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A request for Arbitration is the last step of dispute resolution. Before requesting Arbitration, please review other avenues you should take. If you do not follow any of these routes, it is highly likely that your request will be rejected. If all other steps have failed, and you see no reasonable chance that the matter can be resolved in another manner, you may request that it be decided by the Arbitration Committee (ArbCom).

Dispute resolution
(Requests)
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Content disputes
Conduct disputes
Arbitration Committee proceedings
Request name Motions Initiated Votes
Anachronist   16 June 2024 0/5/0
Rio Grande 223   19 June 2024 0/1/0
[edit]
Open cases

Currently, no arbitration cases are open.

[edit]
Recently closed cases (Past cases)
Case name Closed
Venezuelan politics 25 May 2024
Request name Motions  Case Posted
Amendment request: Article titles and capitalisation none (orig. case) 7 June 2024
Clarification request: mentioning the name of off-wiki threads none none 4 June 2024
Amendment request: India-Pakistan none (orig. case) 7 June 2024
Clarification request: Contentious topics restrictions none none 10 June 2024
Motion name Date posted
Block of Rp2006 18 June 2024

The Arbitration Committee considers requests to open new cases and (exceptionally) to summarily review new evidence and update the findings and decisions of a previous case. Review is likely to be appropriate if later events indicate the original ruling on scope or enforcement was too limited and does not adequately address the situation, or if new evidence suggests the findings of fact were significantly in error.

The procedure for accepting requests is described in the Arbitration policy. If you are going to make a request here, you must be brief and cite supporting diffs. If your case is accepted for arbitration, the arbitrator or clerk will create an evidence page that you can use to provide more detail. New requests to the top, please. You are required to place a notice on the user talk page of each person against whom you lodge a complaint.

0/0/0/0 corresponds to Arbitrators' votes to accept/reject/recuse/other. Cases are usually opened at least 24 hours after four net accept votes are cast; that is, four more accept than reject votes. When a case is opened, a notice that includes a link to a newly created evidence page will be posted to each participant's talk page. See the Requests section of the arbitration policy page for details. "Recuse" means that an Arbitrator has excused themselves from a case because of a possible, or perceived, conflict of interest. Cases which have not met the acceptance criteria after 10 days will be removed from this page.

This is not a page for discussion, and Arbitrators or Clerks may summarily remove or refactor discussion without comment. Please do not open cases; only an Arbitrator or Clerk may do so.

See also



How to list cases

Under the Current requests section below:

  • Click the "[edit]" tab on the right of the screen appearing above the section break line;
  • Copy the full formatting template (text will be visible in edit mode), omitting the lines which say "BEGIN" and "END TEMPLATE";
  • Paste template text where it says "ADD CASE BELOW";
  • Follow instructions on comments (indented), and fill out the form;
  • Remove the template comments (indented).

Note: Please do not remove or alter the hidden template

Current requests

ScienceApologist

Initiated by Asmodeus 18:17, 18 November 2006 (UTC) 'at 18:17, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Involved parties

ScienceApologist has been made aware of this request through a notice on his talk page. [0; 1]

Statement by Asmodeus

Attempts to resolve the dispute were made on ScienceApologist's talk page. [2,3,4] When, against the advice of an administrator [5] he refused my request 6, I posted a notice to WP:PAIN and WP:ANI. [7,8] Administrators Shell Kinney, Daniel Bryant, and Thatcher131 all recommended arbitration. [9,10,11] It should also be noted that when ArbCom member Fred Bauder was queried on whether these issues would be addressed in the nearly-complete "Pseudoscience" RfAr, he responded negatively; hence, they would seem to require a new RfAr.

ScienceApologist's problematic behavior in this case, which goes back several months, largely mirrors that of two other now-departed users, Byrgenwulf and Hillman/CH, both of whom openly engaged in harassment against me and another user. Although dispute resolution was initiated in those cases, the users in question left before anything could be resolved. ScienceApologist is well aware of those efforts and has had ample opportunity to ameliorate his own behavior. That he has not done so, and shows no desire to do so, implies that nothing short of arbitration will permit a resolution. Furthermore, it is not fair to prolong his current violation of WP:HARASS at my expense.

Summary

ScienceApologist is speculating on my personal identity in violation of WP:HARASS, particularly regarding the posting of personal information. [12] In addition, ScienceApologist has a history of disruptive behavior with respect to the work and biography of Christopher Michael Langan [13,14], whom he has publicly accused me of being in real life. In the context of this accusation, ScienceApologist has serially violated WP:NPA, WP:LIVING, WP:HARASS, and WP:NPOV while falsely accusing me of violating WP:AUTO (as loyally seconded by some of his allies). In fact, I have edited the Langan bio just twice, once to correct a misspelling and once to remove irrelevant information posted by ScienceApologist.

