Revision as of 22:01, 26 December 2009

Requests for enforcement

Click here to add a new enforcement request
For appeals: create a new section and use the template {{Arbitration enforcement appeal}}
See also: Logged AE sanctions

Important informationShortcuts WP:AE WP:ARE Please use this page only to: request administrative action against editors violating a remedy (not merely a principle) or an injunction in an Arbitration Committee decision, or a contentious topic restriction imposed by an administrator, request contentious topic restrictions against previously alerted editors who engage in misconduct in a topic area designated as a contentious topic, request page restrictions (e.g. revert restrictions) on pages that are being disrupted in topic areas designated as contentious topics, or appeal arbitration enforcement actions (including contentious topic restrictions) to uninvolved administrators. For all other problems, including content disagreements or the enforcement of community-imposed sanctions, please use the other fora described in the dispute resolution process. To appeal Arbitration Committee decisions, please use the clarification and amendment noticeboard. Only autoconfirmed users may file enforcement requests here; requests filed by IPs or accounts less than four days old or with less than 10 edits will be removed. All users are welcome to comment on requests except where doing so would violate an active restriction (such as an extended-confirmed restriction). If you make an enforcement request or comment on a request, your own conduct may be examined as well, and you may be sanctioned for it. Enforcement requests and statements in response to them may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator. (Word Count Tool) Statements must be made in separate sections. Non-compliant contributions may be removed or shortened by administrators. Disruptive contributions such as personal attacks, or groundless or vexatious complaints, may result in blocks or other sanctions. To make an enforcement request, click on the link above this box and supply all required information. Incomplete requests may be ignored. Requests reporting diffs older than one week may be declined as stale. To appeal a contentious topic restriction or other enforcement decision, please create a new section and use the template {{Arbitration enforcement appeal}}. Appeals and administrator modifications of contentious topics restrictions The Arbitration Committee procedures relating to modifications of contentious topic restrictions state the following: All contentious topic restrictions (and logged warnings) may be appealed. Only the restricted editor may appeal an editor restriction. Any editor may appeal a page restriction. The appeal process has three possible stages. An editor appealing a restriction may: ask the administrator who first made the contentious topic restrictions (the "enforcing administrator") to reconsider their original decision; request review at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") or at the administrators' noticeboard ("AN"); and submit a request for amendment ("ARCA"). If the editor is blocked, the appeal may be made by email. Appeals submitted at AE or AN must be submitted using the applicable template. A rough consensus of administrators at AE or editors at AN may specify a period of up to one year during which no appeals (other than an appeal to ARCA) may be submitted. Changing or revoking a contentious topic restriction An administrator may only modify or revoke a contentious topic restriction if a formal appeal is successful or if one of the following exceptions applies: The administrator who originally imposed the contentious topic restriction (the "enforcing administrator") affirmatively consents to the change, or is no longer an administrator; or The contentious topic restriction was imposed (or last renewed) more than a year ago and: the restriction was imposed by a single administrator, or the restriction was an indefinite block. A formal appeal is successful only if one of the following agrees with revoking or changing the contentious topic restriction: a clear consensus of uninvolved administrators at AE, a clear consensus of uninvolved editors at AN, a majority of the Arbitration Committee, acting through a motion at ARCA. Any administrator who revokes or changes a contentious topic restriction out of process (i.e. without the above conditions being met) may, at the discretion of the Arbitration Committee, be desysopped. Standard of review On community review Uninvolved administrators at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") and uninvolved editors at the administrators' noticeboard ("AN") should revoke or modify a contentious topic restriction on appeal if: the action was inconsistent with the contentious topics procedure or applicable policy (i.e. the action was out of process), the action was not reasonably necessary to prevent damage or disruption when first imposed, or the action is no longer reasonably necessary to prevent damage or disruption. On Arbitration Committee review Arbitrators hearing an appeal at a request for amendment ("ARCA") will generally overturn a contentious topic restriction only if: the action was inconsistent with the contentious topics procedure or applicable policy (i.e. the action was out of process), the action represents an unreasonable exercise of administrative enforcement discretion, or compelling circumstances warrant the full Committee's action. The administrator may indicate consent at any time before, during, or after imposition of the restriction. This criterion does not apply if the original action was imposed as a result of rough consensus at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard, as there would be no single enforcing administrator. Appeals and administrator modifications of non-contentious topics sanctions The Arbitration Committee procedures relating to modifications and appeals state: Appeals by sanctioned editors Appeals may be made only by the editor under sanction and only for a currently active sanction. Requests for modification of page restrictions may be made by any editor. The process has three possible stages (see "Important notes" below). The editor may: ask the enforcing administrator to reconsider their original decision; request review at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") or at the administrators’ noticeboard ("AN"); and submit a request for amendment at the amendment requests page ("ARCA"). If the editor is blocked, the appeal may be made by email through Special:EmailUser/Arbitration Committee (or, if email access is revoked, to arbcom-enwikimedia.org). Modifications by administrators No administrator may modify or remove a sanction placed by another administrator without: the explicit prior affirmative consent of the enforcing administrator; or prior affirmative agreement for the modification at (a) AE or (b) AN or (c) ARCA (see "Important notes" below). Administrators modifying sanctions out of process may at the discretion of the committee be desysopped. Nothing in this section prevents an administrator from replacing an existing sanction issued by another administrator with a new sanction if fresh misconduct has taken place after the existing sanction was applied. Administrators are free to modify sanctions placed by former administrators – that is, editors who do not have the administrator permission enabled (due to a temporary or permanent relinquishment or desysop) – without regard to the requirements of this section. If an administrator modifies a sanction placed by a former administrator, the administrator who made the modification becomes the "enforcing administrator". If a former administrator regains the tools, the provisions of this section again apply to their unmodified enforcement actions. Important notes: For a request to succeed, either (i) the clear and substantial consensus of (a) uninvolved administrators at AE or (b) uninvolved editors at AN or (ii) a passing motion of arbitrators at ARCA is required. If consensus at AE or AN is unclear, the status quo prevails. While asking the enforcing administrator and seeking reviews at AN or AE are not mandatory prior to seeking a decision from the committee, once the committee has reviewed a request, further substantive review at any forum is barred. The sole exception is editors under an active sanction who may still request an easing or removal of the sanction on the grounds that said sanction is no longer needed, but such requests may only be made once every six months, or whatever longer period the committee may specify. These provisions apply only to contentious topic restrictions placed by administrators and to blocks placed by administrators to enforce arbitration case decisions. They do not apply to sanctions directly authorized by the committee, and enacted either by arbitrators or by arbitration clerks, or to special functionary blocks of whatever nature. All actions designated as arbitration enforcement actions, including those alleged to be out of process or against existing policy, must first be appealed following arbitration enforcement procedures to establish if such enforcement is inappropriate before the action may be reversed or formally discussed at another venue. Information for administrators processing requests Thank you for participating in this area. AE works best if there are a variety of admins bringing their expertise to each case. There is no expectation to comment on every case, and the Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) thanks all admins for whatever time they can give. A couple of reminders: Before commenting, please familiarise yourself with the referenced ArbCom case. Please also read all the evidence (including diffs) presented in the AE request. When a request widens to include editors beyond the initial request, these editors must be notified and the notifications recorded in the same way as for the initial editor against whom sanctions were requested. Where some part of the outcome is clear, a partial close may be implemented and noted as "Result concerning X". Enforcement measures in arbitration cases should be construed liberally to protect Misplaced Pages and keep it running efficiently. Some of the behaviour described in an enforcement request might not be restricted by ArbCom. However, it may violate other Misplaced Pages policies and guidelines; you may use administrative discretion to resolve it. More than one side in a dispute may have ArbCom conduct rulings applicable to them. Please ensure these are investigated. Closing a thread: Once an issue is resolved, enclose it between {{hat}} and {{hab}} tags. A bot should archive it in 7 days. Please consider referring the case to ARCA if the outcome is a recommendation to do so or the issue regards administrator conduct. You can use the templates {{uw-aeblock}} (for blocks) or {{AE sanction}} (for other contentious topic restrictions) to give notice of sanctions on user talk pages. Please log sanctions in the Arbitration enforcement log. Thanks again for helping. If you have any questions, please post on the talk page.

