Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Kiefer.Wolfowitz: Difference between revisions
→Response: quote from previous response to draft RfC |
|||
Line 133: | Line 133: | ||
I have responded at length before to these charges by Worm and Demiurge1000, at ANI, etc. |
I have responded at length before to these charges by Worm and Demiurge1000, at ANI, etc. I shall past my previous reply to Worm's draft RfC/U, from the copy saved in my user space. |
||
=== Response to concerns === |
|||
I regard this as '''another waste of time'''. I have already responded to most of these complaints weeks ago at ANI, where I defended myself against a serious of similar charges by Demiurge1000 and his summoned administrator, TWW. In retrospect, I viewed the attacks as unwarranted, so that the charges should just have been ignored. [[User_talk:Kiefer.Wolfowitz#Heh|My conclusion that I should have ignored the drama was seconded by]] [[User:Reaper Eternal]] . |
|||
====RfAs==== |
|||
=====[[WP:3RR]]===== |
|||
In years of editing, I have made exactly one '''3RR violation''', which I have stated was due to miscounting. <small>A minor who had previously removed a statement that he had Aspberger's syndrome returned to Wikipedia editing after relatively little editing after a failed RfA, and added this information. I removed the Aspberger's information, as per the policy that minors especially should not disclose personal information. |
|||
In private e-mail, the user stated no objections to my action but stated that he wished to identify himself, having considered my concerns. The drama was due to other users, not to the minor being upset.</small> I don't understand the fixation on this incident. |
|||
====="General incivility", versus "Voltaire & self-deprecation"===== |
|||
*"General incivility [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Kiefer.Wolfowitz&diff=prev&oldid=438274937]" (sic.). I stopped responding to a conversation going nowhere, because I did not want "to explain everything", which is "the secret of being a bore" according to Voltaire. WTT seems to have failed to recall or [http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=%22the+secret%22+of+being+%22a+bore%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#sclient=psy&hl=en&client=ubuntu&hs=UZn&channel=fs&source=hp&q=%22the+secret+of+being+a+bore%22&pbx=1&oq=%22the+secret+of+being+a+bore%22&aq=f&aqi=g1g-v3&aql=1&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=9054l11589l0l11991l2l2l0l0l0l0l231l332l0.1.1l2l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=1369d3b118875e74&biw=1366&bih=498 to have Googled this famous phrase]. |
|||
=====Striking-through text: Another RfA===== |
|||
There are two complaints about my '''revising exactly one text (each time) without using strike-throughs'''. |
|||
#In the case where I responded to WTT, there had been no reply to my initial response and so no strike-through was obligatory. |
|||
#In the second case, I judged that my edits might reduce the stress on an editor who had identified himself as suffering from depression and schizophrenia, and that the benefit from changing the text to reduce his stress sufficed. Nobody reverted that edit, or complained on that page that this edit had been improper: Perhaps others shared my judgment that a reduction in drama might have been beneficial? (I had asked in a private email to WTT that he avoid mentioning the case of this user, and regret that defending myself necessitates mentioning this on Wiki.) |
|||
=====Requests for Administratorship (RfAs): "Overzealousness"? ===== |
|||
I have been accused of being '''"over-zealous" at RfAs'''. I have raised concerns about candidates' lack of substantive quality editing (and sometimes about paraphrasing of copyrighted material in apparent violation of WP policy), and the record shows that my concerns were shared by other editors, some of whom acknowledged my contributions. |
|||
======RfAs of minors (non-adults)====== |
|||
A related complaint alleges that I have been '''over-zealous about "younger [sic.] editors"''' at RfAs. I have repeatedly stated that minors should not become administrators because of (1) possible harm to minors, (2) legal liability of Wikipedia, and last & least (3) concerns about damage to Wikipedia. Many other editors have stated similar concerns. WP's discussion of the "perennial proposal" that administrators be adults states that WP editors are free to mention youth as a motivation for opposing minor candidates: |
|||
* [[Wikipedia:Perennial_proposals#Administrators_should_be_of_the_age_of_majority|Requiring that ''administrators'' be ''adults'' (a perennial proposal): "Editors are free to use age as a personal rationale for opposing adminship on RfA"]]. |
|||
====Political articles==== |
|||
=====Concerns about possible copyright violation or close paraphrasing: Duplicitous POV pushing?===== |
|||
* At least 2 editors accused me of using '''copyright violation tags duplicitously to advance some political agenda'''. WTT irresponsibly repeats this baseless charge, knowing that I have complained about his failure to stop such violations of AGF, NPA, when they had occurred before. I complained that WTT and the other editors failed even to learn enough to evaluate the editing dispute, but rather simply repeated this personal attack in ignorance. I have also noted that in every case where I diagnosed a possible copyright-violation problem, either I or other editors had to rewrite the paragraphs extensively: In many cases, the history of the article had to be deleted because of a copyright violation concern. In no case, has any such tagging resulted in an approval of the status quo. In this context, he can exhibit high disdain for sense of injured merit as much as he wants.... |