Divulging personal information on Asmodeus

ScienceApologist has publicly speculated on and attempted to reveal my personal identity, and when asked to desist, claimed that since my identity is relevant to possible violations of WP:AUTO, he was within his rights. However, the personal identity of any particular Wikipedian is off the table, the sole exception being somebody with a verified history of non-NPOV edits to Wikipedia articles. I have no such history, and have thus violated neither AUTO nor COI. Hence, my personal identity is not a legitimate issue, and speculations and accusations regarding it violate WP:HARASS and WP:NPA.

Such behavior is all the more reprehensible when it threatens to expose a user to attack and/or harassment on philosophical grounds. I have been subject to attack by ID critics at Wikipedia. ScienceApologist has been at pains to falsely portray a certain bio subject as an ID theorist, and his theory as a strain of ID theory, repeatedly inserting extraneous information on a certain affiliation into this person's biography for that purpose and ultimately accusing me of being that person IRL. Obviously, ScienceApologist has no business exposing me, or the bio subject in question, to harassment or other abuse, or using Wikipedia to focus undesired attention upon us.

Improperly editing Christopher Michael Langan

ScienceApologist has an ongoing history of disruptive editing behavior with respect to the biography of Christopher Michael Langan. [18,19] WP:NPA specifies that personal attacks include "using someone's affiliations as a means of dismissing or discrediting their views — regardless of whether said affiliations are mainstream or extreme" (see the fourth bullet here). That this is ScienceApologist's purpose is clearly implied not only by his well-established negative attitude toward Langan and his work, but by his insistence on inserting and reinserting this particular piece of information into Langan's biography, to which it is extraneous and where it does not in fact belong.

That is, while it is acceptable to report on a biography subject's affiliations, specific information on any affiliated group or organization is either irrelevant, or relevant only insofar as it might influence the perception of the subject and/or his or her ideas. If irrelevant, then it does not belong in the article; if relevant, then it is a violation of WP:NPA and WP:NPOV, and again does not belong in the article. Because ScienceApologist is clearly attempting to expose Mr. Langan to opprobrium through one of his affiliations, this is also in violation of WP:LIVING.

Improperly editing the CTMU article

ScienceApologist disruptively edited the CTMU article when it existed. See this evidence in the "Pseudoscience" RfAr, which contains a helpful narrative and numerous supporting diffs. After encountering editorial resistance to his sweeping changes, he participated in its deletion, which was sought on the alleged grounds that it and its topic were "pseudoscience". In fact, the article and its topic were explicitly classified as philosophy. [For a concise account of the entire CTMU affair, see my response to this bogus RfC filed in retaliation to my request that another user desist in his personal attacks. Also see the outside view of Tim Smith, who authored the CTMU article (and did a clear and accurate job of it).]

I've shortened this statement by administrative request. Unfortunately, the links may no longer be numbered correctly, and I don't have time to change them right now. I'll make corrections and additions as time permits. Meanwhile, the previous version of my statement, and its missing links, remain in the page history. Thank you, Asmodeus 18:17, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by ScienceApologist

I don't think this rises to an arbcom case. The consensus of those people, including a number of administrators, who have looked at the conflict seems to be that the content of the question (or at the very least, the issue raised by it) is perfectly legitimate with an eye toward WP:AUTO and WP:COI. The other complaints are regard content disputes over Christopher Michael Langan and the (now deleted) CTMU proposal, so are not actionable issues for arbcom either. --ScienceApologist 21:30, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statment by (mainly uninvolved) JoshuaZ

There doesn't seem to me to be any case here for the ArbCom to look at. The main claim is simply that SA realized who an editor was and that that editor was not editing within WP:AUTO guidelines. That editor has then complained because SA pointed it out. We have a large body of prior precedent to show that pointing out WP:AUTO violations is acceptable. One example is was the Agapetos_Angel case where the ArbCom found no issue with editors pointing to evidence that the Anon and AA were Jonathan Sarfati and his wife. Furthermore, no formal dispute resolution has been tried prior to arbitration. I therefore urge the ArbCom to reject this request. JoshuaZ 20:00, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by FeloniousMonk

Asmodeus' problems here would simply not exist were he to clarify his relationship to the subject mentioned above as others have asked. As Asmodeus mentions above, Byrgenwulf and Hillman prior to ScienceApologist suspected he was violating WP:COI and WP:AUTO and sought clarification from him, which appears justified. Each time editors have sought such clarification from him, it appears Asmodeus has dodged the question by attacking those doing the asking. So doing inflames the situation by worsening the appearance that he is attempting to side-step WP:COI and WP:AUTO by refusing to clarify a possible personal tie to the subject.

