whether this should go to a user conduct review would be appreciated as well.

Summary of dispute by Zziccardi

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

The overview of the dispute provided by WWB summarizes the situation well; however, I would like to add that he and I are not the only users to have participated in the discussion with the anonymous editor (or editors) on the article's talk page, and that a thorough review of the aforesaid talk page is absolutely necessary to understand the context in which the dispute occurred. I also feel compelled to link to my talk page, where WWB and I discussed the issue in private. Hopefully, our exchanges there prove useful in fairly evaluating the circumstances in question. Lastly, I should mention that several other editors have contributed to the article since the dispute took place, and that, especially as there is now a sizable section concerning initial reception of the smartwatch's announcement, the templates continuously appended by the anonymous editor(s) are doubtlessly irrelevant.

Feel free to contact me if any further input may be helpful.

Sincerely,

—zziccardi (talk) 20:34, 14 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by 89.217.6.18

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

If this whole dispute wasn't absurd already then it certainly is now. For the last four days, WWB and Zziccardi have been constantly trying to keep the article in its previously sugarcoated version which was exclusively written from Apple's perspective, even with a price tag in the introduction. The article was nothing more than blatant advertising (which they constantly denied). Various attempts to draw attention to this unacceptable state were repeatedly reverted by said users (call it shooting the messenger). More than ten other contributors that made edits in-between obviously agreed with the assessment because they left the templates in peace. Unlike the two said users, @SurferJimmy und @Owleaf took the templates seriously and added a new section that improved the article's quality considerably and eliminated the imbalance (to which I owe them many thanks).

Instead of finally closing the case after much needless discussion, WWB and Zziccardi ridiculed SurferJimmy's and Owleaf's work on the article's talk page, calling the additions "terrible" and "unsatisfactory", even threatening a "rewrite". It seems to me they can't stomach the idea that Apple's new gadget might be judged negatively in neutral sources. What are they actually trying to achieve with their stubborn behaviour? If they seriously want to revert the article back to its non-neutral state, they can forget about it right now. Any attempt to remove the "reception" section or to rewrite it in Apple's favour will be dealt with accordingly. If WWB and Zziccardi have issues with the wording of the additions, they can contact SurferJimmy and Owleaf (hopefully in a much more respectful manner). That's all I have to say. --84.227.252.1 (talk) 08:54, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Apple Watch#Lacking_neutrality discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

 Clerk note: I have notified Zziccardi (talk · contribs), and 89.217.6.18 (talk · contribs) of the discussion. Thanks --Acetotyce (talk) 19:44, 14 September 2014 (UTC)

  • Volunteer note: Hello and welcome to the Dispute resolution noticeboard. Before I check all the relevant criteria to accept this request I have noticed an issue I see immediately: "...it would be premature to include a substantive evaluation of the product". OK...then why do we even have an article now. All articles at Wikipedia must be written from a neutral point of view. To keep out negative criticism just because the item has not been "rolled out" is simply not a legitimate argument. Articles should not segregate either negative or positive comments and summaries as that would be undue weight, but keeping out negative criticism, even at this point is not neutral.--Mark Miller (talk) 20:14, 16 September 2014 (UTC)
I am not going to include the discussion on Zziccardi's talk page as discussion of the topic for DRN purposes. I get very uncomfortable when I see two editors discussing how many reverts they have left and how long before they should contact an administrator. That discussion is a stand alone and does not discuss how to improve the article but whether or not to revert again and how to seek DR. The discussion needs to continue on the talk page as it is not extensive enough for a request at DRN at this point. I also strongly advise that the next course of action be a neutrally written RFC. For these reasons I am closing this request for lack of extensive discussion and refer the case to formal RFC if editors cannot find common ground.--Mark Miller (talk) 20:35, 16 September 2014 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Rithvik_Dhanjani

– General close. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

Page in question - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rithvik_Dhanjani User Ponyo has twice reverted extensive additions citing promotions and puffery and accused my of receiving monetary gains, for editing articles. I want the profile for the actor updated. I had requested for profile additions earlier too. The TV section was quite incomplete and any additions I make keep getting deleted. If information is incomplete, material can be added, can be asked from me too. Not necessary to revert the entire work done twice.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Talk Page discussion, but that didn't help, user seems obstinate.

How do you think we can help?

Ask the user to consider my additions and verify and cross-check them, or ask me to add relevant and resources, instead of deleting and reverting them. That smacks of treating one particular page like a personal fiefdom.

Summary of dispute by Ponyo

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

User talk:Ponyo discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Russo-Ukrainian War

– General close. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

There is a "dispute", if one call it that, over whether the page Russo-Ukrainian War should be a disambiguation page or a redirect. My concerns are simple. Firstly, according to the guideline on disambiguation pages, these pages are only used when multiple articles exists at variants of the same exact title. So, for example, Glass (disambiguation) provides links to Glass (surname), Glass (band), &c. This is not the case here. We have no articles titled "Russo-Ukrainian War" anywhere, and for good reason. This "title" is not used at all to refer to the events specified by Niele, the other party in this dispute. At present, the supposed "disambiguation page" links to variety of articles. It makes a claim that there is a "1917–1921 Russo-Ukrainian War", which frankly doesn't exist. It lumps together two wars Ukrainian–Soviet War and Ukrainian War of Independence in an WP:OR manner that is not supported by sources. These wars are never called "Russo-Ukrainian War" (in any form), with maybe one or two random exceptions. In fact, it is important to note that a redirect from "Russo-Ukrainian War" to those articles never existed in the history of Wikipedia until Niele made-up his "disambiguation page", proving that the name is about as low on the notability totem pole as could be.

As far as Russian invasion of Ukraine (2014), the original title of that article, which was essentially a PoV fork of War in Donbass, was Russo-Ukrainian War. When that page was moved, a redirect was left behind. This is the redirect that Niele later made into a "disambiguation page". Only some few WP:FRINGE outlets and WP:SOAPy opinion pieces use the term "Russo-Ukrainian War" for the present situation in Ukraine. However, I would say that that is enough to warrant a redirect, which is why it was left behind. That's why I tried to restore the redirect. This page is clearly not a disambiguation page, for there is nothing to disambiguate. There are no articles Russo-Ukrainian War (2014) and Russo-Ukrainian War (1917–21). The early 20th century wars are never called "Russo-Ukrainian War", and anyway, even if they were, the WP:DAB guidelines make clear that the proper solution would be a hatnote, not a disambiguation page.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Sadly, I was forced to go to WP:AN/I, as Niele decided to attack me for my supposed "political affiliations". That thread didn't go anywhere. I've attempted to discuss it on the talk page, but he is stalwart. This seems like the last resort to solving this rather trivial, but quite annoying matter.

How do you think we can help?

Assess my assessment of the disambiguation policy, and whether or not this page qualifies as a disambiguation page.

Summary of dispute by Niele

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Summary of dispute by Alsee

Should Russo-Ukrainian War be a disambiguation page, a redirect, or deleted.

If my understanding of Wikipedia policies is in error on this subject, I will gladly defer to the correct policies on this matter. My understanding of Wikipedia Policy is that the page should not exist at all as Google News search indicates that the term "Russo-Ukrainian War" is actively not being applied to this topic, and because the term is not used in the Article(s) that it would point to. If and when nontrivial News Sources use the term "Russo-Ukrainian War" I believe a redirect would be proper. If and when News Source predominately use "Russo-Ukrainian War" it may be appropriate to move Russian invasion of Ukraine (2014) to that page. However I have never participated in Russian invasion of Ukraine (2014), nor do I anticipate becoming involved. Alsee (talk) 18:04, 16 September 2014 (UTC)

I believe Dispute Resolution may be preferable to trying to re-tag the page for AfD consideration when previous tags had been reverted. Alsee (talk) 18:15, 16 September 2014 (UTC)

Russo-Ukrainian War discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

I was filing for AFD, unaware that this dispute was being simultaneously submitted. Widefox now has the page tagged for speedy delete, on much clearer grounds than I was giving for AFD. I suspect this Dispute resolution is moot. Alsee (talk) 11:37, 13 September 2014 (UTC)