|||
** WTT cites my flagging '''concerns about a possible copyright violation for the [[Socialist Party of America]]''', without quoting my listing of close paraphrasing of paragraphs from the [http://www.socialistparty-usa.org/literature/spusa-history.pdf "history" published by the Socialist Party USA]''': |
|||
{{collapse top|Parallel passages raising concerns about possible copyright violations, etc.}} |
|||
<blockquote> |
|||
<small>*'''SPUSA''': The ISL was a Trotskyist splinter group founded and led by Max Shachtman .... |
|||
<p> |
|||
In 1958 the ISL dissolved, and its members joined the |
|||
SP-SDF. ... the concept of “'''Realignment'''.” <big>'''Shachtman and his <u>lieutenant, Michael Harrington</u>,'''</big> argued that what America needed wasn’t a third party, but a meaningful second party.<p> |
|||
The Realignment supporters said that in sixty years the |
|||
Socialist Party had failed to bring labor into the Party, and |
|||
in fact kept losing their labor sympathizers (such as the |
|||
Reuther brothers) because they saw they could do more within |
|||
the Democratic Party. |
|||
<p> |
|||
*'''WP''': In 1958 the party admitted to its ranks the members of the recently-dissolved [[Workers Party (US)|Independent Socialist League]] led by [[Max Shachtman]], a ... Trotskyist .... <big>'''Shachtman and his <u>lieutenant [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki/Michael_Harrington [[][http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki/Michael_Harrington Michael Harrington][http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki/Michael_Harrington ]]]</u>'''</big> advocated a political strategy called "'''realignment'''," arguing that rather than pursuit of ineffectual independent politics, the American socialist movement should instead seek to move the Democratic Party to the social democratic left by direct participation within the organization.<ref>A Century of Struggle: Socialist Party USA, 1901-2001. New York: Socialist Party USA, n.d. [2001]. http://www.socialistparty-usa.org/literature/spusa-history.pdf</ref></small> |
|||
</blockquote> |
|||
<blockquote> |
|||
* '''SPUSA''': At the ... '''Democratic''' National '''Convention''' ... in 1968, Realignment Socialists were present as '''delegates'''.... '''At the same time''', many '''Debs Caucus''' members were '''in the streets''' with the '''demonstrators'''. |
|||
<p> |
|||
* '''WP''': This division was manifest most strongly during the '''[[1968 Democratic Convention]]''', in which members of the '''Debs Caucus''' were among the '''protesters''' '''outside''' of the convention, '''while''' members of the Coalition and Unity Caucuses were among the convention '''delegates'''.<ref name = "SPRI"/><ref name = "Drucker"/> |
|||
</blockquote> |
|||
<blockquote> |
|||
* '''SPUSA''' ... Max Shachtman’s leadership, ... showing a growing '''tendency to'''ward a Stalinist '''“democratic centralism”''' in practice. |
|||
<p> |
|||
* '''WP''': the [[Shachtmanites]] maintained the strongest tendency to ... '''[[democratic centralism]]''' |
|||
</blockquote> |
|||
<blockquote> |
|||
* '''SPUSA''' In the 1972 Presidential election <!-- the division in the Socialist Party came to a head. In the Democratic primaries, --> the '''Shachtmanites''' supported '''Henry Jackson''' .... During the campaign itself, they took a '''neutral''' position between McGovern and Nixon, following the lead of the '''AFL-CIO'''. '''Harrington''' and his '''Coalition Caucus''' supported '''McGovern''' throughout. Most of the '''Debs Caucus''' members supported '''Benjamin Spock''', candidate of the People’s Party.... |
|||
<p> |
|||
* '''WP''': <!--By 1972, the party was even more deeply divided, with the party newspaper, ''New America'', running opposing articles on practically every issue (from the majority and from Harrington's caucus, without any mention of the Debs caucus)<ref name = "Drucker"/> Contradicted by the "Stalinist"/"democratic centralist" nightmare in the SPUSA "history", which thus cannot be reliable -->During the '''[[United States presidential election, 1972|1972 presidential election]]''', ... the '''Debs Caucus''' supported the independent candidacy of '''[[Benjamin Spock]]''', many of the '''Coalition Caucus''' supported ... '''[[George McGovern]]''' ..., and those in the '''Unity Caucus''' tended to support [[Hubert Humphrey]] and [[Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson]]. ... The party, following the lead of ... the ... '''AFL-CIO''' ... declared its '''neutrality between McGovern''' and incumbent Republican President [[Richard Nixon]] ....<ref name = "SPRI"/><ref name = "Drucker"/> |
|||
</blockquote> |
|||
<blockquote> |
|||
* '''SPUSA''' At the end of 1972, <!-- BS soon---- Actually there were elections and majority/SDUSA won 2-1 over Harrington, while the little Debs caucus was treated as curiosity by the '''NYT''. Here's the BS: the Socialist Party, now completely under control of the right wing, changed its name to Social Democrats USA. --> ... many of the '''states and locals''' within the '''Debs Caucus''', .... Early in 1973, the Socialist Party of '''Wisconsin''', with the support of the '''California''' and '''Illinois''' Parties, ... voted to '''reconstitute the Socialist Party USA'''. |
|||
:* '''WP''': '''Socialist Party USA''' (<u>not</u> ''Socialist Party of America''): Numerous '''local and state''' branches of the old Socialist Party, including the Party's '''Wisconsin''', '''California''', '''Illinois''', ... organizations, participated in the '''reconstitution of the Socialist Party USA'''.<ref name="breakup">Busky 2000, pp. 164.</ref> |
|||
</blockquote> |
|||
<blockquote> |
|||