This can and should be settled outside of the RFAR venue. If Asmodeus does not want to clarify his relationship and is indeed related to the topic, he need not reveal his identity but could merely limit his participation to those articles' talk pages per policy. This would be a great demonstration of goodwill and lessen the concerns of others to the point where they would eventually evaporate. If he is not related to the topic RFCU should be able to help him out without revealing his identity with no further action necessary since his response to the question is largely the cause of these difficulties. Either way clarification is what is needed, not another disruptive pseudoscience RFAR. FeloniousMonk 19:57, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Tim Smith

The part of this dispute dealing with the CTMU article is not limited to content, but concerns ScienceApologist's editing and reverting behavior. To summarize the evidence, ScienceApologist arrived at an article about a philosophical theory, concluded that it could be categorized under "pseudoscience", aggressively tried to erase the bulk of the content over the protests of other editors ([1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] ), repeatedly ascribed to Langan a position the opposite of what Langan actually believes, reverted an attempt at compromise, dismissed the mediation process, broke 3RR ([7] [8] [9] [10] ), made wild accusations of evangelism, POV-pushing, and sockpuppetry, derided other users' efforts as "ridiculous" and "nonsense", pronounced Langan's work "junk", and yet was so uninformed about the theory that he could not even spell its author's name correctly ([11] [12] [13] ), let alone accurately edit an encyclopedia article about it. Tim Smith 23:15, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by somewhat involved Art LaPella

I don't know why an editor as confrontational as Asmodeus (see User:Byrgenwulf) wants to talk about WP:NPA. For instance, search for the word "rabid" here, which he used to describe a successful Articles for Deletion process. Art LaPella 03:07, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by somewhat involved JBKramer

WP:SPADE. More to come. JBKramer 13:41, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by uninvolved user Cowman109

I recently blocked User:Haldane Fisher for harassment of Asmodeus, who was clearly harassing Asmodeus by reverting his edits in unrelated articles, using his claimed real name in the edit summary (see contribs). The Haldane account was created only yesterday and seems to exist for the sole purpose of harassing Asmodeus, so I indef blocked it, but I figure this was worth noting in the arbitration case revolving around Asmodeus’ identity. Cowman109Talk 19:59, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by uninvolved user:Ed Poor

I've had similar issues with ScienceApologist before, which led to serious difficulties - both editorial and personal. At the time, I was an admin but wrongly blocked S.A. Mainly I was wrong because I was an "involved admin", and this led to my desysopping around a year ago which I have no gripe about. I took a year off as penance and apologized to S.A. (he graciously accepted my apology, much to my relief!).

But the bigger picture is a lack of clarity about the standards for describing matters of dispute in science articles which treat highly contentious religious and/or political issues. It seems to me that the arbcom has been ruling in favor of a POV which exalts materialism over supernaturalism, in place of maintaining a strict neutrality.

This might therefore not really be a matter for arbitration, as it requires first a clarification. Will Wikipedia exalt current majority scientific opinion as fact or will it stand back and report merely that a certain percentage of scientists in a field accept a theory?

As for civility and/or edit warring, I think it is quite natural for someone to get frustrated with another contributor in the absence of clear standards regarding the portrayal of ideas about scientific topics. I myself have lost patience, and I do not blame S.A. for losing patience.

It is not S.A. who is at fault, but rather the unclarity itself which is the source of the problem. No penalty should be given, but rather we should all direct our attention to resolving a Wikipedia:Scientific topics standard. Then protests about whether a contributor is adhering to this standard would have more traction and require less shouting. --Uncle Ed 16:06, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by somewhat involved user Prosfilaes

I have been labeled as one of ScienceApologist's allies by Asmodeus (insert diff) and have had run-ins with him where he accused me of WP:HARESS (insert diff), so I'm at least somewhat involved. He tends to view fellow editors as groups; note [14] where he attacks me and my knowledge of pseudoscience, despite the fact that I haven't written on Wikipedia about pseudoscience in the last year, and [15] where he complains about "a dedicated, broad-ranging cabal whose members and sympathizers have become so entrenched in the power structure that they need no longer bother to justify their moblike behavior." He's elitist (a theory is notable for being "authored by somebody reputed to be among the world's most intelligent people"[16]; gets terribly upset when I point out that just IQ is worth little[17], but is more than willing to denegrate the value of work[18];). Talk:Academic elitism#Citations for Arguments shows repeated examples of talking down to me (repeated "Do you understand?") as well as trying to make it personal while I was trying my best to keep it non-personal, and use of orders instead of trying to discuss the issue. [19] falls in here somewhere, with his accusation that CTMU was "deleted [because of] your clear resentment of the well-verified fact that its author's intelligence quotient threatens to make those of certain others around here look relatively unremarkable." He frequently accuses people of being ignorant ("ignorance...outside the walls of their mental boxes"[20] "Sadly, the proprietor of crank.net is making definite accusations regarding various people and ideas, some of them clearly over his head. Obviously, Wikipedia is not in the business of condoning ignorance, prejudice, or unkind behavior." Irony much? [21]

