Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement: Difference between revisions

Important information Shortcuts 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. 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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,[a] or is no longer an administrator;[b] 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. 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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 Wikipedia 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 Wikipedia 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.

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

User requesting enforcement

— ZjarriRrethues — ^talk 18:01, 16 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested

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

Sanction or remedy that this user violated

Wikipedia:ARBMAC#Purpose of Wikipedia
Wikipedia:ARBMAC#Decorum
Wikipedia:ARBMAC#Editorial process

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

1. [24][25][26] Long-term edit-warring on Himarë
2. [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]Long-term edit-warring on Qeparo(Alexikoua was edit-warring over whether the name of the village is of Albanian or Greek origin)
3. [34][35][36][37] Long-term edit-warring on Laskarina Bouboulina and whenever I tried to write a new version using Alexikoua's version and someone else's version as a compromise Alexikoua made comments like [38][39]
4. [40][41][42][43] Long-term edit-warring on Ksamil
5. When I sent him an email reminding him some grammar rules because he was making mistakes I received this message [44]. When he was asked to provide a reference about the alleged Greek ethnicity of a writer born in Albania he replied [45][46][47][48]
6. [49][50] deleting sources after taking part in an RSN that ended in favor of the reliability of the source[51]. The user doesn't accept community consensus but follows a wp:own strategy against the consensus.

Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required)

1. [52] Warning by ZjarriRrethues (talk · contribs)

• Latest sanction:[53]

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

Indefinite topic ban on all topics and discussions related to Albania and Albanians

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

Alexikoua has been involved in many edit-wars the vast majority of which are on Albanians-related topics(as you can see all the long-term edit-warring diffs are from Albanians-related topics), he has been sanctioned for 1 month to 1RR and has also been blocked. I don't want to make lengthy comments about Alexikoua's actions on these articles so I'll just copy/paste comments of other users like one made by a very experienced in Balkans topics administrator Future Perfect At Sunrise (talk · contribs), who has said about Alexikoua's actions on those topics that he is an editor who has hardly ever in all his career on Wikipedia made a single edit to any article that was not directly motivated by a single POV agenda (namely, making Albanians look bad and Greeks look good in the struggle over Epirus). Alexikoua has also made some edits that more or less show a pattern of editing like adding on Expulsion of Cham Albanians that the expulsion of this Albanian minority of Greece is related to the Albanian mafia [54] or labeling Albanian troops as tribesmen in an article related to Epirus because to have troops you need a state. Some users who have received similar sanctions and also blocks like Alexikoua may make comments against other users to defend him. A decision should be taken quickly to avoid any kind of disruptive behavior during this AE.

• I don't understand why Alexikoua would say that I've sent him flooding messages when I haven't because it can be verified very easily. I've contacted Alexikoua, both times left him a single line message and afterwards he quit the irc(which would show that he was disconnected because someone was flooding him, but instead it showed that he just decided to quit and sending someone 1 single & short line isn't considered flooding). Alexikoua shouldn't make comments for which the opposite can be easily verified and this discussion is about his conduct not Berserks.

--— ZjarriRrethues — ^talk 18:01, 16 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

[55]

• I am trying hard to be constructive, and don't feel that I need to be sanctioned. Since the expiration of my 1RR limitation, I have generally abided by 1R on a voluntary basis. I’m active some 2+ years in wikipedia, I believe that I have been quite constructive overall. In general, I have never been sanctioned for incivility so far and believe I have managed to keep the peace and a low profile here.
• I have repeatedly tried to reach out to editors I have often had intense disagreements with, trying to foster a positive climate. For example I never hesitated to award with Barnstars [[56]] [[57]], even to an editor with which I’ve had conflict in the past, something that was really productive in my cooperation with specific users (like Sulmues here) and led to common dyk nominations [[58]]. I have even been awarded barnstars by Albanian editors [[59]].
• Whenever there is a content dispute, I always participate in the talkpage discussion, and am usually the one who initiates it ([[60]][[61]][[62]])