<small>*'''SPUSA'''Due to America’s restrictive and often undemocratic ballot access laws (which have made it almost impossible to break the two-party monopoly on national politics), |
|||
*'''WP''' the financial dominance of the two major parties, as well as the limitations of the United States' legislatively<ref>[[Richard Winger|Winger, Richard]]. "Institutional Obstacles to a Multiparty System," in ''Multiparty Politics in America'', Paul S. Herrnson and John C. Green, eds. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1997)</ref><ref>Ansolabehere, Stephen and Gerber, Alan. "The Effects of Filing Fees and Petition Requirements on U.S. House Elections," ''Legislative Studies Quarterly'' 21 no. 2 (1996)</ref> and judicially<ref>Fitts, Michael A. "Back to the Future: Enduring Dilemmas Revealed in the Supreme Court's Treatment of Political Parties", in ''The U.S. Supreme Court and the Electoral Process'' (2nd ed.) David K. Ryden, ed. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2002 ISBN 9780878408863 pp. 103-105 and ''passim''</ref> entrenched [[two-party system]]. |
|||
*'''SPUSA''': the party views the races primarily as opportunities for '''educating''' ... |
|||
* '''WP''': The Socialist Party USA ... runs candidates for public office, though these campaigns are often considered '''educational''' in intent ....<ref>[http://sp-usa.org/ncminutes/1006nc.html Minutes] of October 2006 Socialist Party National Committee meeting.</ref></small> |
|||
</blockquote> |
|||
<blockquote> |
|||
* '''WP''': The Debs Caucus finally broke with the party in 1972 to form the [[Union for Democratic Socialism]].<ref name = "SPRI"/> ,,, The UDS became the [[Socialist Party USA]] in 1973 ... |
|||
<p> |
|||
Michael Harrington and the Coalition Caucus left the party soon after, establishing themselves with headquarters in New York City as the [[Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee]] (DSOC). Harrington and his supporters, ... believed that the third party road to democratic socialism had been a failure, and instead sought to work within the Democratic Party as an organized socialist caucus to bring about that party's "realignment" to the left. <ref name = "SPRI"/> |
|||
<p> |
|||
This left Shachtman and the Unity Caucus in unopposed control of the Socialist Party (though Shachtman himself died very soon after). In 1972, this group renamed itself the [[Social Democrats USA]] (SDUSA).<ref>{{cite web |author=|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00B16FC3E5A137A93C3AA1789D95F468785F9 |title=Socialist Party Now the Social Democrats, U.S.A.|date=December 31, 1972 | work = [[The New York Times]] |accessdate=February 8, 2010}}(Pay-fee for article)</ref> |
|||
<references/> |
|||
</blockquote> This quotation shows extensive paraphrasing from the [[Socialist Party USA]]'s own literature, which does raise concerns about its being a possible Copyright-Violation. These passages no longer appear in the article. (These passages raised questions about COI/RS/Verifiability also.) |
|||
{{collapse bottom|Parallel passages raising concerns about possible copyright violations, etc.}} |
|||
====="Disdain" (sic.)===== |
|||
:* "Disdain for editors who do not get involved in his personal area [sic.] of interest" [sic.] <small>This is just badly phrased and laughable.</small> |
|||
On the contrary, I have scorned and I do scorn editors who have |
|||
* "shot off their mouths", accusing me of a political agenda, |
|||
:* when they had shown no understanding of the content dispute and |
|||
:* when they had failed to try to learn anything (for example by comparing the old version with contemporary reporting by the ''New York Times''). |
|||
Such scorn is well deserved especially by Demiurge1000, who has accused me of "bullying" and PoV pushing. |
|||
WTT just repeats charges without investigating them, and he wants ... admiration? |
|||
====Mistakes or silliness==== |
|||
Some of these other complaints are just silly. |
|||
=====Blocking for trolling===== |
|||
* I ''' ''never'' asked''' that the '''editor be blocked for trolling'''.<small> (The blocking offense was a religious personal-attack on an unpopular editor.)</small> <!-- The editor in question had violated NPA with a religious insult, a PA warranting indefinite blocking <small>(until an apology be made on the user's talk page)</small> per WP:NPA.<small> (When the editor templated my page with 3 trouts, I told him to stop "trolling".)</small> <small>In later edits, I have acknowledged that the editor may well have been infuriated by "trolling", to judge from the analysis of an intelligent & more experienced editor, and that this context may explain why a religious insult did not result in a block.</small> --> |
|||
====="Better" than others===== |
|||
Some editors ''are'' better than others. For each editor, some edits ''are'' better than others. |
|||
Good edits contribute to the project of writing a high-quality encyclopedia for the public. Good edits come habitually from good editors. |
|||
From good editors, advice and criticism are welcome. |
|||
Bad editors seem to confuse WP with a [[WP:MMORPG|role-playing game]], a blog, or a graffiti canvass. |
|||
====Overview==== |
|||
In short, this budding RfC/U seems to have been provoked by two clusters of issues. |
|||
#First, there is a '''clique of editors devoted to RfAs and championing minors becoming administrators'''. This clique has been upset by my comments in RfAs, particularly about candidates who are minors or who do not have a record of contributions to traditional encyclopedia content. In particular, '''Demiurge1000 has been harassing me for months''', interjecting himself whenever a hint of disagreement occurs between myself and other editors, at best distracting discussions but often inflaming drama. Demiurge1000 has refused to accept a no-interaction ban, which has been suggested independently by myself and ([http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Fetchcomms&diff=prev&oldid=443742004 in this edit]) by [[User:Fetchcomms]]. |
