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Current disputes

Talk:Pope Joan

– Discussion in progress.

Filed by 189.8.107.196 on 17:25, 24 January 2015 (UTC).[reply]

Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Talk:Pope Joan (edit | subject | history | links | watch | logs)

Users involved

Dispute overview

The fact that one Catholic pope in the Dark Ages would have been a woman in disguise (commonly referred to as Pope Joan) has always been a controversial one - but this article's non-neutral POV makes it seem like no such controversy exists, and gives the Catholic Church's current official position as a true, undispustable fact.

It's a fact that it was widely believed for centuries, including by catholics, that the female Pope had existed - a statue depicting her, labeled Pope Joan, has been displayed among other Pope statues in the Italy's Siena Cathedral until 1700 (when the then Pope ordered its removal); she is depicted in works of art, theatre and literature from all around Europe, and even though the Vatican has finally stated that she was only a fictitious legend, she continues to this day to attract the interest of millions around the world, including authors like Peter Stanford and Donna W. Cross who deffend she might have existed.

As controversial a topic as it is, the article on it should of course reflect that - but, as can be seen throughout all the article's history, it's been noted for years, by many different users, that its full content reflects purely the Catholic Church's POV and was anything but neutral. However, an active team of engaged editors has through the article's history always been very quick to counter-edit any such edits, threatening the dissonant voices with bans and until now preventing even a broader discussion regarding the neutrality of the article from taking place.

A neutral article needs at least mentioning who deffends her,what they argue, even if one then counterbalances each of them with supposed explanations and concludes that there's not sufficient proof that she ever existed (what is NOT at all the same thing as saying that there's sufficient proof that she did NOT exist). People have tried doing so/making the article neutral for years, but each of their editions has always been reverted without real discussion.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Ongoing debate in the appropriate Talk page. The discussion, however, is going in circles and nowhere, since the users who have for years edited out all mentions that do not follow 100% the Catholic Church's POV will simply discredit every single source that contradicts them as being not even worthy of having their existences acknowledged.

How do you think we can help?

It'd be helpful if simply more people were to read the topic, read the Talk page and then comment on whether they find the current text neutral. The topic itself offends some people's personal convictions, and it happens that these are almost the only people who care about the topic enough as to write on it and discuss it and they end up tiring away the less engaged casual passers-by. Simply having more neutral outsiders read, comment and rewrite the text in a neutral POV should solve the issue.

Summary of dispute by Farsight001

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Summary of dispute by Cuchullain

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

189.8.107.196's summary shows that much of this dispute is behavioral, not content-based. The accusations that there's a conspiracy of editors enforcing the "the Catholic Church's POV" and quashing all discussions are totally baseless and out of line. Whatever neutrality concerns exist in the article just get clouded over by the anon's edit warring, comments about contributors, and battleground behavior.
The anon elides the fact that their complaints largely focus on the lead section, and that the rest of the article is in a poor state. Rather than fix the body, they've initiated an edit war over the intro. None of the article's problems will be resolved this way, or any way beside rewriting the body with the best available sources.
This has caused considerable confusion. Below, 177.76.41.164 writes that editors are "deliberately omitting" certain facts, such as details about Siena Cathedral's bust of Joan. There's been some dispute over how this material (which I added) is handled in the intro, but despite 177.x's claims, the details are already in the article body. Again, what the article needs is an overhaul in the body.
I tried to rewrite the intro using standard academic works on Pope Joan. These sources speak to a consensus among scholars that Pope Joan is a myth. There are a few writers who still claim she was real, but they're basically a WP:FRINGE viewpoint. As I said on talk, Diana Cross is a fiction writer, and Peter Stanford isn't a historian, he's a journalist. More to the point, Stanford's book on Joan has been harshly received by historians.[1][2] It can't be used to override cited claims from respected sources.
As a final point, Scolaire says that some folks want to keep out all mention of Stanford and Cross. This isn't true. It's perfectly fine to include them in the article body (with the necessary explanation to how they're viewed by the experts). Adding them to the introduction, however, is WP:UNDUE WEIGHT. Again, what we need is better treatment of the article body.--Cúchullain ^t/c 22:12, 25 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Summary of dispute by 191.222.109.81

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Summary of dispute by Kansas_Bear

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Summary of dispute by 177.76.41.164