The db-g6 deletion-procedure should only be asserted for non-controversial maintenance.
It speaks for itself that this is a controversial issue and not a non-controversial maintanance-issue.
Therefor I ask that this move will be ondone.--Niele (talk) 11:51, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
I also do stand by the point I made that effords to hide, deny and downplay of the large and proven involvment of Russia in this war is disturbing to many Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, civilians that died in this war. I regret that a user is taking this as a personal attack instead of trying to undertand the sensitivity a'm trying to explain of this matter.--Niele (talk) 11:51, 13 September 2014 (UTC)--Niele (talk) 11:38, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
The terms 2014 "Russo-Ukrainian War" OR 2014 "Russian-Ukrainian War" OR 2014 "Російсько-українська війна" give 872 results on google news. This is a significant number. I regret that the disambiguation is again cleared, before consensus is reached on the talk page or a deletion discussion page. The clearing of the page results in confusion for many people who use this term. The term Russo-Ukrainian war was also removed earlier on the first line of the page 'War in Donbass' '(also known as the War in Ukraine or War in Eastern Ukraine) ' without discussion on the talk page beceause of political motives of trying to hide/deny the proven prominent involvment of Russia in this war. I request that the person who cleared the disambiguation page, restores his/her move before a consensus is reached.--Niele (talk) 11:51, 13 September 2014 (UTC)--Niele (talk) 11:48, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
Separating this conflation into two issues 1. article content issue and 2. disambiguation:
  • 1. The article content issue of using the term in an article should be done at each of the article(s), as argued for above with WP:RS and consensus all per standard content procedures (which are under AC/DS). Niele should refrain from having that offtopic discussion at the dab page or dab talk page.
  • 2. The dab page has 0 entries (all proposed entries fail WP:DABMENTION - the term is not used in any article), so deletion is uncontroversial maintenance per our guideline, all standard procedure. Editors of dab pages are informed to familiarise themselves with the style guide, so I repeat suggestion for Niele to read WP:MOSDAB (I've posted a user warning for incorrect edits to a dab page on that editors talk to aid that).
Editors that refuse to listen and continue disruption and spread to different forums is another issue. I note that Niele has only just been given the AC/DS user notification. Widefox; talk 09:26, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
Niele, please drop the accusations of "political motives". It is not my place to name this conflict. It is not your place to name this conflict. I will support Wikipedia calling it the Russian-Ukrainian War as soon as there's a significant pattern of English language Reliable Sources using the term. Google News for 2014 "Russo-Ukrainian War" OR 2014 "Russian-Ukrainian War" gives 10 results. A minimum of four of those results are saying the term is NOT currently applied. The remainder include blog posts, a self-published thinktank(?), and incredibly obscure translations of foreign language sources. If you want to Right Great Wrongs you need to take your argument to CNN and the New York Times. Alsee (talk) 03:27, 16 September 2014 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Talk:Ebola virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa#Semi-protected_edit_request_on_28_August_2014

Dispute resolved successfully. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

For the past 1.5 weeks I have repeatedly tried to inform the editors of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa page that their cumulative case/death figures under the Timeline of the Outbreak section recently included erroneous interpretations of WHO press releases.

I attempted again at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Ebola_virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa#Aug_28_and_Sept_5_WHO_Updates to address another erroneous addition to the Timeline section and was simply ignored.

Directly from the WHO press release: "Data reported in the Disease Outbreak News are based on official information reported by Ministries of Health."

If one reads the actual reports from the Ministries of Health, they'll see that the figures posted on the wikipedia page for Aug 26th and Sept 5th are wrong, and reflect earlier dates.

In the absence of any WHO or CDC sources that accurately report the Aug 26th or Sept 5th number (since the section specifically uses WHO or CDC sources only), both of those rows should simply be eliminated. It is clear that the WHO does not intend cumulative cases "as of [day X]" to always be interpreted as including day X. Rather, it can also be interpreted as only including figures from the Ministry of Health reports released as of the specified date.

Since numerous statisticians are basing their projections off the numbers given by the WHO and by this particular wikipedia page, I think it's prudent to amend the error.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Repeatedly tried to engage any of the editors on the talk page.

How do you think we can help?

When a self-admitted secondary source erroneously interprets figures, from the publicly available primary sources, as represented "as of" a particular date, it seems pretty clear that it should be removed from the wikipedia page.

Summary of dispute by Arjayay

I refused the initial ESP request, made on 28 August, as the reason given in the request was "because the report cited doesn't actually specify the time period" whereas " the 28 August report clearly states "As of 26 August 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the four countries stands at 3 069" "

I was not involved in any of the subsequent discussion, but there seems to have been a certain amount of original research and/or synthesis taking figures from one source, and comparing them with another, rather than actually quoting the cited figures.

I would, however, like to know the reliable source of the statement made by User:Blehair, above, that "numerous statisticians are basing their projections off the numbers given by the WHO and by this particular wikipedia page" (my underlining), as any statistician basing their projections on a Wikipedia page, should be named and shamed - Arjayay (talk) 15:01, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by BrianGroen

As for the 26 August there are two sources both from (WHO) stating as off date : As of 26 August 2014

1. http://www.who.int/csr/don/2014_08_28_ebola/en/ listed here states as of 26 August

2. http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-programmes/dpc/epidemic-a-pandemic-alert-and-response/outbreak-news/4264-ebola-virus-disease-update-west-africa-28-august-2014.html

"As of 26 August 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the four countries stands at 3069, including 1552 deaths. The distribution and classification of the cases are as follows: Guinea, 647 cases (482 confirmed, 141 probable, and 25 suspected), including 430 deaths; Liberia, 1378 cases (322 confirmed, 674 probable, and 382 suspected), including 694 deaths; Nigeria, 17 cases (13 confirmed, 1 probable, and 3 suspected), including 6 deaths; and Sierra Leone, 1026 cases (935 confirmed, 37 probable, and 54 suspected), including 422 deaths."

As for the 5 September there is one source from (WHO) stating as at date: as at 5 September 2014

1. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/5-september-2014-en.pdf?ua=1

"Total number of probable, confirmed, and suspected cases in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone as at 5 September 2014"

Total number of probable, confirmed and suspected cases and deaths in Nigeria and Senegal as at 5 September 2014

In my opinion the 26 August figures are correct. With regards to 5 September figures it is not unlikely that the results might have jumped drastically in one day, but since it is not stated as off, but rather as at this figures could be called into question. My opinion on this result might have been hastily drawn up by WHO in the Geneva meeting and it is likely that the date is incorrect. Kind Regards Brian BrianGroen (talk) 06:25, 10 September 2014 (UTC)


"Data reported are based on official information reported by Ministries of Health. These numbers are subject to change due to ongoing reclassification, retrospective investigation and availability of laboratory results."
This is an extract from WHO report. I can honestly not say why there is a discrepancy in totals ( i can only presume they use their own figures from the field workers as well) but i agree on the 5 September numbers not being correct. (this date looks to be 3 September instead.) My only opinion on this if we use individual reports we will have the same erratic data that were in the beginning stages of the Timeline and multiple reference files. BrianGroen (talk) 14:21, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

Hi Blehair. I spent the whole day looking at the numbers. The date on the Who site is wrong for 26 August as well as the numbers. Found sit/rep 1 from WHO stating date as 25 August. With Regards to Sit/rep two the date of the report is 5 Sept, but the case load correlate with 3 Sept. Hence i changed the date. I have e-mailed Afro Who to get clarity but i don't expect a response soon. Regards BrianGroen (talk) 18:42, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Gandydancer

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Talk:Ebola virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa#Semi-protected_edit_request_on_28_August_2014 discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

 Clerk note: I have notified Arjayay (talk · contribs), BrianGroen (talk · contribs) and Gandydancer (talk · contribs). Thanks --Acetotyce (talk) 22:00, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Not entirely sure what it means for a volunteer to open the discussion. Regardless, because BrianGroen did not actually address the points listed under the section Semi-protected edit request on 28 August 2014 of the talk page, I think a swift response is needed. Not sure why it didn't link in my original dispute form, so the oversight is understandable, the #... part of the link got removed for some reason. Whatever happened, it can be found here.

All WHO updates, aside from the ones listed under the Timeline of the Outbreak section for Aug 26th, Sept 5th, and Sept 6th, are within around 10 or less of the reported figure from the Ministries of Health. In the link provided earlier, I present the primary sources for the Aug 24th figures, which were 3 off the reported WHO figure for Aug 26th, rather than 81 off.

There is a pattern by the WHO to use "as at" or "as of" interchangeably, to mean either figures as of that date, or figures reported as of that date. Even in BrianGroen's link for the Sept 5th figure, they said "...West Africa was 3685, with 1841 deaths, as at 31 August." That figure was accurately attributed to the 3 major countries affected for Aug 31st. In addition, BrianGroen's 2 links for the Aug 26th figure are the exact same press release from the WHO. In fact, I've tried contacting those from the afro.who.int, and none of their emails work.

Further, in the link provided for the Sept 6th figure under the Timeline section, the WHO specified that Liberia's figures for Sept 6th are not included, and so it is misleading for us to list it under the Timeline section as if it were. "For Liberia, information is as of 5 September 2014."

