User talk:Raul654

For your tireless work in making Wikipedia better, for keeping Template:Feature up-to-date, for doing the grunt work of cleaning up Wikipedia:Featured article candidates, for mediating in disputes, for adding lots of really nice pictures, and for still finding the time to work on articles! In a few months you've already become a highly valued member of the community. Stay with us and don't burn out, please. --Eloquence Apr 10, 2004

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This user is one of the 400 most active English Wikipedians of all time.

Need edit to tomorrow's TFA summary (William de St Calais)

Hello, Raul. Can you add "and Bishop of Durham". to the end of the first sentence of the TFA summary? Without it, the second sentence is confusing. Thanks. I've left a message at Dabomb87's talk and sent an email, but I don't see the change yet. --Kenatipo ^speak! 19:41, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Done (and a few other tweaks whilst I was there). Bencherlite^Talk 19:57, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Reference in Roger Craig article

Hi. I tried to add descriptive information to the bare-URL reference to http://quantifiedself.com/2011/09/roger-craig-on-knowledge-tracking/#comment-3004 , but I couldn't access that page or http://quantifiedself.com/2011/09/roger-craig-on-knowledge-tracking/ . Did you intend to refer to http://quantifiedself.com/2011/09/new-york-qs-showtell-13-recap/ ? --Orlady (talk) 14:56, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

That link was added by Gwern, not me. And Gwern's not at fault, because that was the correct URL, until they changed it to this. Raul654 (talk) 15:36, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

Also, I should be getting a freely licensed pic of Rog in the very near future. Raul654 (talk) 15:36, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

TFA alert!

We have no TFA for the 26th at the moment. — Edokter (talk) — 00:13, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

In the emergency, I inserted the nonspecific date article. I will not presently remove that from the requests page for the time being, as it may be you or Dabomb will move in quickly and select another article. No harm done. There is probably cleanup work to implement the standard processes, I do not know how to do that, though.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:27, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict) I updated the {{ArticleHistory}} template for the emergency article (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) and updated WP:FA's listing of articles that have been on the Main Page to reflect that. Titoxd^{(?!? - cool stuff)} 00:34, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

The other (standard) thing that is done is to update the last three that appeared on the next TFAs, which we don't have yet. I'm worried that DaBomb87 hasn't edited, and it's a US holiday, so unless we hear from Raul in the next 12 hours, we need a Nov 27 TFA. Wehwalt, I don't see one at TFA/R-- should we post to the talk page there to solicit one, or does someone have a blurb in their backpocket? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:39, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Sandy, before Wehwalt edit-conflicted me, I was in the midst of putting up Marcus Trescothick. (I just randomly chose an article from WP:FA and that came up.) It hasn't been featured on the Main Page yet, and the article has been featured for awhile. I intentionally passed over the non-specific date one because I thought the quality of the blurb and the article were actually quite poor, and it seemed like people were gunning for another date. Anyway, in case Raul, et al, doesn't come back, we could use that one for tomorrow. I'll even put together a blurb for the meantime. -- tariqabjotu 00:43, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

On second thought, I see we had an athlete up fairly recently. So, that may not be a good choice. We have 23 hours to decide. -- tariqabjotu 00:45, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

I suggest what we do is select three eligible FAs, blurb them and put them on a special page (Raul or Dabomb, on return, can delete or change them). And find someone to set a bot to select the top one of them if the TFA hasn't been assigned by 0000.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:47, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

The bot is for the future, as a backup plan to director and delegate.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:48, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Let's give it another 12 hours before we get too worried-- Raul or Dabomb may surface. Wehwalt's plan to have three in sandbox wouldn't hurt any, if anyone feels up to that (we sure don't want me writing blurbs with my stinky prose, but I can help preview whatever you choose to be sure they're in shape.) Since Zelda is up, I doubt that either of them will take it down, so perhaps Wehwalt will want to remove it at WP:TFA/R non-specific so that someone will bring forward something else soonish. No need to panic yet, and I hope all is well with Dabomb87, since it's unlike him to miss. Thanks to everyone who helped-- it was pretty fast, but I'm going to go back to my old practice of watchisting the next open TFA to be sure this doesn't happen again-- I used to do that regularly, but stopped when Dabomb87 was appointed. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:51, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict)To be honest, I think there should just be some sort of notice or warning when TFA or POTD for the following day is missing. This may be the first time it has happened for TFA, but it seems to happen all the time for POTD (especially with the Main Page version not being created). It takes less than half an hour or an hour to fix this issue. If a notification had just been placed in a prominent place (e.g. in the WP:ERRORS section of Talk:Main Page), this would have been averted. -- tariqabjotu 00:54, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, but the thing is, Raul has told us in the past not to panic, sometimes he assigns at the last moment. If we have emergency blurbs, we don't have to worry. I was looking at Mary Anning.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:57, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

