• /Archive1
• /Archive2
• /Archive3
• /Archive4

Hi - I had missed the talk page discussion about requiring citations for the term "massacre" when I first reinstated this last night - have since provided three reliable, neutral sources and reinstated it again. All three unambiguously call it a massacre and at least two of them, maybe all three - I forget now - talk about how it has been known as such for a very long time. So I assume that will satisfy for Kent State the concerns you are discussing about Hiroshima. I have no problem with requesting citations, but I do have a problem with this one having been deleted rather than adding the same {{fact}} tag that so many of the entries have, pending posting of citations. I would hope the same vigor will be applied to obtaining citations for other events that are listed as massacres but have fewer deaths than might usually be associated with the term, lest it appear that there's a particular reason this one was singled out. Cheers. Tvoz |talk 15:37, 9 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It's now fine. The problem with a page that contains tons of unsourced material is that it tends to attract more. The first step in solving the problem is to first require all new material to be properly sourced, even if this may look unfair. - Merzbow 21:22, 9 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I can see the sense in that. The reason for my comment was that the person who removed it in September has a particular POV about Kent State - I think he wasn't looking for citations, but has on his own decided the label is not appropriate. But there are thousands of reliably sourced ghits, so I guess I was irritated that it had been removed back then (we've gone several rounds on this point previously there and in other places around the encyclopedia - and citations weren't the issue). But now if I've satisfied the request for cites (which, by the way, I think is completely reasonable to require), the problem should not recur. Thanks Tvoz |talk 05:51, 10 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Merzbow. The Template:Dominionism TfD, on which you commented, has been closed with no consensus (default to keep). Although the TfD debate touched on several issues regarding the form the infobox should now take, much seems unresolved. I invite you to participate in further discussion on this topic. Thank you. --BlueMoonlet (t/c) 05:15, 10 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry about that, thanks for fixing. Yarkod 10:35, 11 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Alternative music WikiProject Newsletter Issue 8 - November 2007

"Personality. Personality. Personality. Personality>Personlaity>peporisnaitiu.Pelsonlaity>personality> PSoDURYW'OB>peojuiuauA>PRFIVGU-JSNN.;YN~CPJHOQA" ALFIHI-WUSAZ;/P ioy iqNLKH GZW IGDB." - Thom Yorke Project news Pinkerton (album), Joey Santiago, Dream Days at the Hotel Existence, One Hot Minute and Powderfinger reached featured article status in the past month! Well done to Cowbellcity45, CloudNine, RaNdOm26, Dihydrogen Monoxide, Grim-Gym, NSR77 and Spebi. List of Silverchair awards and the discographies of Pavement, Feeder, the Minutemen and Nine Inch Nails all reached featured list status during the past month. Well done to Brandt Luke Zorn, Dihydrogen Monoxide, CloudNine and Drewcifer3000. Nine Inch Nails was featured on the Main Page on November 20. We collaborated on "This Charming Man", Sonic Youth, Siamese Dream and Powderfinger during the past month. During the month of November, Small Mercies, "Passenger" (Powderfinger song), Jimmy Chamberlin, Spiderland, and Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt were promoted to good article status.

New members Cambrant, Chickpeaface, Atlantik and Thelastfetusdying joined the alternative music fold during November. Editors User:WesleyDodds

You are receiving this newsletter because you have signed up for WikiProject Alternative music. If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, or would like to receive it in a different form, add your name to the appropriate section here. This newsletter was delivered by the automated xihix(talk) 00:40, 3 December 2007 (UTC) [reply]

Hi Merzbow,

Just wanted to stop by and say hello! I hope you are fine and everything is going well. --Aminz (talk) 05:46, 10 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What's up. I'm on wikibreak now and don't know when I'll be returning. - Merzbow (talk) 02:01, 18 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not much! I hope you have a good Christmas and happy new year!!! --Be happy!! (talk) 09:48, 18 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34 KJV

Dear Merzbow, at this season of THE WINTER SOLSTICE, may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven, no hell. There is only the natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that harden hearts and enslaves minds.