Request to modify topic ban (User:Thomas Basboll)

Statement by Thomas Basboll

On April 21, 2008, I was topic-banned for POV-pushing. Although I received no warning, and although this was the first administrative action that had been taken against me since I started editing in July of 2006, the topic-ban is nonetheless indefinite. So I'd like to request that the ban be modified to run out on April 21, 2010. I will then have been banned from 9/11-related pages for exactly two years . Although I have wholly respected the letter of ban (I did not edit the pages), I misunderstood its spirit (I suggested changes to a number of individual editors), which created a bit of disturbance in April of this year. That incident, then, will be about a year old by the time the ban runs out.--Thomas Basboll (talk) 16:31, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

That is an ArbCom restriction. I would be rather hesitant to see it changed at AE. I would suggest that you file an ArbCom Clarification/amendment request instead. SirFozzie (talk) 16:36, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I contacted ArbCom by email about this and Roger Davies referred me to AE for a "public sounding".--Thomas Basboll (talk) 21:07, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Comments by others about the request concerning Thomas Basboll

The concern that led to the topic ban was that you were using Misplaced Pages solely as a venue for advocacy, in a way that conflicted with the site's content and conduct policies. At the time, it looks like you were advised to explore some other areas of Misplaced Pages; I don't see evidence in your contrib history that you've done this. There was a problem that led to the topic ban, and I guess from my perspective I'd like to see a reason to believe that the problem won't recur if the topic ban is lifted. The passage of time alone doesn't quite do it for me, since you haven't (yet) given an indication that you understand the rationale behind it (instead, you question the legitimacy of the topic ban). MastCell  16:42, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

While I continue to reject the characterization of my work as "advocacy", I have come to understand why people might think that's what I have been doing. That is, I would do things differently in the future to avoid this misunderstanding. The "solely", however, has always been a stretch and it simply has no basis in reality. I think the balance of my edits show that I have a substantial contribution to make. There is still much of my writing in the involved articles. While I have tried to explain this before, I don't think anyone really bothers to look at the evidence. It is normally suggested, instead, that we "look forward". That's what my rather humble request here is about.--Thomas Basboll (talk) 16:57, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Basboll is not going to change his agenda just because he has been unable to promote his conspiracy theories on this website...if Misplaced Pages mattered to Basboll, then he could have spent his time topic banned demonstrating his true interest in promoting a NPOV encyclopedia by editing outside his primary area of "interest". He has not done this ...instead he has been contributing a sum total of one edit between May 1 and December 7th of this year...I anticipate that we'll be back to the usual conspiracy theory POV pushing in short order...Basboll has a knack for being very subtle with his agenda...most who haven't bothered to familiarize themselves with his efforts could be easily fooled.--MONGO 03:25, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

We already discussed the tenaciousness of his editing back in April...here, where he withdrew his request to be unbanned after it was clear that there little support to allow him to return to this topic. Even his own userpage makes it clear he is a self admitted single purpose account.--MONGO 04:06, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I haven't worked on the World Trade Center articles much, but until retirement, I worked as an engineer and I am familiar with some of the techniques used in building failure analysis. I have read portions of the NIST report that have been the subject of much discussion on article talk pages. One of the reasons that I contributed little to the WTC collapse articles was the tendentious editing of Thomas Basboll and others. In my opinion, he is unlikely ever contribute constructively to those articles. I see no reason to rescind his topic ban. If he wishes to contribute constructively, millions of other articles are available. Walter Siegmund (talk) 05:52, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

The ban has not been lifted, it's been suspended for a month to evaluate what happens. There'll be a new discussion to examine that decision in a month's time. henrik•talk 06:45, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

May I ask why the ban was suspended after only one day of comment, please? Since the ban has been in place for more than a year, allowing a week for comment hardly seems excessive and is in keeping with our custom on matters of less significance. I share Hipocrite's hope (below). Walter Siegmund (talk) 17:08, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

