The Guidance Barnstar
		I give you this barnstar for your help in locating valuable resources, information, and numerous explanations on various subjects. Greetings. Adrian (talk) 19:21, 15 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Biruitorul! I hope you enjoy this treat as a friendly greeting from a fellow Wikipedian SwisterTwister talk 19:58, 17 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hah! (Thought I'd make this my timid reply to a complex post of yours from way back.)

Biru, I got your message in the mail, which I don't check nearly as often as I should. Is it okay if I don't reply just yet? I'm a bit jaded (for other reasons, I mean) and mostly into wikidragoning for now, it's what I've missed doing for months. And they've been very hectic months...

But I will say I'm glad for that luminous moment you mention. What, no picture? :)

More to follow. Dahn (talk) 20:00, 22 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The juicy stuff is, I do believe, in the closing chapter. Here's how to combine Malcolm X and Gobineau:

BLACK PEOPLE WILL PREVAIL IN THE WORLD

The latest age of slavery has been the enslavement of Blacks by White people. The memory of this age will persist in the thinking of Black people until they have vindicated themselves.

This tragic and historic event, the resulting bitter feeling, and the yearning or the vindication of a whole race, constitute a psychological motivation of Black people to vengeance and triumph that cannot be disregarded. In addition, the inevitable cycle of social history, which includes the Yellow people's domination of the world when it marched from Asia, and the White people's carrying out a wide-ranging colonialist movement covering all the continents of the world, is now giving way to the re-emergence of Black people.

Black people are now in a very backward social situation, but such backwardness works to bring about their numerical superiority because their low standard of living has shielded them from methods of birth control and family planning. Also, their old social traditions place no limit on marriages, leading to their accelerated growth. The population of other races has decreased because of birth control, restrictions on marriage, and constant occupation in work, unlike the Blacks, who tend to be less obsessive about work in a climate which is continuously hot.

I recall back many, many years ago, when the Colonel was telling some US reporters that it's time for Clinton to act as America's Gorbachev, and free the component states one by one (Clinton, of all people!). So let me say that I have some doubts that anyone could ever fill those sandals, in our lifetime. You're right, I'm beginning to feel a bit sad myself. Sad and old.

I wanted to talk to you about Historia for a while now. It seems Patriciu's ownership has done a good job of cleaning up the place, even though Cristoiu is still there (Cristoiu's buddies, I believe, were doing the magazine in back some years ago). I don't buy the magazine, rarely do I read it, but I did not notice that they've got some great stuff, especially on popular history. I incidentally bought the Antonescu issue before the Băsescu scandal. (Btw: Although his ideas on the subject are far-fetched, TB's allegations weren't really scandalous, all in all. I myself would want to see an exploration of Mihai's exact positioning in the Holocaust issue, if only so as to dispel rumors - instead of keeping the whole matter ceremoniously taboo, and turning it back to what his mother did for the Jews. What did the king forget, and when did he forget it? In any case, those declassé academics who rushed in on Antena 3 with expertology about how TB is a Holocaust denier... they presumably got families to feed, right?) Anyway, that entire issue is interesting, and utterly politically correct. There's one article by Cristoiu, which is simply inane, but even that is more digestible than what he used to write on the subject.

But here's the dilemmas: 1) Historia was evidently unreliable a few years back - for instance, when it publicized faked data about the Legionary Rebellion. It has evidently changed. But how do we draw and maintain the line between the two avatars? The same, I guess would go for Adevărul itself, but the proof there is not obscured, and both Historias were under Cristoiu. 2) Although I for one never really disliked him, but merely found him dull, Cristoiu himself is always in a gray area of reliability - and some of the stuff he's been alleged to have done would place him in the Pamfil Şeicaru category. He is hotly criticized, often ridiculed, as a reporter, as an opinion journalist, as a literary critic and as a(n oral) historian. How do we deal with that, and when do we deal with that? Dahn (talk) 21:40, 22 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You have to give the guy points for trying: he apparently said that all Libyan girls should marry Blacks in the generations to come. I'm not sure where that gets him with his Nation of Islam friends, but it kinda reminds me of how "the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish". I also have to wonder if, at the end of all this, it would have made any difference for Libyans (and probably Tchadians as well) had Libya really been turned into Stalin's colony back in 1945. Sure, they have more guns to spare around them, but the loony factor is still undisputed.