• I believe it would be a loss to wikipedia for me to be banned from a subject (Albanian related articles) to which I have contributed positively so far: I have created several articles as well as improved the quality of many others: some of the reached GA and also some dozens made it to the DYK section.
• About points 1-4: I don’t believe that ‘long-term edit warring’ applies here. In cases 1,2,4 (Qeparo, Himare, Ksamil) the articles were subject to unexplained edits/removals by a new and initially highly problematic account User:Beserks. However after his 24h block, disruption subsided and Beserks adopted a more constructive approach (and low profile). His activity also caught the attention of Zjarrirethoues from the very start [[63]], who suspected him as a reincarnation of an old account.
• In point 3 the definition of edit-warring is adopted in an one-sided way: If user X reverts an unexplained ip edit (changing ethnicity without providing appropriate reference [[64]][[65]]) is that editwarring (as Zjarri. Mentioned in his edit summary), or is it fighting vandalism? In the discussion that followed, the opposing party that edited in the article (Aegist) never showed up in the article’s talkpage [[66]].
• Point 5: Some hours after I've created this article [[67]], Zjari thues: initiated a discussion (the entire discussion is here: [[68]]) and initially he claimed that he has sources that claim that the specific person is of a diferrent ethnicity (it's a common feature on some Balkan biographies some persons are claimed by more than one nation). I've asked him to provide this source, but instead he claimed that I'm making extreme deductions and he will change his ethnicity to Orthodox (very weird since the specific person converted to Catholicism) since he can't see this url [[69]] (A Greek schoolar database by Uni. of Athens). Finally when he provided his source case closed and I suggested him to follow a less battleground approach.
• Although I’m trying to be always polite I’ve asked Zjarrirethoues to avoid any kind of off-wiki contact with me (personally I found his off irc activity disturbing since he initiates a private conversation and continues with flooding (posting contiously large amounts of repetitive text in the private window) &taunting that he knows my ip from whois etc.). So I’ve asked him politely to avoid off-wiki contact, in order for our messages visible to everyone: [[70]] later: [[71]] and finally: [[72]]: The latter diff is in response to an e-mail (which I can show to the admins upon request) that had no other purpose than to mock me about my english grammar, even though it was referring to a perfectly grammatical edit of mine [[73]] (I’ve added the Greek alt. name in a region that is part of both Greece and Albania). I found the e-mail quite irritating and insulting, and saw no purpose behind other than perhaps to fish for my e-mail address so he could find my real world identity.
• About the RSN (point 5), there was a detailed explanation why this was about a different subject than the one stated in 2 articles ([[74]] ( kindly asked to respect a long established consensus) [[75]]. Also I’ve informed him about a past explanation given by Future Perfect [[76]](about the specific author) and asked him kindly to initiate a new RSN about the specific issue this time. In any case, this is simply a content dispute, and I did not edit war or believe I behaved disruptively.
• Moreover, about Future Perfect’s comments (mid April 2010), I understood that I had to be more cooperative and always adopt a step by step approach, even if the topic is clear to me. So things have changed about me and I am far more productive (I’ve upgraded 3 articles to ga status with 10+dyks since May).
• On Beserk’s comments, unfortunately I feel that the arguments are quite weak: for example the claim that an official tourist guide is propaganda, or about Konstantinos Tzechanis (a discussion he never participated:[[77]]) he claims that I’m wrong because a specific name has no hits in English bibliography but he didn’t selected to activate the language filter (so all hits were non-English [[78]]).
• Some diffs are quite old like this (6+ months old) [[79]], although the link is somewhat related since the article deals with illegal activity (although wwii era) from both sides. However, I admit it wasn’t the better choice by mine side that time. On the other hand Zjarri. feels offended with this [[80]], while I added the excact wording from the refs [[81]] (obviously terms like troops/army/forces apply mostly to a centralized state). I don't understand what is so "offensive" about this edit or how it is disruptive.
• To conclude: I try to cooperate and remain constructive and civil (off course this will always continue as a top priority). On the other hand I’ve find Zjarri’s initiative filling this report quite weird, unfortunately he seeks to portray even the slightest edit as offensive/disruptive. On the other hand I find it quite aggresive that this isn't not the first time he reports me: the first one, being new 6-days account (10 May account creation->16 report for 3rr) participated in a report [[82]] that was fruitless since the diffs presented as reverts couldn’t be considered reverts.Alexikoua (talk) 21:38, 27 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by user Beserks: Alexikoua insists on using falsified sources, see: [83] and [84] (The Official Guide of Himara). Someone had the good idea to superpose GREEK TOPONYMS TO AN ALREADY PUBLISHED ALBANIAN MAP. You can see for yourself by right-clicking with your mouse to "View image" then zoom on page 3 of the PDF Guide of Himara. He also falsified the same source, that on page 5 reads only "Old Kiparo" and not Άνω Κηπαρό/Κάτω Κηπαρό - or at least I didn't find it there (see: [85]). This is not the first time that some Greek editors falsify the information they submit. See for example [86] The Greeks: the land and people since the war. James Pettifer. Penguin, 2000. This book that shows nothing [[87]] about 200,000 Greeks in Albania is used in different Wikipedia pages to document the Greek presence in Albania [88]. Alexikoua also puts into question Halil Inalcik, a great Turkish historian specialized in Ottoman studies (here: [89]).