This does seem like a very brief discussion to justify taking such a step. This topic ban has been appealed several times in the past - including to the arbitration committee - and it has always been upheld. The arbitration case in question cautions administrators not to reverse sanctions without "engaging in extensive discussion and consensus-building", and we certainly haven't had that here - we haven't even notified the admin who imposed the ban. --Hut 8.5 20:12, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I certainly respect your view, but I must disagree a bit. In my mind, a temporary suspension of a ban is an entirely different matter than lifting it entirely: Yes; the discussion was perhaps a bit light for that - but that is not was what done. This is a strictly limited temporary suspension, with a definite expire date, so that we can evaluate and come to a conclusion whether the original reasons for imposing it are still valid. For such a limited decision, I think there was sufficient discussion: Basically the only thing done was to say "let's gather more data for a bit", and then come to an informed decision rather than basing it solely on an edit record 18 months old. henrik•talk 21:42, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Henrik, Thomas Basboll has been around for 3.5 years...it would be incorrect to state that he has never edited anything outside the scope of 9/11 related articles, but they have nevertheless been his primary focus. His topic ban was just that, topical...he was never banned from other areas and I had always encouraged him, since he is obviously articulate and understands how to write, build a reference base and is fluent in wikilinking, etc., to venture forth in other areas. He has not done this, so it is hard to see him as, for lack of a better way to put it, reformed, when we have nothing outside his topic ban to evaluate his ability to follow our NPOV policies, and in particular our undue weight clause of the NPOV policy...and/or the section of NPOV titled Giving "equal validity"...Thomas Basboll has been very problematic in understanding that fringe views in articles not dedicated to fringe views is a violation of these clauses...that has been the biggest issue with him overall. In general, we tend to not worry about SPA's if they have a history of editing a particular subject that they are an expert in, so long as they maintain compliance with our policies...however, an SPA that has had a tendency to be problematic and fails to follow our policies, has a bias that undermines the encyclopedic integrity and factual reliablity of our articles, or has been repeatedly found to be engaged in an effort to give fringe views more "weight" than they deserve, then we ban them or do what I have done previously...which was to politely ask folks like Thomas Basboll to edit something else, and by doing that, we might then be able to see if we can allow him some more latitude in those areas he/she was previously found to be troublesome. Now, to be a little less than polite about this, I have had numerous editors tell me that with Thomas Basboll and others of a similar vein editing 9/11 related articles, it has been a tedious, less enjoyable experience and some of these articles have not been able to become rated as good articles much less FA's simply because many of the editors that would normally want to help get these articles to higher standards are turned off and or give up. Here's what I would be more interested in seeing...have other editors than myself encourage Thomas Basboll to edit outside his topic ban for 60 days...maybe even areas that have a tendency to be difficult and or have strong biases...see how he deals with those issues, whether he is still trying to encourage fringe views and is violating undue weight issues, and then if he shows a better understanding, then permit him to make comments at 9/11 related articles for 30 days and then if thats fine, allow him to edit under supervision those articles. Now, if you're familiar with 9/11 related articles and can spot the sometimes not so overt but still fringe viewpoint issues that are endemic to this subject, then perhaps you might be willing to mentor him...otherwise, we'll need some other volunteer to do so...but as it stands now, I can see no evidence that Thomas Basboll has any intention of changing his direction because he has provided us only with pleas to be unbanned...I have yet to see him admit that he understands why he was topic banned or that he intends to follow a different course of conduct.--MONGO 00:44, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Of course, fringe views can be included in articles not dedicated to them, provided that (a) they are notable as evidenced by reliable sources (b) are presented in a way that is consistent with their due weight (c) they are described as fringe views, not presented as facts. I'd like to add my experience to this discussion here: Recently, I ran into troubles with another editor, and a temporary mutual revert restriction has been placed on both of us. I also, for a period of two weeks, had been restricted from editing articles in the 9/11 area. In the arbitration enforcement case, several editors have complained that the articles were in a bad state, and brought forward the idea that I would be the editor that would have caused them to be in that state. However, during my two-week long absence, the articles have not changed in any way (some trivial edits have been made to some of them). I therefore doubt that these editors generally think that the articles in that topic area are actually in a bad state (as they made no effort to change them), and I must asssume, based on my experience, that this is an argument that is deliberately being used to create the impression that the articles would have the potential to be greatly improved, if only certain editors would be banned or topic banned. Lumping together editors that have continuously contributed to that topic area with IP editors and some new and often very temporary accounts that are sometimes vandalizing these pages or are making other inappropriate edits at these pages also does not help to resolve the problems in that topic area.  Cs32en  09:17, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Mongo, as always, speaks in unequivocal terms about my effect on the editing environment here. I just want to note that the topic ban was implemented unilaterally, without warning (or discussion), on the advice of an editor that I was engaged in a civil content dispute with. Until then no administrative action had ever been taken against me and no RFC had ever been filed. Since I will not agree to the terms MONGO suggests, I will make a counter proposal: let someone review my editing history, including my DR skills. Point out my mistakes. Again, Mongo's assuring tone notwithstanding, no evidence has ever been offered for the bias he suggests. What one is offered, instead, is a list of (and here just a gesture at) respected editors who complain about me, not examples of behavior worth complaining about. I won't claim that my record is spotless, but I'd love to see someone actually try to put together a case for the claim that my presence overall is detrimental. I've been away for a year and a half. The article has not gone even to GA in my absence. Returning now, I've crafted some prose for inclusion in the article and posted some (I think MONGO will agree) typical commentary on the talk page. Have a look. How's my driving?--Thomas B (talk) 16:41, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Arbcom supported your topic ban just this year...Raul just did what needed to be done a long time ago...if his action was so unilateral, then arbcom would have overturned it back in April.--MONGO 02:56, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm not at all interested in letting rampantly problematic users run wild on controversial articles. Our articles are not the place for a crusader of any sort, and largely, yes, I agree with you that those who can not be reformed must sooner or later be shown the door. However, I'm not at all convinced yet that Thomas B belongs to that category of users. Had any of his recent edits shown an obvious problem, I'm sure you'd have pointed them out by now. If this truly is how he intends to build the article, I must say I fail to see a problem that is so grave that we can not afford a few weeks of trial. But yes, I quite agree with your last point. Thomas B could make his, and our life, much easier by finding a few other topics outside the 9/11 area to edit with - if nothing else, it should provide a less stressful environment to enjoy the more fun aspects of editing. henrik•talk 21:27, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Henrik...this is a complex matter...truthfully and respectfully, I already provided a detailed summary of why Basboll was banned (banned by Raul no less) and a link showing the last effort by Thomas Basboll to be un topic banned, which was not supported by arbcom..I have no idea why they sent this mess here...but it is disheartening that they would do so. IF Thomas Basboll wanted to show examples of edits made outside the realm of 9/11 related articles which might demonstrate that he understands why he was banned and that he has reformed, then I might support your decision to, for lack of a better way of putting it, almost unilaterally, now give this guy a 30 day trial period...he'll probably behave himself for that period...but ultimately, we'll be back where we started...if you aren't aware of the topic issues and the serious POV pushing by a plethora of conspiracy theorists related to this topic, then you should recluse from handing down any topic ban suspensions related to this area...seriously. I have been on this website for almost 5 years, have numerous FAs (none related to 9/11 BTW) and have started hundreds of articles...Basboll has a track record of POV pushing, violations of the NPOV policies and has never once understood the reasons why we don't give more time to conspiracy theories in articles where we have known scientific evidence....we have articles that are dedicated to that issue...let him edit those if he is so interested in giving his "take" or slant on what happened.--MONGO 01:52, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I certainly hope the intrepid admins who have decided that this latest Randy from Boise needs to be accomodated by other editors with better things to do are going to actually do their jobs - yes, I'm assigning work this time - and evaluate when the sword-skeleton theory has gone overboard. Hipocrite (talk) 14:48, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Calling editors names does not help consensus. As I understand it, there is a request for arbcom right now that started when one editor called an arbcom a "WP:Randy from Boise". Ikip 13:19, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I am guessing that everyone concerned would be happier if the month trial doesnt involve the core articles, where even participation in the discussion page can result in disruption. Maybe Thomas could find and nominate a few articles that interest him, and work on them for the first month. Alternative, or he should be prohibited from working on FA or GA articles, and top-importance articles as rated by the 9/11 wikiproject.

back in April, I recommended that Thomas work on articles around this topic, rather than the main contentious articles. I mentioned Operation Northwoods, World Trade Center (PATH station), Minoru Yamasaki, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, but I am sure that there are a number of articles which deeply interest him, and are currently in need of improvement. e.g. Conspiracy Theory (TV series), 911: In Plane Site, A Few Days in September, Mystery of the Urinal Deuce. John Vandenberg 05:58, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thomas Basboll is an intelligent and articulate man, and a good writer. That's what made his participation on the 9/11 articles such an extraordinary time-wasting nuisance. (That, and his unwillingness to stay off my talk page even after I made it clear his comments there had become, and remain, unwelcome. We'll see if that's changed...) His individual edits were fine, but together over time they slanted the page in favor of the conspiracy theories. I haven't seen where he's acknowledged he did anything wrong, but I might have missed it. There's no doubt he can behave himself for a month, but from his choice of articles to work on he still wants to legitimize the conspiracy theories, and cast doubt on the mainstream. Arbs, please don't let this foolishness waste any more time of the remaining people who are willing to work on these pages. Tom Harrison 12:19, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Tom sums up this entire topic ban:

"His individual edits were fine, but together over time they slanted the page in favor of the conspiracy theories."

This was, and always has been a content dispute.

There is a kind of legal fiction that arbitration does not get involved in content disputes. Intended or not, arbitration gave the majority the tools needed to finally silence the minority.

I have already discussed the possible conflict of interest of the admin who blocked Thomas. I won't repeat it here.

Since being a 9/11 conspiracy theorists is a scarlet letter. I feel compelled to once again close with this caveat: I strongly think 99.9% of these 9/11 conspiracy theories are absurd. I just feel that those views, supported by a sizable minority in the world, should have a small amount of WP:WEIGHT here. These minority editors should not be persecuted and banished by the veteran majority. Unfortunately in my experience, many of these majority editors will only allow their view on Misplaced Pages, and have absolutely no tolerance for opposing views. Ikip 13:06, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

If Misplaced Pages were intolerant of opposing views, there wouldn't be so many pages and pages dedicated to them. That's like someone hollering loudly about how they're being stifled. Tom Harrison 13:37, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I acknowledge that Tom Harrison and I disagree about what the content of the article on the collapse of the World Trade Center should be. I am of course flattered by the rest of it, except the part about wasting his time, which is certainly not how I feel about the discussions we had. Discussing things with Tom, and others, has improved both my understanding of the WTC collapses and the Misplaced Pages articles about them. I will also repeat what I said before: the allegedly "slanted" articled have been free of any input from me (with the exception of the incident already noted) for over a year and a half. I haven't seen any concerted effort (i.e., time either spent or wasted) to remove things that I managed to get in there while working on it. As luck would have it, MONGO and I are currently engaged in an exemplary content dispute . If what I'm doing there violates either policy or the 9/11 arbcom ruling, do let me know. It's precisely the sort of thing (I think) that MONGO and Tom are talking about. It's part what I'd like to do here. The other part can be seen by looking at my edits to the article this month.--Thomas B (talk) 14:05, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Ikip, are you asserting that there is a POV problem? If so, the first step to solving it is to highlight the problem. Thomas is not a magic bullet to solve any POV problem that you perceive but don't articulate.