I simply think it would be wise to double check all WHO reports with the primary sources that they are drawing their figures from. The WHO has demonstrated an inconsistency with how they use and interpret "as of" or "as at", and it has resulted in 3 of the last 4 updates under the Timeline section to be incorrectly listed. Blehair (talk) 08:05, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

At the stage of the talk discussion i was not involved in the table there fore i did not comment. BrianGroen (talk) 14:23, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

Administrative note: DRN is not a place for continued non-moderated discussion. Please use the article talk page for that. Therefore, no further discussion (here) please until a DRN volunteer has formally accepted the case for moderation. Thanks.-- — Keithbob • Talk • 15:31, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

Administrative question: It appears that User:Gandydancer has chosen not to participate in this process. Do the participants feel it would still be valuable to have a moderated discussion here at DRN even without GD's particpation? Please respond below. Thank you.-- — Keithbob • Talk • 17:24, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
I believe Blehair and I have come to consensus about the sources and we are implementing his point of view. I also now support the notion in the absence or Factually correct case/fatality rate report we will use respective governments case numbers. As well as fix mistakes clearly visible on WHO reports. BrianGroen (talk) 14:02, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
I second this. Blehair (talk) 20:20, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
I'm fine with whatever they decide. I have taken no part in the reporting of cases either in the article or on the talk page. Gandydancer (talk) 20:26, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
  • Volunteer note: it appears that user Arjayay was not actually involved and only asked a question for clarification above and that is outside the scope of DRN. With the involved particpants seeming to have reached a consensus I am closing this request as "resolved".--Mark Miller (talk) 21:56, 16 September 2014 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Talk:Praveen Togadia#Non_notable_controversy

– General close. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

Praveen Togadia is a Hindu nationalist leader who is a medical doctor by profession. Due to his alleged involvement in 2002 Gujarat riots, a group of doctors petitioned the Medical Council of India to revoke his medical license. An editor has asked for this material to be deleted from the article on the grounds that the petitioning group is not notable and no action has been taken on the petition. We request a dispute resolution.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Asked for a Third Opinion, which was declined because there were already 3 active participants in the discussion.

How do you think we can help?

Assess the criteria claimed for the material's deletion.

Summary of dispute by Bladesmulti

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Summary of dispute by Vanamonde93

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Summary of dispute by AmritasyaPutra

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Talk:Praveen Togadia#Non_notable_controversy discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Lviv

– General close. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

Refusal to follow the Gdansk rule precedent, condoning ethnic cleansing, and general antipolinism. It appears that there is one rule in Wikipedia for using the historical name of present day Polish cities which had been German before WWII, and another rule for the cities of Second Polish Republic from which Poles were ethnically cleansed by Stalin and other antipolinist nationalists. Rather than following the Gdansk rule precedent which has been used in Gdansk, and Wroclaw, there is hostility by other editors to the Gdansk rule in Wiki: NAME It is not seriously disputed that from 1340 to 1944 the city had a a majority population of Polish speakers comprised of a plurality of ethnic Poles combined with large numbers of Polish Jews, but certain editors object to usage of the Polish name Lwów during this long history prior to forced Soviet deportations and annexation.

Edit to note that the action of the named editors also violated Wiki Reasonability Rule: "Consensus occurs only when the community as a whole agree that a particular action or presentation is reasonable in nature... Similarly, it would be unreasonable for an apparent consensus to form that would be contrary to Wikipedia policies (for example, insisting that a material fact is contrary to that presented in reliable sources)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reasonability_Rule Here these editors have unreasonably decided to have a separate rule for cities of the Second Polish Republic from which ethnic Poles were deported to pre-WWII German lands than in the formerly German cities to which they were sent. This is unreasonable. It is also discriminatory. Lwów, Wilno, and other formerly Polish cities are the opposite side of the same coin as the formerly German cities which are now Gdansk, Wroclaw, and Szczecin. There is no objective reason given for the different treatment.

Per Wiki:NAME, Treatment of alternative names, "There is also no reason why alternative names cannot be used in article text, in contexts where they are more appropriate than the name used as the title of the article.": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Article_titles#Treatment_of_alternative_names Yet these authors, who do not contest that the Polish name of Lwów is more appropriate than other names during times of Polish sovereignty, or perhaps other names at other times. (Edits using the German name of "Lemberg were also deleted.) They simply refuse to follow the rule, and want to edit war because I invoked it.

Also, the discussion to which they wish to rely is a reactionary statement from Taivo that "This is a Ukrainian city and its Ukrainian name is the title of the article. Its Ukrainian name should be preserved throughout the article." Some, including a Ukrainian nationalist contributor who prefers to refer to the Eastern lands of pre-war Poland as "occupied Western Ukraine", agreed with Taivo. The rationalizations for not following the Gdansk rule is that it is too messy or confusing to use other more appropriate names.

In fact, there is nothing messy or confusing about the postwar history of Lwów. Over 100,000 ethnic Poles were forcibly deported Westward from Lwów after the city was annexed without their consent or their government's while thousands more who served in the Polish military were unable to return to their homeland. It would be difficult to find a clearer case of mass anti-polinism than this. In the modern world we call the forced deportation of a civilian population a crime against humanity. and it is against the Geneva conventions. (I didn't use the term genocide, although the Ukrainian nationalists in the larger area did participate in genocide against Jews and ethnic Poles.) These editors are using their subjective judgment of "messy" and "confusing" to actually obscure a crime against humanity. It is unreasonable, and unacceptable.

[Edit to note that I have no issues with Xx236, who appears to be on my side in this dispute.]


— Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.116.54.47 (talk) 05:27, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Talk page.

How do you think we can help?

Uniform application of the Gdansk rule and precedent, and the involvement of more neutral editors.

Summary of dispute by Taivo

There is no "Gdansk rule", there is only a "Gdansk option". Naming in any individual article is not based on an invariable rule, but upon local consensus. The existing consensus for naming Lviv through history is to use the current name "Lviv". The anonymous IP who is pushing to use the older, Polish name for the Polish era (but inexplicably ignores the Russian name for the Soviet era and the German name for the Austro-Hungarian era), has done nothing whatsoever to build a consensus on the Talk Page, but has resorted to falsely calling the Gdansk option an invariable "rule". --Taivo (talk) 16:57, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

It is also worth noting that other formerly Polish cities in western Ukraine follow Lviv's example. Rivne, for example, is "Rivne" throughout and doesn't switch between Równe and Rovno. Lutsk is also "Lutsk" throughout and doesn't alternate with Łuck. Even more to the point, Uzhhorod is known as "Uzhhorod" throughout and not "Uzhgorod" or "Ungvár", despite the fact that until WWII up to 80% of the city's population was Hungarian. The suggestion that this amounts to genocide is rather extraordinary, to say the least. --Taivo (talk) 01:55, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Xx236

I understand that I have to start 500 votes regarding names of former Polish places and institutions and it's quite probable that I'll loose all of them because Polish editors aren't active here.
There exists the problem of nationalistic (including Polish) content in this Wikipedia in general and in this article specifically.
If such perfect consens exists since one year why doesn't the article apply it?

Xx236 (talk) 06:56, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Pichpich

Editors of the article on Gdansk were locked in a bitter dispute for quite some time which was resolved by a fairly simple rule: use Gdańsk in the title and in the rest of the article except in the history sections where the German name Danzig makes more sense (Danzig is also used in the lead sentence). This case is cited as an example in the policy WP:NAME but it is not prescribed as a rule despite claims to the contrary. It merely notes (very wisely, I think) that "There is also no reason why alternative names cannot be used in article text, in contexts where they are more appropriate than the name used as the title of the article". Discussions about the use of Lviv vs. Lvov vs. Lwow has been discussed many times on the talk page and in particular during a one-year old compromise that reads as follows:

  • Reduce the number of times the city is named in the history section
  • Use Lviv throughout when the city must be named
  • In the first sentence, whenever the name changes due to a change in ownership, the form of the name in the ruling power's language (Lviv > Lwów > Lemberg [1795] > Lwów [1919] > Lvov [1939] > Lviv [1991]) is noted in a parenthetical note after "Lviv"

This is different from the solution used in Gdańsk but it does follow the spirit of WP:NAME's suggestion to use alternative names in the article. I prefer this consensus as I think it avoids any confusion and increases readability.