• More disruption: Alexikoua uses double standards (he is in favor of Greek names in Albanian towns, but objects to Albanian town-names in Greece); he then invites me to discuss matters [90], when I already did [91].Beserks (talk) 12:45, 20 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
• More falsification: Alexikoua [92] writes:

"I moved the name to Constantine Tzechanis, since english bibliography gives only 1 hit to Xhehani, but if we take a look [93] (Peyfuss) just mentions the title of an Albanian work: so we have virtually 0 hits on Xhehani.Alexikoua (talk) 21:11, 20 September 2010 (UTC)"

By using google.gr/ [94] Alexikoua gives the false impression that there is only 1 english-language book, hiding the fact that there are 28 [95] books on the matter, opposing his view. Beserks (talk) 07:22, 22 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by user Seleukosa:I feel obligated to support Alexikoua. I know him as an constructive , careful and reasonable editor. He is also a passionate editor. That might lead him to some mistakes but he is certainly nor responsible for “falsified” sources as an other editor has suggested. On the contrary he has done great work and he always uses the talk page in the most constructive way.Seleukosa (talk) 23:36, 27 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by User:Athenean

I find this request frivolous and without merit. Alexikoua is an excellent contributor. His knowledge on topics related to Epirus (Greece/Albania) is second to none. He does an excellent job at finding hard-to-find sources and backing up all his content additions with sources. He has created many articles, dozens of which have gone to DYK, and has raised several articles almost singlehandedly to GA status. Topic banning him would be a loss to the encyclopedia and wouldn't solve anything in my opinion. He is also a model of politeness and coolness, far more than me I would say. Regarding the diffs presented by Zjarri Rrethues, I also find them frivolous and non-actionable. Specifically:

• For Himara, 3 reverts over the course of two months, particularly for such a hotly contested article (there have been dozens of reverts on that one), is not "long-term" edit-warring.
• Regarding Qeparo, in that article User:Beserks was being extremely disruptive, e.g. making blanket removals of perfectly relevant, well sourced material [96] and exhibiting major WP:OWN. It is telling that Beserks is the one who got blocked for this behavior, and the blocking admin admonished him to read WP:OWN [97].
• On Laskarina Bouboulina, reverting unexplained IP edits like this [98] [99] is not "long term edit-warring" either. The article is plagued by drive-by IP vandalism and could use some semi-protection. Regarding his reverts of named contributors, my undestanding of MOSBIO is that nationality should be mentioned in the lead, while ethnicity only if attests to the subjects notability (which isn't the case here). Numerous other editors also restored Bouboulina's nationality in the lead. Regarding his comment about User:Aigest, there was indeed a period where it seemed all this editor did was revert, revert revert.
• Regarding Ksamil, that was yet again in response to extremely disruptive, tendentious edits by Beserks: I mean, the guy is adding an OR tag next to a perfectly good source [100] [101]. For crying out loud.
• I don't know what's up with the e-mail ZjarriRrethues sent to Alexikoua, but Alexikoua seems to have taken umbrage and is fully entitled to tell Zjarri to cease and desist form sending him further e-mails. How Alexikoua's behavior in this instance caused disruption to the encyclopedia is beyond me.
• There was no consensus reached at WP:RSN regarding the source.
• The allegations by Beserks of using falsified sources and falsifying sources are bizarre, incomprehensible and without merit, some of them being utterly batty (e.g. the conspiratorial stuff about the "falsified" maps of the Himarra municipality). What is providing a diff that is a link to the edit history of Qeparo supposed to mean? How is adding a vn tag to an offline source disruptive? What is this [102] supposed to mean? I don't think these allegations need to be taken seriously. This user is also plainly incapable of properly conducting a Google Book search, something which Alexikoua is expert at, I might add.
• The allegations by Zjarri Rrethues that the word "chieftains" and "tribesmen" is offensive is downright baffling. That is a frequently used term in the literature for this period of history. "Rulers" and "troops" implies a centralized state, which wasn't the case here. That Zjarri would consider this "offensive" and try to use it against Alexikoua says more about Zjarri than about Alexikoua. Athenean (talk) 04:27, 28 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Cplakidas: Balkan-related articles are always a mess, and most editors who are active there have at one time or the other stepped over the line of acceptable behaviour. What one might term "Long-term edit-warring" is what is habitually going on in several articles, from all sides. The problem with this report however is that Alexi is one of the really few Balkan editors whose editing and mentality have improved over time, and who can discuss and accept that their national POV may be wrong when the sources don't support it. I have never seen him falsify a source, and when he has acted unilaterally (for instance in reverts) he always provided a concrete reasoning that has to be seriously examined (Athenean explained the case-by-case basis well enough). Overall, his contributions are very constructive, and contribute to the solution of any points of conflict in many of these articles. The statements by Beserks should be dismissed as nonsense: an editor can not be held accountable for the POV adopted by the source he uses (for instance The Official Guide of Himara), and the info he added is actually in there, if one knows where to look. Constantine ✍ 16:47, 29 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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

• Will someone please kindly provide a diff of where Alexikoua was served with notification of the ARBMAC discretionary sanctions? Stifle (talk) 08:36, 27 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

• [103]. T. Canens (talk) 09:03, 27 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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

User requesting enforcement

— ZjarriRrethues — ^talk19:35, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested

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

Sanction or remedy that this user violated

Wikipedia:ARBMAC#Purpose of Wikipedia
Wikipedia:ARBMAC#Decorum
Wikipedia:ARBMAC#Editorial process

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

1. [104] Labeling all comments made by Albanian editors as arguments of low quality.
2. [105] Accusing admin as not impartial because he made a suggestion about the previous dif
3. [106][107] Personal attacks against me(although I supported the decision to reduce his sanctions when he was topic banned)
4. [108] Deleting sourced content from the lead with summary Only an Albanian nationalist would place this in the second sentence of the article.
5. [109] Deleting sourced content with idontlikeit arguments about the reliability of the source(on RSN it was approved as rs)
6. [110] Further comments on the author herself that as I have read in some other reports might be considered BLP violations.

Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required)

1. [111] Warning byThe Wordsmith (talk · contribs)
2. Latest sanctions:User talk:Athenean#Sanction notice extended to User talk:Athenean#Banned

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

Indefinite topic ban from all topics and discussions related to Albania, Albanians. He had already received a two-week topic ban on Balkans a couple of months ago.

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

Athenean has received already two times sanctions for his editing behavior in Balkans related articles. The latest that expired was a four-month 1RR and expired about two-weeks ago. I have seen him many times while taking part in discussions with other users who edit the same articles making aggressive comments about the users themselves likeSuch behavior disgusts me, it's called backstabbing in English. I am done with you, and I am withdrawing from your stupid "collaboration" board. Since the sanctions ended he returned to his previous behavior and even when he was warned by The Wordsmith to ease up on the accusations against other users he didn't stop. Some users who have received the same sanctions as Athenean and also blocks may make comments against other users to defend him. A decision should be taken quickly to avoid any kind of disruptive behavior during this AE.--— ZjarriRrethues — ^talk19:35, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

@I think that was the most supportive comment I could make and saying that it could be reduced to 4 months seemed supportive, although I agreed with the initial sanctions, but for my own reasons I changed my mind. If I had to make a similar comment again I would still consider it supportive because I generally don't even partially approve alternatives to already imposed sanctions, so all things considered from my subjective view I probably couldn't more supportive than that. Since the AE Athenean hasn't been very active on Albanian-related topics but regarding the two Albanian-related topics he's taking part in recently this dif is possibly problematic [112]. @Athenean: When Athenean was sanctioned Kedadi(an Albanian user) was sanctioned too, because I reported both sanction violations. The comments of Athenean show his battleground mentality , which is why I reported him to AE and notified admins who had dealt with him before as they would be more familiar with the discussion(and that is something that Athenean labels as canvassing}. Athenean even now labels the comments of all Albanian users as a national block, so all things considered a topic ban from Albanian topics is more than necessary given the fact that fighting nasty Albanian propaganda is one of Athenean's goals on wikipedia, which as I saw in another report is one of the first comments he has ever made on wikipedia I find the nationalist propaganda on the Albania page very dangerous for Greece and its heritage (analogous to the FYROM dispute) and only by uniting will we be able to set the record straight and defeat this nasty propaganda.(this one of his comments, but as you can see Athenean still continues the same behavior by trying to exclude all Albanian users' opinions as comments of low quality).

• Even now that he should be making comments that show he will refrain from battleground mentality he comments on other users wanting to eliminate their opponents. We've all had frequent disputes with many users, but I've never reported any of them because disagreeing isn't a reason to report someone, but when the editing and the comments become disruptive and show a battleground mentality against other users then the AE is necessary. No other user I've dealt with has ever said that he has opponents who try to eliminate him or that another user's behavior disgusts them because they reported a possible sanction violation or that admins are impartial whenever they warn him because he says that all the comments of Albanian users are of low quality. Cplakidas(a Greek user) and Evlekis(a Montenegrin user) have taken part in several discussions, in which I've disagreed with them and they've disagreed with me but I'd never report them because they're civil enough to not make comments like Athenean.

• The main problem with Athenean is that he attributes extremely negative motives to users like saying that I'm way too eager to see him banned because made a very common copy/paste mistake. Whenever he chose to not make such comments I was willing to show good faith [113], but as you can see from his comments even when he's asked to defend himself against he thinks that he's defending himself by attributing extremely negative comments to other users.--— ZjarriRrethues — ^talk 10:03, 26 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
• Timotheus is right about assuming good faith, but I would like his opinion on how to deal with actions like the deletion of sources because a user doesn't find them appropriate. The source was rs with full details(even the cited sentence was highlighted on the link) and yet Athenean considered it not appropriate [114] so he just deleted it. At first he removed some people from a list [115], then when the sources that verified that they should be on that list were added he just deleted the source on one of them because he didn't find it appropriate without even explaining why he didn't find it appropriate(maybe after me adding this to AE he'll add that explanation). I'm not trying to find problematic diffs but when the user keeps making edits(like the unexplained deletion of sources) without even trying to explain his views any user would find this a difficult situation. I understand that assuming good faith is important, but when a user has been sanctioned twice he probably knows that deleting sources and not giving any explanation apart from I don't find it appropriate is problematic and that's one of the main reasons that I started this AE. If Athenean had to discuss about issues like deleting sources before deleting them I don't think that there would be any problematic diffs.--— ZjarriRrethues — ^talk20:15, 27 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