It is pointless bring up the possibility of the blocking admin having a COI; the topic ban was reviewed by Arbcom, and upheld.

As Arbcom has now recommended that AE reviews the topic ban, opinions from the contributors who work in that topical area of the project are very important.

John Vandenberg 14:14, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thomas just highlighted the problem. I agree that "Thomas is not a magic bullet to solve any POV problem", I don't recall saying this, and I am sorry, I need to be more clearer on what I am saying because of the confusion.

Despite calling my sentence "pointless", my mention of the arbcom decision was not "pointless" in that I personally feel this is one example of how arbcom indirectly decides content disputes, and this has always, at its core, been a fundamental content dispute.

I worked in the 9/11 area years ago, mostly editing articles that many of these editors had actual lists to delete, and was involved with Toms edits, so I feel it is important to include context as I see it.

Ikip 15:35, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Result concerning Thomas Basboll

Thomas Basboll is away until December 29, 2009.John Vandenberg 03:01, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Previous discussion here. Two years is a long time, and I would support setting an end date and giving this user a second chance. If I am mistaken; the error can be easily remedied: The standard of editors on controversial topics is high. I would expect Thomas Basboll to edit within both the spirit and letter of WP:NPOV, WP:WEIGHT, WP:FRINGE and other applicable content policies. henrik•talk 22:05, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Why don't we try a temporary suspension of the ban, and see how Thomas Basboll edits for oh, a month?--Tznkai (talk) 22:17, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Makes sublime sense. Perpetual bans seem fundamentally excessive. Collect (talk) 11:08, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Good thought, so implemented. I've suspended the ban, per Tznkai, for one month and asked that User:Thomas Basboll post a new request here at the end of that period for review. henrik•talk 12:23, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks.--Thomas B (talk) 13:16, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Nableezy

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.

Request concerning Nableezy

User requesting enforcement

Plot Spoiler (talk) 01:58, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

User against whom enforcement is requested

Nableezy (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Sanction or remedy that this user violated

Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/Palestine-Israel_articles#Discretionary_sanctions

Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it

#

1. Quds Day Nableezy is banned from editing such articles, regardless of the reason.
2. PLO Nableezy is banned from editing such articles, regardless of the reason.

Diffs of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required by the remedy)

#

1. Nableezy recently had his ban clarified.

Enforcement action requested (block, topic ban or other sanction)

Extended block

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

Regardless of how egregious the edit was, Nableezy is still banned from the topic and could have informed another editor. Furthermore, his argument on the PLO article does not apply to his revert on the Quds Day article. Nableezy is not the only editor present that is able to revert others.Plot Spoiler (talk) 03:15, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

The requesting user is asked to notify the user against whom this request is directed of it, and then to replace this text with a diff of that notification. The request will normally not be processed otherwise.

Discussion concerning Nableezy

Statement by Nableezy

Im so sorry, I suppose I should have left an "encyclopedia" article saying that the PLO was founded on Mars to liberate Palestine by wearing festive hats. An "extended block" for reverting vandalism would be so very fitting. nableezy - 02:53, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

The edit combined with the edit summary on the Quds Day edit I reverted constituted vandalism in my opinion. Every editor has an obligation to remove vandalism. But like I said, it would be fitting to be blocked for removing vandalism. It would almost be as funny as initiating this request. Almost. nableezy - 03:33, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

@Tznaki, I wont, but perhaps User:Plot Spoiler, previously named ShamWow, could use formal notification of the ARBPIA case. nableezy - 03:47, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Cptnono, the only ridiculous thing here is that somebody actually requested a block for removing vandalism. Piss off. nableezy - 14:25, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Stellarkid, no you cannot say the same things about Muslims or Arabs. That user should not have said that, and combining the edit summary with the edit I felt, and still feel, that it was vandalism. The very diff you cite has already been addressed by Tznaki, there is no "flouting the sanctions with impunity" and to say that I have been doing so is plainly bogus. Can somebody archive this already? nableezy - 19:08, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Comments by others about the request concerning Nableezy

This comes after Tznkai's call. nableezy has without a doubt circumvented sanctions a minimum of 5 times. A couple were files. One was an AfD a day before being unblocked. One of them was blatant vandalism. Another had a pretty crappy edit summary but was not necessarily a bad edit. Others (4 maybe?) were only "broadly" interpreted as being related. A couple were simply edit wars on talk pages that were only related to the topic. This does not excuse it. Harmless enough at first glance but they are still violations and a couple of them caused serious discussion. They even caused edit warring, requests for clarification, and requests for enforcement. A sanction is a sanction. He was not sanctioned to "not edit Arab-Israel when it might hurt feelings" He was sanctioned not to edit them at all. To punctuate this ridiculousness, Tznkai disregarded edit warring a few days ago (literally a few days!). How can you work on this project that has a disclaimer on potential long term blocks and not be concerned about edit warring? Edit warring is edit warring. As I called out Nableezy to get my sanction I will call out Tznkai: How can you clerk here and not see a concern? Wikiphilosiphy aside, there is an obvious problem and you bring your position into question. I feel that you have proven that you do not deserve/can handle/want the responsibility. If you aren't going to block (which is honestly OK by me) at least clearly say KNOCK IT OFF. You haven't done that twice now.Cptnono (talk) 11:05, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Further Comment by others after Tznkai's decision

I did not earlier see the comment "No one believes in your Jewish B.S" but I will just say that that type of bigotry has no place on WP, and points to serious problems collaborating with fellow Wikipedians in this area. Can I also expect to get a pass for saying the same except inserting "Muslim" or "Palestinian" or "Arab"???

Not all Nor were the edits were all reversions of vandalism -- It seems clear that Nableezy is flouting the sanctions with impunity. Stellarkid (talk) 17:52, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Oops. I see I misunderstood Tznkai's comment. I thought he was saying that Nableezy had made such a comment. I apologize to Nableezy for the misunderstanding and inferring here that he had made it. I will edit my comment. My point about him flouting his sanctions still stands. Stellarkid (talk) 04:03, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Result concerning Nableezy

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.

Declined. Blocking here would simply be too silly for words, but Nableezy would be well suited to take the article off his watchlist.--Tznkai (talk) 03:34, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Let me expand a little more. Silly vandalism and editors who say things like "No one believes in your Jewish B.S" are more unwelcome than any editor still around. I hope however, Nableezy does not take this as an invitation to look for other cases where he will get a pass. --Tznkai (talk) 03:38, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Hokay then, I'll make it more explicit: Nableezy, knock it off and leave the topic area.

Now then, I can only work with the data I've been given, and if the only non-moot diffs are the two quoted above, I am going to continue to decline enforcement.--Tznkai (talk) 19:08, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Tenmei

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.

Request concerning Tenmei

User requesting enforcement

- Penwhale | 04:56, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

User against whom enforcement is requested

Tenmei (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Sanction or remedy that this user violated

Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/Tang Dynasty#Tenmei mentored

Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it

3. and others at Misplaced Pages:Mentorship. He does not currently have a mentor and as such is not allowed to contribute except to seek out mentors. This means that he's banned from non-user talk pages until he has an approved mentor.

Diffs of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required by the remedy)

Not applicable.

Enforcement action requested (block, topic ban or other sanction)

Block according to the enforcement

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

Would enforce myself, except I recused during both the original case and the amendment request.

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

Discussion concerning Tenmei

Statement by Tenmei

Who's kidding who?

What wholesome or constructive rationale informs this new development? The continuing monogatari of needless folly just gets worse and worse -- and to what end?

It becomes reasonable to ask a meaningful and timely question: How does any part of this complaint enhance prospects for Misplaced Pages's future or for the community of volunteer contributors?

The answer needs to be stated bluntly: This helps no one. It confuses and discourages me.