Let me finally note that it's absurd to equate this choice with an anti-Polish slant or as condoning ethnic cleansing. Pichpich (talk) 20:03, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Lviv discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

Hello. I am a volunteer here at the Dispute Resolution Noticeboard. Before beginning the discussion, there are a couple of things to note. Firstly, volunteers here have no special powers and abilities to enforce a particular course of action. Secondly, please respect all parties involved and assume good faith. Thirdly, the DR/N is not a place to discuss user conduct. Issues concerning user conduct, including accusations of pushing a particular POV, should be taken elsewhere.

With that, let us move onto the dispute. It is my understanding that the issue being discussed is the usage of alternative names in the history section. I'm assuming that there are no disputes concerning the usage of 'Lviv' for the title or any other section (e.g. Government). It is also my understanding that the city has had different names throughout history, which includes Lwów. Is this correct? Please respond below. KJ Discuss? 10:45, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Lviv has had four relevant historical names, three of which are simply linguistic variants of the same name: Lviv (Ukrainian, the modern name), Lvov (Russian, during the Soviet period, Lwów (Polish, during the centuries when Poland controlled the city), and Lemberg (German, during the Austro-Hungarian period before WWI). These names have had differing amounts of international usage in English. Ultimately, the issue is all about usage in English, particularly contemporary English. Many, many articles in Wikipedia use a single modern English name throughout the article for clarity to our modern readers. I haven't done a count, but I daresay that the vast majority of articles on cities follow that practice. But of particular relevance to Lviv are the articles that cover western Ukrainian cities such as Rivne, Uzhhorod, Lutsk, which have changed hands one or more times in the last two centuries. Uzhhorod, for example, started the 20th century in Austro-Hungarian hands, then became (in succession) Czechoslovakian, Hungarian, Soviet, and finally Ukrainian. During most of that period it had a majority Hungarian population (Ungvár is its Hungarian name). Yet rather than changing its reference name in the History section to match the owner at the time of the event being described, or using Ungvár for the long period where the majority of the population was Hungarian, Wikipedia uses "Uzhhorod" throughout for ease of reference to ease the job on the reader. The "Gdansk option" (it is not a rule as the anon IP would like you to think) has not been used in any other article on a Ukrainian city (that I can find) for that reason--keeping things simple for the reader. --Taivo (talk) 17:04, 9 September 2014 (UTC)
@Kkj11210 I think you're aware of this but just in case, let me point out that the current dispute (insofar as I understand it) is only about the use in the history section. However, both the title and the use of alternative names in the lead section have been discussed periodically on the talk page starting in 2004 (!!!) and as recently as April 2014. The current use in the history section follows the conclusion of a fairly civil discussion in August 2013. Pichpich (talk) 18:21, 9 September 2014 (UTC)
As a followup to my comment about changing names in Ukrainian city histories, I looked at Dnipropetrovsk. This is a case of a city that has remained under Russian/Soviet/Ukrainian control since it was founded as Yekaterinoslav in the 18th century. In the history writeup, the original Russian name "Yekaterinoslav" is used until the city was renamed "Dnepropetrovsk" after the Soviets took control of Ukraine. However, that original name is always shown in italics. After the city was renamed, only "Dnipropetrovsk" (the Ukrainian form) is used, never the Russian form. --Taivo (talk) 18:50, 9 September 2014 (UTC)
keeping things simple for the reader is a speculation, we don't know why.Xx236 (talk) 06:27, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
Dnipropetrovsk uses the formula The city that is now called Dnipropetrovsk. The article follows the Gdańs/Danzig logic.
Vilnius: The city was first mentioned in written sources in 1323 but we don't know under which name. Xx236 (talk) 06:34, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
Xx236, I mentioned Dnipropetrovsk because it varies the "Gdansk option" by italicizing one of the historical names and not including all historical variants. At Gdańsk, that is not the case. However, the great majority of city articles still do not follow the Gdansk option--whether italicizing the name or not--and that goes for Ukrainian cities as well. "Dnipropetrovsk" is not "Dnepropetrovsk" during the writeup of the Soviet era. Indeed, the reason why Yekaterinoslav is used at all in the Dnipropetrovsk writeup is because it is not simply a linguistic variant of the same name (as Lviv, Lvov, and Lwów are), but a different name entirely. Keeping things simple for the reader is one of the fundamental principles that always have to guide writing in Wikipedia. Using one name for a city, or, at the least, marking alternate names somehow (as italics does at Dnipropetrovsk), is our job. --Taivo (talk) 08:53, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

OK, I think the focus of the debate is pretty clear. I think that we all agree on the facts presented above. @76.116.54.47: Some questions for you. Is it your belief that the article should use alternative names throughout the history only to conform to the Gdansk vote? Please note that the apparent consensus on the talk page, mentions alternative names in the first sentence in each part of history when ownership has been changed, and is maintaining this practice as far as I can see. Do you believe only the alternative names should be used for the corresponding time period? KJ Discuss? 9:25, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

The point is not to enforce the Gdansk precedent because it is the rule. The relevant distinction is that the change in names throughout the cities history is reflective of the changing political and/or cultural forces which shaped the cities history. The discussion starts with a conclusion, which is supported by editors who think that following the Gdansk rule is pushing a Polish POV, and then (some of them) come to the subjective conclusion that the Gdansk rule is too messy and confusing for the reader. Nowhere was there a discussion about using the best name "in contexts where they are more appropriate than the name used as the title of the article" relevant to the dominant political powers and ethnic groups. This group just decided to short circuit that process, and based upon the subjective views of a small number of editors, now claim that the discussion has closed.
Furthermore, there are no special Wiki rules for Ukraine and present day Ukrainian cities. If our Ukrainian editors want to create their own online Ukrainian reference, they can call all of the cities in Modern Ukraine by Ukrainian names. The status quo to which Taivo refers is the result of these pages being dominated by editors, intentionally of subconsciously, with a Ukrainian POV. If there is confusion about the cultural changes in many cities of present day Western, it is because the editors of those pages have failed to address the post-war forced population deportations. (Read the comments on the cited Uzhhorod/Ungvár page about what happened to the Hungarian population of that city which before WWI was over 80% Hungarian.) The editors have an obligation to respect the dominant cultures which shaped these cities, as had been done in Gdansk, Wroclaw, and Szczecin by using the appropriate name for the city. The inconvenient truth is that before Stalin's crimes against humanity, Ukrainian culture was not dominate in the cities of the region. There is a connection here, and by refusing to follow the Gdansk rule precedent, this inconvenient truth is obscured.2601:B:8F00:7B3:993A:8D8:FB98:2697 (talk) 14:41, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
Your comments might be a nice nod to Polish history, but they ignore the fundamental problem that readers have in identifying what is being talked about when the name of a city changes paragraph by paragraph. It has nothing whatsoever to do with genocide or deportations--that is irrelevant to the issue of what to call a city in Wikipedia's narrative. It has everything to do with the ease with which readers can use our encyclopedia. Today the city is called "Lviv". It is called "Lviv" through the majority of the text. Switching the name from Lviv to Lwów to Lemberg back to Lwów to Lvov and finally back to Lviv makes no sense and makes comprehensibility to the reader difficult. --Taivo (talk) 15:07, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
The Gdansk Rule precedent is very clear. There is no reason not to use the most appropriate name for the city. Despite the clear wording of the rule, our Ukrainian editors have invented a reason to do otherwise. Whether or not these editors agree with the Gdansk rule is irrelevant. It remains the rule and it needs to be administered fairly, and without discrimination. It is unlikely that those not pushing a Ukrainian POV will agree with this novel loophole. I don't know if it is completely necessary to include Lvov or Lemberg too much if creating confusion was the issue, but there was never the appropriate discussion about this topic. (Undoubtedly, those who object to using Lwów over Lemberg for the Hapsburg era may not want to compare the treatment of Slavic cities elsewhere in Hapsburg lands on WP with regard to German vs. Slavic names. (cf. Brno, Ostrava, České Budějovice, etc.)) Avoiding reference to the city as Lwów, when the old city was built during Polish rule and during the Second Polish republic is completely unreasonable. 2601:B:8F00:7B3:74E7:17E1:E1C5:69E6 (talk) 03:06, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
No personal attacks
(Please learn how to edit without disrupting the formatting of the page.)
There is no such thing as the "Gdansk Rule". It is not a rule. That has been the fundamental flaw in your argument all along. You want to simply push an option on us by calling it an invariable rule. It is no such thing. It was the solution in one specific article that editors may employ in other pages, but are not required to employ. I've said this multiple times on the Talk Page, but you continue to ignore the simple fact that there is no rule, there is only an option. The fundamental issue is, and always will be, readability and usability. --Taivo (talk) 03:35, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
@2601:B:8F00:7B3:74E7:17E1:E1C5:69E6: As the DRN volunteer, I must agree with Tavio concerning the interpretation of the Gdansk Vote. The Gdansk Vote is not a rule (i.e. neither policy or guideline) and is not intended to enforced in any other pages besides the page currently known as Gdańsk. Furthermore, Rules and policies are not supposed to be blindly enforced but efficiently adopted with the appropriate level of consensus, which is what we're here for. There also has been a previous discussion and consensus concerning the name to be used in the article, but consensus can change. Do you have any other arguments besides the Gdansk vote? KJ Discuss? 05:05, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
You are not correct. The Gdansk rule applies on all other pages that share a common Polish-German history: 'For Gdansk and other locations that share a history between Germany and Poland, the first reference of one name in an article should also include a reference to other names, e.g. Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) or Gdańsk (Danzig). An English language reference that primarily uses this name should be provided on the talk page if a dispute arises.' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wroc%C5%82aw This includes other cities, e.g., Szczecin, Wroclaw, Poznan, etc., and also biographies. The rule is there and the precedent has been set for places with changing political or cultural dominance. Even if we assume that the rule is not binding in itself in former Polish cities in the East, there is still the issue of reasonableness of having separate rules for Ukraine and discriminatory treatment of Polish history. (Poland is distinguishable from Hungary, or Romania in that Poland never allied itself with the Nazis, unlike the Soviets and Ukrainian Nationalists.) The relevant consensus is the larger Wiki community and not the ability of those with a certain nationalistic bias on individual pages to create local exceptions simply because they are dominating certain pages.2601:B:8F00:7B3:406C:E72A:7029:86B2 (talk) 15:37, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
How does Lwów not share a common Polish-German history? The Poles fought the German who occupied the area in WWII, along with the Nazi allied Ukrainian nationalists. The Gdansk rule clearly applies in Lwów. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:B:8F00:7B3:789D:5BB8:66D2:62D (talk) 17:41, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
I too must stress that there is no such thing as a Gdańsk rule. I also feel that people are way too sensitive about the whole matter. I don't understand how one can seriously suggest that changing half a dozen Lwów into Lviv is akin to "obscuring the inconvenient truth [of Stalin's crimes against humanity]" and that supporting the current naming can only be the result of (at best) a subconscious Ukrainian POV. If the objective is to stress the Soviet-forced Polish emigration after WWII, the solution is simple: add good solid material in the relevant section. The actual name used has little to with it. Pichpich (talk) 18:46, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
@2601:B:8F00:7B3:74E7:17E1:E1C5:69E6: Let me clarify. What I meant was that the sections of the vote clearly only referencing the Gdansk article does not generalize into other articles (e.g. 'For Gdańsk, use the name Danzig between 1308 and 1945' would not be a general statement to be applied to other articles). As for the section you have mentioned, 'the first reference of one name in an article' does 'include a reference to other names.' See both the introductory sentence as well as Lviv#Names. Can we all agree that the Gdansk vote is followed on the Lviv article? KJ Discuss? 22:43, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
I'm confused by what you just wrote. Lviv does not follow the Gdansk Option since it doesn't switch between Lwów and Lviv in the History section. Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your comment. --Taivo (talk) 22:54, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
I'm talking about referring to other names with the first reference in the article. That appears to be the only general rule in the vote. Can we agree that that is the case for this article? KJ Discuss? 00:27, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