[116]

• Regarding the problematic diffs, I would like to point out that I was given due warning about them by User:The Wordsmith [117], and have refrained from making problematic comments since. The diffs are also almost a month old, and I'd like to think that I haven't said anything problematic in the meantime.
• Over the 3+ years I have been editing wikipedia, I think that I have been quite civil overall. I have never been sanctioned for incivility before and believe I have generally managed to keep the peace. This is a sensitive, difficult area to work in, emotions frequently run high, and some disputes will invariably get hot. Editors don't get credit for the 999/1000 times they manage to remain civil, but one slip-up and it's sanctions. That I thus should be penalized for two problematic diffs out of thousands of non-problematic diffs I find a bit harsh.
• Though I was under a 1R/24 hours restriction that expired on September 7, in the interest of the general peace I have voluntarily abided by 1R since. I am trying hard to be constructive, and don't feel that I need to be sanctioned.
• When disputes become intractable, as they invariably do, I am usually one of the first to seek mediation, either via RfC or by posting at noticeboards such as WP:RSN [118] or WP:CCN [119]. Some disputes were only resolved thanks to my posting on such noticeboards. Again, this shows that I try to bring a constructive approach to resolving disputes in this area.
• In the interest of creating a positive climate I have also been known to praise Albanian editors when I feel they make a good edit, such as here [120] (even when the particular editor has been anything but polite with me in the past [121]), and I also admit when I'm wrong and self-revert [122].
• Regarding the first problematic diff, I was frustrated because here was a situation where all participating editors from one nationality voted one way, and only one way, and everybody else voted the other. This has previously been dubbed "national block voting" (not by me) and is particularly problematic as far as dispute resolution goes since the traditional dispute resolution tools don't work in such cases. The previous time something similar happened (this time with Greek editors all voting along national lines), the result was a rather hellish arbitration case, WP:ARBMAC2. I thus felt the need to point out what was going on, and felt I was calling a WP:SPADE. Regarding the second diff, again I also got really frustrated, I mean, what else could motivate someone from copy-pasting this sentence [123] from the body of the article right smack into the second sentence of the lede? That said, I understand that making characterizations based on nationality/ethnicity is indeed problematic, and solemnly engage to refrain from making such characterizations in the future.
• Though I am well aware of WP:NOTTHEM, I feel the need to point that editor filing this AE report is a case of unclean hands. This editor has been pushing for me to get banned for months now, at every available opportunity, crossing deep into WP:HOUND territory. Barely after creating an account, he zealously participates in a frivolous AN/I hatchet-job filed by a user who has now been banned for precisely such disruption [124] [125]. When I successfully appealed an overly harsh topic ban against me, Zjarri was lobbying for a still-lengthy topic ban [126]. I believe this editor is now gaming WP:AE to try and get rid of users that frequently disagree with him on content matters. Over the past months, he has been meticulously and systematically combing through each and every single diff of mine in an attempt to get me sanctioned, mostly via IRC, thus leaving no trace [127] (while also falsely claiming to have reported Albanian users, which he never has). For example, a month ago he showed the same diffs used in this report to The Wordsmith on IRC, but that admin was content with merely issuing a warning. Apparently this wasn't enough, so then a few days later ZjarriRrethues files this report, using the same diffs. When he filed this report, he canvassed admins that had sanctioned me in the past [128] [129], while studiously avoiding admins that had spoken in support of me [130], though he interacts with them frequently and they are perhaps the most expert in the area of the Balkans. When this report was archived (doubtless because most admins who saw it didn't find it actionable), what does he do? He de-archives it and re-posts it, on the grounds that I am still "causing disruption". However, between the original filing of this report and now I haven't caused the slightest disruption, and I invite anyone to look at my contribs and see for him/herself. No edit-warring, no incivility, nothing. One is thus left to wonder what his definition of disruption is, besides happening to disagree with him on content matters. He is also always quick to call "disruption" at every opportunity, which makes talking to him problematic [131] [132] [133]. In fact, so eager is he to to see me sanctioned that in his haste he included in this very AE report a diff by another user [134]! He has also filed a report against another Greek editor who frequently disagrees with him, User:Alexikoua, going so far as copy-pasting text from the AE report on me to the report on Alexikoua (which is also non-actionable and has been ignored). If we include the de-archiving of this report, that's three AE reports posted within the space of 8 days. To me, it is quite evident this user really, really wants me (and other editors that frequently disagree with him) sanctioned. Yet gaming disruption prevention tools such as WP:AE for the purpose of eliminating one's opponents is the epitome of bad faith, wikihounding, and clear WP:BATTLEGROUND behavior.