We never needed a bot or a system, because it's never happened before. I was a manual backup, and I stopped following with Dabomb's appointment. It's always good to have an emergency blurb, but I wouldn't want to formalize that notion, because that article is then effectively taken out of the running for TFA (it's already taken). Let's not panic-- we still need to hear from Raul. But if you want to write a blurb for whatever, Wehwalt, that's probably cool (I haven't looked at the aricle you mention, rather imagine it's fine though!) SandyGeorgia (Talk) 01:00, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

About a year and a half old, the only biology biography not yet run. Well, we can swap out the articles in the reserve bank every few months. Maybe the reward for having the article sit there is to have it run at the end of its time, it does not get returned to ranks. We are only human, Sandy, and you could be skiing and me traveling or something.--Wehwalt (talk) 01:04, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Me ski? Not enough! So, do you want to work that one up, put it here in case Raul surfaces, or more, in case he doesn't surface? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 01:13, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Oopsie. I used to always watch, but with the app't of DaBomb87, I stopped worrying, so I'm glad you got it, Wehwalt, but we were 22 minutes late. No panic, but let's hear what happened? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:33, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Worry wart here, Dabomb87 hasn't edited since the 22nd-- I hope all is well. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:35, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

No big deal, the TFA sometimes takes a few minutes to switch over sometimes, I doubt the world will notice. Well, Wikipedia Review, but that can't be helped. It is a cost, as you pointed out Sandy, of working in the open.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:39, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, it's just one of those things. And hey, this leaves slightly less time for people to complain that the featured article is about an "unimportant" video game. That's a silver lining, right?

I, too, hope that Dabomb87 is okay. —David Levy 01:01, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Ditto me, but I'm sure it is just too much turkey and that they'll be looking at each other like two volleyball players after the ball goes by between them ;) --Wehwalt (talk) 01:14, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

I will work up an Anning blurb. If Raul and/or Dabomb comes back, they'll have a ready made blurb they can use when they want. There are no TFA requests until December 1.--Wehwalt (talk) 01:18, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

I have started a page here. I will post to main page talk and ask for opinions on keeping this as emergency TFA. I will look for one or two more, then.--Wehwalt (talk) 01:28, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Get Jenna Jameson ready and see if that prompts an emergency return. Yomangani^talk 01:29, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Y'know, I wish I had thought of that! Unfortunately, I think there are those who would take a dim view of it, even though it's a hell of a way of making sure this never happens again! :D --Wehwalt (talk) 01:34, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Sorry y'all. Holiday + family emergency + lack of internet connection made for a perfect storm. Thanks for stepping in. Dabomb87 (talk) 01:47, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Not a problem, we are after all a community.--Wehwalt (talk) 01:57, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

A Perfect Storm, eh, Dabomb? HurricaneFan25 02:12, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

I was traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday and I didn't realize the queue was so short. Mea culpa. I see it's now scheduled out through the end of the month, so I'll deal with this more thoroughly once I fly home tomorrow night. Raul654 (talk) 15:23, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Dec 4 watch

• Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 4, 2011 is empty. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:33, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

Got it. Raul654 (talk) 16:36, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

Slowpoke :) SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:37, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

Fine Art Edit-a-Thon & DC Meetup 26!

Fine Art Edit-a-Thon & Meetup - Who should come? You should. Really.

FINE ART EDIT-A-THON & DC MEETUP 26 is December 17! The Edit-a-Thon will cover fine art subjects from the Federal Art Project and the meet up will involve Wikipedians from the area as well as Wiki-loving GLAM professionals. You don't have to attend both to attend one (but we hope you do!) Click the link above and sign up & spread the word! See you there! SarahStierch (talk) 17:51, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Greetings

Why hello there! CableModem^^ (talk) 08:22, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

Bix Beiderbecke suggestion

Hi there, I've had to remove the image from the TFA blurb as it was non-free. I've left a suggestion at WP:ERRORS about adding a sound file instead. Yours, Bencherlite^Talk 00:31, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

No dice - All the sound samples available are also copyrighted. Raul654 (talk) 03:14, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

Fair enough, I posted just before heading to bed and hadn't checked that minor detail... (and I do know it wasn't you who put up the non-free image on the main page!) Bencherlite^Talk 18:46, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Roger Craig (Jeopardy! contestant)

Casliber (talk · contribs) 16:01, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

TFA again empty

Please see Wikipedia_talk:Today's_featured_article#Alert:_system_not_working.3F. Ta, Trafford09 (talk) 16:13, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

I'm on it. Raul654 (talk) 16:18, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for sorting it, the other day.

Seems like it's a labour of love for you & others - kudos for all your efforts.