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

The page could indeed be rewritten in a more neutral way. I don't know much about the topic itself, but as others have said, when you dedicate some time going through the page's edits history you end up finding out a lot of valid and pertinent and documented data that indeed was removed from the article for no given reason, and all said edits are indeed always favoring a position that the story is complete bogus. I myself quite think it is actually bogus, but rather than allowing me to reach that conclusion after giving me all the history of the issue and even the conspiracy theories, the page indeed shoves into the reader's face not gently at all what the editors/writers' point of view is, deliberately omitting even interesting facts regarding the story which, even if not proving the conspiratiotists' theories, isn't well regarded by the Vatican (like the fact that there was a precise date when a Pope declared Pope Joan not to have existed; and the fact that it was only after that and at the Pope's request that Joan's bust was removed from the papal busts collection at the Catholic Cathedral of Siena; also, there aren't mentions or images to the numerous images of a female figure in full papal style, Papal tiara included, to this day displayed even in the Vatican, which, even if having different explanations, are indeed one of the arguments used by the conspirationists.

Simply put, the OP does seem to have sort of a valid point when saying that the page's edits history does reveal engaged activism / permanent watch by a group of users who seem to be way more interested in deffending the current official position of the Church than in having a good Wikipedia article.

And finally, the fact that the opponent editors managed to get the OP banned from Wikipedia for no reason other than reverting unwelcome edits (well referenced and pertinent edits the OP had made in other sections of the article that were not directly related to the disputed topic were deleted without justification by his opponents among the edit war) kind of adds weight to his/her accusations of censorship... 177.76.41.164 (talk) 19:10, 25 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Summary of dispute by Scolaire

One side wants to state as fact that there is an ongoing controversy over the existence of Pope Joan, citing Peter Stanford and Donna Cross. I don't see any ongoing controversy in the real world, and those two authors are not suitable sources for that claim, because they are not academic historians. However, the other side does not want those authors' views to be considered at all, which I think is going to the other extreme. It was a revelation to me, on reading the reverted, but sourced, edits, to find that there are people notable enough to be published who say they believe in the legend at least to some extent. Therefore I think it is worth a brief mention. This is consistent with WP:DUE. It would also, without making it appear that there is a lively academic debate going on, at least answer the people who say that the minority point of view is being censored, or that the article is written solely from a Catholic Church POV. I am not arguing that she existed, only that is worth mentioning that a couple of people do. Scolaire (talk) 23:14, 24 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Summary of dispute by Wetman

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Summary of dispute by Ian.thomson

(Previously uninvolved non-volunteer observer): "The fact that," "widely believed," and borderline accusations of Catholic censorship... A completely non-neutral summary that argues against WP:GEVAL. I'm seeing one side cite a number of academic sources, and the other citing tabloids. Please snow close this. Ian.thomson (talk) 17:41, 24 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Moved at TransporterMan's request, as I've started responding at the talk page. I stand by my observation that one side is citing academia, while the other is citing tabloids, conspiracy theories, and innuendo of Catholic censorship. I can only find one user involved who identifies as Catholic, who is not listed here because that involvement is only one post that sticks to the policies and guidelines. If anything, the legendary side is mostly users who would be sympathetic to the idea of Pope Joan but realize that it's fantasy. While I agree that that a few non-historians insist that Joan existed (which would be a few sentences later in the article, dismissed as WP:FRINGE -- Oh, wait, the article already does that), that's different from downplaying (if not whitewashing) the clearly cited academic consensus and the addition of badly sourced revisionist claims to the lede. As with other fringe authors, I do not mind including Stanford if properly labelled as a non-historian and presented alongside any counter-arguments directed at his work. Ian.thomson (talk) 17:07, 26 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I will point out that 177.16.62.71 geolocates to the same location as 189.8.107.196, who was far from uninvolved. 177.76.41.164 (who filed this request) geolocates to the same location as 179.148.187.148, and these two addresses are just down the road from the first two. I do not believe we have more than two individuals posting from all four IPs. Ian.thomson (talk) 01:51, 28 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Summary of dispute by 177.16.62.71 (talk) 01:31, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

(Previously uninvolved non-volunteer observers): I am Catholic and I'm currently graduating in History - which makes me specially appaled by the arguments in the original Talk Page that Peter Stanford's opinion should not even be considered and that it is okay to say that ALL historian agree on something even if Stanford does not. He is a Historian, he is a religious historian, he is indeed a Catholic historian, and it is also true that he is the only person who has even been called an "expert on Pope Joan" in the world, and he is indeed currently the only person so recognised by the search results in Google.