Kirbytime sen't me this a year ago, and I liked it. So Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, or whatever you celebrate, and see you next year. Yahel Guhan 00:11, 17 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Merzbow!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! I hope you have a successful year to come!!! Best, --Be happy!! (talk) 09:52, 25 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Alternative music WikiProject Newsletter Issue 9 - December 2007

"He didn't really talk until he got his girlfriend, and somehow that jump-started his ego, and he went from 'I am Lou, I am nothing' to 'I am the greatest.' He just went ffffft, just flipped the scales. And then he started talking a lot. And then I was realizing from a lot of the things he was saying, 'Hmmm, maybe I don't like Lou.'"- J Mascis Project news Loveless (album), Spiderland and Internationalist (album) reached featured article status in the past month! Well done to WesleyDodds, Ceoil, Brandt Luke Zorn, Dihydrogen Monoxide and Spebi. The discographies of Nation of Ulysses and Dave Gahan reached featured list status during the past month. Well done to Drewcifer3000 and Underneath-it-All. We collaborated on Rage Against the Machine, Flea (musician), Oasis (band), Mission of Burma and Primal Scream during the past month. During the month of December, Slay Tracks (1933-1969), "These Days" (Powderfinger song), Transfusion (EP), Young Modern, Ian Svenonius, Trent Reznor, "Sunsets", Alice in Chains, David Lovering, Thrice, These Days: Live in Concert, Parables for Wooden Ears, Fingerprints: The Best of Powderfinger, 1994-2000, Odyssey Number Five, Vulture Street and Flea (musician), a total of 17 articles, were promoted to good article status; a record month. With the addition of Loveless (album) and Internationalist (album) (which were promoted to good and featured article status in the same month), this brings the total up to 19 GAs for December! Starting this month, the newsletter will contain a new feature that lists a recommended alternative rock album for project members to check out and help expand their knowledge of the genre. This month's "Recommended Alternative Album" is Archers of Loaf - Icky Mettle (1993).

New members Pjoef, WeBuriedOurSecretsInTheGarden, Argezas, Pbroks13 and Paper Back Writer 23 joined the alternative music fold during December. Editors User:CloudNine User:WesleyDodds

You are receiving this newsletter because you have signed up for WikiProject Alternative music. If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, or would like to receive it in a different form, add your name to the appropriate section here. This newsletter was delivered by the automated xihix(talk) 04:59, 2 January 2008 (UTC) .[reply]

Hey there. I want to draw your attention to an ongoing discussion about the reference format in Stereolab. Here's the link: Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject Alternative_music#Notes and references in Stereolab. Thanks. Grim (talk) 17:03, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Could you please explain more fully?

I saw you removed several entries from a disambiguation page, with the edit summary (bye-bye redlinks).

Could you explain why you did this?

The wikipedia is an evolving project. I am not aware of any policy that advocates removing redlinks. Redlinks are useful. Redlinks are the frontier where the wikipedia is growing.

Even if, for the sake of argument, removing redlinks was policy, why would one remove an entire entry from a disambiguation page?

Did you look at Pages that link to The Wire? How many of the links in those articles that pointed at [[The Wired]] should really have pointed at the articles under the names of the redlinks you excised?

Ideally none of the articles should point at the disambiguation page. Ideally they should all point to the actual article. If the article those 60 articles that point to "The Wire" should really point to, then the redlink should be in that article.

If you go around removing redlinks you are encouraging chaos. Even if a link is a redlink it give guidance to the person who comes along later with the energy to create that article as to what it should be called. The energetic author can click on the "what links here", see what other article redlink to that name, which can help them figure out more about what the new article should say. Without the redlink there is more chance that multiple energetic might create their own competing version of the article, under the name that makes sense to them.