Asmodeus may or may not be Lagan, but the fact that he obsesses over the AfD of Lagan's theory, the CTMU, over Lagan's bio, and over the value of intelligence and the lack of value of a college education seems to make him a meatpuppet. (I can't honestly say that I've looked through his contribs in depth, so it's possible this is only a pattern of recent days.) I honestly don't see the problem with SA's edits to Lagan's bio that Asmodeus cites; Lagan is a fan of ID, as shown by the fact he's a fellow of International Society for Complexity, Information and Design and he's published in Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing. SA merely replaced, or added to, a meaningless statement of goals a mention of what ISCID is about, which is helpful to the reader. Whatever SA's intent on that, merely stating this clearly true fact is not a violation of WP:NPA.

Full disclosure: I haven't been perfect in these arguments. At the start of Wikipedia_talk:Requests_for_arbitration/Pseudoscience/Evidence#Ideas vs. People - Possible Fork?, I was merely trying to calm things down; near the end of Wikipedia_talk:Requests_for_arbitration/Pseudoscience/Evidence#Asmodeus and CTMU discussion I was enjoying a good old debate. In Talk:Academic elitism, there's one edit, promptly deleted by me, where I responded uncivily to his incivilities.--Prosfilaes 16:04, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk notes

Requested Asmodeus shorten his introduction summary and statement. [22] --FloNight 20:11, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Refactored to include all of Asmodeus' statement under his header. Thatcher131 01:50, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (2/0/0/0)

  • Accept. But I would support folding this into the Pseudoscience case. Charles Matthews 21:22, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Pseudoscience is convoluted and unwieldy already. I think we'll get some useful rulings out of it, but I actually think it would be a good idea to spin this off of it for the sake of coherence. Dmcdevit·t 05:07, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Waldorf education and related articles

Initiated by Hgilbert at 17:00, 16 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Involved parties

All parties are aware of the request through notices on their User talk pages

Articles at issue

Previous efforts to resolve

Mediation has been tried: see Wikipedia:Requests_for_mediation/Rudolf_Steiner.

  • Eight editors initially agreed, all but two cited in the request for mediation. User:Pete K and User:DianaW refused mediation.
  • At issue was the language used in the mediation request, which was provocative and skirted the real issues essentially derailing the process from the start. Discussion of the language of the mediation request spanned six days and is detailed here.
  • On the sixth day of the week given for agreement, one of the two disagreeing users replaced the conditions for mediation with a completely new list - without agreeing to mediation on the new list; two editors then withdrew their previous agreement.
  • The mediation was accepted (despite not having the unanimous agreement of the editors) but nothing further happened.

Requests for comments have been tried: see

Brief summary of situation

Editing of a number of related articles (Waldorf education, Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner's views on race and ethnicity) is in a log-jam due to edit conflicts, revert wars, accusations of POV-pushing, accusations of conflict of interest, and personal attacks on talk pages.

Conflict-of-interest exists with one or more editors who are financially connected to the success of Waldorf. These editors include Walodrf teachers HGilbert and TheBee - both are primary culprits in the edit wars and responsible for the brochure langage as well as frustrating the efforts of many editors to produce NPOV language in the article.

Statement by Hgilbert

There tend to be two strongly polarized parties editing these articles, one sympathetic to the themes, one antagonistic to them. Attempts to achieve an objective point of view in the article have been stymied, in part due to extremists on both sides seeking to put in what they see as "truth" and remove anything contrary to their POV. (Examples:Talk:Waldorf_education#Weasel_words, [23]) One user claims here that editors who have had any contact whatsoever with Waldorf education are inherently biased towards the educational approach. Two editorsare extremely frequent contributors to an extremely anti-Waldorf web forum and have emotionally charged personal issues with Waldorf education. Hgilbert 22:07, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There is also a failure of good faith; see here, here and here, where even opening this request for arbitration (as suggested by several administrators over several months) stimulates accusations. Administrators who have recommended taking the issues to dispute resolution include User:Longhair, and if my memory serves me rightly User:Centrx and possibly User:Cormaggio, in addition to User:Durova.