Yes, from the little knowledge I have on this topic, it does seem a recurring thing that the Arab Christian urban elite should begin work on a nationalist or pan- movement, then watch it, or the entire place for that matter, being redefined by an underclass with more efficient tribal-based political machines. In the case of the SSNP or the Falange, I can't say that's a bad thing: the score is even on the level of illegitimacy between them and their Muslim adversaries. I want to see a strong liberal, liberal conservative, even AKP-like force at work in the Middle East, and I want them establishing a "Young Ottoman"-like status quo and social contract. Heck, I want the Ottoman Empire back, I want an Iran that feels very very small, and I want guys in power that Israel can actually talk to.

(It is a nice anthem, though.)

Yeah, I for one agree, but how would one really formulate that distinction so it gets through to potential "third parties"? Short of rewriting Ion Cristoiu or adding to Dinu Patriciu or making Historia into an article? (None of which I plan on doing in the coming years months.) I think it would've been best had Patriciu just renamed the magazine. It's not like he has a legacy to defend, other than perhaps Buzatu and Coja's. (Prostitution in Romania? I would love to write the "In culture" part of that article, not sure about the rest. I was even thinking about that as I was writing on "The Fuchsiad", and only found the redirect.)

I was disappointed in Cioroianu's remarks, not because they are anti-TB, but because he's being sophistic. And right after this exquisite article, which if anything should be a lesson for most who took the anti-TB side in the debate. Giurescu is honest and gentlemanly, and his role in the debate is decent, if not really pertinent. But to make any such remarks from The Planet of the Apes, between the good pastor and Oreste, is to render the whole thing meaningless, if not indeed grotesque. With Stelian Tănase, whom I heard continued to propagate claims that TB is a Holocaust denier, even as it is quite evidently a non sequitur, it's a sad case of servitude. Q. E. D. (How the mighty have fallen...)

Again, I tend to agree that Mihai's role was symbolic, in the absence of proof of misconduct. I also have no reason to presume that such misconduct took place. But I do think the only way in which we can (a) know for sure and (b) stop politicized claims is to actually open up the archives and have a look. At everything, even if "here there be dragons".

"Nu şi-a cinstit clasa"? Charming, in a Mateiu Caragiale sort of way. I sometimes think that, once the few gentlemen still standing (the real ones, not those who, as you say, had to make a living) will have parted with cele lumeşti, once the few folks who still have a memory of life "before" will have perished, then we'll effectively be a mass of cretins.‡ I had a clear mental image of this once, when I took a bus across town; this old guy was shouting populist slogans, obscenities and unneeded advice, telling everyone about how Dej made him a man (oh, the irony...) and about a youth spent on "all the great sights in this country" - that is, the building sites, where he worked as something, something very physical as I recall. And then it hit me: "This guy is the oldest one on the bus. This guy is our oral history, and when he dies there'd be another elder of communism to take his place. And so on until there'll be elders of post-communism about, who are almost as intoxicated and useless. And I will be being one of them, that's if I'm lucky..." Sure, you could think about a spontaneous change in our fiber, the sort of miracle that makes Botswana a steady democracy. But when you look into the self-congratulating mug of Gâdea; when you realize that people tune in to watch someone as sane as Yukio Mishima, but utterly untalented and uninteresting, who gives them the vulgata of Voiculescianism when he is not exercising bare-chested; when you see the flower of the Golaniad, from Tănase and Iaru to Cristian Teodorescu, picking up the trash without even so much as a sign of disgust; and when you see how virtually everyone around us grows dumber everyday, to the music of neo-securism - you think, what are the chances of that happening? We had them, in the unlikely and sometimes half-assed form of Băsescianism, and then we blew them. I can't really say on what, because the years since 2004 now look like a pool of vitriol, and for the love of me I can't find a way to "be secret and exult"; so long live the oldest gentlemen, for my benefit if not for theirs!

Excuse the rant.

On the monuments thing, I never did bother with official designations, so I don't know offhand what the best option is in this case. But don't despair, I hope to return to you on this subjects. (And we really should consider doing something about the whimsical "History of Romania" categories created by our Moldovan friend a year or two ago...)

PS: Is he really doing them all by hand?! Dahn (talk) 14:53, 26 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

‡ I don't necessarily mean "before, in Kingdom times". I mean globally: before the world was utterly divided between Keynes and Lenin, before turnpikes and dormitory cities, before decolonization into the hands of despots, before virtual reality and 3D gimmicks, before ratings and approval rates, before genetic engineering, before disco... I could go on. Dahn (talk) 15:18, 26 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

My dear friend, I must have entirely debased the concepts of apologizing and postponing, but I do assure you that (contrary to any of my wishes) this absence of mine is owed to a deep personal crisis, about which there is nothing I can do at the moment. I do plan on joining at the very least the last discussion, when I can bring myself to (as disheartened as I am by the mixture of bad faith and gullibility that tries to overturn a practical consensus); for now, I'm making only short stops here to relax, and they are, alas, highly irregular breaks. I really wish I could do more, and more consistently, but... well, let's just say you're better off not knowing about my depressing troubles in real life. Dahn (talk) 13:58, 18 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Your reply comes at the tough end of a long day for me. If I don't get back to you tomorrow, use a big trout to remind me - to remind me upside the head. For now, let me ask you this: how would you feel about an all-Romanian, all-WWI, DYK queue for December 1? Dahn (talk) 21:44, 29 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, at last. Is that a trout I felt swooshing by? (In my defense, I got so absorbed into "the project"...)