P.S.: Following the posting of the above defense, Zjarri Rrethues is now digging up diffs from 3+ years ago, from my naive old days. I think that speaks for itself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Athenean (talk • contribs) 03:26, 27 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have to add that Athenean is really carefull in apporaching a variety of sensitive topics, including these that are of national sensitivity among the Balkan countries: he always fills a new case in wp:ani before things would become hot and follows a slow, step-by-step, strategy in order to make it easier to solve the case.

During the last two years, I watch his contribution, he received by various administrators congratulation messages ([[135]]) because of his efforts to battle distruption in wikipedia. I believe if a specific edit-summary was somewhat problematic this can't change the whole picture, especially in this case, when someone, like Athenean, spends hours to improve the quality of this project.Alexikoua (talk) 13:56, 27 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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

Looking over this. In the mean time, I invite ZjarriRrethues (talk · contribs) to show cause why they should not be sanctioned for misrepresenting the contents of this diff as support for reducing Athenean's previous topic ban. T. Canens (talk) 02:50, 26 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I find most of the diffs presented above to be not actionable, but [136] and [137] are problematic, as they tend to reinforce the battleground mentality that is unfortunately pervasive in this area. If there are additional, more recent, diffs not brought up above, they should be brought up now. Since I am contemplating some form of sanctions, I will invite Athenean to respond to this request. T. Canens (talk) 04:15, 26 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with T. Canens' conclusions, although Athenean's behaviour is at the low end of disruption and an admonishment would be as far as I think I would go here. Stifle (talk) 08:39, 27 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

With respect to Athenean at least, this is ripe for action. My impression after reviewing the submissions is that Athenean has generally behaved reasonably, though mistakes do occasionally happen. I agree with Stifle that an admonishment is sufficient, so barring objections from other uninvolved admins that will be the only action taken. With respect to ZjarriRrethues, while it is acceptable to report misconduct, it is not acceptable to go through an editor's contributions with a fine-toothed comb hunting for the occasional problematic diff, and certainly digging up diffs from three years ago serves no purpose whatsoever. Moreover, I can see no reasonable way the diff I cited above can be interpreted as supportive of Athenean's appeal of his previous ban. I'm having difficulty coming up with a suitable sanction, though. Suggestions would be welcome. T. Canens (talk) 08:58, 27 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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

User requesting enforcement

JohnBlackburne^words_deeds 19:45, 19 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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

WP:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Speed of light#Brews ohare restricted

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

1. [138] Created new article while deletion discussion in progress
2. [139] Created new article while deletion discussion in progress
3. [140] Created redirect over article deleted after discussion

Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required)

1. [141] Warning by JohnBlackburne (talk · contribs)
2. [142] Warning by JohnBlackburne (talk · contribs)

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

I don't know what is needed except something that can convince Brews ohare that he cannot just ignore consensus and policies that he finds inconvenient. In a sense this is the same problem that got him banned from physics – no-one objects to occasional posting of fringe ideas on talk pages, it was the repeated posting against consensus that got him banned – suggesting the existing ban is not having the desired effect.

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

A week ago I initiated a deletion discussion on Vector quadruple product as seen here: Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Vector_quadruple_product. This was largely uncontentious except for Brews ohare's participation, where he made most of the contributions, repeatedly rewriting his proposals, claiming (one of his) proposals was the "sensible course", and so on. In particular during the discussion he created two articles, proposing first one, then another as replacements, the first a miscellaneous list of vector maths with no clear criteria for inclusion, the second the same as the deleted article with some trivial working, effectively preempting the result of the deletion discussion. In particular now the discussion is over, and the page has been deleted, he has recreated it as a redirect to one his new pages (one of his suggestions that was not supported by anyone else in the discussion), circumventing both the deletion discussion and the consensus of the participants. I tried proposing the new page for deletion, for the reasons given above, but that was removed with the suggestion of another timeconsuming AfD, at the same time accusing my of "sniping" for following process.

To Wgfinley: I would say this is not physics, except in that all maths is theoretical physics; but this has been clarified in previous discussions, Brews ohare's and David Tombe's topic bans do not extend to mathematics topics like this one.--JohnBlackburne^words_deeds 07:01, 20 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

Brews ohare notified: [143]

Of course, there are many ways to approach salvage of article content, and Blackburne apparently would prefer it be done differently. Posting a replacement article without the flaws of the one in dispute is a reasonable approach to retaining what was of value, particularly when the article in AfD had so many failings (including an incorrect title) that made a total rewrite the practical course of action. The Vector quadruple product discussion was not interfered with, and that article was deleted as was evident would happen from the beginning, and as advocated by Blackburne himself. The newly corrected article Quadruple product with a correct title and proper citations is presently under AfD without the distractions of obvious problems, and will be removed if notability cannot be established. That course of events requires no disciplinary intervention.