In this investigative process, four crucial elements establish a context:

FACT #1: A prirori, ArbCom refused to answer explicit questions about what was and what was not encompassed with the ambit of ArbCom's decision-making in June and thereafter.

Fact #2: A posteriori, ArbCom then ratcheted up penalties because something not clearly identified was deemed to have failed to comply with what I couldn't have known was problematic before November, during November or thereafter.

Fact #3: Although ArbCom may have intended who-knows-what, the only words available to me in December were these:

"Tenmei is banned from all editing except for the express purpose of locating a mentor"

And, if I'm understanding the complaint adequately, the one and only article I'm accused of wrongly editing was Misplaced Pages:Mentorship?

Fact #4: The narrowly-focused text which I researched and then added to Misplaced Pages:Mentorship does advance the "express purpose of locating a mentor"; but I don't understand why that isn't so obvious that it does not require further explanation. This reasonable assertion and belief is confirmed by Tenmei's contribution history which lists postings on pages of those who participated in the development of the article and its accompanying talk page:

• Contributors at Misplaced Pages:Mentorship
  

• 1 21:10, 14 December 2009 Andrevan ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 2 21:12, 14 December 2009 Szyslak ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 3 21:14, 14 December 2009 Redwolf24 ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 4 21:18, 14 December 2009 BlankVerse ‎ (→mentorship: new section)
• 5 21:22, 14 December 2009 Gareth Aus ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 6 21:24, 14 December 2009 Leon2323 (→Mentorship: new section)
• 7 21:29, 14 December 2009 MartinHarper ‎ (Mentorship -- new section)
• 8 21:31, 14 December 2009 Роман Беккер ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 9 21:34, 14 December 2009 Kingboyk ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 10 21:38, 14 December 2009 Giggy (→Mentorship: new section)
• 11 21:49, 14 December 2009 ColdFusion650 (→Mentorship: new section)
• 12 21:50, 14 December 2009 NonvocalScream (Mentorship -- new section)
• 13 21:54, 14 December 2009 (MaxSem ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 14 21:57, 14 December 2009 Ashanda ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 15 22:00, 14 December 2009 MBisanz ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 16 22:02, 14 December 2009 Stmrlbs ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 17 22:03, 14 December 2009 Coppertwig ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 18 22:05, 14 December 2009 Kotra ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 19 22:07, 14 December 2009 WhatamIdoing ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 20 22:13, 14 December 2009 AGK ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)

• Contributors at Misplaced Pages talk:Mentorship
  

• 21 02:39, 15 December 2009 Pleasantville ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 22 02:49, 15 December 2009 Friday ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 23 02:55, 15 December 2009 PalestineRemembered ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 24 03:03, 15 December 2009 FT2 ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 25 03:09, 15 December 2009 Jehochman ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)
• 26 03:25, 15 December 2009 Fasten ‎ (→Mentorship: new section)

In addition, further edits of this practical text are likely to contrive both (a) a shared-opportunity to work constructively with prospective mentors, thus creating a plausibly meaningful and persuasive working relationship which grows in an unforced way; and (b) a rhetorical foundation from which an unofficial mentorship committee may evolve naturally in a step-by-step fashion. This prospect encompasses those who are tentatively willing to try to help me, but who remain unwilling to enter into a formal ArbCom-endorsed relationship with its unknowable range of unanticipated pitfalls.

My limited, but unhappy experience with ArbCom's imprecise language is underscored by Penwhale's untimely and unmerited complaint.

In the context Penwhale contrives, any reluctance to help me officially seems both justified and prudent. What else is anyone to make of this newly contrived tempest in a teapot?

Anyone would be justifiably reluctant to thrust himself or herself into this problem-prone rhetorical maw or quagmire. The fact that I did so only serves to illustrate my ignorance, my innocence, my naivité and my sincere search for answers to questions which could be addressed in no other way -- none of which cause me to feel embarrassed.

Based solely on this newest "event", who can doubt that ArbCom was unable to recruit anyone to serve as a mentor at this stage of Misplaced Pages's development? But in passing the buck to me, did ArbCom truly want to contrive impossiblilty of performance as well?

In my view, this six-month history of ArbCom failure should be construed to argue in favor of giving me a realistic chance to try to comply with ArbCom's flawed decision. Instead, Penwhale's heedless complaint serves only to make my recruiting task more difficult.

Again, it is incumbent on me to ask, "Who's kidding who?"

While I presume no impropriety in Penwhale's complaint, it becomes impossible not to contemplate a range searching questions which need to be addressed in an effort to bring a better sense of balance to ArbCom's flawed presumptions, flawed procedures and flawed process.

In other words, I create a timely opportunity by asking this question: Given the inescapable fact that this newest sham is afflicting my patience and my efforts and also the view-point of any prospective ArbCom-endorsed "mentor", I have no choice but to assume that ArbCom's flaws devolve into an even more bizarre spectacle for those who are less confident, less innocent, less careful or less attentive to detail.

On my behalf and theirs, I must ask now: Why is this happening?

I would hope that the following will help enhance ArbCom to comprehend broad extent to which the phrase "Who's kidding who?" conveys a meaning that is idiomatic and clear at the same time.

Broadly, what purpose does this "enforcement" inquiry serve?

Narrowly, what purpose does an "enforcement" investigation serve?

Explicitly: (a) How is this congruent with the adduced principles and findings of the ArbCom case? (b) What am I to make of this? (c) What is any prospective mentor to make of this?

What other questions does this implicate?

What do I still fail to understand about what is going on here? And why isn't ArbCom doing more to help me understand? --Tenmei (talk) 10:37, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Comments by others about the request concerning Tenmei

For information, I have just blocked Tenmei for one week for breaching his editing restrictions, disabled his talk page, and asked him to contact the committee by email (he has our address). My apologies for sidestepping this noticebaord's processes on this particular occasion.  Roger Davies 12:00, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Result concerning Tenmei

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.

• Moot, in light of the above. henrik•talk 12:09, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Request concerning Nickhh, Nishidani, and Nableezy

Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.'

User requesting enforcement

--Epeefleche (talk) 16:32, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Users against whom enforcement is requested

• Nickhh (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) Diff of notice
• Nishidani (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) Diff of notice
• Nableezy (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) Diff of notice

Sanction or remedy that this user violated

Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/West Bank - Judea and Samaria

• Nickhh: "placed under an editing restriction indefinitely. He is prohibited from editing any article in the area of conflict, commenting on any talk page attached to such an article, or participating in any community discussion substantially concerned with such articles."
• Nishidani: same as Nickhh, immediately above.
• Nableezy: Nableezy's ban arose separately. Originally, on October 29—"per the provisions of this remedy of the Palestine-Israel articles arbitration case, ... banning ... for 4 months from editing all pages (including both article and article talk pages) within those topic areas which relate to the Palestine-Israel articles case."

Then Nableezy's ban was reduced on November 3, as follows—"I have included in the sanction on Nableezy all articles within the subject area in question.... I am adjusting my initial sanction... The ban on editing article content is reduced from six months to two; and the ban on editing article talk pages is reduced to one. These times are relative to the initial sanction".

Background

Despite their I-P conflict topic-bans, Nickhh and Nishidani actively participated in an AfD discussion regarding Jonathan Cook, a freelance journalist whose notability arises (as is clear from the first sentence of his article) from his writing on the I-P conflict.

Nishidani left his comments up for 7 days. Only crossing them out a few hours before the AfD closed (w/the accurate edit summary: "Striking out comment written in breach of my ban, as indeed I should have when this was first complained of"). This was IMHO willful flouting of his ban with intent to influence the AfD. Nishidani also said at the Request for Clarification that the reason he weighed in was because the vote at the time was "in favour of deletion". That reflects his desire to influence the outcome of the AfD, which—mildly speaking—he was not allowed to do.

And Nickhh left his AfD comments up for the entire course of the AfD, never striking them out.