The list of editors above is complete and fair to the best of my knowledge.

The refusal by the two editors most antagonistic to the subjects of these articles, User:Pete K and User:DianaW, to enter mediation has blocked further progress along these lines. The former has been repeatedly warned about his incivility; the latter has also had egregious violations ([24], [25]). The incivility has dropped off considerably in the last weeks, it should be noted. User:Thebee has also been incivil on occasion.

Frequent accusations of "brochure language" have been launched; User:Durova cited as an example of such language a passage introduced by the "anti-Waldorf", not "pro-Waldorf" editors asdemonstrated by an independent editor. His use of this passage to show that "pro-Waldorf" editors are inserting such language is thus curious indeed.

Pete K and DianaW have suggested that certain themes, such as the actual life of Rudolf Steiner, should not be given due weight (see Talk:Rudolf_Steiner/Archive_2#Proportion_and_subarticle in order to make room for critical questioning exposing the "reality" of his views. They have also claimed that anyone involved in anthroposophy or Waldorf education is by nature too biased to be cited or to be an editor, whereas their own and outside critics' views are unbiased.

The polarization visible elsewhere in the articles comes to a crux over the delicate subject of Rudolf Steiner's views on race and ethnicity, see Talk:Rudolf Steiner's views on race and ethnicity. Steiner's views were complex, as he came out strongly against racism and anti-Semitism but made comments about individual races and ethnic groups that are offensive or at least questionable to many modern sensibilities. This article is itself currently recommended for deletion as it is in many respects a quote farm.

I feel that these articles need to be verifiable and NPOV. The term "brochure language" has been unhelpful, as it tends to be used to refer to anything one point of view wishes to strip away from the article; especially anything that might cast the subject in a positive light, even if this is relevant and verifiable information.

The articles should mention any controversy over the subjects, as also their positive reception, but these themes should not dominate over an exposition of the actual subjects themselves. The goals, model of child development, teaching methods and curriculum should be the dominant focus of an article on Waldorf education; Steiner's life, work and philosophical development should be the dominant focus of an article on Steiner; the ideas, institutions and historical development of anthroposophy should be the dominant focus of an article on anthroposophy. Hgilbert 17:00, 16 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I do not have any financial interest relating to this article. Hgilbert 16:23, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Fergie

The Waldorf education system, Rudolf Steiner, and Anthroposophy are fraught with contradiction and controversy, and it is this which is interesting to the casual reader.

There has been a concerted effort by Hgilbert, TheBee and others with a vested interest in Waldorf education to airbrush over various nasty (and therefore interesting) details, and clog up the articles with paragraphs of what can only be descibed as bland 'brochure material'.

The editors in the other camp (PeteK, DianaW, et al), have rightly added balance to the article, much to the annoyance of the aforementioned extreme pro-waldorf group. I can see that this has created confrontation, but I cannot say that any party has acted particularly unreasonably.

My own feeling is that the extreme pro-waldorf group have been dragged into line to some extent, and at this point in time the article is not quite so outrageously unwikipedian as it was.

The editors have rightly been inclusionist in their editing of the article, so rather than remove text, counterbalancing point of view has been inserted. This has lead to the article becoming rather 'fluffy' and uninteresting for the average visitor.--Fergie 10:40, 17 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by venado

I have not been a part of this except in a few cases, minor changes. I was curious why there was all the changes back and forth, and nasty fighting in the articles, which turns out to involve the same editors, and why there was so much fingerpointing, and worse, character assassination. It seems like a lot of overcorrecting too. If something is POV, somebody else corrects it by putting the opposite. But it's just a POV the opposite direction which is no better and a lot of times worse. Venado 00:51, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I am the one who found the diffs and gave them on Durovas talk page that showed Hgilbert did not write that "brochure language", but someone who was critical. [26]. Durova criticized Hgilbert of brochure language there but there was no diff. I looked to find the truth, and Hgilbert was not to blame. When I gave the diff Hgilbert is still blamed. Who ever makes the accusation needs to give the diffs, thats only fair. That is the problem. People accuse but do not show it, so thats when I look.