A note: the IP prefaces his comment with an inaccuracy: " It is not seriously disputed that from 1340 to 1944 the city had a a majority population of Polish speakers comprised of a plurality of ethnic Poles combined with large numbers of Polish Jews" I doubt that when Poles took the town in 1349 (not 1340) it instantly became majority Polish. The original Eastern Slavic inhabitants always lived there even after they were eventually outnumbered. But this is irrelvant anyways - English usage is what counts. The city was referred to by its Latin name (Leopolis) in English documents prior to Austrian rule, then Lemberg, then Lwow, then Lvov and now Lviv. It seems confusing indeed to keep switching the terminology. A single sentence at the beginning of the section ("Called Lwow during this period) should be sufficient, without referring to different names throughout.Faustian (talk) 23:07, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

I agree. Start the various sections with a comment that "It was called Lwów/Lemberg/Lvov during this period" and then continue to use Lviv for ease of reference and consistency. --Taivo (talk) 00:12, 12 September 2014 (UTC)
Considering that Faustian prefers to refer to this area as "occupied Western Ukraine" in the Bandera page, it is not surprising that he continues to make incorrect factual assertions without a reliable source about the ethnic history of a city which at its earliest period as a fortified settlement had a majority ethnic German population. (This page is about the history of city, not the peasants in the countryside.) It is also not surprising that he will dispute that a Polish Piast prince of Mazovia, Boleslaw Yuri II, ruled Galicia and Lviv from 1323 until his death in 1340. While he considers the rich historical cultural diversity of the city irrelevant, English usage only applies to the name of the article. The issue here is what name is most appropriate for corresponding time periods. It is good to note the name of city at the beginning of each historical period. Distraction for the reader can be reduced by limiting the number of times that the formal name is used. However, whenever the city is named it needs to refer to the appropriate name for the city during that time period, as with the Gdansk/Danzig precedent. This emphasizes the cultural diversity of the city and gives fair credit to the dominant cultures that created it. 85.154.245.172 (talk) 02:12, 15 September 2014 (UTC)
The IP claimed about me:"Faustian prefers to refer to this area as "occupied Western Ukraine" in the Bandera page." My statement on the Bandera talk page: "Well, Poland captured East Galicia from the West Ukrainian People's Republic in a war, not democratic referendum, and census data indicate that this region was majority Ukrainian (over 60%, per Snyder) so occupied might be technically correct. However I removed the word because it's not essential to the article or lead and there's no reason for distracting conflict." I suspect the IP, who rather than address the point attacks me for presenting it (by skewing my actual position, no less) is trying to battleground this issue.Faustian (talk) 03:07, 17 September 2014 (UTC)
Readability and comprehensibility are far more important than "fair credit" when that "fair credit" is unnecessary and diminishes readability. The principle of mentioning the appropriate historical name (Lemberg, Lvov, Lwów) in the first sentence after switching ownership and then continuing to use one reference name for the remainder of the discussion in that time period is far superior to confusing the reader by a plethora of historical names meandering through the text. There are more articles (not just in Ukraine but throughout Wikipedia) that use one name throughout rather than switching names when a new owner took over. --Taivo (talk) 02:22, 15 September 2014 (UTC)
Danzig/Gdańsk vote result diminished readability. Xx236 (talk) 06:16, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

24 hour closing notice Given that it's been 5 days since a user last commented on this discussion, I am inclined to close this discussion with a general close. @76.116.54.47:, @Taivo:, @Xx236:, @Pichpich: Do you have any comments or wish to continue the discussion? KJ Discuss? 22:25, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Talk:Traxon Technologies

– General close. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

Editors always emphasis the wikipage is not notable and has to be closed, while I am providing citing source and support to my arguements.

Traxon and OSRAM clearly are two different legal entities. Both articles have much information and merging them would result in a generic article, or a very long one (both should be avoided). Traxon and OSRAM have different company visions, in which Traxon is a specialized company on solid state lighting. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rimsky.cheng (talk • contribs) 10:38, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

The main argument is whether the company is notable or not notable here. Thus I found it necessary to add evidences and multiple sources to support the argument why Traxon Technologies should be an independent entity. On the contrary there are nothing to support the argument when the redirects are done. I always assume good faith among editors since this is one of the founding principle of wikipedia, and I will never judge people by their actions. Thanks. Rimsky.cheng (talk) 01:19, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

I see that wikipedia tag me as volunteer, in which I am NOT volunteer in this dispute. I apply for volunteer since I would like to volunteer to moderate for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Dispute_resolution_noticeboard#War_of_the_Pacific

I already talked to keithbob here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Keithbob#War_of_the_Pacific, awaiting his response. Thanks. Rimsky.cheng (talk) 13:46, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Try to find more evidences and information to support my point of view. The problem is, the editor do not provide evidence for its arguement.

How do you think we can help?

Judge whether there should be an independent page for Traxon Technologies, which is a subsidy of OSRAM but is a very specialised company which focus on solid state lighting which deserve an article of its own.

Summary of dispute by C.Fred

The issue I see is that an article, with no independent sources and that would have been speedy-deletable under WP:CSD#A7, was posted on 19 September 2014. Rather than speedy delete the article, I turned it back to a redirect to the parent company. (Had it not been a subsidiary, I would have deleted the article.)