I've had the "tomorrow's FA" template in my user page for some time - I sometimes check the page for minor tweaks in the 24 hours prior to its main page release. Also, it looks nice on my page, I think, & may advertise it & perhaps attract others to give the page attention.

One thing, though - if I'm correct - do forgive me as I'm pretty new to TFA - is TFA only guaranteed to have content at 23:50 each day? If so, what merit is its slot on the Wikipedia:Today's_featured_article#Tomorrow's featured article page? If it's in red, there, I suppose it's some sort of alert, but apparently its useful lifetime is then limited to 10 minutes, which seems a bit odd - just 10 minutes' margin of error if you like.

I read something about some intended new bot. Would that change things and the timing?

My apols if I'm missing something, and thanks for your time. Regards, Trafford09 (talk) 06:23, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

It's unusual for me to wait until the last minute to schedule an FA. (Not unheard of, but definitely not SOP). I'm trying to get better about that. So tomorrow's featured article should work most of the time. Raul654 (talk) 17:49, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

Pearl Harbor

Raul, I haven't started through FAC yet, but there's a FAC that someone had hopes for on Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 7, 2011 (will look as soon as I get a chance-- it had a rough start so may not be ready). SandyGeorgia (Talk) 18:18, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

OK, I reviewed Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/USS Arizona (BB-39)/archive1; perhaps you can look in tomorrow (Monday) to see how it looks for Dec 7 TFA. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 23:44, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

All my concerns were addressed (quickly)-- 70th anniversary of Arizona sinking. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 01:26, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

The article has now been promoted. Ucucha (talk) 01:29, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

James O'Keefe

Raul, I don't see anything in the Reception sections that says O'Keefe's work is widely seen as deceptive. I see that someone named Gerson found something "deceptive", but that's not enough. Can you point me to something specific? Thanks. --Kenatipo ^speak! 03:50, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

Here's just a few select quotes found in the reception sections:

• Comparison of the raw video with the released one revealed editing that was characterized as "selective" and "deceptive" by Michael Gerson, opinion writer in the Washington Post, who wrote, "O’Keefe did not merely leave a false impression; he manufactured an elaborate, alluring lie."
• Scott Baker of The Blaze wrote in March 2011 about the NPR videos that O'Keefe was "unethical" because he calls himself an "investigative journalist" but "uses editing tactics that seem designed to intentionally lie or mislead about the material being presented."[3]
• The journalist Chris Rovzar of New York Magazine, in reporting on the NPR video, wrote that O'Keefe's videos are "edited in a highly misleading way."[79]
• Time magazine noted that the video "transposed remarks from a different part of the meeting", was "manipulative" and "a partisan hit-job".[53]
• "The evidence illustrates that things are not always as partisan zealots portray them through highly selective editing of reality. Sometimes a fuller truth is found on the cutting room floor." - California Attorney General Jerry Brown,

You removed the sentence claiming it in contentious, but in order to be contentious, there has to be disagreement. Where the validity of the O'Keefe videos is concerned, I have yet to see a single person argue that they are truthful. Raul654 (talk) 14:13, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

Raul, here are some other things that Jerry Brown said at the end of his AG report [1] (see pp.23–24):

CONCLUSION

The video recordings evidence a serious and glaring deficit in management, governance and accountability within the ACORN organization. It is both disturbing and offensive that ACORN employees in different and far-flung offices were willing to engage in such conversations. ACORN’s conduct suggests an organizational ethos at odds with the norms of American society. Empowering and serving low- and moderate-income families cannot be squared with counseling and encouraging illegal activities. This is particularly so given that ACORN received government grant funds and the support of major charitable foundations and thousands of members.

...

... ACORN is, however, disorganized and its operations were far from transparent, leaving it vulnerable to allegations of illegal activity and misuse of funds. Many of the ACORN employees lacked appropriate training and ACORN did not comply with its own internal policies and procedures. Unfortunately for ACORN, ACORN itself had undermined public confidence in the organization before O’Keefe and Giles walked into the first ACORN office. By covering up Dale Rathke’s embezzlement, keeping him as an employee and going after board members who sought to

rectify the situation, ACORN’s management damaged the organization.

The reason that a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President decided to defund ACORN is because O'Keefe's videos exposed that organization for what it was. The reason ACORN employees were fired (by ACORN) is because they did and said what the videos showed. Were the videos truthful enough for the Congress, the President, and ACORN itself to act? The answer is YES.

I would guess that just about all the videos we've seen during our lives have been "heavily" and "selectively" edited. It's the nature of the beast. "Deceptive"? Some journalists and others have come to that conclusion, but that doesn't translate into "O'Keefe's videos are widely seen to be deceptive". You can't list six or seven people who think they're deceptive and then make a generalization about "widely". To make that statement within Wikipedia's rules, you'd need Gallup poll results, especially since we're dealing with a BLP. --Kenatipo ^speak! 16:12, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

They're not merely saying he selectively edited them. They're using words like "Deceive", "lie", "mislead", "manipulate". In short, they are saying that he attempts to create a false impression in the minds of his viewers, which is the textbook definition of deception.