It is odd to view creation of a corrected, sourced article with the right title as interference. It isn't an infraction of WP procedures. Blackburne's claim of a violation of this sanction as the basis for bringing his action here has no connection to the AfD issue. That is, Blackburne is not requesting enforcement of a sanction against me, but confusing an AfD discussion with something it is not. His action does not belong here, and no-one here has shown any cause to believe it does. A (false) perception of my interpretations of physics topics is not a basis for action here upon an unrelated matter that is, in fact, a salutary action to salvage an article's correct content. Brews ohare (talk) 19:02, 29 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

BTW; the terms of the sanctions against me require a formal warning by an uninvolved administrator that action is under consideration, to allow me to desist without need for disciplinary action. No such warning was provided, vitiating any action under the sanctions.

Of course, it is my position that creating an article to salvage a math topic in AfD is not a disciplinary matter anyway, and has no connection to the sanctions in force against me. So protocol violations are of importance only if by some weird twist of thought it is considered that the sanctions actually apply, which has not been shown, nor even argued. Brews ohare (talk) 19:27, 29 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Brews has let me know that he won't have time for Wikipedia for the coming few weeks and asked me to take a look at the article about the quadruple product, particularly his comments here, because he thought the article would be put on AFD by John Blackburne after he left. He presumably doesn't know that the matter has ended up here.

I didn't have enough time to read through all the disputes, but what I did note was lack of participation from other math experts in the AFD. I.m.o., the matter should have been raised at WikiProject math, because the issue isn't that straightforward. It is now hard to see what is consensus and what is the opinion of JohnBlackburne and User:DVdm.

I have asked User:Hans Adler, an experienced math editor, if he has the time to give his comments here. My preliminary look leads me to conclude that this is one of those issues where I say: "what is all the fuss about", but I know that others sometime have a competely different opinion in such cases. So that's why I asked him to take a look. Count Iblis (talk) 01:42, 20 September 2010 (UTC) |}[reply]

The article seems useless (IMO), however, what looks to be more of a concern is the user's actions during the AfD discussion. And while the article looks fine on its face (some sourcing, pretty equations), it worries me that the user is so committed to his edits that he refuses to seek consensus, or actively opposes it. To be honest, its a little disappointing because it looks as if the editor has the skills and ability to contribute productively, if they had any interest in it at all -- but at least from the actions outlined here -- it's not clear to me that they do. jheiv ^{talk contribs} 08:33, 22 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I am only commenting here because Count Iblis asked me to.

About the question of mathematics or physics: This article is about mathematics, although it is the kind of mathematics that interests physicists much more than mathematicians.

About the article itself: It seems useless to me. Basically it just defines a term that is not very important. If it is in common use among some people, then it should be defined in a related article and the article should be redirected there.

About Brews Ohare's editing of mathematics articles: He has contributed a large number of beautiful graphics to Pythagorean theorem. He has also participated in one of the most bizarre debates about a mathematical topic that I have ever seen (now filling most of talk page archives 3 and 4), started by David Tombe, who claimed that the theorem is really a three-dimensional theorem and in particular that it doesn't hold in higher dimensions. Brews Ohare's role in this discussion was not clear to me (in fact I confused him with David Tombe and in a previous version of this comment falsely claimed that he had started the discussion), but in any case I think he didn't help to stop the circus.

It is generally not a good idea to ignore consensus or ongoing discussions. On the other hand this is not a clear case of doing so. It appears that Brews Ohare misjudged other editors' positions and attitudes, especially w.r.t. himself, and was acting in a spirit of good faith and collaborative editing. (I am not very familiar with him, though, and may be missing a general pattern here.) [Comment revised after an email by Davide Tombe refreshed my mind.]Hans Adler 16:19, 25 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Would like some elaboration regarding getting emailed from David Tombe, did he email you about your comments here? --WGFinley (talk) 21:03, 29 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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

Creating articles, redirects, etc when the article is being discussed in an AfD is very bad form and seems to be in violation of his restriction. The topic of this article is in the field of theoretical physics is it not? Looking at the soruces for the secondary source article from MathWorld, three of the four are books on physics. --WGFinley (talk) 05:17, 20 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'd say we can call it math. T. Canens (talk) 15:33, 22 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I find the conduct of this user to continue to be disruptive and subject to repeated cases. This year alone March, July and twice in August he's been a subject here for his disruption either by editors or by Arbcom. Creating forks of an article under AfD or recreating an article under AfD is WP:GAME and a user under his restrictions should know better. Now banned from physics it appears he may be turning to mathematics. I would propose the following remedy:

1. One week block, he's already had a one week block earlier but it's been some time, I think it's an appropriate duration.
2. Admonishment not to extend disruptive behavior he is banned for in physics over to mathematics, if it continues further sanctions or requests to Arbcom may be necessary.