|||
# There have been '''content disputes in American political history''' (where I have been doing clean up over the last few months). About these articles, RfA enthusiasts have each shot off his mouth without knowing or learning a thing, grossly violating AGF and NPA, fatuously indifferent to whether his charges be warranted or lies, shamed neither in his own or in his neighbors' eyes. For hounding me and wasting time, especially my valuable time, they deserve censure from the community. |
|||
Sincerely, |
|||
<small><span style="border:1px solid black;padding:1px;">[[User:Kiefer.Wolfowitz|<font style="color:blue;background:yellow;"> '''Kiefer'''</font>]].[[User talk:Kiefer.Wolfowitz#top|Wolfowitz]]</span></small> 09:45, 22 August 2011 (UTC) |
|||
===October update=== |
|||
I have read enough that I do not wish to participate in this RfC/U, because basic conditions of honesty are being violated. |
|||
* Worm quotes me above, where I noted that he was too smart not to be contributing to content about more serious topics. What is surprising is that he fails to quote his response, following the objection by a friendly editor that I was being obnoxious. Worm wrote something like "Well, he has a point. I should write something. In fact, I am writing an essay for young editors, and I would like your feedback." I replied that I would be sincerely honored to comment on his essay. |
|||
* [[User:Carrite]] is cited as having to tell me that Busky's book could not be removed just on my whim. What Carrite wrote was different. Most importantly, after Carrite's comment (based on my knowledge of Carrite's integrity and knowledge), I have not removed Busky, which is the only source for some true statements. Where we could find independent reliable sources for other true statements previously attributed to Busky, we have listed them. |
|||
===No interest in participating unless a respected Wikipedian affirms reading the charges=== |
|||
Elen has not indicated that she has read the charges, examined the evidence, and agrees with them. Until a Wikipedian of her stature (or greater) affirms having read the charges and agreeing with them, I shall not participate in this process. |
Elen has not indicated that she has read the charges, examined the evidence, and agrees with them. Until a Wikipedian of her stature (or greater) affirms having read the charges and agreeing with them, I shall not participate in this process. |
||
Revision as of 22:31, 8 October 2011
In order to remain listed at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/User conduct, at least two people need to show that they tried to resolve a dispute with this user and have failed. This must involve the same dispute with a single user, not different disputes or multiple users. The persons complaining must provide evidence of their efforts, and each of them must certify it by signing this page with ~~~~. If this does not happen within 48 hours of the creation of this dispute page (which was: 18:06, 8 October 2011 (UTC)), the page will be deleted. The current date and time is: 08:44, 12 December 2024 (UTC).
- Kiefer.Wolfowitz (talk · contribs · logs)
Users should not edit other people's summaries or views, except to endorse them. All signed comments other than your own view or an endorsement should be directed to this page's discussion page.
Statement of the dispute
This is a summary written by users who are concerned by this user's conduct. Users signing other sections ("Response" or "Outside views") should not edit the "Statement of the dispute" section.
Desired outcome
This is a summary written by users who have initiated the request for comment. It should spell out exactly what the changes they'd like to see in the user, or what questions of behavior should be the focus.
- User:Kiefer.Wolfowitz (KW) voluntarily agrees
- to be more aware of civility in interaction with other editors, and to refrain from innuendo
- to restrain himself when it comes to discussing younger editors, emailing oversight if he feels there is inappropriate personal information on wikipedia, and avoiding taking matters into his own hands
- to state his views clearly and succinctly at RfA, instead of engaging in extended arguments, even if he feels strongly that a particular outcome is not acceptable
- to be more careful when expressing concerns about copyright, taking any issues to the relevant noticeboards or contacting a trusted administrator privately, instead of making repeated public accusations.
Description
{Add your summary here. You must use the endorsement section below to sign it. Anyone is welcome to endorse this or any other view, but do not change other people's views. Editors writing this section should not normally add additional views below.}
Although a few editors have raised issues with User:Kiefer.Wolfowitz (KW), such as...
- User:Black Kite who raised maturity issues[1]
- User:Cerejota who at ANI suggested KW's actions might indicate an issue with WP:CIR (such as using three edits to make one comment, and edit warring with an editor on the editor's own editor review)
- User:28bytes who also mentions the issue with edit warring[2].
- User:Vegaswikian who pointed out that KW's deletion nomination of Category:Peace Corps volunteers was a violation of WP:POINT
- User:Carrite at an ANI - Apparent personal attacks - had to remind KW that he could not remove sources just because he disagrees with them.[3]
... this RfC does not focus on those issues, but instead is aimed at resolving three separate areas of particular concern.
