Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Climate change dispute 2/Evidence
Anyone, whether directly involved or not, may add evidence to this page. Please make a header for your evidence and sign your comments with your name.
When placing evidence here, please be considerate of the arbitrators and be concise. Long, rambling, or stream-of-conciousness rants are not helpful.
As such, it is extremely important that you use the prescribed format. Submitted evidence should include a link to the actual page diff; links to the page itself are not sufficient. For example, to cite the edit by Mennonot to the article Anomalous phenomenon adding a link to Hundredth Monkey use this form: [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anomalous_phenomenon&diff=5587219&oldid=5584644] [1].
This page is not for general discussion - for that, see talk page.
Please make a section for your evidence and add evidence only in your own section. Please limit your evidence to a maximum 1000 words and 100 diffs, a much shorter, concise presentation is more likely to be effective. Please focus on the issues raised in the complaint and answer and on diffs which illustrate behavior which relates to the issues.
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Evidence presented by William M. Connolley[edit]
This re-opening has two features: SEWs behaviour, and my parole.
SEWs behaviour[edit]
SEWs behaviour has been RFC'd Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/SEWilco: he has had plenty of time to respond there but hasn't; the consensus there is that his behaviour is wrong; nonetheless it continues. SEW has been spamming 3RR with stale reports (details at the RFC). He has persisted in this quite unreasonably, despite numerous warnings to stop, until finally being blocked for it [2]. Even now, despite all, he doesn't seem to get it [3].
All this was linked to SEWs desire to insert his pet reference format into articles where others (especially me, but not just me) didn't want it. SEW was using his "3RR campaign" to try to get me banned so he could force through his changes. SEWs attachment to his pet format is unreasonably strong: he refuses to consider anyone elses preferences and all his "talk" on it goes nowhere.
Further, although SEW has been insistent to the point of mania on "enforcing the will of the arbcomm", the will of the arbcomm is far from clear: we discussed this at RFA talk [4] but came to no consensus: more importantly, the arbcomm chose not to speak: which I interpreted to mean that my "I discuss on the talk pages where this is useful, and use edit summaries where that suffices. Anything more would be unreasonably burdensome." was considered reasonable.
My Parole[edit]
My arbcomm parole was, I believe:
- Due to a long history of reverting, often without giving adequate explanation for the reverts, William M. Connolley is hereby prohibited for six months from reverting any article relating to climate change more than once per 24 hour period (vandalism excepted). Each such revert must be backed up by a talk page comment where a reputable source is cited or asked for as appropriate (see #Relative value of references). ... Determining ... what is a 'reputable source' is left up to the discretion of the blocking administrator (who should follow the guidance at #Relative value of references).
I note the must be backed up by a talk page comment where a reputable source is cited or asked for as appropriate. This clearly refers to providing scientific references. It cannot apply, e.g., to deciding the format of references on a page. Nor can it apply to removing quasi-vandalism: I was blocked for this [5]; I don't quite see how references can be provided for that. So I think the arbcomm need to clarify their judgement.
More, I would like the arbcomm to reconsider their decision. IMHO it was a long case, they got bored and wanted to finish it off. The arbcomm found as fact:
- William M. Connolley often reverts edits which he considers poorly referenced or which in his opinion use a heavily-biased or otherwise inadequate reference (such as citing what a popular writer said about a global warming-related topic instead of a panel of scientists in the relevant field).
- William M. Connolley is widely viewed in Wikipedia as being highly knowledgeable in the field he is writing about.
I have no complaints about that, of course. What I do complain about was my parole, which came from apparently nowhere. I attempted to ask about that [6] but got nowhere. I'm prepared to accept that the edit war over greenhouse effect was long and sterile, but the arbcomm specifically found in my favour over that page: so I don't see that I should be sanctioned for that.
Evidence presented by Stephan Schulz[edit]
I noticed the following part of the original decision: "William M. Connolley may apply to the Arbitration Committee in one month for the removal of this prohibition.". Did that ever happen? It might have saved us at least part of the current rucus. At least for me, this does point out that User:SEWilco's antics are even more absurd - he is trying to get User:William M. Connolley banned for
- months old edits
- most of which were uncontroversial
- most of which have a sufficient edit summary
- for a parole that likely would have been lifted for months anyways if it ever had come up.
I suspect you have all seen SEWilco's reports on Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/3RR and elsewhere. If not, see below.
27 November[edit]
- [7]
- Version of noticeboard with 12 of SEWilco's reports
Evidence presented by SEWilco[edit]
Summary (partial)[edit]
- I am participating under protest, as this case is improper.
- Arbitration rulings and policies should be applied equally to all users. Enforcing rulings unevenly is not fair. Undermining Wikipedia policies and Arbitration precedents creates an unstable environment for all users. [10]
- Arbitration rulings are to be taken seriously. [11]
- SEWilco and other users supported arbitration rulings. [12]
- William M. Connolley did not abide by arbitration rulings, except when trying to force them on others. [13] [14]
- The Arbitration Committee did not equally and fully implement the rulings in the previous case. [15]
- Administrators did not take violations seriously and should support them. [16]
- Wikipedia:Verifiability is an important policy. Details on source material are important to Wikipedia.