But why did they have to desecrate his body, though? They killed him, fair enough (though think of what a show that show trial would have been), but what do you get out of showing to the entire world that you can do savage as well as the king of kings?

On the AfDs: all from Grigorescu to Teodorovici are indeed notable, if the articles are indeed awfully written; Lasc[ă]r is, meh, borderline as far as I can tell. Monographic sketch of Sălaj County (shouldn't it be under the original Romanian title?!) is one of those things that we don't need, but don't really upset anyone - să-şi facă damblaua, I say, at least until I get a second look. Same thing on the vicar with a flamboyant name - he does get some mentions here and there (I met his name once or twice long before the article popped up); but needs rewrite, if anyone cares enough to give him one. I... don't...

Morrow (golly!) is likely to be a poster boy for the inclusionists - who knows if there is aren't obscure mentions of him in enough American press notices to make it seem like the guy is important to some not editing simeonmorrow.com or wikipedia... I'll let you deal with that :). Igor Meşcoi is entirely deletable, though. So is Tatiana Marinescu. So is Drei Ros. Lord Kemy... I'd have to research on the reliability of African sources, but, leaning on the side of caution, he seems to make the cut. Barely.

I don't yet have an opinion/answer on the monumente issue (and many other issues you have raised, that I have not forgotten, but can't concentrate on yet). But you're right about the issues it poses, and they're already gnawing at me too. And the Castra.... the usual... lack of language skills plus enthusiasm... self-aggrandizing thoughts... taking the bull by the horns... machine-like edits. (That's also how we got the long and absurd series on Moldovan politicians). It's not a picnic whenever you get to explain to these guys why you're putting their articles up for review... any sort of review. Me, I'm in a picnic mood right now :).

And now for the picnic:

I wouldn't conceive of doing this without you (I would also want Bogdan to help us, if he's not too tied up in RL). In fact, I would love it if your article were the lead, and if you had the choice of the picture. Whatever the entry is, we need something that screams "Romania" as a picture - a map, a flag, a crest... I was thinking of getting to work on cleaning up Greater Romania for that purpose, but I just don't have the physical strength right now (would you believe I have tracked down a source on the first actual use of "Greater R[o]mania", verbatim, in English? and that the one to coin it was a Romanian? And please do read the "R.M." tidbit in Gherman Pântea, it's a superb irony of history). Of course, we could work on that together, and share the burden, and get our lead from that article, but it is perfectly alright if you say pass.

The reason I'm going at it so fast, and so intensely, is that there may not be as much free time for me in the next weeks, and I want to get as much happening in the meantime. Who knows, we may end up with two queues-worth of articles for the day. (Károly Ferenczy is a bit of a stretch in several ways.)

As Colombo used to say: just one more thing. We haven't actually asked the DYK crowd, with their understandable monitoring of clicks, if they actually like the idea or even if it's an orthodox thing to do on holidays that are not Americana. Even if we don't get our queue(s), we get many articles around that date, which is adequate consolation.

But in case we do get the queue(s), I think you have the essential role at making it interesting for all readers: you can add the man-bites-dog for every hook, and I'm sure your articles would be punchiest as far as the international audience cares. Dahn (talk) 08:55, 1 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It's actually great (not man-bites-dog, but great). When will you DYK it? Dahn (talk) 06:30, 2 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Well, those are all good ideas, except all but TR would take a lot of time and research (for the summary, one would almost have to reread Rebreanu all the way through). It is a challenge, though... it would be nice to meet up to it. If you want to take something right away, please do. I'll squeeze in some more about Fleva, maybe Carp all the way through (they can both go with the theme, and I'm already thinking juicy hooks), and in the meantime maybe something on this guy (vaguely connected to the theme, but such a cool story). If I'm good and finish all my vegetables, maybe I can complete by starting on Theodorescu-Sion back where I left him. He was the war painter, after all.