You can't list six or seven people who think they're deceptive and then make a generalization about "widely". - actually, that's precisely what I'm doing. And unless you can come up with a much better reason than "You need a gallup poll for that" - like someone who actually disagrees - I'm going to restore it. Raul654 (talk) 16:22, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

• The reason that a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President decided to defund ACORN is because O'Keefe's videos exposed that organization for what it was. --Kenatipo

No. That is a common misperception, but doesn't square with the facts. The reason Congress (not the President) passed the Defund ACORN Act (which addresses funding of organizations indicted for illegal activities) was because the videos were made to misrepresent ACORN as conducting illegal activities. The passage of that bill by Congress (as well as the firing of an employee by ACORN) were done prior to serious investigation into the issue. Once the truth was revealed, the bill died and failed to pass into law; the one "fired" employee successfully sued for wrongful termination; and the one "suspended" employee was reinstated. There were no illegal activities, and the most egregious of video taped activities turned out to be distortions and misrepresentations of what really transpired. But damage had already been done.

No one is saying the large, 40+ year old organization didn't have its faults -- as evidenced by critical statements made by various agencies looking into the matter with any measure of thoroughness. But the issue here isn't ACORN; it's the video productions of O'Keefe. Quite simply, he deceived to achieve a desired goal. He took recorded conversations and situations, and through editing, omission and fabrication, created a false narrative. Similar to replacing certain qualifying statements made by the Attorney General with ellipsis in the transcript above, but to a far greater degree. What you left out was:

The edited O’Keefe videos released on the BigGovernment.com website portrayed ACORN as an organization infested with employees committing crimes. However, the impression of rampant illegal conduct created by the recordings at the various ACORN offices around the country is not supported by the evidence related to the videos in California. Our investigation revealed facts which were not reflected in the recordings. The San Diego employee’s answers were influenced by his limited English and intent to contact the police. The San Bernardino ACORN receptionist knew it to be a prank and made outrageous and false statements. O’Keefe stated he was out to make a point and to damage ACORN and therefore did not act as a journalist objectively reporting a story. The video releases were heavily edited to feature only the worst or most inappropriate statements of the various ACORN employees and to omit some of the most salient statements by O’Keefe and Giles. Each of the ACORN employees recorded in California was a low level employee whose job was to help the needy individuals who walked in the door seeking assistance. Giles and O’Keefe lied to engender compassion, but then edited their statements from the released videos. Would it have been best had each ACORN employee simply refused to deal with the couple and shown them the door when their story came out? Of course. ACORN was not the criminal enterprise described by O’Keefe in his “Chaos for Glory” statement – it did not receive billions in federal funds and did not control elections.

...but I'm sure O'Keefe would still be proud.  ;-) When you say, "You can't list six or seven people who think they're deceptive and then make a generalization", you seem to be misunderstanding. The fact is, every thorough investigation into O'Keefe's productions have found deception and misrepresentation, not just the ones Raul654 chose to list. And no, Gallup Polls aren't needed to support assertions of fact; reliable sources will suffice. Regards, Xenophrenic (talk) 22:33, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

@Raul654: I copied this discussion to the James O'Keefe talk page, where it continues. --Kenatipo ^speak! 17:15, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

Object to running Mary Anning on the main page Dec. 16th

I am the person who has done the most edits to Mary Anning and I would like to be around to help patrol the article when it runs on the main page. I will not be available to do that around the 16th. Also I was really hoping to try and get this article run on the main page closer to or preferably on her birthday on May 21. I really think that if you are going to nominate articles that you are not involved with editing you should try and notify the principle editors of the article BEFORE it is scheduled to see if they have an objection. Rusty Cashman (talk) 23:46, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

(A) It would greatly increase my workload to ask permission from each article's editors before scheduling them for the main page, especially since objections are relatively rare. I'm not going to do it. If the article's editors don't want it to appear on the main page, it's on them to poke me after I schedule it and the bot posts a notice on the talk page. (B) The Mary Anning article was specifically requested for the main page. Raul654 (talk) 23:56, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, my comment above was cut and pasted from the one I left at TFA. I meant that criticism for whoever requested the article in the first place, since they seem to have done so without contacting anyone who actually worked on the article. Rusty Cashman (talk) 00:58, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

It was a combination of things. I prepared three "emergency blurbs" some time ago to be used in case of there was no TFA ready. Casliber noticed they were all biographies, and wanted to add a bio article. I suggested he nominate whatever biography he removed, since we don't need more than three emergency blurbs. So he did, as we are trying to help Raul and Dabomb out by having some ready-made blurbs in the nonspecific slots. Notification, I fear, fell in the crack somewhere. Sincere regrets and also congratulations on a most interesting article.--Wehwalt (talk) 01:15, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