Incivility
The incivility displayed by KW rarely reaches the level of personal attacks, but more often works at the level of innuendo. The comments he makes are generally obfuscated so that the common reader will think nothing of them. The issue comes from the innuendo being so commonplace, the failure to adhere to WP:CIVILITY, and the resulting detriment to the collaborative editing environment. Here is a sample of the comments;
- KW regularly refers to User:Demiurge1000 as DemiWit [4][5][6][7]. As demi is derived from the Latin "dimenus" meaning "half", he is calling the editor a halfwit.
- KW has also referred to Demiurge1000 as "Ratatoskr".[8] Wikipedia's article Ratatoskr says that Ratatoskr was a low status animal that, in Norse mythology, told slanderous gossip to a wyrm. Not, in itself, an outrageous attack, but inappropriate in a discussion where he claimed to be seeking to avoid conflict; and concerning when considered in conjunction with KW's stated views elsewhere on the status of other editors, where he explains that he regards another editor as "an inferior" and that "condescension is appropriate".
- Accusations of harassment, without evidence (see WP:AOHA) [9][10][11][12][13]
- Accusations of "doing the bidding" of other editors (see WP:Meatpuppetry) "voluminous criticisms by Du1000's summoned clique" and "You came at the beck and call of your master, and did his bidding".
- Accuses Worm That Turned of not being a "serious" administrator[14], not experienced[15] and doesn't know what he's doing.
Behaviour regarding younger editors
KW has very strong views regarding editors under the age of majority, and frequently this leads to disruption. Although the editors targeted have reacted with great restraint when faced with KW's behaviour, some of them stopped editing or greatly reduced their editing following incidents in which KW played a part; and there are also safety concerns regarding the possible impact of some of KW's statements.
One of the most egregious cases was at the RfA for Dylan620 - where he made a total of 79 edits [16][17] - well over double the candidate's 32. This is clearly excessive. The edits included the question How are you performing in school?. Many of the edits had sneering edit summaries such as →Oppose: don't you feel better after an outburst of ressentiment after your sense of injured merit rather than mumbling "I didn't know" or "I don't understand"?Please write again. I care.; another example comment was extremely condescending "Rschen, please go to bed. Tomorrow try to find Hodge's penguin book on logic and start to read and work some exercises." It is, of course, permitted to Oppose an RfA on the grounds of age, and doubtless KW's intentions were good; but his behaviour went way beyond simply making a !vote and explaining the reasons for it. RfA candidates, and others taking part in the RfA process, should not have to endure this level of disruption.
Only a few months later, when the same editor added an asperger's userbox to his own user page (making clear from the edit summary that its addition was something to which he had given careful thought), KW reverted 5 times in 4 hours, against 4 different editors. He reverted Dylan620, reverted Strange Passerby, reverted Demiurge1000, twice, reverted Ryan Vesey. Even being generous and not considering the first edit to be a revert - that's still over the 3RR bright line. However, for some reason KW believed that he was justified because the other 4 editors started it. When he was warned about the edit warring - he ignored the warning and posted a return warning on Demiurge1000's page. When told unconditionally to stop, he suggested he had not reverted four times, and made curious comments about "young great apes" and "you should have read a proper dictionary", then attempted to claim that the other editors were the ones at fault (See WP:NOTTHEM).
Having been fortunate enough not to be blocked for this blatant edit warring on another user's userpage, KW reacted to advice about it from administrator User:Worm That Turned by suggesting it was an "indexing error", and suggesting that he would not discuss further. But KW then completely changed the tone of his reply with a misleading edit summary, appearing to call the admin a bore, and telling the admin that he wastes his mind.
An even more serious instance of KW's inappropriate behaviour regarding younger editors was Guoguo12's RfA, where KW used the fact that a teenage candidate had requested oversight to remove personal information from his own userpage, many months previously, as an argument for opposing the candidate.[18] This has serious implications with regard to child protection on Wikipedia - it is very common that minors are encouraged to request oversight if they make a potentially unwise edit, and discouraging other minors from following that advice, in a highly public forum such as RfA, could put them at risk.
Accusations of plagiarism and copyright violation; lack of understanding of copyright
According to KW's own edit summaries, a task he undertakes is to "remove neoconservative digression beloved of sectarians and anti-semites". He feels articles related to certain USA political parties have an "ideological bias", which he solves by removing what he sees as OR/POV in them. The problems arise when KW follows his disgust at political views which he dislikes, with accusations of copyright violation or plagiarism against editors who wrote the material with which he disagrees.
Socialist Party of America
The first example of this was at Socialist Party of America. KW found a paragraph that, in his own words, drove him bananas because of statements about the party. One hour sixteen minutes later, he re-wrote his comments on the talk page to mention for the first time copyright violation and plagiarism, as well as COI. He then chose an editor to accuse of COI and plagiarism, User:Chegitz guevara, with sneering political comments. KW continued, with many more revisions of his own comments, to expound his personal views on the true history of the party, and to claim that "the SPUSA cabal" had created the article; "an abuse of the public's trust".
KW went on to state "This plagiarism was due to User:Peter G. Warner", as well as claiming Peter had committed multiple instances of it. Peter made a remarkably calm reply under the circumstances, but KW immediately responded, with unintentional irony, by accusing Peter of making personal attacks and of unreasonably questioning his (KW's) good faith.