- Consensus can not be used to support bad article content. [17]
- I did insert additional citation content in articles Kyoto Protocol and Global cooling. [18]
- I did follow the consensus style of numbered links to sources. [19]
My Evidence is not yet complete. This is a complex case. (SEWilco 21:26, 8 December 2005 (UTC))
Table of reversions[edit]
These are the most obvious discovered parole violations by WMC which are labeled as reversions for which no Talk edit was apparent. A few items are listed for relevant context. A Note "No Talk" indicates no associated Talk page edit was apparent: "Each such revert must be backed up by a talk page comment where a reputable source is cited or asked for as appropriate (see #Relative value of references)." (SEWilco 05:27, 2 December 2005 (UTC))
| Contribution | Note |
|---|---|
| *03:44, 29 October 2005 (hist) (diff) m Global warming controversy (rv anon removal of valid point without any explanation) | No Talk |
| *12:52, 25 October 2005 (hist) (diff) m Climate (don't need heinlein here; doubt he is originator anyway: rv to Andres) | No Talk |
| *15:22, 23 October 2005 (hist) (diff) Bjørn Lomborg (rv to Orzetto) | No Talk |
| *12:49, 22 October 2005 (hist) (diff) m Nuclear winter (rv removal of NS link. Its not a great article, but its clearly relevant) | No Talk |
| *14:20, 20 October 2005 (hist) (diff) m Milankovitch cycles (rv: that didn't make any sense. Have another go.) | No Talk |
| *13:31, 20 October 2005 (hist) (diff) m Joe Barton (rv to SS. I see no signs that JB asserts the reality of GW.) (top) | No Talk |
| *10:42, 19 October 2005 (hist) (diff) Scientific opinion on climate change (rv. Your desperate re-wording in order to be able to put your own pet links in amounts to vandalism) | No Talk |
| *08:54, 19 October 2005 (hist) (diff) Scientific opinion on climate change (rv. (a) individuals are inappropriate (b) Yuri I *isn't* a prominent climate scientist) | No Talk |
| *16:28, 18 October 2005 (hist) (diff) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (rv: re-rm Lindzen. The reason being, he isn't actually criticising IPCC, and so is irrelevant to this section) | No Talk |
| *15:44, 17 October 2005 (hist) (diff) Scientific opinion on climate change (rv to WMC. This is for *scientific* statments, not those from legislators.) | No Talk |
| *15:48, 16 October 2005 (hist) (diff) m Ross McKitrick (rv to Rd/WMC) | "relevant" talk page is for Michael Mann but this is not indicated in Talk:Ross McKitrick. |
| *15:48, 16 October 2005 (hist) (diff) Talk:Michael Mann (scientist) (â’Cosine - ?) | context |
| *12:50, 15 October 2005 (hist) (diff) m Ross McKitrick (rv to Rd) | Ibid "relevant" |
| *12:50, 15 October 2005 (hist) (diff) Talk:Michael Mann (scientist) (â’Cosine - Up to you) | context |
| *03:37, 15 October 2005 (hist) (diff) Ice core (rv conversion of inline to footnotes) | No Talk |
| *05:00, 13 October 2005 (hist) (diff) Urban heat island (rv: wind-shields around the thermos is irrelevant; please actually read the Parker paper if you're interested in this) | No Talk |
| *11:58, 5 October 2005 (hist) (diff) m Global warming (rv xs skepticism to Dupz) | No Talk |
| *09:05, 5 October 2005 (hist) (diff) m Solar variation (Rv icky fn3) | No Talk |
| *03:27, 2 October 2005 (hist) (diff) Solar variation (Rv to wmc; rm one more) | No Talk |
| *03:38, 25 September 2005 (hist) (diff) m Kyoto Protocol (rv edits by banned user JonGwynne, including mistaken "correction" of link) | No Talk |
| *03:23, 25 September 2005 (hist) (diff) m Urban heat island (rv: laws of thermodynamics, indeed) | No Talk |
| *04:53, 19 September 2005 (hist) (diff) m Last Glacial Maximum (rv link removal. The link is dead yes but the citation is useful) (top) | No Talk |
| *11:50, 18 September 2005 (hist) (diff) Greenhouse gas (â’Anthropogenic greenhouse gases - Rv to earlier wording: it is mostly CO2; N2O is hardly "sig") | No Talk |
| *06:43, 10 September 2005 (hist) (diff) m Global warming (Rv vandalism by Lubos "opinion of a majority of average left-wing scientists" so obviously gross POV that Lubos must have given up all hope of serious contribution to these pages) | No Talk |
| *13:07, 9 September 2005 (hist) (diff) Medieval Warm Period (Rv footnote stuff) | Relevant Talk not obvious. |
| *13:04, 9 September 2005 (hist) (diff) Urban heat island (Rv to SEW, disliking the footnotes change) | Relevant Talk not obvious. |
| *14:27, 5 September 2005 (hist) (diff) Global cooling (rv traditional anon nonsense) | No Talk |
| *10:05, 5 September 2005 (hist) (diff) Global warming (rv undue skepticism by 66... to Viriditas) | No Talk |
