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Image:BoNM - Israel.png|For the mass of Israeli locality articles created recently, thanks for the amazing work! -- ] <sup>(])</sup> 21:34, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
Image:BoNM - Israel.png|For the mass of Israeli locality articles created recently, thanks for the amazing work! -- ] <sup>(])</sup> 21:34, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
Image:Afrika award.jpg|For all of your excellent work on African election articles, I award you this AfricaProject Award. Wear it with pride. <fontface="Old English Text MT">]</font><sup>]</sup><sub>]</sub> 16:32, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
Image:Afrika award.jpg|For all of your excellent work on African election articles, I award you this AfricaProject Award. Wear it with pride. ]<sup>]</sup><sub>]</sub> 16:32, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
File:Original Barnstar Hires.png|For your efforts to improve coverage of East Germany's political history ♦ ] 19:59, 6 December 2011 (UTC)
File:Original Barnstar Hires.png|For your efforts to improve coverage of East Germany's political history ♦ ] 19:59, 6 December 2011 (UTC)
My main contributions to Misplaced Pages are articles on elections, referendums, political parties and politicians, focusing on countries outside the main Anglosphere. I also dabble in football (particularly non-League football) and have previously created large numbers of articles on places in Israel and Suffolk.
The main reason I edit Misplaced Pages is a belief that every person on the planet has the right to access the accumulated knowledge of humanity. Giving people access to this knowledge allows them to make informed decisions – one only has to look at how desperate repressive countries like North Korea are to stop their citizens finding out the truth to see how important it is. The even sadder thing is that access to the facts from a neutral, reliable and trusted source is needed more than ever in the "free" world. Several years ago I wrote that the 2011 AV referendum in the UK was a prime example of deliberate misinformation by parties and the majority of the media. Sadly, since then things have got far worse, and not just in the UK.
Many of the articles I write (particularly recently) are ones on which there is little online information, and are on topics that I feel are sufficiently important that the information should be available more widely (elections, for instance, are a key part of a nation's history). I should note my thanks to Wikimedia UK, who provided me with a grant to purchase Elections in Europe: A data handbook, from which I have written and improved several hundred articles.
And, of course, I edit Misplaced Pages because I am interested in the topics themselves, and enjoy the research and reading required to write the articles.
Did you know
A few articles I created (or in one or two cases, merely contributed to) have been selected for DYK:
... that Pike's Lane was the venue of the first-ever goal scored in league football?
... that despite receiving the most votes in the 1959 elections, the Dahomeyan Democratic Union emerged as the smallest of the three parties in the Territorial Assembly?
... that William Groves was the youngest-ever sergeant in the Australian military?
... that the candidacy of Arthur Young in the 1891 Cypriot legislative election caused significant controversy, and efforts to prevent him winning led to the results being partially annulled?
... that Emilienne Rochecouste was the first woman elected to the Legislative Council in Mauritius despite her party being opposed to women's suffrage?
... that Ayla Halit Kazım was the first female parliamentarian in Cyprus, but never received her MP's salary?
... that Agnes Terei was the first woman to be appointed to the Advisory Council of the New Hebrides?
... that Liri Gega was the only woman amongst the founders of the Communist Party of Albania and was later one of the first group of women elected to parliament?
... that Naxhije Dume was the first woman to be appointed as a government minister in Albania?
... that Bertha Higgins was appointed to the West Indies Federal Senate in 1958, becoming the first female legislator from Antigua and Barbuda?
... that Dorcas Idowu was the first woman appointed to a legislature in what is now Cameroon, while Julienne Keutcha was the first woman elected to parliament in the country?
... that Margaret Rose Kelsick was the first woman elected to the Legislative Council in Montserrat?
... that Madge Biggs was the first woman appointed to the Legislative Council of the Falklands, and Marjorie Vinson was the first woman elected to the Legislative Council?
... that Hsieh Er and Lin Shen were the first two women elected to parliament from Taiwan?
... that Ivy Forster avoided deportation from Jersey by the Nazi authorities after a doctor pretended that she was suffering from tuberculosis, and later became the first woman elected to the States?