KW made many more accusations of plagiarism against Peter. He started on the talk page of the article itself [19], and later included there the fantastic logic "nobody wrote that you had not committed plagiarism", but also spread his accusation across multiple venues, including bringing it up in a WP:POINTy manner at E2eamon's RfA [20], Peter's talk page, WQA after Peter protested KW's behaviour, and repeating the accusations at WT:Copyright problems.
Peter made clear, very early, that he considered the plagiarism accusation false. At this point KW should have stopped making further accusations in different locations, at least until he found an experienced editor who agreed there was a problem. Instead, when challenged, he admitted that he knew the potential impact of his accusations against an academic editing Wikipedia under their real name; "I and Peter are both academics, and we are both well aware of the seriousness of plagiarism." (KW does not use his real name.) To continue the accusations under these circumstances, after multiple warnings, verges on harassment.
Not only that, but KW's own analysis of the alleged plagiarism was tenuous at best. KW had to remove large parts of the text in order to find similarities between a few isolated fragments, and it was clear that the material added by Peter presented similar ideas - not matching words or even structure. The closest matching phrase was "Shachtman and his lieutenant, Michael Harrington" - and since many of those words are names, the worst issue was the word "lieutenant".
Socialist Party USA
KW has also made accusations of plagiarism without presenting any evidence - again regarding a U.S. political party - against User:TrustIsAllYouNeed. Regardless of whether there were indeed issues with the material contributed by that editor, an accusation without any evidence is unhelpful and uncivil.
Freedom in the World
KW had a run in with the retired, long-standing administrator and content contributor, User:Rd232. Once again, KW's initial concern seemed to be the political point of view of the text - his first complaint was to suggest there was "POV pushing" - and once again he followed this with accusations of copyright violation. Rd232 had to come out of retirement to deal with this. KW even violated copyright himself by copying large swathes of a book onto WP to test for copyright (admins only).
Again KW left an inappropriate copyright warning[21] - but this time he left a speedy deletion request on part of the article, completely misunderstanding the purpose of the tag. The issue was resolved by User:Moonriddengirl, from whom Rd232 had sought advice on dealing with the accusations, and who said "this certainly doesn't look to be a flagrant problem by any definition", "the content should be tweaked", and "The blanking for a week is unnecessary". KW followed her comments by accusing Rd232 of incompetence, and claiming - just as he had done with Peter - that Rd232's protests at the accusations were personal attacks and "violations of AGF".
John F. Banzhaf III
Further evidence that KW does not fully understand copyright was when he copied and pasted text from within Wikipedia without attribution (Kiefer's copy & original edit). He may have done similar elsewhere, as he was even mentioned he was "cannibalizing other articles". Copying text without attribution is in violation of the WP:CC-BY-SA license, and therefore against editing guidelines.
Applicable policies and guidelines
{List the policies and guidelines that apply to the disputed conduct}
Evidence of trying and failing to resolve the dispute
(Provide diffs of the comments. As with anywhere else on this RfC/U, links to entire articles aren't helpful unless the editor created the entire article. Edit histories also aren't helpful as they change as new edits are performed.)
Attempts by certifier Worm That Turned
- Discussions at WP:ANI archived here
- Suggestion of a one to one workshop - [22] [23] - which although KW was against, he did participate in
- The one-to-one Workshop, where instead of discussion, KW called some of the issues "laughable" and instead asked for Worm That Turned to be sanctioned. It is unclear who he was asking to impose the sanction, since Worm That Turned had proposed this as a one-to-one discussion. At this point, the Workshop discussion was regarded as a failure.
Regarding this RfC:
- KW suggested that an RfC was a "threat"
- KW raised the RfC at the Administrator's noticeboard, an hour after discussion of it had been closed at WP:ANI, without informing Worm That Turned.
- KW refused to "take part" unless a "serious" administrator (implying Worm That Turned was not one) approved[24]. He went on to state that Worm That Turned was inexperienced[25] and that he doesn't know what he's doing
- When offered an attempt to solve this informally - on a one to one basis - KW attempted to dictate how any discussion regarding problems should take place. His unreasonable terms included the fact that the entire discussion should be by email[26] and that no RfC would be called for 2 months[27]
- KW attempted to deflect the RfC/U by asking for an interaction ban with both Demiurge1000 and Worm That Turned.[28]
- Prior to warning KW for his 5RR offence, KW and Worm That Turned had only positive interactions, to the extent that KW put a "strong support" on Worm That Turned's RfA and Worm That Turned gained an oppose vote for strongly agreeing with KW; so there was little grounds for claiming that the suggested interaction ban served any other purpose than to prevent the RfC.
- KW implied that the interaction ban was the suggestion of User:fetchcomms - but Fetchcomms had specifically stated he was unaware of the history. He was only explaining how to make an interaction ban request.[29]
- Since that request, Demiurge has not interacted directly with KW, and only discussed him minimally, and Worm That Turned has kept his interactions with KW to a minimum. KW on the other hand has continued to instigate conversations at Worm That Turned's talk page, has posted images of the Spanish Inquisition referring to RfCs, and even brought up the topic at WT:RfA in a WP:POINTy manner.