Your edit was, IMO, unhelpful. Your edit loses information. Please understand, a project like the wikipedia carries information in the links, as well as in the text. Have you ever looked at a raw dump of a database? It is possible to use, at the cost of spending multiple orders of magnitude more effort.

I urge you to reconsider this edit.

Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 03:50, 12 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The guideline says that "A link to a non-existent article (a "red link") should only be included on a disambiguation page when another article also includes that red link." No other page has those redlinks I removed, so they should stay out. - Merzbow (talk) 05:06, 12 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for drawing my attention to the passage from Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style_(disambiguation_pages), which I was not familiar with.

• May I point out that if The Wire disambiguation page was complying with policy it wouldn't have almost 70 links pointing to it. If it was fully complying with policy it would have zero links to it. It would have zero links, because someone would have gone through all those 70 links, and changed each one to point to the target article.
• May I suggest that until someone budgets a couple of hours to fix those 70 inappropriate links to the disambiguation page, so they point to the appropriate target articles, your test of looking at the "what links here" of the redlinked articles can not be counted on giving you an accurate and reliable result?
• More specifically, unless you checked all 70 of the links to The Wire, and made a jugdment as to whether or not each one should really have linked to one of those redlinks you planned to excise, how could you know whether the redlink really should be excised? Geo Swan (talk) 15:55, 13 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure what you're saying. Disambig pages have a purpose even if all in-text links are resolved to point past them. I'm just following the guideline, which is explicit on when red links are and aren't allowed on a disambig page. If you want to change the guideline on this issue, you'll have to go to the guideline's talk page. - Merzbow (talk) 01:05, 14 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know what you mean by "...even if all in-text links are resolved to point past them."

Did you go through the 70 or so links to the disambiguation page, and check whether they pointed at the red links you planned to excise?

I predicted that fixing the links that pointed to The Wire would take a couple of hours. I was off by about a factor of two.

Today I noticed that someone had pointed guest house to point to secondary suite. Inappropriate. I undid the redirection. I created a disambiguation page. Coincidentally, As with The Wire, guest house had about 70 links pointing to it. I went through all of those links that were in article space, determined which of the articles on the disambiguation page they should really point to, and made them point there. It took about an hour for about fifty articles.

No offense, but are you sure your actions really complied with policy?

Unless you checked each and every one of the seventy links that erroneously pointed to the disambiguation page, how could you possibly know whether those redlinks you excised should have been excised? Geo Swan (talk) 05:13, 14 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Uhh because I ran the Special WhatLinksHere tool and it told me that no other pages were using those redlinks. - Merzbow (talk) 06:13, 14 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I spent the time necessary to check and fix all the pages in article space that linked to The Wire. Here they are:

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47]

Without looking at each of these articles I don't believe there is any way you could know whether it was safe to excise those entries you excised.

IMO you were reckless, you let the project down.

Clicking the "what links here" button is an insufficient test for the true number of links when there is a disambiguation page full of links. Geo Swan (talk) 08:44, 14 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Respectfully, you have no idea what you're talking about. But I give up. I neither care enough nor have the time to bicker over some inconsequential disambig page. - Merzbow (talk) 23:16, 14 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Alternative music WikiProject Newsletter Issue 10 - January 2008