There is an expanded version of the article that was posted on 21 September 2014. The discussion that led to the DRN case took place over a mere 2 hours on 21 September during hours that I was asleep. I've done a casual read of the article. I don't think A7 still applies, but I'm not convinced the subject is fully notable for an article.

I do think, however, that this is a topic to be discussed at the article talk page and that this DRN filing is premature. I won't go so far as to call it an end run around an edit warring issue, but I do think that opening a case here is fragmenting the discussion. —C.Fred (talk) 04:08, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Jayakumar RG

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

User:Meters was only trying to help when he joined at a later stage. User:Rimsky.cheng is in violation of 3RR and I was about to report him to admins when I noticed this DRN. If there is anyone edit-warring here, it is User:Rimsky.cheng. Jayakumar RG (talk) 02:38, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Deb

  • Clearly the company is potentially notable. Addition of appropriate content has resulted in its not being eligible for A7. However, as it stands, I consider the article promotional and would certainly nominate it for deletion unless improvements are made swiftly. There is an undeclared conflict of interest, as this user works for the company. Deb (talk) 08:17, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Meters

Short version: This seems like an abuse of this forum to continue edit warring. It's difficult to assume good faith when an editor edit wars with multiple editors, ignores an edit warring warning and talk page discussion to make the undo a fifth time, retroactively brings it to this forum (without notifying any of the involved editors) before he can be taken to the edit warring board, and then continues to edit the article before any response here.

Long version: Rimsky.cheng is attempting to create an article on Traxon Technologies, a subsidiary of Osram Licht AG. The article was nominated for speedy promo ([7]) by Jayakumar RG (not notified of this dispute forum) but was instead redirected to the parent company's article on notability grounds ([8]) by Deb (not notified of this forum). Redirect undone by Rimsky.cheng, and redirected on notability grounds again([9]) by C.Fred (not notified of this dispute forum). Redirect undone twice more by Rimsky.cheng and redirected both times ([10] and [11]) by the user who had put the article up for speedy. Redirect undone a fourth time by Rimsky.cheng.

At this time the article made no claim of notability, had no references other than external links to the subsidiary company's website and the parent company's website, and no discussion had taken place on the talk page other than three less than convincing (in my opinion) attempts to avoid the speedy made by Rimsky.cheng. The first one stated that Rimsky.cheng would make the article more neutral, the second was blank, and the third (after the article had already been redirected) simply stated that the company should have an independent article rather than a redirect. After the fourth undo of the redirect, Rimsky.cheng edits talk page ([12]) simply pointing out that other subsidiaries have their own articles but not discussing the lack of claims of notability in the article or the lack of references.

At this point I showed up. I gave Rimsky.cheng an edit warring warning, and on the article's talk page I noted the existence of the edit war, said that the company did not seem notable and that any info could just be added to the parent company's article (which already had a section on the subsidiary), and that I would restore the redirect. I did so, with an edit summary repeating that the info should be moved to the parent company's article. I then returned to that article's talk page to elaborate. I pointed out that the article seemd to be an unnecessary fork, that wp:other stuff exists is not a valid argument, that the article had to stand on its own merits, that there was no evidence of notability in the article, and that the company might be notable, but it needed multiple independent, reliable sources to show that. Ignoring edit warring warning and talk page discussion Rimsky.cheng then undid the redirect for a fifth time [13]. He then makes a comment on the article talk page, starts the discussion on this board, and continues to edit the article without waiting for any response.

This board is not a get-out-of-jail-free pass to allow continued edit warring, and it should not be a means to allow continued editing without discussion. Meters (talk) 21:31, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Traxon Technologies discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

 Clerk note: I have notified Meters (talk · contribs) of the discussion. --Acetotyce (talk) 14:57, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Talk:Trial of Oscar Pistorius#Reasonable foresight

Dispute resolved successfully. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

Dynamic IP from Chicago made the following initial unsourced edit:

"However, Judge Masipa said a reasonable person in the same circumstances would have foreseen this. In the light of this, his actions were clearly negligent [(for example in failing to alert security)]"

Edit summary: Verdict: The editor is mistaken. Masipa J ruled Pistorius's negligence lay in failing to take measures such as alerting security. The issue of foresight had already been disposed of wrt the question of intent.

I reverted the edit for the two reasons stated in my edit summary (de=dolus eventualis and ch=culpable homicide) and on the IP's talk page: rm WP:UNSOURCED, there are 2 aspects of foresight, his subjective foresight relating to de and a reasonable person's relating to ch

Dynamic IP from Chicago then repeated the exact same edit except with a source, an interview with a legal expert David Dadic: No. Foreseeability applies to evantualis, not culpable homicide. See for example David Dadic cited. Editor's remarks not in fact supported by citations provided. Probably this section needs the attention of an expert.

The source was used in an article section for the court's verdict, which Dadic disagrees with, overwriting the judge's explanation for the verdict (which is sourced) and adding details for which we have much better sources (since added). I contend that this source is essentially an opinion piece and is not a reliable source for this section of the article (although it could go in a separate reactions section with attribution).

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

I started a section on the talk page, where Dynamic IP from Chicago responded. I considered their comments carefully and did my best to incorporate them in the article as follows, with more reliable sources where necessary:

"[Judge Masipa] said a reasonable person in the same circumstances would have 'foreseen the possibility that if he fired four shots whoever was behind the toilet [door] might be struck and die as a result'. She said Pistorius 'failed to take any steps to avoid the death', 'acted too hastily and used excessive force' and his actions were clearly negligent."

Dynamic IP from Chicago appears to be aggrieved that I considered their talk page comments (BRRD), sought common ground and then tried a new edit in line with WP:BRD (BRRDB). They appear to interpret this as me conceding that they were "correct" all along and I was out of line interfering with their edits. I have tried explaining how BRD works on their talk page.

I also tried asking for an opinion on the Dadic source at WP:RSN before coming here but received no response so have removed my thread there.

How do you think we can help?

I think it would help for an uninvolved editor to assess the situation and clarify whether the initial and/or subsequent edit of Dynamic IP from Chicago is acceptable. Dynamic IP from Chicago does not accept my view, and we therefore need a neutral editor to mediate in this matter.

Summary of dispute by Dynamic IP from Chicago

I'm not really overly bothered by this "dispute". The source I provided was a piece by Deutsche Welle. Of course it's a reliable source, an interview about the verdict with a noted South African litigation lawyer. Nothing to dispute. Where I do take exception with the editor is her entirely spurious and vexatious accusation of edit-warring. If that is really so, then we are both equally culpable, since we each reverted each other just once. I have asked her to apologise and she has steadfastly refused, warning me on my Talk page of a WP:BOOMERANG effect if I ask her peers to review her conduct. My account has yet to be auto-confirmed and I haven't finished working through the Wikipdia tutorial. At the weekend, if I haven't received the apology and assurances I set out on the Talk page of the article, I shall indeed ask for her conduct to be reviewed. Nothing more I wish to contribute or involve myself with here. Dynamic IP from Chicago (talk) 16:25, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

(added) For what it's worth, and to avoid the editor's malicious charge that I'm not interested in settling the "dispute", this clarifies the point of my edit https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Trial_of_Oscar_Pistorius&diff=625873175&oldid=625831463:
"Yes, but the point of my edit was that Judge Masipa did not say Pistorius was "clearly" negligent in not foreseeing that he might kill the person behind the door. Objectively he was negligent in not foreseeing that, but there were subjective elements to consider as well. I'm not sure, but I suspect Judge Masipa's dilemma was that having released Pistorius from the charge of common murder of Reeva Steenkamp because he genuinely did not foresee she might behind the door, it then seems a stretch to convict him of her culpable homicide for not foreseeing he might kill her by shooting through the door. At any rate Judge Masipa was at pains to point out other aspects of his actions which were negligent, and it was these aspects she described as "clearly" negligent: "I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force. In the circumstances it is clear his conduct was negligent." This distiction was carefully observed in the two sources your edit cited, nevertheless your editor felt justified to adjust the emphasis in the way they did, that Pisorius was "clearly" negligent in not foreseeing that he might kill the person behind the door - but that's not what Masipa J said."
The editor subsequently accepted this, as is evident from her somewhat studied and clumsily verbose edits of the relevant passage. It is this sense that I aver there is no dispute here, though I am nevertheless very aggrieved indeed by her conduct towards me. Dynamic IP from Chicago (talk) 18:42, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Dodger67

Thanks, but no thanks, I'm too busy with other matters to get embroiled in this process. My contributions to the article have been minor anyway so I do not really consider myself "involved". FWIW, I consider HelenOnline's concern to maintain a very clear distinction between the judgment of the court itself and other peoples' opinions of the judgment (regardless of whether they are noted legal scholars or merely wannabe celebs tweeting vacuous blather) to be valid. Opinions are cheap - everybody has at least one. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 06:58, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Trial of Oscar Pistorius#Reasonable foresight discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

Hi, thank you for coming to DRN and for your willingness to participate in a moderated discussion. I am opening this case for moderated discussion and resolution. Please limit your comments to discussion of sources and text. I will not tolerate any name calling, assumptions of bad faith or derogatory comments.