So that means I believe Joan existed? No, not at all. I am 100% convinced that Stanford, as well as Cross, do not even believe that themselves, and only play along. Why? Because conspiracy theories sell, that's why, and they're both millionaires nowadays, only because of pretending to believe that there was once a real female pope.

But that does not, absolutely, mean that these two authors do not exist; or that their opinions can be concealed, or disregarded, or even given little to no proeminence in the Pope Joan wikipedia page. Please, Pope Joan *is* a conspiracy theory story. Even if Stanford was not a serious Catholic editor and scholar and historian, even if he was just a crazy dude who decided to say that Pope Joan was real, as long as he's successfully published a worldwide bestseller with his theory, and become one of the most famous "experts" on the topic, it is obvious that his opinions and claims should be given appropriate space and credit. Wikipedia does *not* prejudice against conspiracy theories. The World Trade Center article brings in it text and references to the conspiracy theories according to which the US itself exploded the towers. It is a repugnant theory, one that literally disgusts me and millions of other even to be read, but it is there - and, you know what? It ought to be. That's what Wikipedia is about. It gives people information, and allows people to make their own conclusions with all the opinions given, and all the conspiracy theories, and all the interesting trivia and photos and art (which have all been in my opinion incorrectly cut off the Pape Joan page by fellow editors who, like me, seem to agree that most people who "like" the story of Pope Joan, do so only because it "hurts" the image of the Church; but actively editing out the various sculptures and art depicting a female figure wearing the papal tiara, which is what has been done for years, is hurtful to the story of our Church itself. Pope Joan was believed for a long time by the Church itself, and there is nothing wrong with acknowledging it; we also thought for centuries that the Sun orbited the Earth, and, hey, we were wrong, that is okay, information was scarce before the internet - that does't mean we ought to just pretend it never happened...)

Even the Jesus page here in Wikipedia admits that it is not a 100.000000% consensus that He ever existed. So how can the Pope Joan deniers intend to be so arrogant?

Shortly put, and even if I am 100% sure that the "story" of Pope Joan is pure conspiracy theory, I will have to agree that while reading this article I actually thought for a minute that I was reading the Catholic boards I normally access, rather than Wikipedia.

Having spent the past hours of my day reading into every edition that has ever been made to the page (and all the reverts made by the same handful of pals), I would actually go as far as saying that the page needs urgent rewriting - and that it needs be done by a large group of uninvolved, preferrably from different backgrounds, group of users. And I would suggest that the users here involved, including those who have been "protecting" the page from all "external" interference for years, completely refrained from this whole process, in everyone's (and specially the page's) best interests.

177.16.62.71 (talk) 01:31, 28 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Talk:Pope Joan discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

(Another previously uninvolved non-volunteer observation): I gave the article a *quick* lookover, so take this with as much salt as you like. At the surface it seems balanced and gives the general message that Pope Joan is fictional but that there was a time when it was believed otherwise. However, a second pass with more attention left me with the slight smell of failure of WP:NPOV (in the direction of a vague desire to shove the "legend" in the face of any passing Catholics). There's a fair sprinkle of what I think is weaseling e.g. "..said to have reigned...", "Most versions of her story...", "The one most commonly cited...", " It has been speculated ..." and so on. And there are multiple assertions with no RS offered whatsoever. Little snippets of colloquial speech also raise a grin: "during the pontificate of 'Pope Agnes ... [the Church] got on quite well." (emphasis mine).

I don't like that "legendary" in the first sentence. Judging by the rest of the article, it looks like the adjective being sought after is supposed to say that the stories are false, but "legendary" does not necessarily convey that. "Mythical" would be no better. Perhaps the simple "fictional" would work?

Finally, I'd also like to see some sources for the first part of the lead's penultimate sentence: "The legend was universally accepted as true until the 16th century, when a widespread debate among Catholic and Protestant writers called the story into question; various writers noted the implausibly long gap between Joan's supposed lifetime and her first appearance in texts". It's not clear that the two sources already provided are covering not just the assertion that the story is no longer accepted, but also the assertion that it once was "universally accepted". Thomask0 (talk) 23:45, 24 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

All parties have been notified as of 13:30 UST 25 January 2015 — TransporterMan (TALK) 19:31, 25 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Volunteer's Note: Welcome to the Dispute Resolution Noticeboard. I'm neither taking this case nor opening it for discussion at this time, but just reminding the filing editor that it is his obligation to notify the other participants of this filing by leaving a note on their user talk pages. The template mentioned at the top of this page can be used for that purpose or a custom-written note. If those notices are not given in the next two or three days — and placing a notice on the article talk page will not suffice — this listing will be closed as abandoned. Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) 23:07, 24 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