With Pântea and the Corps (that's one institution we've got already) and your Samoilă Mârza, that would make five or six. With one-two more, we get the average DYK queue, and Bogdan has pledged his contribution. We still don't know if they'll let us do it, but if they do, could we (gulps) be looking at two queues? Dahn (talk) 19:41, 5 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry to hear you'll be gone (I do hope to see at least flashes of your presence, at least around Dec 1); but yes, absolutely: DYK, and perhaps even at the top of the/one queue. Great one!

I was also sorry to catch glimpse of that conundrum - I know you're in the right, even without looking over the text (of course, if it would help you blow off the steam, do send me a copy); I know because I have a constant and "macro" perspective on your editing style, and plagiarism you just don't need to do. I chose not to intervene so far because we are perceived as so close to each other that it would have risked seeming like a cabal. It was frustrating for me as well: damned if I do, damned if I don't. Remember: Illegitimi...

To better days. Dahn (talk) 07:51, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Your Military History Newsletter Project news: From the editors; medal recipients; contest results Articles: The month's featured and A-class Milhist content Book reviews: Nick-D looks at Carthage and Australia in Palestine Op-ed: Remembering 9/11

There is an open WP:SPI case looking at sockpuppet editing primarily on the Johann Hari/ Talk page. As you edited the Johann Hari/Talk page between 2004 and 2011, your input is welcomed. Yonmei (talk) 19:20, 23 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I had to decline the BLPPROD here. While there is an on-going RfC on this point, consensus is and appears to be that even an unreliable source is "enough" to prevent placing a BLPPROD tag, this is explained in more detail at WP:BLPPROD#Nominating. PRODs, on the other hand, would be fine. Sorry for the inconvenience. --joe decker^{talk to me} 17:59, 28 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You may be interested in this deletion review. Thank you. Frietjes (talk) 16:04, 17 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

see here. Frietjes (talk) 16:46, 6 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hey! How you been? I have a quick question. What is the right way to report this? Thanks and regards. --Codrin.B (talk) 17:55, 19 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This is to let you know that an ongoing poll is taking place to move Burma to Myanmar. This note is going out to wikipedia members who have participated in Burma/Myanmar name changing polls in the past. It does not include banned members nor those with only ip addresses. Thank you. Fyunck(click) (talk) 19:32, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

New page patrol – Survey Invitation Hello Biruitorul! The WMF is currently developing new tools to make new page patrolling much easier. Whether you have patrolled many pages or only a few, we now need to know about your experience. The survey takes only 6 minutes, and the information you provide will not be shared with third parties other than to assist us in analyzing the results of the survey; the WMF will not use the information to identify you. If this invitation also appears on other accounts you may have, please complete the survey once only. If this has been sent to you in error and you have never patrolled new pages, please ignore it. Please click HERE to take part. Many thanks in advance for providing this essential feedback. You are receiving this invitation because you have patrolled new pages. For more information, please see NPP Survey

Delivered by MessageDeliveryBot on behalf of Wiki Media Foundation at 11:42, 25 October 2011 (UTC).[reply]

Your Military History Newsletter Project news: From the editors; medal recipients; contest results Articles: The month's featured and A-class Milhist content Book reviews: Nick-D and Ian Rose look at Australian air power Op-ed: Buggie111 ruminates about WikiLife and WikiDeath

Hello! Your submission of Article at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! The Interior (Talk) 18:23, 29 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

No major problems, but a note on the lead. Good work. The Interior (Talk) 18:24, 29 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Biruitorul (and TI), the {{copyvio}} template instructions say I should be putting a template here, but I've never been inclined to do that. I've blnanked the majority of this article and listed it at the copyright problems noticeboard, here. Franamax (talk) 09:34, 12 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Your Military History Newsletter Project news: From the editors; medal recipients; contest results Articles: The month's Featured and A-class content Book reviews: Nick-D analyzes three books from Osprey Publishing Review essay: Nick-D reviews the new Bundeswehr Military History Museum

To the be the best! Happy Dec 1, Biru, wherever you are... Dahn (talk) 00:06, 1 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You were the one doing all the booing, weren't you?! Dahn (talk) 13:45, 2 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hey Biruitorul, how are you? Get to work: there are things to do. ;) Best, Drmies (talk) 15:33, 16 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

And welcome back!

Let me begin by saying that I am ever so sorry when I fail to reply in kind to your wonderful e-mails. I assure you there is a reason for my silences, a complicated and rather sad reason that has to do with real life; I was thinking of making it all into an explanatory e-mail, but it is very hard to find the right context and the right words to describe what is happening.