"I still have people come up to me like, 'I really, really liked your last record.' 'Oh, thanks!' 'Are you going to do "Loser" tonight?' I'm like, 'Look, I'm six foot six. Beck is five foot sex, all right?'"- Thurston Moore Project news Radiohead, Slay Tracks (1933-1969), David Lovering, "I Don't Remember", U2, R.E.M., Anodyne (album) and Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt reached featured article status in the past month, a record month for the WikiProject! Additionally, with the promotion of Radiohead, U2 and R.E.M., half of our Top Importance articles now have featured article status. Well done to Atlantik, Brandt Luke Zorn, CloudNine, the various WikiProject Powderfinger editors, Merbabu, WesleyDodds, Teemu08, NSR77 and Grim-Gym. The discographies of Dischord Records and Load Records reached featured list status during the past month. Well done to Drewcifer3000 (who wrote both featured lists). Powderfinger discography reached featured topic status during the past month. Well done to the various WikiProject Powderfinger editors. We collaborated on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Franz Ferdinand (band), PJ Harvey and Michael Stipe during the past month. During the month of January, Rage Against the Machine, Pick Up the Pace, "Lost and Running", Bernard Fanning, Year Zero (album), Jon Coghill, "Losing My Religion" and "Touch Me I'm Sick" were promoted to good article status. Sign up for our B-class article drive on the project talk page! The goal is to increase a number of the project's B-class articles to GA or FA status within two months. The B-class article drive will run from February 1 to April 1, 2008. This month's "Recommended Alternative Album" is My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything (1988).

New members Skeeker, Dethzone, Sceptre, IN THE EFFIGY, Crislee 88, Grrrlriot and Indopug joined the alternative music fold during January. Editors User:WesleyDodds

You are receiving this newsletter because you have signed up for WikiProject Alternative music. If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, or would like to receive it in a different form, add your name to the appropriate section here. This newsletter was delivered by the automated xihix(talk) 01:06, 2 February 2008 (UTC) .[reply]

Let me know if it meets the GA criteria. Due to the changing criteria over the years, I added nbsps, removed a bad reference, inserted a few good references, and added convert templates so we have the units in metric (gasp!) as well. Let me know what you think. Thegreatdr (talk) 21:52, 6 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Merzbow,

How are you doing? Hope everything is going well with you!!! Good to see you back!!

Could you please take a look at my proposal here [48] (diff [49]). Thanks in advance, Cheers, --Be happy!! (talk) 09:32, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Interesting... - Merzbow (talk) 17:28, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Alternative music WikiProject Newsletter Issue 12 - March 2008

"Expressions of irony through clothing are very important.'"- Carlos Dengler Project news "Just Like Heaven" (song), Flea (musician), Bernard Fanning, Odyssey Number Five, In Rainbows and Silverchair reached featured article status in the past month! Additionally "This Charming Man", a former Featured Article, has been re-promoted to FA status. Well done to WesleyDodds, NSR77, Grim-Gym, the various WikiProject Powderfinger editors, Atlantik, Ceoil and Dihydrogen Monoxide. The discography of Silverchair reached featured list status during the past month. Well done to Dihydrogen Monoxide. Surfer Rosa was featured on the Main Page on March 21. We collaborated on In Rainbows, Vitalogy, The White Stripes, Blur (band) and Accelerate (R.E.M. album) during the past month. During the month of March, Nine Inch Nails live performances, Oasis (band), Boredoms, Hoodoo Gurus, and Vitalogy were promoted to good article status. This month's "Recommended Alternative Album" is Editors - An End Has a Start (2007).

New members NewMarqueeDayMoonRising, Thundermaster, and SuperNeek joined the alternative music fold during March. Editors User:WesleyDodds

If you missed last the previous newsletter, you can find it at Wikipedia:WikiProject Alternative music/Newsletter/February 2008.
You are receiving this newsletter because you have signed up for WikiProject Alternative music. If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, or would like to receive it in a different form, add your name to the appropriate section here. This newsletter was delivered by the automated Giggabot (talk) 09:46, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In your edit of dhimmitude, you removed any real definition of the word, so the article is missing its central point. Can you please explain in the article what the word means and how it's used?QuizzicalBee (talk) 00:03, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It depends on who is defining it. The information you want is in the "Associations and usage" section. - Merzbow (talk) 00:54, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

..for the kind words. I think its going to be less a wikibreak, and more a attempted disengagement from trying to clean up problem areas and a quiet return to writing about Georgian aristocrats and pioneer kibbutzim. --Relata refero (disp.) 11:43, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, disengaging just from problem areas for a while is also an alternative. But there's something uniquely entertaining about ZOMGDRAMA too. :) Everything in moderation I guess. - Merzbow (talk) 17:17, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. What is ZOMGDRAMA? It's unconventional of me to email you this way, but you showed up on my changes page, and I read this message, thinking it might be about me. It wasn't, but then I saw ZOMGDRAMA, and not knowing what it was, tried to figure out what it was. It's used a lot, but I can't intuit meaning.