Yes, well sorry if my reaction seemed a little intemperate. I was just a little shocked when the notice appeared on my talk page right after I had just made travel arrangements that would have me en-route that day. When an article I have worked on extensively is going to be on the main page I like to be able to check it periodically throughout the day, since, as I am sure you are aware, being on the main page always produces a bunch of edits both good and bad. Rusty Cashman (talk) 20:58, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

Too true. I am not immune from getting irritated over such things.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:01, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

All righty, I've unscheduled it. Raul654 (talk) 00:13, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, I promise I will polish it a little and renominate it no later than the anniversary of her birthday in May. Rusty Cashman (talk) 19:58, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

A cookie for you!

Just <3 you! Zalgo (talk) 04:15, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

James O'Keefe

You're not doing me any favors here. Think we could dial it back on the revtalk and edit warring? Aren't we pursuing any other avenues for resolving this? causa sui (talk) 17:45, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Saying that James O'Keefe's videos are deceptive falls on the surprise scale somewhere between 'the sky is blue' and 'water is wet'. Kentapo has adopted a throw-it-and-see-what sticks approach. So far, by my count, he's used at least 5 different reasons for removing that sentence:

• it violates BLP (it doesn't)
• that it's not sourced (it is, later in the article)
• that he couldn't find such sources later in the article (I posted 5 on the talk page)
• that such an assertion requires a gallup poll (ludicrous on its face)
• that the sources of such claims are partisan (they aren't - Xenomorhic just posted 4 right-leaning sources that say the same thing)

Despite repeated requests, he has yet to provide as single source that asserts the sentence is wrong. As each of his excuses for removing the sentence gets knocked down, he invents new ones. I could go on but it basically boils down to the fact that he's got an agenda to push, and he's going to edit war until he gets his way. If he keeps it up, I'm going to open up a thread about him on ANI. Raul654 (talk) 20:05, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

You might well be right. I really have no horse in that race. From my standpoint, I just want to put a stop to disruptive editing, whoever is doing it. With extremely rare exceptions, edit warring is not helpful no matter how right you are. As a personal suggestion, you might want to consider what behavior on your part will make who is wrong the most obvious to others. causa sui (talk) 20:29, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Let me put it another way. You've been here a long time, so answer me this: How am I, or anyone, supposed to sanction Kentapio for edit warring now? I don't want to block you for edit warring, because of how disruptive that would be in the wider community, so I have to protect the page. It's a slimy feeling. So, we have one week to get this resolved while the page is protected. I think you have plenty of history to make whatever arguments you want to make to whoever you want to make them. I really, really hope you don't just wait for protection to expire (since I protected it on the "right" version) so you can go on reverting when someone restores the wrong version. Regards, causa sui (talk) 16:54, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

How am I, or anyone, supposed to sanction Kentapio for edit warring now? - because his edit warring is, objectively, a lot worse than mine. I've reverted four times in five days; he's reverted *a lot* more than that (and probably vioalted the three revert rule). And he's doing it single-handedly against four other people. And he has yet to provide a single coherent argument for doing so, or even a single citation to back up his ludicrous claims.

I don't want to block you for edit warring - which you cannot, since I haven't violated the 3 revert rule or even come close. And I've been discussing it on the talk page in the mean time.

so I have to protect the page. - yes, that is what you are supposed to do.

More to the point, this is not one of those hard-to-sort-out situations. This is clearly one person with an agenda, edit warring against a bunch of other editors who (A) are right, and (B) have already provided citations to back up their editing. So I'm getting a little tired of your 'I don't have a horse in this race' approach which assumes that because edit warring is happening, both sides are in the wrong. That is clearly not the case here. Raul654 (talk) 17:10, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

You know as well as I do that 3RR is an electric fence, as we like to say, and not an entitlement. But since you interpreted my comment as a threat, I'll point out that I'm emphasizing the fact that since I don't want to block you (for various reasons, and completely independently of whether policy would justify it), your edit warring makes it difficult to justify blocking others for edit warring. If you'd simply walked away and stuck to the talk page it may have been unambiguous who the troublemakers were. Really, nothing you've written here even resembles a justification for your edit warring. And it couldn't. There can't possibly be a good reason for you to do what you're doing. causa sui (talk) 17:25, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

Adiantum viridimontanum

Hi Raul, would you mind keeping an eye on WP:Featured article candidates/Adiantum viridimontanum/archive1? I'm now unfortunately the only remaining active FAC delegate, and I already GA-reviewed that particular article. Thanks, Ucucha (talk) 16:58, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