Core of the dispute

First, I want to isolate the parameters of our discussion and agree on the core of the dispute. My understanding is that core of the dispute is the insertion of the text and source contained in this edit. Is this correct?-- — Keithbob • Talk • 21:38, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

Yes, that is correct as far as the nominating editor is concerned. But I stress that really there is no dispute here as the nominating editor has already edited, on her own admission, though in rather more verbose terms, addressing the issue raised This was essentially that Judge Masipa did *not* say that Pistorius was "clearly" negligent in not forseeing he would kill the person behind the door. She said that objectively he was indeed negligent, but there were other aspects (for example his haste and the excessive use of force) in which he was negligent and it was here that she said he was "clearly" negligent. The sources cited were in fact careful to maintain the distinction.
My dispute with this editor concerne her vexatious accusation of edit-warring and I shall raise that for review at another forum after I have completed my study of Wikipedia. Dynamic IP from Chicago (talk) 23:57, 19 September 2014 (UTC)
Yes thanks Keithbob that is correct. I objected to the removal of sourced text and the addition of text based on an opinion which I do not consider to be a reliable source for a section detailing the court's verdict versus reactions to it. Dynamic IP from Chicago disagrees with my view in this regard, therefore we have a content dispute. The fact that I have sought common ground and attempted a new edit based on their edit and subsequent talk page comments does not equate to me agreeing with the edit. HelenOnline 05:38, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

OK, I'd like to remind both parties to please limit your comments to discussion of the content and sources. It doesn't matter what has happened in the past or who did what. We are starting fresh and we will now examine the content of the edit that both of you have agreed is the issue of contention. Thank you.-- — Keithbob • Talk • 19:00, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Examining the edit in question

  • Content before the edit in question:
    • However, Judge Masipa said a reasonable person in the same circumstances would have foreseen this. In light of this, his actions were clearly negligent and culpable homicide was thus a competent verdict, i.e. a lesser offence that is a possible alternative verdict.[1][2][3]
  • Content after the edit in question:
    • However, Judge Masipa said his actions were clearly negligent (for example in failing to alert security) and culpable homicide was thus a competent verdict, i.e. a lesser offence that is a possible alternative verdict.[4] [plus all of the sources shown above]

-- — Keithbob • Talk • 19:13, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

  1. ^ Karimi, Faith; Greene, Richard Allen (13 September 2014). "Oscar Pistorius: Not guilty of murder, but not cleared yet". CNN. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014. his uncle said they were relieved that he was convicted of a lesser charge
  2. ^ "Oscar Pistorius trial: Murder verdicts ruled out". BBC News. 11 September 2014. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014. 'Clearly he did not subjectively foresee this as a possibility, that he would kill the person behind the door, let alone the deceased as he thought she was in the bedroom at the time.'
  3. ^ Joubert, J.J., ed. (2009). "The verdict – 2.2 Competent verdicts (general rules)". Criminal Procedure Handbook. Claremont: Juta. p. 277. ISBN 9780702181818. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  4. ^ David Dadic, Deutsche Welle, http://dw.de/p/1DB3P>

First let's discuss the text itself, then we can look at the sources as needed. What is it about the change in the text that is objectionable?-- — Keithbob • Talk • 19:17, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Unproductive discussion
  • In her explanatory edit HelenOnline remarked:
There are two aspects of reasonable foresight of killing someone the judge had to assess, the accused's subjective foresight which relates to a dolus eventualis verdict and the reasonable person's foresight which relates to a culpable homicide verdict. She came to different conclusions in each case, so clearly they are not the same thing. I think it is important to mention both. Sure, we can add other things the judge said in her verdict (e.g. Pistorius acted too hastily and used excessive force) but I don't think we should overwrite the foresight part. One can be negligent without any foresight of killing someone, that would not amount to culpable homicide.
I don't think it serve any purpose to analyse these remarks of hers, except to say they are themselves OR unsupported by any source and that her final remark is flat-out wrong in law. Presumably what she found unacceptable was the edit no longer said (or rather implied - it's what the "this" refers to) that Judge Masipa said Pistorius was "clearly" negligent in not foreseeing he might kill the person behind the door. But the fact of the matter is she didn't say that. She did rule, as part of the reasonable man test, that he ought to have foreseen it, but there were others aspects to his negligence as well (such as his haste and the excessive use of force) and it was in respect of these that Judge Masipa said he was clearly negligent. The two cited sources were both careful to maintain the distinction. Dynamic IP from Chicago (talk) 01:18, 21 September 2014 (UTC)
  • As discussed on the article talk page and in my edit summaries, I previously clarified my opening comment on the talk page as follows:
"There are two aspects of reasonable foresight of killing someone the judge had to assess, the accused's subjective foresight which relates to a dolus eventualis verdict and the reasonable person's foresight which relates to a culpable homicide verdict. She came to different conclusions in each case, so clearly they are not the same thing. I think it is important to mention both. Sure, we can add other things the judge said in her verdict (e.g. Pistorius acted too hastily and used excessive force) but I don't think we should overwrite the foresight part. One can be negligent without any foresight of killing someone [i.e. neither the accused nor a reasonable person could have foreseen it], that would not amount to culpable homicide."
I objected to the removal of non-trivial sourced content and the addition of new content in the main verdict section based on an opinion source (I have subsequently re-added similar content to the new content which is supported by reliable sources.).
I did not find it unacceptable that the edit no longer said or implied that Judge Masipa said Pistorius was clearly negligent in not foreseeing he might kill the person behind the door. On the contrary, I said on the talk page that I agreed the sentence was misleading in saying this and discovered on analysing past edits that it had been corrupted by copy editing. I have subsequently corrected this in the article. I am glad you picked it up. This is what I said on the talk page in the very first part of my response to you:
"1. Several editors have worked on the article. I think copy edits by various editors have corrupted the meaning of the sentence. [Judge Masipa] "said a reasonable person in the same circumstances would have and his actions were clearly negligent and culpable homicide thus a competent verdict" became "Judge Masipa said a reasonable person in the same circumstances would have foreseen this. In light of this, his actions were clearly negligent and culpable homicide was thus a competent verdict". I agree that wording is misleading, as reasonable foresight and his negligent actions have been conflated."
Incidentally I also discovered that the phrase re culpable homicide being a competent verdict, which I did not add, did not belong there as there is no causative relationship requiring a "thus". It is a competent verdict in a murder case regardless, and the judge raised it before her reasonable man analysis. I am grateful to you for helping me to pick that up.
Regarding my final remark being "flat-out wrong in law", below is an extract from the court's judgment, which addresses why I consider the reasonable foresight element to be non-trivial:
"I now deal with negligence in culpable homicide cases. In terms of Section 258 of the CPA, culpable homicide is a competent verdict to a charge of murder. In determining whether the accused was negligent in causing the death of the deceased, this court has to use the test of the reasonable man.
In Burchell & Hunt, Principles of Criminal Law, 4th Ed. the test to be applied to prove negligence is set out as follows:
'(a) Would a reasonable person in the same circumstances as the accused have foreseen the reasonable possibility of the occurrence of the consequence or the existence of the circumstance in question, including its unlawfulness.
(b) Would a reasonable person have taken steps to guard against that possibility and
(c) Did the accused fail to take the steps which he or she reasonably would have taken to guard against it.'
Only if these requirements above have been met, would the accused be guilty of negligence."
WP:NOR does not apply to talk pages. HelenOnline 06:26, 21 September 2014 (UTC)
HelenOnline hadn't seen the trial transcript at that stage since it hadn't been published and she rejected my long and careful explanation based on the televised eNCA feed. But in any case she had already applied for page protection, forcing me to start an account should I continue to have wished to edit there. Explaining her conduct, in what I would say were wikilawyering terms inappropriate to adopt to a newcomer, she cited WP:BRD. But that policy cites WP:ROWN as guidance, and that guidance countenances reverting an edit made in good faith only after careful consideration. Clearly she didn't consider carefully enough, and when she did finally consider she made what amounted to the same edit. In my view what she should have done is gone on to the Talk page asking whether we shouldn't also mention that Judge Masipa had earlier ruled that on the reasonable man test Pistorius had been negligent not to foresee that shooting into the toilet door would kill the person behind. Or she could have just edited to reflect that. To repeat, my edit reflected what was already cited more closely. I added a Deutsche Welle interview with a noted SA lawyer as another source. She dismissed that as an 'opinion piece', subsequently going on to WP:RSN seeking support (and when that was not forthcoming blanking it).
It's not a trivial issue. Judge Masipa has been widely criticised by the public (but not by legal experts, who focus instead on her emphasis on subjectivity in the matter of common-law murder) for not ruling Pistorius guilty of murder on the grounds he must have known he would kill the person behind the door by firing four shots into it. I understand Judge Masipa has had to be given police protection as a result. It's no part of our deliberations here, but let me just outline a personal view of her dilemma. Pistorius was indicted for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, not some other person. Jusge Masipa ruled that Pisotrius did not foresee that Reeva Steenkamp was behind the door, accepting that he genuinely believed she was still in bed. Objectively he should have foreesen he would kill whoever it was behind the door (she did rule that), but not that he would kill Reeva Steenkamp, the person named by the indictment. That was her dilemma I think. It's not a 'technical' issue. If indeed there had been an intruder and Pistorius had shot and killed that person, then I think it quite likely that Judge Masipa could safely have reached a verdict of common-law murder ("dolus").
At any rate the point of my edit was to make it comply with the sources cited, and I stress that my dispute with HelenOnline is over the way she treated me. She steadfastly refuses to apologise and I think in the circumstances I should refer her behaviour for peer reviw. I would be grateful if this process could be speedily concluded so I can get on with that other process. Thank you. Dynamic IP from Chicago (talk) 01:06, 22 September 2014 (UTC)
I watched the whole verdict live on TV, and one of the sources cited at the time covers reasonable foresight: "But Judge Masipa then adjourned for lunch before moving on to the charge of culpable homicide which suggests negligence without intention to kill and which could still mean a jail sentence. 'The accused knew there was a person behind the toilet door, he chose to use a firearm. Would a reasonable person in the same circumstances as the accused have foreseen the possibility that if he fired four shots whoever was behind the toilet might be struck and die as a result? She said the answer was yes.'" I was not interested in discussing whether the verdict was correct or not on Wikipedia. I am still not interested in discussing your views about it. Wikipedia is not a discussion forum.
Regarding me asking for page protection and reverting your unsourced edit once (which with more experience you will find will happen on any page at any time), the article was featured on the main page at the time (In the news) and the articles of the trial, the accused, the victim and the judge were being subjected to ongoing BLP violations.
I did open a talk page discussion about the editing dispute. You seem to be aggrieved that I attempted a new edit (which does not amount to the same edit) taking into account your comments (after the BRRD stage), which is frankly mind-boggling.
I had to remove my RSN post in order to ask for help here (see above). As I had not received a response after two days, and you were still disputing the edit on the talk page, I thought it best to bring the dispute here.
I don't believe I have anything to apologise for, and I believe that doing so would give you, a new editor, the wrong impression of what to expect from the Wikipedia community which would not be helpful to anyone. HelenOnline 06:33, 22 September 2014 (UTC)
But you did nevertheless express your OR view on the verdict when you went on to the Talk page to complain about my "edit-warring". I know of no source which avers Judge Masipa came to two different conclusions in the course of her verdict and your final remark is plainly quite wrong, a remark which is difficult to see you could have made by accident and which you didn't subsequently recover from very convincingly. When I presented an explanation above of what I thought was at stake here as a point of law (clearly indicating that it was no part of the discussion) I did so to illustrate the POV implication of retaining that Judge Masipa had ruled Pistorius was "clearly" negligent in not foreseeing that he might kill the person behind the door by shooting into it (I wearily repeat she did not say that). You are attempting to regain the moral high ground by projecting onto me your own sins of commission. My edit was soley to return the text to what was actually cited in the sources. Your revert of it was untoward. There is in reality no editing dispute between us and I once again ask this process be completed so I can refer your conduct for review amongst your peers. Dynamic IP from Chicago (talk) 10:07, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Suggestion for revised text