Now its fair to say that when I look there I find Pete K has a conflict interest too. He told on the wikipedia he is a Waldorf parent and reformnist founded a Waldorf school [27], and author working now on a book about Waldorf.[28] He linked his own website [29], [30]. Thhis website also tells why he came at wikipedia message

I believe all sides must not do the accusating without first checking to see the blame is fair. People should not believe accusations that do not show diffs, and all sides must be more fair to the other sides. And don't point fingers to other people if you are really doing it yourself. Venado 21:18, 20 November 2006 (UTC).[reply]

I also don't think its fair that the request for arbitration keeps changing after it was voted and people have made statements. [31]. Venado 23:20, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Pete K

I don't think there is enough room here to describe everything that has been going on in the several articles that have been mentioned (and at least one that has been left out of the list - PLANS) so I'll try to confine my comments to the Waldorf Education article itself. The arbitration should cover this single article because the problem here (the direct conflict-of-interest of at least one of the editors of the Waldorf article) may not apply to the other articles.

I arrived here to find an article about Waldorf education that was literally like reading a Waldorf school brochure. A project team was developed. At first, I joined the project in good faith until I started reading comments in the project outline like "8 Criticism and debate - The criticisms people make of the system (presented in a clear and non-hysterical fashion)" [32]. As I didn't think criticism of Waldorf was generally presented in a "hysterical" fashion, I started looking through the list of participants, I started to realize that many of them were heavily invested in Waldorf. I decided there would not be a possibility for an unbiased article by a group of Waldorf people.

Most heavily invested in Waldorf is HGilbert, who is, in fact, a Waldorf teacher. As a Waldorf teacher, he directly benefits as Waldorf benefits - the more demand there is for Waldorf education, the more in demand Waldorf teachers are. Mr. Gilbert has been responsible for a good deal of the brochure language in the article, and has defended it tooth-and-nail against removal. This is a conflict-of-interest. He is essentially being paid (indirectly) to edit the same articles I am editing for free. Furthermore, Mr. Gilbert, himself, has produced a book called "At the Source: the Incarnation of the Child and the Development of a Modern Pedagogy" published by AWSNA press (Association of Waldorf Schools in North America) - and he has written a Wikipedia article promoting his own book in the reference section.

Another problem here is that references to the language that touts Waldorf methods is citable most often in Waldorf or Anthroposophical literature - i.e. Waldorf brochures are being referenced to justify the brochure language in the article. So if a Waldorf brochure says "All Waldorf students learn to speak two foreign languages" - it ends up in the article - and it is, technically, properly referenced. The fact that all Waldorf students DON'T learn how to speak two foreign languages becomes difficult to defend since nobody has bothered to publish this fact (why would they?). So we end up with weasel words saying "some Waldorf students learn to speak two foreign languages" or "many children are reading by the age 8" - and for most readers at that point, it’s... well... "big deal". So, Mr. Gilbert has decided that the Waldorf article should talk about "goals" - what the school "tries" to achieve... wording like "educate the whole child" creeps into the article when we start describing the "goals" of the educational system. It is clear that to a Waldorf teacher, or to many of the Waldorf supporters who are invested in Waldorf, an article describing what actually happens in Waldorf wouldn't describe their "impressions" of the schools. They want this article to make Waldorf sound like more than it actually is because a healthy, positive article about Waldorf means more people will be interested in Waldorf schools. If you're a Waldorf teacher or run a Waldorf home school, that's good news. But even if you are just an Anthroposophist, Waldorf schools are great places for people to learn about your religion - so lots of Waldorf schools means lots of people contacting and learning about Anthroposophy. That's why the brochure language keeps proliferating in the Waldorf Education article. It's not only motivated by financial reasons, it's motivated by reason of spreading "the word" of Steiner.Pete K 20:02, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Please note: There is discussion on the discussion page Pete K 19:32, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

HGilbert's statement is now 950 words long and growing. Both Diana W and myself have indicated that we would have provided more in the way of a statement if we weren't trying to be brief and stay within the guidelines (I know my statement went over the 500 word limit too). Are we suspending these guidelines now (can I expand my statement too) or should Mr. Gilbert be asked to trim his statement? There are allegations made here that are out of order and that need to be addressed. Thanks! Pete K 04:50, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by {DianaW}

This is not a full statement as it's not really even clear to me what's being "arbitrated" now, but a brief reply re: previous mediation attempt. The notion that Pete or I somehow ruined their effort is nonsense. We insisted on mediating real issues not invented or craftily worded ones, like "whether it's okay to say anything positive about Steiner," as if we could or would justify simply taking out anything positive about Steiner. It was like arguing with kids in junior high. In addition, many of the issues they wanted to "mediate" were simply things that are basic wikipedia policies and aren't negotiable, like using acceptable sources. Additionally, they wanted any source from someone "critical" labeled with some kind of big sign "This person is critical." It never got anywhere because their understanding of the issues was basically juvenile. Similarly this nonsense about removing biographical material readily demonstrates the almost pathological devotion they feel to Steiner as a guru. I merely suggested shortening the biographical section to an appropriate length and removing fluffy silly stuff only of interest to his groupies, stuff that was likely to appear truly goofy to ordinary readers of an encyclopedia. Admittedly I was a little satirical about it, but the thing just read ridiculously; it was comical, and I actually feel Steiner deserves the respect of being portrayed as he was - nobody else is going to believe he practically walked on water anyway, so why not write a *real* encyclopedia article on him? Their problem is simply that they can't STAND to see Steiner portrayed as less than a grand master and benefactor of humanity. You'd think he was Nelson Mandela. I don't see this new attempt as much more promising, consider once again it's hopelessly vague as to what exactly someone is aiming to "arbitrate."DianaW 19:18, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