| *04:35, 5 September 2005 (hist) (diff) Mitigation of global warming (rv to Jcobb. Don't understand SB's objection, and link to surprises is useful and shouldn't be removed) | No Talk |
| *09:52, 2 September 2005 (hist) (diff) Kyoto Protocol (Rv. No reason to delete usefu (and undisputed) text just because you dislike some words) | No Talk |
| *11:24, 29 August 2005 (hist) (diff) Global dimming (Rv to me. 10 oC excessive, esp unsourced. Pollution cut due to ethiopian famine dubious.) | No Talk |
| *06:49, 20 August 2005 (hist) (diff) Global dimming (â’Effects - rv innaccurate para - original was better) | No Talk |
| *16:38, 3 August 2005 (hist) (diff) Global warming (rv: sorry, but more-neutral is just ugly) | No Talk |
| *16:38, 3 August 2005 (hist) (diff) Attribution of recent climate change (rv: not keen on hyphen change and don't alter direct quotes) | No Talk |
| *03:04, 30 July 2005 (hist) (diff) m Global warming (rv to Hyad, removing unexplained inc of the top of the range to 10 oC) | No Talk |
| *08:01, 19 July 2005 (hist) (diff) Little Ice Age (Rv to WMC, just like before) | No Talk |
| *07:45, 18 July 2005 (hist) (diff) Little Ice Age (Rv to WMC: please don't try to assert that this is IPCC POV, its not, its the refs therein. Remove "still-to-glob": this is implicit in the less-clear.) | No Talk |
| *06:27, 8 July 2005 (hist) (diff) Sallie Baliunas (rv anon to JQ. Sat rise is *not* v small - some records show it as larger than sfc. Don't fight the sat t rec wars here: go look at the sat page.) | No Talk |
| *11:13, 29 June 2005 (hist) (diff) Michael Mann (scientist) (Rv POV gossip) | No Talk |
| *05:48, 28 June 2005 (hist) (diff) Michael Mann (scientist) (rv, as before) | No Talk |
Evidence presented by MichaelSirks[edit]
23 october revert in the lomborg article[edit]
- 23 october
- It was a argument between me and Ozetto, which was also discussed on the talk pages. WMC didn't participate in this discusion, yet he reverted the text whitout explaination in the comment or on the talkpage. In his own words WMC can't be bothered with his parole. If you let WMC get away with this wikipedia will degenerate into a reverting encyclopedia. Where the one who can shout the longest wins.
--MichaelSirks 21:31, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
Evidence presented by Vsmith[edit]
16 December modification of Sea level rise[edit]
- 16 December
- SEWilco is currently applying his bot to convert inline links to his notes system [20] without any discussion or comment. He is well aware that this is a climate change related article and also aware that the editors of climate change articles are opposed to his notes system. I see this as a clear provocation, especially as this case is pending and the RFC is still open. I believe he is mocking the discussion here. Vsmith 17:07, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
- 19 Dec.
14 Dec. article in Nature[edit]
- The science journal Nature published a comparison of Wikipedia science articles with Encyclopedia Britannica: Internet encyclopaedias go head to head. In an online javascript sidenote: Challenges of being a Wikipedian which discusses the work of William M. Connolley in the climate articles and specifically the Climate change dispute arbitration of last spring. In that sidenote Jimmy Wales is quoted: "It takes a long time to deal with troublemakers," admits Jimmy Wales, the encyclopaedia's co-founder. "Connolley has done such amazing work and has had to deal with a fair amount of nonsense." [22]. It would seem that this has direct bearing on the current case and WMC's parole. Vsmith 05:20, 19 December 2005 (UTC)
SEWilco has tried to build consensus; others have hindered that[edit]
Whilst SEWilco has not always fully followed all consensus building mechanisms available to him, there have been several attempts by him to build consensus on footnotes, mostly on a wikipedia wide scale. Others involved in this dispute have not supported those consensus building attempts and in some cases have hindered them.
- Prior to any RFC/RFAs SEWilco runs a discussion on the village pump about direct links. That discussion is later deleted from the talk page archive hiding the evidence of an attempt at compromise..
- During this RFA, SEWilco initiates a poll on Citations. Attempts are made to disrupt this poll (N.B. compound edit) based on the person behind it, not the contents. This is then moved from the page with no edit comment a link of much lower prominence, finally being renamed as if it was a poll on SEWilco rather than on comments..
- Mozzerati 18:09, 17 December 2005 (UTC)