I'm back on, an exhaustingly long December with real life events, then uninformed editors jumped on Tourette syndrome, which was most discouraging, anyway, no need for you to watch that one, Raul, I can. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:15, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Flatlist at WP:FA

Please have a look at Wikipedia talk:Featured articles#List markup-- it may make some sense to you, but it is excruciatingly slow to load for me. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:15, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

National Archives ExtravaSCANza

You are invited to the National Archives ExtravaSCANza, taking place every day next week from January 4–7, Wednesday to Saturday, in College Park, Maryland (Washington, DC metro area). Come help me cap off my stint as Wikipedian in Residence at the National Archives with one last success! This will be a casual working event in which Wikipedians are getting together to scan interesting documents at the National Archives related to a different theme each day—currently: spaceflight, women's suffrage, Chile, and battleships—for use on Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons. The event is being held on multiple days, and in the evenings and weekend, so that as many locals and out-of-towners from nearby regions1 as possible can come. Please join us! Dominic·t 01:33, 30 December 2011 (UTC) 1 Wikipedians from DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark, New York City, and Pittsburgh have been invited.

Sinz u mizzed it...

	Catmas!
	To quote your cat: This year, we haz decided to celibrate catmas instead. We'll play catmas music, don our catmas apparel, gather round to sing catmas carols, and wait for the jolly fat cat to bring us goodies. Meanwhile, ceiling cat will stare down from above watching everything that happens.) HurricaneFan25 — 18:25, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Why thank you *grin* The wife and I did in fact celebrate Catmas in style this year. We put up Catmas decorations and exchanged catmas gifts. (She got a shirt from Icanhazcheeseburger and a cat puzzle) She made me cat waffles using the cat waffle iron I gave her last catmas. We did a cat puzzle. (One of her new catmas gifts for this year) We went to petco to play with their kitties, but unfortunately they were all out for adoption. Then we went to see a cat movie. It was the cattiest catmas ever :) Raul654 (talk) 15:19, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

/me grins HurricaneFan25 — 15:25, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

FAC 2012 discussion

... following on issues that arose in November, statements that only articles with high page views should be eligible for FAC and TFA, we need leadership to promote "vital" articles to FA, etc., discussion at Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates#FAC 2012. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:19, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

God, that discussion has gotten so long I don't even know where to begin. Raul654 (talk) 15:06, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

It's now clear from whence it's coming and what it's about, so I suggest that you go back and read the whole thing-- it started months ago. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:08, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Problem with IP editor

Hi. I really need some administrator-to-administrator advice. Can you offer your opinions on Question 2 - 5 that I've posed at the top of this discussion?

Everyone else participating there is only focusing on Question 1, which I thought would be answered more quickly and straightforwardly, and is already being discussed at Talk:Kobe Bryant sexual assault case If you want to offer your insights on Question 1 as well, can you do so there? Thanks! Nightscream (talk) 05:18, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

2) I agree with the anon - once it's printed in the new york times, it's widely disseminated.

3) Again, I agree with the anon that her name should be in the article. Once it's printed in the new york times, the cat is out of the bag and there's no sense in pretending it is not.

4) Repeated accusations like that might be blockable. I haven't been following the anon's behavior closely enough to pass judgement on it.

5) Yes, in general others should not rewrite your comments, even if it is to add in-line rebuttals. If someone does that, you'd be best off reposting the original text above their comment (and making it clear that their post re-copied your comment in order to reply to it). Raul654 (talk) 23:35, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

"Wehwalt for FA director"

A thorough read of the buildup and background (going back well more than six months) of the whole kerfuffle that started at FAC since Wehwalt's mentee TCO called for "elections" last November is revealing: [2] SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:41, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for clarifying the Karanacs' situation. Raul, you wrote "the attacks of Sandy and the rest of the delegates", when it appears from the context that you meant "the attacks on Sandy and the rest of the delegates"-- big difference :) SandyGeorgia (Talk) 18:26, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

FAC delegate resignation

Per my email of an hour ago, I'm sorry for the notice, but will stay on to help if you need me, for up to 30 days. [3] I've not said it enough, but working as your delegate has been a pleasure, I admire what you created in FAC, and am encouraged that the RFC will most likely affirm the leadership of Wikipedia's brightest spot. Best, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 05:18, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

I'm sorry for FAC's loss, for everyone's loss here. Raul, I don't think it would be out of line at all if you want to let people know that, under the circumstances, Mike Christie's mention of some kind of Monday-night deadline on deciding some big question might be too soon; I'm sure you'll need some time to take all this in and make some decisions. - Dank (push to talk) 12:36, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

I'd like to reiterate Sandy's comments, Raul. I greatly enjoyed my time as a delegate, and I wish circumstances would have made it easier for me to continue in the role. You've shepherded this into a great process, and I hope to see it continue to shine for many years. Karanacs (talk) 18:27, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Signpost