Attempts by certifier Demiurge1000
- Demiurge1000 requested that KW withdraw his accusations about Peter Werner. (KW's response was to suggest that he regarded the request as "a joke".)
- Demiurge1000 asked at Wikipedia talk:Copyright problems for clarification on whether the material contributed by Peter Werner constituted copyright infringement.
- Demiurge1000 sought clarification from KW, on KW's talk page, about his potentially misleading comments on Dylan620's RfA; also mentioning the issue of making dozens of comments on the same RfA. (KW's ultimate response to this query was "you are not welcome here, and I ask you not to post again", which he followed by an edit summary of "hide idiotic discussion".)
Other attempts
Users certifying the basis for this dispute
{Users who tried and failed to resolve the dispute}
- WormTT · (talk) 18:04, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
- --Demiurge1000 (talk) 18:24, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
- Since Kiefer.Wolfowitz has previously stated that he will not take an RfC/U seriously unless it is "approved" an arb [30], and since I have previously attempted to explain that RfC's don't need Arbitrators to approve them, and he should really try to just resolve these problems by discussion [31] I can endorse that this dispute has been ongoing for a while, and sadly attempts to solve this by less formal means has failed. --Elen of the Roads (talk) 20:17, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
Other users who endorse this summary
Response
This section is reserved for the use of the user whose conduct is disputed. Users writing other sections ("Statement of the dispute" and "Outside Views") should not edit the "Response" section, and the person writing this section should not write a view below. Anyone is welcome to endorse this or any other view, but no one except the editor(s) named in the dispute may change the summary here.
I have responded at length before to these charges by Worm and Demiurge1000, at ANI, etc. I shall past my previous reply to Worm's draft RfC/U, from the copy saved in my user space.
Response to concerns
I regard this as another waste of time. I have already responded to most of these complaints weeks ago at ANI, where I defended myself against a serious of similar charges by Demiurge1000 and his summoned administrator, TWW. In retrospect, I viewed the attacks as unwarranted, so that the charges should just have been ignored. My conclusion that I should have ignored the drama was seconded by User:Reaper Eternal .
RfAs
In years of editing, I have made exactly one 3RR violation, which I have stated was due to miscounting. A minor who had previously removed a statement that he had Aspberger's syndrome returned to Wikipedia editing after relatively little editing after a failed RfA, and added this information. I removed the Aspberger's information, as per the policy that minors especially should not disclose personal information.
In private e-mail, the user stated no objections to my action but stated that he wished to identify himself, having considered my concerns. The drama was due to other users, not to the minor being upset. I don't understand the fixation on this incident.
"General incivility", versus "Voltaire & self-deprecation"
- "General incivility [32]" (sic.). I stopped responding to a conversation going nowhere, because I did not want "to explain everything", which is "the secret of being a bore" according to Voltaire. WTT seems to have failed to recall or to have Googled this famous phrase.
Striking-through text: Another RfA
There are two complaints about my revising exactly one text (each time) without using strike-throughs.
- In the case where I responded to WTT, there had been no reply to my initial response and so no strike-through was obligatory.
- In the second case, I judged that my edits might reduce the stress on an editor who had identified himself as suffering from depression and schizophrenia, and that the benefit from changing the text to reduce his stress sufficed. Nobody reverted that edit, or complained on that page that this edit had been improper: Perhaps others shared my judgment that a reduction in drama might have been beneficial? (I had asked in a private email to WTT that he avoid mentioning the case of this user, and regret that defending myself necessitates mentioning this on Wiki.)
Requests for Administratorship (RfAs): "Overzealousness"?
I have been accused of being "over-zealous" at RfAs. I have raised concerns about candidates' lack of substantive quality editing (and sometimes about paraphrasing of copyrighted material in apparent violation of WP policy), and the record shows that my concerns were shared by other editors, some of whom acknowledged my contributions.
RfAs of minors (non-adults)
A related complaint alleges that I have been over-zealous about "younger [sic.] editors" at RfAs. I have repeatedly stated that minors should not become administrators because of (1) possible harm to minors, (2) legal liability of Wikipedia, and last & least (3) concerns about damage to Wikipedia. Many other editors have stated similar concerns. WP's discussion of the "perennial proposal" that administrators be adults states that WP editors are free to mention youth as a motivation for opposing minor candidates:
Political articles
Concerns about possible copyright violation or close paraphrasing: Duplicitous POV pushing?
- At least 2 editors accused me of using copyright violation tags duplicitously to advance some political agenda. WTT irresponsibly repeats this baseless charge, knowing that I have complained about his failure to stop such violations of AGF, NPA, when they had occurred before. I complained that WTT and the other editors failed even to learn enough to evaluate the editing dispute, but rather simply repeated this personal attack in ignorance. I have also noted that in every case where I diagnosed a possible copyright-violation problem, either I or other editors had to rewrite the paragraphs extensively: In many cases, the history of the article had to be deleted because of a copyright violation concern. In no case, has any such tagging resulted in an approval of the status quo. In this context, he can exhibit high disdain for sense of injured merit as much as he wants....