As for the grief here: for all the aggravating Cuza crapola, I did learn that Nae Caţavencu's legacy is kept alive by that one WikiProject, and that it's best to leave those jokers cuddle each other somewhere out of sight and out of mind. I noticed the village thing, and from the very first lines it brings to mind some really awful dialogue from a pulp adventure novel. You know the kind:

Professor: "I think we should [really bad idea]!"
Youth: "But Professor, I'm not sure [really bad idea] will work?!!"
[Four more lines of Professor insisting that really bad idea is also really risky, grueling, and possibly pointless.]
Youth: "I'm impressed, Professor!!! When can we start?!!"

But let's stick to the even more fun bits for now. That is other than that I'm preparing P. P. Carp's revenge on this world of ninnies :).

Let me first note: They've got the s- and t-commas in the editing box because I made them do it! Not that I'm going to use it until they make it a rule, but it's all for the little people of this world.

About Craiova: the photos I had are on a laptop somewhere, and I keep uploading bits of them when there's not much else to do; I have to sort them, rename them, edit them a bit, and then go through the painful process of uploading them and sorting them again on commons (gnarg!). Which is saying I might have had a Demetrescu photo or two (trying as best I could to cut out the Babylonian monument behind it); if I didn't, it is indeed bewildering: I uploaded one of the house just opposite! Probably back in the day (this was months ago) I decided not to because I didn't know who the sculptor was. It was the same for the Carada and Ion Maiorescu monuments, both of whom were done by sculptors who died relatively recently. Curse that growth in life expectancy... (And I think Solomon is back, by popular acclaim, ready to suffocate even more votes from the PDL's national pool and give Gâdea some more curd to chew.)

Biru, those are all lovely, but, well, you know, freedom of panorama? When I was last at the prison site, on a murky spring evening, I realized the only part of the complex that I could actually photograph without asking myself that question was a large pile of stones and garbage, as long as I avoided shots of any of the sky rise on each side... Detestable, God-awful FOP law...

(You actually found the 1907 monument? They took pains to hide it away from sight, and I admit I never bumped into it after they moved from the park - not that I was really looking...) Oh, right, 105th anniversary! Why didn't you say it earlier!? :) To consider, as we keep coming back to it.

"The Ceausescu Moment" - I want to say merge.

Hope to still be around these days, for the Xmas wishes to come just in time. Stay wonderful! Dahn (talk) 13:57, 23 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

More or less. I just pop out then and now, can't really wrap my head around something of the bigger kind. I do hope to get working on that e-mail at some point, I feel I owe it to you: as I said before, it's complicated and quite sad.

As late as it is now: Happy New Year! Sorry I wasn't around for a chat around the festivities, but I just couldn't deal with wikipedia right then. Dahn (talk) 14:59, 24 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Your Military History Newsletter Project news: From the editors – MHotY coming; contest results Articles: The month's Featured and A-class content Book reviews: Nick-D looks at the Congolese Wars Review essay: Ian Rose goes to El Alamein Op-ed: DCI's call to revitalize WikiProject History

Biruitorul, Happy New Year! How are things? --Codrin.B (talk) 19:53, 11 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Nominations for the "Military Historian of the Year" for 2011 are now open. If you would like to nominate an editor for this award, please do so here. Voting will open on 22 January and run for seven days. Thanks! On behalf of the coordinators, Nick-D (talk) and Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 22:43, 15 January 2012 (UTC) You were sent this message because you are a listed as a member of the Military history WikiProject.[reply]

Hi! From your edits, it looks like you might be interested in contributing to WikiProject Romania. It is a project aimed at organizing and improving the quality and accuracy of articles related to Romania. Thanks and best regards!

Your Military History Newsletter Project news: From the editors; award recipients; contest results Articles: The month's Featured and A-class content Book reviews: Nick-D Nick-D looks into two recent Milhist books Review essay: Kirill Lokshin, the first coordinator Op-ed: Hchc's English Castles

Dear Sir,

I was trying to add to Paul Philippe Hohenzollern page information based on family documents that he provides on his website. I find it weird that you consider that a copy of his passport, with his royal title, recognized by the British authorities and monarchy is "something we can do without". Because Romania is a republic, noble titles cannot be put in identity cards or passports. The situation is different in monarchic states and I do think that a British passport is something to take into consideration regarding this matter.

Thank you for your help, Otilia — Preceding unsigned comment added by OtiliaC (talk • contribs) 08:48, 27 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Sir,

Indeed, HRH Prince Paul and HRH Princess Lia of Romania are both Orthodox Christians. The mother of Prince Paul being of Russian extraction was likewise Orthodox. In the case of Princess Lia, she is of pure Romanian origins and was also baptised as an Orthodox in the USA.

Thank you!