There's a problem there, because the filing editor has just been blocked for 72 hours. Scolaire (talk) 23:18, 24 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

No longe a problem: all users mentioned by the OP who had not yet posted in here have just received personalised messages by me, in their own personal pages, very directly and succintly telling them they have been included as parts to this discussion, with pertinent link provided. Xox177.76.41.164 (talk) 19:24, 25 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) I've formally notified all parties. — TransporterMan (TALK) 19:31, 25 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Volunteer's notes 2: I'm still not taking this or opening it for discussion, but some comments are in order:

@ the previously uninvolved non-volunteer observers: Thank you for your comments, which are entirely welcome here, but if there is any possibility whatsoever that you're going to continue in this discussion here at DRN or at the article talk page, please list yourselves as parties, create an initial summary section for yourself, and move your comments there.
@ the IP editors listed as parties and the IP editor who made an entry in Cuchullain's summary section, above : If you are a user with an account and just accidentally edited without logging in, please remove the IP listing from the user list, substitute your username if it's not already listed, and only edit in this discussion while logged in. If, on the other hand, if you're an IP-only editor, please consider creating an account and doing the same. It's really confusing to the volunteers when a number of IP editors are involved in the discussion.

Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) 19:43, 25 January 2015 (UTC) (current DRN coordinator)[reply]

First statement by volunteer moderator

I am willing to try to get this dispute moving. First, I don't have any special authority to resolve this case, or any particular knowledge about the issues. My role is to help the editors in this case work together to get resolution. I will insist that all editors be concise and civil. Focus on content, not on contributors. I will start off by asking each of you what you think should be changed to improve the article. Be specific and concise. After I have initial responses, I will formulate more questions to try to clarify the issues further. Robert McClenon (talk) 02:55, 3 February 2015 (UTC) Also, if you are editing from an IP address, please be aware that your IP address may change and that may make it more difficult to take part in this discussion. I advise any IP editors to create an account. Robert McClenon (talk) 02:58, 3 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

First statement by User:189.8.107.196

First statement by User:Farsight001

First statement by User:Cuchullain

Comment on content, not contributors
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Not wanting to get into behavior issues again here, I'm not sure what level of dispute really remains here now that the IPs have all stopped editing after the sockpuppet investigation.

But as far as that goes, I'll reiterate that I think it's perfectly fine, and necessary, to cover the writers who think Joan was real in the article (actually this goes a bit beyond Stanford and Cross, but not all that much more). This should be covered in a much better fashion than it presently is, but that goes for the entire article. Again, I don't think it's productive to focus too much energy on the introduction when there's so much work to be done on the article body. Especially if it's just to accommodate what's realistically a fringe viewpoint.--Cúchullain ^t/c 15:49, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

First statement by User:191.222.109.81

First statement by User:Kansas_Bear

First statement by User:177.76.41.164

First statement by User:Scolaire

This bit about Peter Stanford has found a permanent place in the article – after a few reverts – and that is fair, I think. I think it would also be fair to mention the historical novelist Donna Woolfolk Cross in the same section, as she spent seven years researching her subject (something that no historian nowadays is likely to do), and she is quoted by NBC as saying, "I would say it's the weight of evidence – over 500 chronicle accounts of her existence." Those two writers, who we all agree are in the minority, and go against modern scolarly consensus, could still usefully get a half-sentence in the lead. On the talk page I suggested that the last sentence of the lead might be re-written.

Current: Pope Joan is now widely accepted to be fictional, though the legend remains influential in art, literature, drama, and film. [Rustici, 2006]
Proposed: Pope Joan is now widely accepted to be fictional. Nonetheless, the legend remains influential in art, literature, drama, and film, [Rustici, 2006] and a small number of 21st-century writers have expressed the belief that the legend is at least partially true.

WP:GEVAL would not apply here, since there is nothing like equal weight being given to the minority view. WP:DUE says, "Specifically, it should always be clear which parts of the text describe the minority view." I think this proposal makes it crystal clear, and therefore is consistent with policy. Scolaire (talk) 20:36, 5 February 2015 (UTC) Edited 12:31, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

First statement by User:Wetman

First statement by User:Ian.thomson

Comment on content, not contributors

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

I acknowledge and otherwise respect the request to not comment on editors, but I must point out that since evidence of sockpuppetry was raised (even an SPI filed), the IP editors (including the one who filed this request) have ultimately ceased editing. It is also odd that none of the addresses were active at the same time and that once an address ceased activity it failed to come back, both of which would have eventually happened had they been operated by distinct persons. Instead "new" anons regularly showed up announcing that they were absolutely different people. I merely bring this up to question whether we need to actually go through full dispute resolution, as it was filed by the IP sockpuppeteer under false pretenses (if not bad faith), and I'm left with the impression that everyone else here is capable of honest and reasonable discussion on the talk page.