- WTT cites my flagging concerns about a possible copyright violation for the Socialist Party of America, without quoting my listing of close paraphrasing of paragraphs from the "history" published by the Socialist Party USA:
Parallel passages raising concerns about possible copyright violations, etc.
|
---|
This quotation shows extensive paraphrasing from the Socialist Party USA's own literature, which does raise concerns about its being a possible Copyright-Violation. These passages no longer appear in the article. (These passages raised questions about COI/RS/Verifiability also.) |
"Disdain" (sic.)
- "Disdain for editors who do not get involved in his personal area [sic.] of interest" [sic.] This is just badly phrased and laughable.
On the contrary, I have scorned and I do scorn editors who have
- "shot off their mouths", accusing me of a political agenda,
- when they had shown no understanding of the content dispute and
- when they had failed to try to learn anything (for example by comparing the old version with contemporary reporting by the New York Times).
Such scorn is well deserved especially by Demiurge1000, who has accused me of "bullying" and PoV pushing.
WTT just repeats charges without investigating them, and he wants ... admiration?
Mistakes or silliness
Some of these other complaints are just silly.
Blocking for trolling
- I never asked that the editor be blocked for trolling. (The blocking offense was a religious personal-attack on an unpopular editor.)
"Better" than others
Some editors are better than others. For each editor, some edits are better than others.
Good edits contribute to the project of writing a high-quality encyclopedia for the public. Good edits come habitually from good editors.
From good editors, advice and criticism are welcome.
Bad editors seem to confuse WP with a role-playing game, a blog, or a graffiti canvass.
Overview
In short, this budding RfC/U seems to have been provoked by two clusters of issues.
- First, there is a clique of editors devoted to RfAs and championing minors becoming administrators. This clique has been upset by my comments in RfAs, particularly about candidates who are minors or who do not have a record of contributions to traditional encyclopedia content. In particular, Demiurge1000 has been harassing me for months, interjecting himself whenever a hint of disagreement occurs between myself and other editors, at best distracting discussions but often inflaming drama. Demiurge1000 has refused to accept a no-interaction ban, which has been suggested independently by myself and (in this edit) by User:Fetchcomms.
- There have been content disputes in American political history (where I have been doing clean up over the last few months). About these articles, RfA enthusiasts have each shot off his mouth without knowing or learning a thing, grossly violating AGF and NPA, fatuously indifferent to whether his charges be warranted or lies, shamed neither in his own or in his neighbors' eyes. For hounding me and wasting time, especially my valuable time, they deserve censure from the community.
Sincerely, Kiefer.Wolfowitz 09:45, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
October update
I have read enough that I do not wish to participate in this RfC/U, because basic conditions of honesty are being violated.
- Worm quotes me above, where I noted that he was too smart not to be contributing to content about more serious topics. What is surprising is that he fails to quote his response, following the objection by a friendly editor that I was being obnoxious. Worm wrote something like "Well, he has a point. I should write something. In fact, I am writing an essay for young editors, and I would like your feedback." I replied that I would be sincerely honored to comment on his essay.
- User:Carrite is cited as having to tell me that Busky's book could not be removed just on my whim. What Carrite wrote was different. Most importantly, after Carrite's comment (based on my knowledge of Carrite's integrity and knowledge), I have not removed Busky, which is the only source for some true statements. Where we could find independent reliable sources for other true statements previously attributed to Busky, we have listed them.
No interest in participating unless a respected Wikipedian affirms reading the charges
Elen has not indicated that she has read the charges, examined the evidence, and agrees with them. Until a Wikipedian of her stature (or greater) affirms having read the charges and agreeing with them, I shall not participate in this process.
I am the primary author of Shapley–Folkman lemma, which is now in the featured-article nomination process, and as I have stated to my peers, I am travelling this week. I expect that the FA process will occupy me for at least 2 weeks. If a respected Wikipedian confirms having read and agreed with the complaints & the evidence, then I would consider participating after the FA, most probably in December of January.
Users who endorse this summary:
Views
This section is for statements or opinions written by users not directly involved with this dispute, but who would like to add a view of the dispute. Users should not edit other people's summaries or views, except to endorse them. All signed comments other than your own view or an endorsement should be directed to this page's discussion page. Users editing other sections ("Statement of the dispute" or "Response") should not normally edit this section, except to endorse another person's view.
Outside view by David Eppstein
I have no opinion on the political disputes described here, but Wolfowitz has performed very valuable service to the encyclopedia bringing mathematical articles such as Shapley–Folkman lemma as well as related biographical articles such as Jon Folkman, Graciela Chichilnisky, and Andreu Mas-Colell up to a high editorial standard. I would hate for the issues described in this RfC to overshadow his improvements to article space and cause him to stop contributing in this way.
Users who endorse this summary:
- —David Eppstein (talk) 21:43, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
- Geometry guy 21:47, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
- WormTT · (talk) 21:49, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
- Sławomir Biały (talk) 21:52, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
- Ozob (talk) 22:12, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
Outside view by ExampleUsername
{Add your summary here. You must use the endorsement section below to sign it. Anyone is welcome to endorse this or any other view, but do not change other people's views.}
Users who endorse this summary:
Reminder to use the talk page for discussion
All signed comments and talk not related to an endorsement should be directed to this page's discussion page. Discussion should not be added below. Discussion should be posted on the talk page. Threaded replies to another user's vote, endorsement, evidence, response, or comment should be posted to the talk page.