Please stop the bickering. Dynamic IP from Chicago, stop referencing Helen Online in your comments. I will not tolerate it. We are here to discuss the text and the sources. I also don't care what happened in the past or what was said previously or what either of you think the other party's thought process is or was. We are here now, starting fresh. Now......... would someone like to suggest some new text as a compromise? -- — Keithbob • Talk • 13:11, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

I have already amended the text as follows:
"[Judge Masipa] said a reasonable person in the same circumstances would have 'foreseen the possibility that if he fired four shots whoever was behind the toilet [door] might be struck and die as a result'. She said Pistorius 'failed to take any steps to avoid the death', 'acted too hastily and used excessive force' and his actions were clearly negligent." HelenOnline 13:23, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

HelenOnline please remove the reference to Dynamic IP from Chicago and the prior talk page discussion from your comment. Meanwhile, I'd like to ask DIPC. Is this version suggested by HelenOnline acceptable to you?

"[Judge Masipa] said a reasonable person in the same circumstances would have 'foreseen the possibility that if he fired four shots whoever was behind the toilet [door] might be struck and die as a result'. She said Pistorius 'failed to take any steps to avoid the death', 'acted too hastily and used excessive force' and his actions were clearly negligent."

If not, please suggest a compromised version. Something between your original version and the one HelenOnline has created.Thanks, -- — Keithbob • Talk • 13:48, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Yes, it's fine. It's essentially the same edit I made with the addition of the reasonable man test remark. As I said right at the outset there was never any dispute from me as to the content of the text as finally edited. I now have my account auto-confirmed and I shall continue to make such edits there as I feel are required. Done here. Thnk you for the time. I think you will agree it's been a somewhat pointless imposition on your time. That's not my fault. Dynamic IP from Chicago (talk) 23:19, 22 September 2014 (UTC)
Thanks Keithbob. HelenOnline 07:52, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Glad we could work it out. Thanks for your participation.-- — Keithbob • Talk • 17:38, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Talk:Artificial intelligence

– General close. See comments for reasoning.
Closed discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Users involved

Dispute overview

User:FelixRosch wants to change the definition of artificial intelligence to include the term "human" or "human-like" in first paragraph of the article. Leading AI researchers and the most popular AI textbooks specifically object to defining the field in terms of human intelligence. (See the discussion page for sources and details; for now, just be aware that there were very strong feelings about this within the field in the 70s and 80s and today AI defines itself as studying "intelligent agents", which is a more general definition than the one FelixRosch insists upon.)

I removed FelixRosch's contribution, some time ago, but it keeps reappearing. I posted a detailed argument on the talk page, which has bloomed in a discussion where we are talking past each other. He does not seem to be reading my posts. I asked him to stop re-adding his contribution until we could resolve the dispute. But nevertheless he persists in adding it, and thus we are slowly edit-warring. The dispute is reasonably civil but tedious. Your help would be appreciated.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Discussion on the talk page. Comments on particular edits.

How do you think we can help?

I have never been in a dispute that couldn't be sorted out with time, civility and sources before. What are the options?

Summary of dispute by FelixRosch

User:CharlesG is welcome to try to bring in any cited material which he wishes to in order to support the highly generalized version of the Lede sentence which he appears to want to support. Until you bring in that material, WP:MoS is clear that the Lede is only supposed to summarize material which exists in the main body of the article. User:CharlesG keeps referring abstractly to multiple references on the article Talk page which he is familiar with, and continues not to bring them into the main body of the article first. WP:MoS requires that you develop your material in the main body of the article before you summarize it in the Lede section. Without that material you cannot support an overly generalized version of the Lede sentence. The article in its current form, in all eight (8) of its opening sections is oriented to human-like intelligence (Sections 2.1, 2.2, ..., 2.8). Also, the fourth paragraph in the Lede section now firmly states that the body of the article is based on human intelligence as the basis for the outline of the article and its contents. According to WP:MoS for the Lede, your new material must be brought into the main body of the article prior to making generalizations about it which you wish to place/support in the Lede section. FelixRosch (talk) 19:51, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Summary of dispute by Robert McClenon

It appears that the primary issue is whether to include the word "human-like" in the first sentence of the first paragraph of the lede. I have proposed on the talk page that this be decided by a Request for Comments rather than by mediation-like dispute resolution. If there are any other issues that are persistent, maybe mediation-like dispute resolution may be in order. Are there any other issues, or is an RFC on the lede sufficient? Robert McClenon (talk) 16:31, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Artificial intelligence discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

 Clerk note: I have notified FelixRosch (talk · contribs) of the discussion. --Acetotyce (talk) 16:41, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the dispute resolution noticeboard's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
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