The article currently presents the subject as a legend with limited support among select amateur historians, as does our article on the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship. I mention this article because it is a strong parallel: while amateur historians can be included their views should not be presented as being more respected by academia than they really are, nor should we create artificial balance between amateur historians and professional scholars. The sources cited to support a historical existence of Joan are not by professional academics. The article could stand to include more coverage of why people believe Pope Joan existed, but this should be counterbalanced with rebuttals from mainstream scholarship. Ian.thomson (talk) 03:16, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

First statement by User:Thomask0

Second statement by volunteer moderator

I am dropping the unregistered editors. Here are my questions for the registered editors. Is there any specific change that you want made to the lede of the article, in particular as to whether she existed? Are there any specific changes that you want made to the body of the article? Also, can we remove the NPOV tag from the article? Also, do we still think that dispute resolution is necessary? Robert McClenon (talk) 17:49, 7 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Second statement by User:Farsight001

Second statement by User:Cuchullain

1. Again, I don't want to do anything major with the lead until the article body is improved drastically. I think it currently summarizes most of the key points adequately. Scolaire, I don't think more space should be given to the handful of writers who believe Joan existed, considering we're not covering more important points. We don't get into modern scholarly and feminist takes on the legend, or much about the historical Protestant-vs.-Catholic debates; all of those things are much more significant to the legend than the handful of 20th-century writers who argue Joan was a real person.
2. Yes, I want to make all manner of changes to the article body. The article's low quality is really the issue here. I'll volunteer to rewrite the section on pop culture treatments based on the sources (Thomas F.X. Noble's survey "Why Pope Joan?" is a good one for that regard) and perhaps on scholarly and feminist appraisals
3. No, I have no problem removing the tag.
4. No, I don't think DR is necessary any longer, as I said in the above (now collapsed section). Unless certain problems return, I think we can handle the issues with normal discussion.
--Cúchullain ^t/c 03:35, 8 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Second statement by User:Kansas_Bear

Second statement by User:Scolaire

I want to make a specific change to the lead, as set out in my first statement. I do not want the lead to say that she existed; in that respect it's fine as it is.
I want an edit to the body of the article, again as set out in my first statement, to present the views of Donna Woolfolk Cross. Cuchullain says that it is fine to cover not only her but one or two others, and Ian.thomson also says that these people can be covered as long as it is balanced, so I don't think there's any disagreement there.
I have no problem with removing the tag. The issue is being addressed.
Cuchullain says that he "doesn't think it's productive to focus too much energy on the introduction when there's so much work to be done on the article body", but I would turn that around and ask, would it harm the article to include in the lead an innocuous half-sentence such as I have proposed, while work goes on on the article body? If the other editors agree that it would not do any harm, then the dispute resolution can be closed; if not, I'd need to see policy-based reasons why not. Scolaire (talk) 19:13, 7 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Cuchullain, I'm talking about adding twenty words to a lead of just over 300 words. That's not an inordinate amount of space. No other edit to the lead has been proposed, so I'm not proposing to add it at the expense of something else. Naturally, when the article has been improved, the lead will need to be re-written; that does not mean that a small piece of verifiable content that I and others find useful should not be added in the meantime. I am opposed to stopping DR as long as this impasse continues. Scolaire (talk) 09:51, 8 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Second statement by User:Wetman

Second statement by User:Ian.thomson

Second statement by User:Thomask0

talk:General Motors streetcar conspiracy

– Discussion in progress.

Filed by PeterEastern on 21:08, 27 January 2015 (UTC).[reply]

Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Talk:General Motors streetcar conspiracy (edit | subject | history | links | watch | logs)

Users involved

Dispute overview

Two long term editors (myself and User:Trackinfo) are not able to work constructively with a recent contributor User:Anmccaff even after very very long discussions on talk. Since backing off from the article he has made changes which he is convinced are accurate and which we believe to be lacking balance. Further discussion on talk has only convinced us of the need to seek outside help.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Extensive discussion on the article talk page. Conversations on his talk page. Backing off from the article for a number of weeks to give him space to develop it in peace.

How do you think we can help?