... that Jessie Burnham, one of the first women in parliament in Guyana, published a booklet warning voters to beware her brother, Prime Minister Forbes Burnham?
... that Mary Mdziniso was the first woman to become a member of parliament in Eswatini when she was appointed to the Senate in 1968, while Lomasontfo Dludlu was the first woman elected to parliament in the country in 1993?
... that Anna von Gierke, one of the first women elected to parliament in Germany, was deselected by her party prior to the 1920 elections due to her Jewish background?
... that in the 1953 elections in American Samoa, the first under universal suffrage, Zilpher Jennings and Mabel Reid were the first two women elected to the Fono?
... that in 1964 Esther Soyannwo became the first woman elected to parliament in Nigeria, but was unable to take her seat due to violence caused by her election?
... that Marie-Cécile Collet was the first female member of the Seychelles legislature?
... that Rosa Aguigui Reyes was the first woman elected to the Guam Congress?
Despite my beliefs about Misplaced Pages's role in providing neutral and reliable information, there are several areas that concern me. Due to a lack of will by admins early in Misplaced Pages's history, the issue of nationalist editors has never really been dealt with. There are several areas of the project which are almost no-go areas for outside/neutral editors, and many false consensuses have been built up by small groups of editors (usually around five people, which is sufficient to block progress on any attempt at outside involvement (the fatal flaw of the WP:RFC process being that it is not limited to outside editors). The areas I have come across which are particularly problematic are:
Estonia - attempts to revise history by denying the fact that Estonia was part of the Russian Empire or USSR. This usually manifests itself in insisting that country of birth is listed as Estonia in years when the country was not independent.
Ireland/Northern Ireland - a key example being the de facto banning of the phrase "Northern Irish" to describe people from Northern Ireland and (similar to the Estonia situation) the refusal to accept that Ireland was part of the UK prior to 1921. As well as the issue over birth places, one particularly stupid example I came across whilst working on election articles was Irish general election, 1918 - an election to the UK parliament that convention dictates should be United Kingdom general election, 1918 (Ireland). Unsurprisingly, a requested move was blocked more than once.
Israel/Palestine - several years ago the major problem was Israeli bias (refusal to acknowledge that settlements were considered illegal by international law etc), but the pendulum has swung the other way in recent years. Major problems include the refusal to even allow the phrase "Israeli Arabs" in the introduction of the article about those people (despite it being the common name - and those editors that call for the use of the "neutral" phrase "Arab citizens of Israel" are now attempting to sneak "Palestinian Arabs" into articles instead) and attempts to replace "Palestinian Territories" with "Palestine" despite the state not yet existing.
Whilst I have given up on these issues being resolved, the problem still bothers me.
Barnstars
I, Shuki, hereby award you the Barnstar of National Merit for your extensive contributions to Israel-related articles, especially on the subject of the Israeli democracy/politics.