--WGFinley (talk) 04:33, 25 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I concur. This was not catastrophically bad, but was a user tiptoeing around the edges of prior sanctions with more questionable behavior, and should be discouraged. The proposal by Wgfinley seems balanced from that point of view. Georgewilliamherbert (talk) 06:39, 25 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Agree with the above. T. Canens (talk) 08:11, 25 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with the one week block and the admonishment. I suggest that the enforcement be implemented after Brews ohare responds to the enforcement request because I see no point in actioning an enforcement against someone on a break. (I realize that this would delay closing this request but think that completely the paperwork in a timely manner is less important than implementing the block at the best time. FloNight♥♥♥♥ 20:39, 26 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't have a problem with keeping it open a bit but it mentions a few weeks, that seems entirely too long. I would propose keeping it open another week for him to respond, if nothing then we can move forward. --WGFinley (talk) 22:43, 26 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Have reviewed Brews response, it doesn't cause me to change my position on the suggestion here. Stating an uninvolved admin needs to warn is WP:LAWYER at best and I believe not true in my read of the sanction. Editors shouldn't have to fetch an admin every time an editor under probation needs to be warned. Unless Arbcom has determined otherwise I would keep the same remedy. Thoughts?? --WGFinley (talk) 21:10, 29 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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

User requesting enforcement

Enric Naval (talk) 22:40, 23 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested

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

Sanction or remedy that this user violated

"In addition, you will be required to discuss any content reversions on the article talk paged" based in WP:ARBMAC

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

1. [144] 14 September. removes "cradle of Serbian culture", no edit summary and doesn't discuss in talk page
2. [145] 23 September. removes same text a more neutral version of the same text, edit summary is only "rv, pov", doesn't post in the talk page discussion of that text

Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required)

1. Lontech is aware of the restriction, since he has filed two reports based on it[146][147]

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

Block of adequate length (optionally, place another temporal topic ban on Kosovo topics)

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

Lontech has removed twice the same sentence in 9 days, making no discussion in the talk page. The restriction requires that all content reversions are discussed. The talk page had an active discussion about this very same sentence.

Lontech, check your removals again:

• 1st "Kosovo became the cradle of Serbian culture"
• 2nd "Serbs came to consider Kosovo the cradle of Serbian culture"

The first text was POV and dab's comment applies. The second one was an improved version that was not POV. Maybe you didn't realize that the text had changed? --Enric Naval (talk) 18:26, 24 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

[148]

I dont see a violation of rules

Thanks for clarifying that Revere was after 1 week ( 9 days later ) so there is no 1RR violation

Regarding Discussion: It was and still it is clear pov . Dab has explained very well

afaik it is undisputed that Kosovo was populated with a Serbian majority prior to 1800 just as it is undisputed that there is an Albanian majority now. As for "cradle", the Serbs as an ethnicity began to articulate from a generic South Slavic population in the 6th to 9th century. There was no territory coterminous with Kosovo prior to the 19th century so it can hardly be the cradle of Serbian culture. According to our Serbs article, " The first Serb states were Rascia, Doclea, Travunia, Pagania and Zachlumia." It is undisputed that what is now Kosovo is a part of these territories, but I see no evidence that it was in any sense more of a "cradle" than any other part. "Kosovo" got its relevance only in the wake of 1389, long after Serbian culture had emerged. So yes, what is now Kosovo used to be part of medieval Serbia, but no, I see no evidence it was a "cradle" (or ?"crux") in any particular sense. --dab (𒁳) 16:28, 18 September 2010 (UTC)

or It has been required to copy and paste again dabs coment.-- LONTECH  Talk  17:32, 24 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Note that Dab's remark lies within a cluster of other statements on the talk page; this paragraph did not conclude the discussion as it has continued. Several editors have left notes. Evlekis (Евлекис) 19:56, 24 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Per multiple disputed actions, and per some previous and contemporary personal attacks (diff, Lontech - ethnic attacks at ANI, reported by SarekOfVulcan) and pov pushing by this user, some urgent reaction is required regarding this request. User was blocked indef by J.delanoy, but unblocked also by him after agreement to follow the rules. It looks like that agreement is forgotten by Lontech. --WhiteWriter ^speaks 12:27, 25 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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

The point of a discussion restriction is to get people to discuss. It's not an "each side can make a post on talk page and then revert with impunity" restriction. The violations are unambiguous, and given that a time-limited topic ban on Kosovo related topics has been imposed once already, I'm opting for a indefinite ban on this violation. Under the authority of WP:ARBMAC#Discretionary sanctions, Lontech (talk · contribs) is hereby banned indefinitely from all articles, discussions, and other content related to Kosovo, broadly construed. This ban may be appealed as provided in WP:ARBMAC#Appeal of discretionary sanctions. T. Canens (talk) 17:25, 25 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]