Hey Raul, I took the liberty of expanding the SP's coverage of the recent kerfuffle at FAC. Could you check to make sure I am not messing up any of the history or any of your views? I'd also love to include a quote or information as to how you look at a potential delegate for a vacancy (ie participation at FAC/FAR/TFA, consultation with delegates, and the like). Thanks, Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 07:56, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

This is not surprising considering the complex history behind the current FAC setup. Raul654 was voted into the role of FA director in 2004. - A little more backstory would be helpful. In December 2003 I suggested that featured articles should appear on the main page, which at that time was an all-text affair. (Featured articles themselves where something new, as the switch-over from the old brilliant prose had just been completed) In March 2003, my suggestion was put into practice, and I took it upon myself to do the jobs now associated with the FA director. The vote in August of 2004 was to confirm me officially in a job I had already been doing in unofficial fashion for half a year.

For filling vacancies, the usual way I do it is to ask the current delegates to suggest a few candidates (and maybe bounce a few ideas off of them). I pick someone from that short list, and ask that person privately if he/she is willing to do the job. If they don't want it, I go back to the short list and choose someone else. If they do, then I announce it and see what the community thinks. Raul654 (talk) 15:06, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Also, Most were centered on a single issue: whether the positions of featured article (FA) director and delegate should be elected, or if the delegates should continue to be appointed by current FA director Raul654. - it is worth mentioning now that this has already been RFC'd twice (here and here) and rejected both times with strong majorities opposing it. (The later RFC was unanimous except for the proposer) Raul654 (talk) 15:28, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Thank you. I've included some of this in the article with a couple different dates based on the diffs I found. Would you take one last look to make sure I've gotten everything right (particularly this diff? Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 00:51, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Since Wehwalt is editing, I figgered it would be OK for me tag a few instances of POV and factual errors; besides that I can't find any charitable explanation for this edit summary or version, I thought the sentence, "This is not surprising considering the complex history behind the current FAC setup", introduced by Crisco 1492, shows a curious POV. The history is simple and straightforward. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 18:42, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Hello

Would you be able to read "S&M (song)" and tell me if there is anything outstanding that would prevent the article from passing FAC pleased? Calvin • ^{Watch n' Learn} 15:42, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Unable to post link on TFA.

Hi Raul, I work for the publishing house that publishes The Green Child, and I want to post the link to Wikipedia's main page where people can see that The Green Child is TFA. However, when I post the main page link on Facebook, it instead brings up an article on some battle that I imagine is tomorrow's TFA. Can this be fixed? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Msbarron82 (talk • contribs) 16:11, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Try linking to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page instead of http://en.wikipedia.org/ Does that solve your problem? Raul654 (talk) 16:16, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Also, in a personal note, I'd be curious to know how the spike of attention affects the book's sales. Raul654 (talk) 16:18, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates‎

I think there are some who may interpret your protection of this page as unwise or inappropriate, for three reasons:

• You are requesting a "cool off" from discussion, some of which has been highly critical of you; you are certainly involved, and so there may be a conflict of interest interpreted.
• This may imply your ownership of the page, something which has been contended.
• Protection of talk pages is extremely rare.

I am not meaning I am personally critical of this particular action (like a lot of things tied to this whole issue, I am on the fence) but I thought you may appreciate my thoughts anyway. If you do not, then apologies for contacting you- I don't want to stir anything up. J Milburn (talk) 19:52, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Wehwalt suggested it, and he would be, under the circumstances, the person most likely to oppose the semi, so no, I'm not seeing that. It was a wise choice, and Raul only followed Wehwalt's suggestion. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:55, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Technical point: It's not a semi protection, it's a full (only admins can edit). However, I agree that Wehwalt suggested it, and he's been one of the ones calling for elections the hardest, so I'd say this is a meeting of the minds on at least one point. Dana boomer (talk) 19:58, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

As I say, I don't personally have an opinion. I just thought that Raul being the one pressing the button may not be interpreted as the best move. If others are happy, then I'm happy. J Milburn (talk) 20:01, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

I didn't take the decision to archive and protect lightly. Protecting a talk page is unusual, but I think the circumstances in this case justify it. I saw numerous people saying that the discussion was moving too fast, or the page was too long and should be archived. And though the thought of protecting it occurred to me while I was archiving it, I didn't do it until after it was first suggested by Wehwalt (one of the people leveling those criticisms and thus most likely to oppose it). Furthermore, that's why I archived the page in its entirety, rather than subjectively deciding what should stay and what should go, and why I explicitly said that Mike Christie should take over once the protection is finished. And lastly, seeing as how one of the main criticisms leveled against me has been that I use too light a touch and don't participate enough, I can hardly be criticized - at least not fairly - for giving those critics exactly what they asked for.