Multiple participants in the AfD voiced concern that this violated their topic ban, and removed the banned users’ comments from the AfD. The banned users' comments were re-inserted into the AfD; more than once by Nableezy, who was himself subject to a similar topic ban, arising from a different Arbitration Enforcement. Nableezy even went so far as to delete my questions—as to the appropriateness of banned editors commenting—from the AfD page, insisting on moving them to the AfD's discussion page, without my permission, and refusing to restore them or allow me to restore them.

Nickhh and Nishidani themselves acknowledged that their participation was questionable (e.g., Nickhh: “I wonder if I'm allowed to say anything here, given the topics the man tends to write about”; Nishidani: “Yes, technically we should keep out of it.”

At the Request for Clarification on this matter, the arbitrators unanimously indicated that the banned editors violated their bans.

Arb Vassanya made clear that this applied not only to the Nickhh/Nableezy topic ban, but also to the Nishidani topic ban ("Neither topic ban makes an exception for discussing unrelated issues on related pages. They are prohibitions on editing related pages. Full stop."). However, the matter is confused a bit by the fact that apparently (however the Nishidani ban may appear to me and to the arbitrators on its face), the banning admin did not view it the way we did, and at a concurrent WP:AE on the same facts, which took place as the arbitrators were taking the above position, enforcement was declined. I'm therefore uncertain whether as to Nableezy, despite the arbitrators' above clarification, the matter is now moot as to whether Nableezy violated his ban, or whether it is appropriate to consider sanctions against him for violating his ban. In any event, among Nableezy's edits were repeated insertions of clearly banned editors' comments into the AfD, as is reflected in the below diffs. He thereby facilitated violations of their ban. Finally, he edited the AfD page as early as November 28, which was clearly a violation of his ban, even under the most generous interpretation. I leave the determination as to whether it is appropriate to sanction Nableezy completely to the arbitrators closing admin, without expressing a strong view.

It is important to note, btw, that Nableezy's Palestine-Israel articles ban was only reduced after arguments and testimonials about him were made by the very same two editors who were already banned from commenting on any community discussions related to the I/P conflict—Nickhh and Nishidani! See , , , and . I believe this constitutes another series of violations of their ban.

Diffs of edits that violate it, and an explanation how they do so

1. Nickhh at AfD
2. Nickhh at AfD
3. Nickhh at AfD
4. Nishidani at AfD
5. Nishidani at AfD
6. Nableezy reinserting banned editor's (Nickhh's) comments on November 28
7. Nableezy reinserting banned editors' (Nickhh's and Nishidani's) comments
8. Nableezy at AfD
9. Nableezy at AfD
10. Nableezy removing others' comments at AfD
11. Nableezy reinserting comments of banned editor (Nickhh) into AfD
12. Nableezy deleting my comments (and others' responses) from AfD (and moving them to discussion page)
13. Nableezy deleting my comments (and others') from AfD
14. Nableezy reinserting comments of banned editor (Nickhh) into AfD
15. Nableezy commenting at AfD
16. Nableezy commenting at AfD as to why his comments and those of the other banned editors were appropriate
17. Nableezy insertion at AfD talk page of material he deleted from AfD
18. Nableezy at AfD talk page

Diffs of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required by the remedy)

Not applicable

Enforcement action requested (block, topic ban or other sanction)

Per Arbitrators' discretion. But i It would seem that the only thing left with Nickhh and Nishidani, as their topic ban is already indefinite, would be to for some period enlarge the scope of their ban beyond that of the I/P issue.

As to Nishidani, it may well be enough, if sanction is appropriate (and if this is the correct place to pursue it), for a temporal extension of his ban from the I/P issue.

Additional comments

The basis for this enforcement is set forth in the arbitrators' responses to a Request for Clarification on the conduct at issue here.

At the Request for Clarification, Nishidani wrote: "If you think my ban should extend beyond the I/P area, to elsewhere, I won't object. Indeed, it would be logical"; and "I ... expressed my readiness to suffer any further sanction an arbiter might wish to impose on me for my egregious lapse"; and "I expressed my guilt and readiness to be punished"; and "I've waited to be banned from all wiki articles ... I suggest the way to stop this bickering is to act immediately and extend my perma-ban."

And Nickhh wrote:

"I don't think anyone's claiming that relevant AfD pages - in principle - are not covered by the topic ban as worded. I'm certainly not, and agree that they pretty clearly would be."

The pertinent language at the Request for Clarification from arb Vassanya (w/whom arbs Bainer, Wizardman, and Risker agreed) was:

"AfD discussions about IP-related articles quite clearly falls under "participating in any community discussion substantially concerned with such articles". There is no grey area. An AfD is about as perfect of an example as you get for a "community discussion substantially concerned with such articles".... Shifting discussion over to user talk pages or other venues is at bare minimum a gross violation of the spirit of a topic ban. ... As far as I'm concerned, the confusion here is only arising from splitting hairs and trying to look for grey areas where they do not exist. The topic bans are perfectly clear and AfD is unquestionably included even in a strict reading of the sanction language.... "ll pages ... which relate" seems to make the scope inclusive and clear in a similar fashion. Neither topic ban makes an exception for discussing unrelated issues on related pages. They are prohibitions on editing related pages. Full stop."

And arb Carcharoth (w/whom arb Wizardman agreed) wrote:

"When someone is given a topic ban in a particular area, they are meant to move away from that topic area...If... an editor shows an inability to move away from a topic area, then sanctions should be enforced.... The normal response would be to either extend the topic ban (if it is not already indefinite), or to move on to harsher sanctions."

And arb Coren (w/whom arb Wizardman agreed) wrote:

"Agreed with my colleagues; an AfD discussion of an article within the topic area definitely and unambiguously falls into that topic area. The only case where I would consider any ambiguity is if the topic ban specifically excluded talk pages or was explicitly limited to articles; and even then it could be argued that a discussion about deletion is too "close" to the topic ban to be confortable."

--Epeefleche (talk) 21:20, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

• Reply to Nickhh—Yes, readers are encouraged, if they like, to read the full 47 quotes and diffs I provided, as all have been truncated for purposes of brevity. The links are provided at each quote or diff, or in the preceding text. Furthermore, while Nickhh made points at the Clarification which he repeats here, the arbs responded emphatically as indicated above. As to timing, it seemed logical to raise this AE only after the Clarification was closed, which is what was promptly done. As DGG mentions below, he indicated that AE would be the appropriate next step. As to points raised regarding other editors, as to whom I am completely unfamiliar, that would appear to be irrelevant to the proper treatment of violation bans in the Cook AfD—the subject of this AE. Finally, the arbs did not think the ban violations were at all borderline, and support was voiced for enforcement, which is what is sought here.—Epeefleche (talk) 18:51, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

• Additional topic ban violations by Nableezy — here on November 13, here on November 14, and here on November 14, all approximately two weeks after Nableezy's ban was put in place, "warning" another editor with regard to edits on the subject of whether certain regions of Israel are "occupied".—Epeefleche (talk) 04:37, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

• Reply to question by Nableezy, as to why Nableezy warning another editor for a putative 3RR violation for editing regarding use of the phrase "occupied" when referring to territories within the I-P conflict is a violation of his topic ban. Yes, I can provide further clarification. As arb Vassanya (w/whom arbs Bainer, Wizardman, and Risker agreed) pointed out at the Clarification at which your similar behavior was raised:

  "Shifting discussion over to user talk pages or other venues is at bare minimum a gross violation of the spirit of a topic ban.... confusion here is only arising from splitting hairs and trying to look for grey areas where they do not exist. The topic bans are perfectly clear ... Neither topic ban makes an exception for discussing unrelated issues on related pages. They are prohibitions on editing related pages. Full stop."