Thanks!QuizzicalBee (talk) 20:07, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Heh. Refers to whatever "drama of the week" is usually flaring up around Wikipedia, be it IRC channel drama, a wheel-war drama, etc. Usually taking place at either WP:ANI or ArbCom. Usually content disputes aren't severe enough, with some exceptions (LaRouche pages, Israel/Palestine pages, Global Warming pages, etc.) - Merzbow (talk) 20:11, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

ThanksQuizzicalBee (talk) 23:30, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your support in my RFA, that didn't quite make it and ended at 120/47/13. There was a ton of great advice there, that I'm going to go on. Maybe someday. If not, there are articles to write! Thanks for your support. Lawrence § t/e 17:56, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Account created less than a month ago simply to report User:Dance With The Devil and then suddenly jumped in. You might want to keep an eye on him. I think that it could be this anon IP if you ask me. Would make sense as he jumped in right after the edit-warring. John Smith's (talk) 12:22, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've also had a look at this page

See where the admin says:

Rafaelsfingers has some similarities but is not an exact match to 76.102.72.153

76.126.64.74 is a close match. Maybe Rafael is Supergreen and the IP. Can you think of a good reason for a usercheck on those three? John Smith's (talk) 12:27, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for supporting my recent request for adminship which was successful with 89 supports, 0 opposes, and 2 neutrals. Unfortunately all I can offer is this lame text thanks rather than some fancy-smancy thank-you spam template thingy. I was very pleased to receive such strong support and to hear so many nice comments from editors whom I respect. I’ll do my best with the tools, and if you ever see me going astray don’t hesitate to drop a note on my talk page. Thanks again for your support!--Bigtimepeace | talk | contribs 03:59, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

An Arbitration case in which you commented has been opened, and is located here. Please add any evidence you may wish the Arbitrators to consider to the evidence sub-page, Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/CAMERA lobbying/Evidence. Please submit your evidence within one week, if possible. You may also contribute to the case on the workshop sub-page, Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/CAMERA lobbying/Workshop.

On behalf of the Arbitration Committee, — Rlevse • Talk • 22:37, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

		The Islamic Barnstar
		I award you this barnstar for your hard work improving Islam related articles and defending NPOV on them. Yahel Guhan 23:45, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I'll put a copy on my main userpage. - Merzbow (talk) 00:01, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Alternative music WikiProject Newsletter Issue 13 - April 2008

"God is in your scrotum!'"- Perry Farrell Project news This month was the first in over a year in which no articles were promoted to featured article status. In the period between March 2007 and April 2008, the project produced a whopping 70 Featured Articles. Let's keep adding to those numbers! Pearl Jam was featured on the Main Page on April 22. We collaborated on My Bloody Valentine, The Queen Is Dead, Double Nickels on the Dime and Ten (Pearl Jam album) during the past month. During the month of April, Diorama (album), Editors, Neon Bible, Ghosts I–IV, "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" and "Who Really Cares (Featuring the Sound of Insanity)" were promoted to good article status. This month's "Recommended Alternative Album" is Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out (1997).

New members Arleach, Panic!out, N0tverycreative, and Gallagher2x2 joined the alternative music fold during April. Editors User:WesleyDodds

You are receiving this newsletter because you have signed up for WikiProject Alternative music. If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, or would like to receive it in a different form, add your name to the appropriate section here. This newsletter was delivered by the automated Giggabot (talk) 09:12, 2 May 2008 (UTC) [reply]