Wow! I really love the "egregious violations" I'm accused of above. I urge people to check out my egregious violations!DianaW 19:22, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Durova

The above assertion by Hgilbert, Frequent accusations of "brochure language" have been launched; an administrator's investigation made it clear that such language has been introduced by those hostile to the subjects as well as those in favor of them, appears to refer to a discussion at my user talk page in which Hgilbert claimed, much of what you might call brochure language has been contributed by a range of editors, including Pete himself.[33] Hgilbert provided no page diffs in support of that assertion and, although I never endorsed that viewpoint, this editor now appears to attribute the opinion to me as an investigative conclusion: I know of no other administrator who took an interest in this case prior to the arbitration request.

I suggested arbitration after Pete K alleged that Hgilbert has a financial conflict of interest at Waldorf education. My recommendation was conditional and based upon the precedent at Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Agapetos angel, in which evidence of conflict of interest appeared to affect the acceptance and outcome of a case that had not gone through the entire WP:DR process. I referred the editors to the arbitration clerks for an evaluation of whatever evidence might constitute conflict of interest. Hgilbert implicitly admits part of Pete K's allegations here.[34]

My conditional recommendation changed to a definite recommendation when a long thread ensued at my user talk page shortly before this request opened.[35] This family of articles has been stalled for months over a dispute that runs deep and that has been conducted on rather subtle terms. An example is a post by Thebee two days after this arbitration request opened, ostensibly to ask for a policy clarification, that included a long series of examples.[36] Those examples all tended toward a single point as the response by DianaW demonstrates.[37] Also see Pete K's response.[38] I had already referred the entire matter to arbitration, and specifically referred conflict of interest questions to the arbitration clerks, so it is difficult to read Thebee's question as anything other than disruptive provocation.

From what I have seen of this dispute, certain editors - particularly Hgilbert and Thebee - have attempted to WP:OWN the article in violation of WP:NPOV to create an advertisement for Waldorf schools. In interactions with me they have done very little other than make contradictory and unsupported accusations: I fail to see why Pete K and DianaW would add pro-Waldorf "brochure language" if, as Hgilbert also alleges, those editors were radical anti-Waldorfers. Hgilbert's and Thebee's references to site policies have ranged from self-serving to provocative. Unless Hgilbert referred to some administrator other than myself, of which I am unaware, this editor has grossly misrepresented my position to this committee. In a word: sophistry. DurovaCharge! 00:23, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk notes

Three of the four articles I listed above have been protected in the last month due to edit warring and/or are under protection currently. Thatcher131 16:43, 17 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thatcher131, one of the articles mentioned in the arbitration "Rudolf Steiner's views on race and ethnicity" has been deleted. It is now impossible to collect diff's from that article. I have asked that it be made available in locked form during the arbitration so that we can collect diff's. I hope I haven't overstepped any boundaries here... maybe it should have been your call. Pete K 14:04, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I can do that if and when the case is opened. Thatcher131 14:23, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
OK, but won't that be too late for those of us who are preparing for the case? We've been advised to start collecting diffs and evidence. I'm just trying to be prepared. Thanks! Pete K 14:52, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Generally there is a minimum 7 day grace period after the case opens before the arbitrators start considering the evidence. In the event that the case never opens, I'd rather not undelete it early. Thatcher131 15:19, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
OK, thanks - I thought somebody said 24 hours. I was thinking this whole thing could be done by the Thanksgiving, but it looks like we're shooting for Christmas. Pete K 16:04, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Are you the one to address the question I posted above?: "HGilbert's statement is now 950 words long and growing. Both Diana W and myself have indicated that we would have provided more in the way of a statement if we weren't trying to be brief and stay within the guidelines (I know my statement went over the 500 word limit too). Are we suspending these guidelines now (can I expand my statement too) or should Mr. Gilbert be asked to trim his statement? There are allegations made here that are out of order and that need to be addressed. Thanks! Pete K 04:50, 20 November 2006 (UTC)" Who knows how long HGilbert's statement may stay on the board here. It may be two weeks before arbitration is accepted. It doesn't seem fair that he wrote the Arbitration Request, the Brief Summary (which I ammended and he moved) and now posts a personal statement that is twice as long as everyone elses. Just sayin'... (and not trying to be a pest). Pete K 16:12, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (3/0/0/0)