You have done a great job in creating so many articles related to football, so here's a token of appreciation NRS/M\ 13:31, 15 November 2006 (UTC) 06:06, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
I ran into your user page and, browsing through your article contributions, I feel that you really merit this well-deserved Tireless Contributor Barnstar. Thank you for all the diligent work. Anas 10:11, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
In recognition of your work on Israel related articles, and completion of the Signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence articles -- Derwig (talk) 15:45, 23 November 2007 (UTC)
You are hereby awarded this "Football Barnstar" for dedicating your time and effort during the month of November, 2007 on formulating Misplaced Pages's NC for sports teams. --Riurik 07:10, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
I want to thank you for your recent changes to Ma'agan Michael. The article has been on my mind for a while as one that needed something, but what I didn't know. Now after your edits, I feel that the article is starting to read fairly well. Keep up the good work! « D. Trebbien (talk) 05:30 2008March 5 (UTC)
Thanks for being nice and rational in the deletion of Michael Paton, instead of just "delete or else"! Cheers mate! -- weburiedoursecretsinthegarden 09:06, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
As recognitian of your continued committment to Israel related articles Flymeoutofhere (talk) 11:52, 13 April 2008 (UTC)
For creating a bot-like amount of articles on Israeli localities. -- Nudve (talk) 11:15, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
For the mass of Israeli locality articles created recently, thanks for the amazing work! -- Ynhockey 21:34, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
For all of your excellent work on African election articles, I award you this AfricaProject Award. Wear it with pride. Ser Amantio di NicolaoLo dicono a Signa. 16:32, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
For your efforts to improve coverage of East Germany's political history ♦ Dr. Blofeld 19:59, 6 December 2011 (UTC)
For your tireless efforts to create referenced and factually correct articles on the elections, I award you this Barstar of Diligence. Keep up the amazing work! It is much appreciated. Renata (talk) 16:42, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
For your efforts on San Marino politics. ♦ Dr. Blofeld 17:07, 26 February 2012 (UTC)
Number 57, thank you for your recent new articles on the West Indies. Your work is appreciated! Rosiestep (talk) 03:35, 2 June 2012 (UTC)
Not the best barnstar I was looking for, but still accurately fits your edits. I also appreciate your civility and helpfullness. Thanks! Activism1234 16:34, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
For your work diligently closing discussions at WP:AN/RFC and bringing down the backlog of that page, I hereby award you the Tireless Contributor Barnstar. Thank you for your closes and for taking on tasks other administrators shy away from. TLSuda (talk) 11:59, 12 May 2014 (UTC)
It's nice to meet an admin who just gets on and does stuff, knows what he's talking about and is a genuinely nice, friendly human being! I'm glad we got a moment to chat at the weekend. Worm(talk) 10:11, 14 August 2014 (UTC)
For the John Barrowman (BLPSOURCES vs CONTEXTMATTERS). Because this contribution was just outstanding! Mark Miller (talk) 02:04, 6 October 2014 (UTC)
For the John Barrowman (BLPSOURCES vs CONTEXTMATTERS). You had to really scrutinize that discussion to parse it all out! Mark Miller (talk) 02:04, 6 October 2014 (UTC)
For the John Barrowman (BLPSOURCES vs CONTEXTMATTERS). That had to be hard to figure out...just from all the drama! Mark Miller (talk) 02:04, 6 October 2014 (UTC)
For a user page I found quite unique. While I may be a political novice at best, Did you know it's interesting? Contributor613 (talk) 16 December 2014
For all your hard work in creating templates and correcting page titles relating to the 2015 UK local elections. Nice work! Lugnuts 06:52, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
Thank you for defending my articles that were put up for deletion. Not only that but you're tireless contribution to players in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup! Misplaced Pages and I thank you! Da Drewster 03:51, 12 June 2015 (UTC)
I would like to award you this for all your incredible work in creating articles on old Scottish football grounds. Jellyman (talk) 22:29, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
Nice work fixing the Bosnia and Herzegovina page so that flag inside its Infobox national football team does not fall on the second line below the Bosnia and Herzegovina long name. This bugged me for ages, your fix made my day. I am sure many will notice and appreciate it. Many thanks. BiHVolim (talk) 13:12, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
I would like to thank you on all the work you put into every countries elections. JDuggan101 (talk) 19:30, 23 October 2017 (UTC)
I award you the barnstar of Diligence for your calm, rational, and patient approach in seeing this through to the end. ~Awilley (talk) 13:42, 20 November 2018 (UTC)
Thank you for your work on politician biographical articles on Misplaced Pages, especially Israeli ones. Your hard work is much appreciated. Inter&anthro (talk) 22:10, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
By writing hundreds of succinct biographies of women parliamentarians throughout the world and including them in your List of the first female members of parliament by country, you have made a really significant contribution to Misplaced Pages's coverage of women. --Ipigott (talk) 10:55, 7 February 2021 (UTC)
Thanks for all the fantastic content you've been adding about women in politics worldwide! It's much appreciated :) Dsp13 (talk) 16:26, 18 February 2021 (UTC)