On a relate dnote, I made it full protection because I don't want anyone (except Mike) to edit it in the interrum. (And since Mike isn't an admin, he [User_talk:Mike_Christie#FA_discussion asked me] if I'd be willing to proxy for him and I agreed) Furthermore, since the current expiry is badly timed for him, I'm probably going to change it to whatever he says is convenient for him. (So it's probably going to be a little more than 24 hours) Raul654 (talk) 20:09, 10 January 2012 (UTC) Raul654 (talk) 20:09, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

I have no objection to any of that. And as is mentioned, I suggested it. Let's take a break.--Wehwalt (talk) 20:56, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

ARchiving is ok. but protecting a page, especially a talk page, and full protect, in which you're a central figure==total BS. and saying "I don't want anyone (except Mike) to edit it in the interrum" = who are you to decide that? Talk about INVOLVED admin actions! At a minimum you shouldn't have been the one to do that. And they wonder why people avoid FA.PumpkinSky talk 22:10, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

The policy which you cite says that administrators "must never use [admin powers] to gain an advantage in a dispute in which they are involved. So I'm sure we'd all be interested in hearing how temporarily protecting the page - at Wehwalt's suggestion - and turning it over to Mike somehow gains me an advantage.

And to address your second question, "who am I to do that" -- I'm the featured article director, making an executive decision about a featured article-related page. It's part of the job. Raul654 (talk) 22:23, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Uh huh. No wonder so many people avoid FA and this dispute blew up. If you can't see what's wrong with this, the whole effort is pointless. PumpkinSky talk 22:40, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

I took my own break, which was fun, and have read with one eye open the day's discussions. Or most of them. When the page returns, I have some suggestions:

• We need to determine what we're actually trying to accomplish. I don't know anymore. I'm unclear if one of the first orders of business should be to figure out the primary dispute.
• What kind of changes does the FAC community agree need to be discussed? Would it be possible to poll the FAC community to determine the consensus on actual problems? Can we first determine what they are? Elections seems like a solution to me, but the problem that it solves hasn't been determined. Unless the appointed roles of director and delegates are themselves the problem, but if that's the case, I don't see it. What detrimental effect does that have on the current system, article quality, article production, or anything else we've been involved in? That's hypothetical, to illustrate the basic confusion about what it is we're really arguing about.

• The following issues are what I've seen as repeated themes that are points of confusion:

• Director/delegate job description: does the FAC community need to agree on what this is/should be? If so, what should it be?
• Director/delegate accountability: should the director/delegates be more accountable to the FAC community? In what ways? Reconfirmations or elections? Other ways?
• Director/delegate communication: how often, where, in what format?
• Recruiting writers and reviewers

• I'm still assuming good faith for the most part that there is no great conspiracy to categorically destabilize the current system, although it is heading that way. However, there are participants in this discussion who 1. have no obvious reason to be there, 2. have no background knowledge on the basic functioning of the FA and FAC processes, what has been tried in the past, and what the community has already discussed at length, and 3. are using bombast, hyperbole, and other melodramatic language to make up for not having this knowledge. This is extremely disruptive to any discussion we're having to get at the root of the problems. Either we need a couple of uninvolved admins to referee this discussion, or the very involved admins currently in the discussion, including Wehwalt and myself, need to start removing comments that are unsubstantiated and mostly based in emotion (PumpkinSky's comments above are a good example), placing warnings on users' talk pages, and following up with temporary topic ban proposals at ANI. Diffs and evidence to prove a conspiracy of any kind should be taken seriously but in the proper venue, which WT:FAC is not. Accusations, despite their merit or lack thereof, are a distraction to the root of what it is we're trying to accomplish, which again, I'm no longer sure of.

Furthermore, any referees are going to have to sort out the actual issues presented by TCO and Ettrig, which are often served with misconceptions, misunderstandings, and an antagonistic and polemic tone. TCO and Ettrig have a tendency to focus on high-traffic articles at FA; the FA community needs to decide if this is an actual problem, and get creative to solve it if the community agrees it is. If not, it needs to stop being a distraction. We keep coming back to this and it splinters conversations about other problems. I am also considering the very large problem that TCO's and Ettrig's lack of knowledge about FAC is feeding their perceptions of what actually is problematic in this process.

So Mike Christie, or whoever....I'm really just confused about where we're going and what we're trying to accomplish. We're getting really pissed off at each other without making any progress to solve any problems. --Moni3 (talk) 22:55, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Username Change issue

Hello. Can you approve or deny my username change request. Thank you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Changing_username/Simple ShareToGain (talk) 22:15, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Done. Raul654 (talk) 22:17, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Thank you very much. I had noted several other Bureaucrats too but i don't want them noted. How can i revert their read pages so not note them. OnlineGamesExpert (talk) 22:22, 10 January 2012 (UTC)