  1. Accept to look at all issues. Charles Matthews 20:28, 17 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Accept. - SimonP 23:59, 17 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Accept. Dmcdevit·t 02:54, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Requests for clarification

Requests for clarification from the Committee on matters related to the Arbitration process. Place new requests at the top.


Question about removing disputed tags

There is currently an edit war on the article Temperature record of the past 1000 years. One of the participants is User:William M. Connolley. WMC's edits were surprising for me; I checked his history, and found that ArbCom has previously had him on 6-month parole for trying to impose an extreme non-factual POV on climate-related articles. In my opinion, he is continuing that.

That is not a fitting or correct description of what has happened. ArbCom has not had im on a parole for "trying to impose an extreme non-factual POV on climate-related articles", but rather for reverting without sufficient explanation in an on-going edit conflict (in which the other parties where sanctioned much harder), and moreover, it has lifted this sanction after reconsideration.--Stephan Schulz 11:58, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
My understanding of what happened was based on the discussion that ensued following his ReqfAdminship. I think that I summarized the relevant parts of that, but I was unaware of the subsequent lifting.  TheSeven 13:37, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
That's what you get for using bad sources. The original cases are available (see my links). There is no need to use second-hand comments made by people during a heated RfA debate.--Stephan Schulz 16:35, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There is one action by WMC that I have a general question about. After the edit war started, I put a Disputed tag on the article. WMC reverted the article to the version that he preferred and removed the Disputed tag. As far as I can tell, there are no Wikipedia policies/guidelines about removing Disputed tags. My question is this: is there such a policy and, if not, should there be one? I am not an expert Wikipedian; my (possibly naive) view is that it would be preferable to have some policy/guideline prohibiting removal of disputed tags while an article is being actively disputed.
TheSeven 09:11, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Its unclear to me what this has to do with the arbitrators. TS has just had this pointed out to him, but it doesn't seem to have done any good William M. Connolley 13:41, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I guess the tie is to our action in the climate change case which arguably constitutes a "black mark" against you. However one of our principles is that if a user moves on and becomes a productive and respected editor they should not have old issues like this thrown up to them. So the inquiry is without merit as far as I am concerned. Fred Bauder 16:01, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I have looked at Talk:Temperature record of the past 1000 years. Without much more intense analysis than I (or the other arbitrators) have time to do, it is not evident whether a dispute tag is justified or not. Fred Bauder 16:27, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, I guess my question was not worded well. My question is a general one, and the mention of WMC was to give an example. Herewith, my question:

Is it inappropriate for someone to remove a Disputed tag during an active dispute and should Wikipedia have a policy that pertains to removal of Disputed tags?

My question arose because it seems inappropriate to me for someone to remove a Disputed tag during an active dispute. In the example that I gave, the removals have been continuing (i.e. the Disputed tag has been removed while simultaneously a statement that I, and others, believe to be incorrect has been reinserted). But this is only an example; it is the general question that I put to ArbCom.
TheSeven 17:26, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Not seeing this a good venue for this question. --FloNight 18:56, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pat8722

I have made motions at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Pat8722/Workshop#Motion_for_Clarification and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Pat8722/Workshop#Motion_for_Clarification_and_Motion_for_Procedure] but have not received a response. What is the procedure for notifying arbcom that I have motions outstanding? (I had assumed the workshop page would have been kept on an arbcom member's watch list, but I am now wondering if that is the case). My motions are requesting clarification or their words, and detail on the procedure they have requested I follow in my future action. pat8722 02:22, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'll look at it. If I feel it has merit I will put in at /Proposed decision and it will be voted on. Fred Bauder 16:27, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Don't edit outside your own talk page. Email us if you return to editing. Fred Bauder 16:44, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Terryeo

Although not provided for in the penalties, I have indefinitely blocked Terryeo as described at [39]. The reasons amount to malicious and targetted harassment of users as part of his unabandoned quest to advance his POV on Scientology. Phil Sandifer 18:42, 12 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I doubt the necessity of this, but would not say ab initio that you have abused your discretion. Terreo does fine on Wikinfo, but our expectations are quite different. Fred Bauder 16:27, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Motions in prior cases

(Only Arbitrators may make such motions)


Archives

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