  —Epeefleche (talk) 05:33, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

(cont'd) Do you actually believe that your I/P topic ban allowed you to snipe at an editor who was editing an I/P issue, in an I/P article, by giving that editor a 3RR warning for his edits there? And a 3RR warning that is baseless, to boot? If so, I think you may not be taking to heart the comments that the arbitrators directed at you, and perhaps could benefit from some greater guidance by the closing admin here as to the appropriateness of your behavior.--Epeefleche (talk) 19:31, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Reply by Nableezy

This is dumb. But it is what Epeefleche and Gilabrand should have done instead of edit war out comments that they are not qualified to decide are a violation of anybody's topic ban. As to my own topic ban, AGK has clarified that my topic ban does not include AfDs and my actions here have already been addressed in an earlier AE thread. While it is nice having fans, two frivolous AE threads within the span of 12 hours is too much for even me. nableezy - 17:10, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

But since we are here, below is a rundown of what happened at the AfD (apologies if I miss a revert in there):

Gila removes Nick and Nishidanis comments, reverted by Jeppiz, again removed by Gila, anon removed others, reverted by Mackan79, removed again by Gila, again by Gila, restored by Jeppiz (who at this point went to ANI where the closing admin said that this is an AE issue), I restored, removed by Mr. Hicks The III (now known to be another NoCal100 sock), I reverted, This stops for a while. When Hicks is discovered to be a NoCal100 sock I remove his comment and vote (something that any user, not only uninvolved admins, can do as he was site-banned). Gila then removes Nick and Nishi's comments again. I restore. I then move comments not relevant to the AfD but rather about the AfD itself to the talk page. Gila then again removes the comments relevant to the AfD to the talk page . I revert. Epeefleche now joins the fun by removing the comments, and then removing my comments though my topic ban did not include AfDs. SlimVirgin reverts.

This entire time I asked each person who removed the comments to instead go to WP:AE with their complaints so that an uninvolved admin could make a determination of whether or not the comments were in violation of the topic ban and what to do if they were. Instead Gilabrand and Epeefleche, both highly involved and non-admins, took it upon themselves to make that determination and to enforce their own decision. All they had to do was to come here, instead they choose to continually revert. If anybody deserves an admonishment for what happened there it is Gilabrand and Epeefleche. nableezy - 17:37, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Epeefleche, would you care to explain how informing a "new" user about the 3 revert rule after they have made 3 quick reversions is a violation of my topic ban? nableezy - 05:11, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Breein, you yourself have written that you are not a new user (see here), so why would you take exception to that? nableezy - 05:20, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Apologies, but, fyi, sarcasm often does not translate well in text. nableezy - 05:24, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Ep - the content of the edits is immaterial, I did not discuss the content of the edits, I did not discuss whether or not a place was occupied, what I did do was inform a "new" user of what they could expect if they continued repeatedly reverting. I think I am qualified to do so. I did not edit a "related page". Breein was not given the notice because he or she added or removed the word occupied, Breein was given the notice because he or she made 3 quick reversions. nableezy - 05:38, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

I was not "sniping" at another user, I did not raise any issue about the content of that users edits. And the 3RR warning was not "baseless". Unlike everything you have written above. I am not wasting more time on this or on you. Bye. nableezy - 19:38, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Comment by uninvolved editor Breein1007

I take exception to those quotation marks, Nableezy! Breein1007 (talk) 05:16, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Here, take a quick look at this. Breein1007 (talk) 05:22, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Fair enough! Breein1007 (talk) 05:26, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Reply/Comment by Nickhh

Just so that I'm not seen to be ignoring this altogether, my response to this is the same as that to the original clarification, posted here. In response to a couple of further points -

• Epeefleche, you quote me as saying AfDs are definitely included in the topic ban in principle, suggesting that as a result I was knowingly in breach of the ban, but neglect to quote the following sentence - "The point is more about whether making a general comment about journalistic notability in an AfD debate about one journalist's page is indeed a breach of a ban that stops editors discussing I-P issues". That was the issue in my view that needed clarification. As you also do quote me saying, I wasn't sure at the time. Once it has that clarification (although it has to be said, no arb made this point explicitly), it would seem more sensible for all involved to leave it there, rather than susbequently demanding enforcement in some manner some three weeks after the original event, when nothing much has happened since - I didn't even go back and look at the AfD once I'd made the brief initial comments. No one for example is running around demanding that enforcement action is taken against User:Jayjg for their one-off action in actually closing a far more contentious AfD recently.

• DGG, you appear to be conflating my and Nishidani's case with Nableezy's - for the former of course AfDs in principle were included in our topic ban (as acknowledged rather than "challenged" - the point was slightly different, see above); for the latter they were not, on the basis that Nab was allowed to comment on talk pages, as the terms of their ban were different.

Following all the drama and the clarification I think it unlikely I or Nishidani will do something similar. At the time I knew my comment was borderline (and was quite open about that), and with hindsight would probably not have skirted so close to the border. The only qualification I would put on that is that of course this whole incident had the unexpected bonus of flushing out a rather wide sock farm, which has ranged across I-P pages for a long, long time, making it such an unpleasant place for initially passing editors such as myself whose main interest has never been the Middle East conflicts particularly, and ultimately drawing them into rather daft conflicts that end with us all where we are now. --Nickhh (talk) 16:45, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Comment by uninvolved editor Sm8900

I think that any such topic ban should have a specific end date as well as a start date. I think that this one has run its course. --Steve, Sm8900 (talk) 17:41, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Comments by Tznkai

There appears to be a major misunderstanding of what goes on here. First, with very rare exception, Arbitrators do not patrol enforcement requests, other admins do. I am an admin, I am not an Arbitrator. Second, enforcement requests are not meant to handle general troublemaking, they are meant to handle specific violations of arbitration remedies. This is why it is important that you link the exact remedy. Third, we do not relitigate, retry, or reargue cases. We do not expand, or minimize remedies unless they explicitly invite us to do so. While we may accept or deny requests to enforce on our own discretion, we are not in the buisness of arbitrating ourselves.

In this case, Nableezy is not sanctioned under Westbank Judea-Samaria, and no action will be taken against him under this request. You can see me comments in an above section for what will or will not bring sanctions down on his head.

As to the other two, there was already a clarification requested and it came down clear enough that Jonathan Cook afd was within the Westbank - Judea and Samaria topic ban, this issue is mooted - its already been decided and I'm not sure what harm additional sanctions would prevent. To reiterate the point from the clarification: Knock it off! If there are recent issues I am unaware of, please update the request to make me aware of them. I'm going to wait 24 hours for more information or another administrator to come in and take over.--Tznkai (talk) 19:14, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

I still really don't know what action it is I'm supposed to take here, but I'll throw this one on the table - I'll make a 1 second block on NickH and Nishidani, with a link to the clarification request and making it clear that AfDs of journalists involved in the IP conflict are off limits.--Tznkai (talk) 20:13, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Comment by Mackan79

I hope that ArbCom's clarification will settle any questions that remained about these sanctions, until the sanctions may be reevaluated. I do not see why we would seek to apply the clarification retroactively, particularly considering that it was brought by a banned sock puppet under the same restrictions, who was using another account to participate in the same AfD (if indeed we're going to review for technicalities). Epeefleche seems to remain unaware of this, as they quote the sock (Mr. Hicks The III) to show concern about the Jonathan Cook AfD, so I think it bears mentioning. Mackan79 (talk) 22:27, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

To DGG, my comment is based on the fact that it is not the only "close call" (or what I would also have called a clear violation) that has preceded the recent clarification. I consider Nickh's comment a clear violation in that, even though he tried to limit the scope of his comment relating to an article that is not wholly within the area of conflict, he still couldn't help briefly mentioning the political motivations for the nomination. I consider Nishidani's comments a clear violation in that, while his presentation of sources itself on this AfD should in some format be protected under WP:IAR, he also couldn't help making a similar comment about motivations in passing. And yet, I am no less clear that Jayjg's edit here, removing material which argues that the Washington Times is "pro-Israel" is at least equally a violation of the restriction. If the latter was deemed not a violation, then notwithstanding the Arbitrators' comments, the remedy was not sufficiently clear that we editors knew how to implement it. I hope it now is, but unless we're going to reevaluate every incident, I don't think you take a recent clarification to go back and look at just one of them, especially considering that the clarification itself was brought about by a sock puppet who was very specifically trying to game the system. The much better option is to look forward. Mackan79 (talk) 18:59, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Comment by JoshuaZ

I've already told Mackan why the comparison to Jayjg's edits isn't accurate. Since I don't have much time right now, I'll simply link to that comment. JoshuaZ (talk) 16:48, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

Result concerning Nickh, Nishidani, and Nableezy

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.

• I'm a little confused by some of the rejoinders above. Eppefleche asked my advice what was the appropriate step after the ArbCom clarification motion closed. I advised him that it would be to request enforcement here. Th people involved made engaged in an AfD. Arb Com had previously t said they were not to participate in that subject area. Enforcement was requested and challenged on the grounds that arb com had not meant to include afds within the topic ban. Several of the members of arb com replied, all saying that it did, and that it was totally obvious that it had been included from the start--none expressed the least doubt about it. (And, frankly, that seems the obvious view to me as well.). It was not a matter of extending their ban to additional areas, it was saying what it had been all along. In essence, they were saying that it had been a proper case for AE all along, and action should have been taken there. (Being arbcom ,they didnt simply refer it back, which would have simplified things.) I don't see how the editors involved can now try to say it was ex post facto, or moot; it was always part of the ban, and they violated it. Action is now expected of us. Having advised Eppefleche about procedure, I'm not uninvolved enough to do what should be done. (And personally, I wish arb com would start enforcing its own remedies or designating someone or some small group to do so--throwing it back to the community tends to have the effect it did here, of reopening the issue from the start and continuing the problem. ) DGG ( talk ) 09:52, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Nefer Tweety

Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.

Request concerning Nefer Tweety

User requesting enforcement

Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 13:24, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

User against whom enforcement is requested

Nefer Tweety (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Sanction or remedy that this user violated

http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Asmahan#Consensus http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Asmahan#Neutral_point_of_view_and_undue_weight http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Asmahan#Decorum

Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it

# Several editors mediated between me and Arab Cowboy at the Asmahan article, after the last mediation ended with admin al ameer son you can see here the sections of the article was, "career" section and in that section a subsection of "Egypt's influence", and "immigration to Egypt" was a subsection of "early life", I made an edit and explained this at the talkpage yet it has been reverted by Nefer Tweety against the the mediations/collaborations/consensus and also undue weight, texts about her career are put in "Egypt's influence on Asmahan’s career". Nefer Tweety is an account which is almost exclusively used to do the same edits as Arab Cowboy, Nefer Tweety reverted the entire article back 4 months to Arab Cowboys edit, not caring about edits made by several people I had also made a copyright violation request and a copyright admin removed the copyrighted material here, the exact copy righted text has been re added by Nefer tweety , personal life, section:

Update: Assumption of bad faith is a violation against a principle: "to promote his POV and Syrian agenda" --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 10:29, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

Diffs of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required by the remedy)

Not applicable.

Enforcement action requested (block, topic ban or other sanction)

block or bann.

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

<Your text>

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

Discussion concerning Nefer Tweety

Statement by Nefer Tweety

User: Supreme Deliciousness is presently under disciplinary probation for one year for edit warring and other violations specifically related to Asmahan and other articles. On 20 December, Supreme Deliciousness returned to his old ways of making biased and inflammatory edits into Asmahan to promote his POV and Syrian agenda while claiming copyright violation about any text does not suit his agenda. There's no more copyright violation, the article had been rebuilt by Arab Cowboy without any copyright violations while Cactus Writer was closely watching. Supreme Deliciousness's probation must be enforced as well as the probation on Asmahan and he had better leave this article alone. I am dedicating my time on Misplaced Pages to protecting Egypt related articles from Supreme Deliciousness's vandalism. Nefer Tweety (talk) 11:23, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Comments by others about the request concerning Nefer Tweety

Result concerning Nefer Tweety

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.

Brews ohare

Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.

Request concerning Brews ohare

User requesting enforcement

JohnBlackburne (talk) 17:30, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

User against whom enforcement is requested

Brews ohare (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Sanction or remedy that this user violated

1. Misplaced Pages:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Speed of light#Brews ohare topic banned

2. Misplaced Pages:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Speed of light#Log of blocks, bans, and restrictions

Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it

1. Edit of a physics related page

2. Edit of a physics related page

I could provide any number of these: all of his edits in the last week are on physics related pages or relate to those pages.

Diffs of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required by the remedy)

Not applicable

Enforcement action requested (block, topic ban or other sanction)

A further restriction to his own user pages

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

The problem with his edits (apart from them going against his ban) is his level of expertise is not enough for the article he's editing. He seem to be trying to compensate for this by relying heavily on sources, assembling the article paragraph by paragraph rather than writing it as a whole. The result is a mess that any editor will have to largely re-write from scratch. He doesn't seem able to take my hints on the talk page that he should not be writing the article this way. --JohnBlackburne (talk) 17:30, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

Discussion concerning Brews ohare

Statement by Brews ohare

The article Bivector is a mathematics article that I created in response to discussion among other parties on Talk: p-vector. No physics discussion takes place in Bivector, although many possible applications of this topic to physics do exist, and I invited JohnBlackburne to discuss them in the article. (He has not.) No sanction against me has been violated, and this article constitutes a worthy addition to WP, indicating my good faith efforts to improve WP.

The present situation resembles in some ways the earlier restriction review, which also revolved about a distinction between math and science. That review is about to be updated, and presumably can include JohnBlackburne's complaint. Brews ohare (talk) 19:18, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

In my opinion, the article Bivector as it now stands is fairly complete, apart from example applications that I cannot add due to sanctions, and I have no more mathematics to add to it. So I'd guess there is little need for administrative intervention in this matter. Brews ohare (talk) 18:56, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

JohnBlackburne wishes to raise the issue of my competence to write this article. My competence is a matter separate from violation of sanctions, which should be separately conducted. Although this charge is not relevant here, I wish to point out that no evidence is provided that the present article Bivector in any way presents incorrect arguments. The many sources I have provided to support various points seem necessary in view of the challenges brought by JohnBlackburne, which challenges of his he has universally abandoned on Talk: Bivector upon his further reflection. Brews ohare (talk) 17:51, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

Comments by others about the request concerning Brews ohare

• Strong OPPOSE Ok folks, seriously again? When is this nitpicking ever going to stop. Literally will you try to ban Brews for writing in english? Physics is described by english, to the administrator editor responsible for this renewed farce Shame on you. Hell In A Bucket (talk) 19:18, 26 December 2009 (UTC)
  • Question Administrator? Who? Dougweller (talk) 21:10, 26 December 2009 (UTC)
• No basis for action I'm more familiar than I would like with Brews Ohare's history and sanctions, but I don't believe them to apply here. These are mathematical topics, not physics ones. The fact that Wikiproject Physics has tagged them as theirs does not alter that, nor does the fact that the areas of maths he is working on may have physics applications.

  I have not made more than a cursory glance through Brews' recent activity but what I saw did not seem overly disruptive to me: a dispute is not necessarily someone causing a nuisance. However, even if it was there are other avenues that would be better pursued than this. His contribution record does not reveal him to have recently breached his topic ban. If further action needs taking against him then people should go through the proper channels rather than attempting to short-circuit the process by applying his sanction in an inappropriate manner. CrispMuncher (talk) 21:24, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

• It would be very helpful – for Brews and for the entire community – if you wouldn't go off half-cocked, Hell in a Bucket. Anyone can post a request for enforcement, but that doesn't mean that they'll get it. That's why we're having a discussion. I think that Brews' editing on this topic is fine, however I would strongly encourage Bucket to find something else to do. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 22:01, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

Result concerning Brews ohare

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.