Anmccaff is certainly very knowledgeable and committed, I respect him for that, however I am coming to the view that he is unable to work constructively with others to create a balanced article.

I would like you to first provide an outsiders perspective on the situation and then make recommendations to the individuals concerned as to how to proceed based on experience with similar situations elsewhere.

Summary of dispute by PeterEastern

I have been editing WP since 2007, and using this username since 2009. I became aware of this article back in 2010 following a visit to Detroit which led to me adding a comprehensive history section in the Transportation in metropolitan Detroit article. The General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy article at that time claimed that Detroit was one of the affected cities (which is wasn't). The more I looked into this article and the subject generally, the more confusing it seemed. The article was poorly written, poorly source and subject to frequent POV arguments, however virtually everyone else who wrote on the subject in books and on the web also seemed to be pushing one POV or other or unawarely peddling a myth as fact. It became a bit of a mad mission of mine in late 2010 to create a definitive document in WP which would get as close to the truth was was possible. Given that not everything could be discovered so far after events that were not well publicised at the time, I did what I could and created a 'myths and mysteries' section to itemise those claims that could not be substantiated. My clear conclusion, was the simplistic stories on both sides are too simplistic.

As a transport profession and academic I am well aware of all the other reasons for the changes towards the car and was pleased with the article which seemed to tell the story in balanced way by early 2011. Over the years since then I have kept an eye on it, while taking care to not dominate, and had a principle, that whenever the article was changed, even where this was clearly in a negative direction, that I would try to create better content rather than simply revert. The article is very well used, with some 100,000 page views a year and was not majorly challenged in those years.

In the 7 years I have edited WP I have never had to resort to this sort of dispute process. I have my scars for sure, battling with Defacto on issues relating to road safety was tough, and he has subsequently been permanently banned from WP, but I learnt from him that some of the best WP work is done when working within the rules with people we opposing views. That worked well until recently.

Regrettably, with Anmccaff I concluded that it was impossible to get to a conclusion on anything. His use of talk pages, his abrasiveness and obtuseness, his habit of dropping discussions half-way through and starting another one was too difficult. In parallel I noted a reduction in the number of people engaging with the article, and indeed other articles on WP, to an extent that I find concerning. Anyway.. on 17 November I concluded that for my sanity and to ensure that I was not part of the problem, that I should disengage from the article and see what happened. Until Trackinfo made his post on talk on the 24 Jan I didn't once even look at the article or what was being done to it.

I am not sure how we move forward. I realise that this board is a place to discuss content and not individuals, but I feel that it is important to have put the above on the table and say that the most serious issue is that communication between the parties interested in this article has broken down and I am not confident that it can be repaired. From here on though I will discuss only content and take advice on how to deal with personality issues separately if necessary.

My concerns with the article are very much the same as those of Trackinfo. I note the inclusion of phrases such as 'Conspiracy theorists emphasize ...', 'While conspiracy theorists focus on ...', 'While Quinby's instrumentality is a keystone of many conspiracy theories...' and 'Tellingly, conspiracy minded authors do not discuss...' which Anmccaff added and would no doubt defend but which I oppose.

There are then the unprovable generalisations such as 'Most transit scholars say that..'.

However I am as concerned about the addition for a huge amount of detail in the Background and Early Years section which is a distraction and will turn people off of article which should be about the 'conspiracy', and not the history of streetcars more generally. A great way to neutralise an article is to add irrelevant content, and I am concerned that that has happened here.

Conversely, having provide a lot of relevant new and very pertinent information on talk here, he has chosen not to add it to the article in the past 2 months.

For the record, you can see a summary of changes made, mainly by Anmccaff between 17 Nov and 24 Jan here.

-- PeterEastern (talk) 17:38, 29 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Summary of dispute by TrackInfo

This article has suffered from lack of broad attention, even I have failed to monitor it daily. Since Peter Eastern's one man defense of the content of the article was put on hold, Anmccaff has taken full control of the article, rewriting the article with his POV. Going back to his initial contact here he has started off with what seems like a prejudicial tone toward the original content of the article; Everything you know is wrong. What concerns me is the subtle writing in wikipedia's voice, to push his POV wishing to refer to this as an urban legend, essentially making this a lecture as to how what was the previous version of this article is discredited. Each interaction in Talk has been confusing at best, with his demand to call things matching his opinion as "facts" while existing knowledge is debunked by these "facts."

After writing my disgust at the direction of the article, I started off trying to fix the article, to make it more neutral at least in wikipedia's voice, removing "as well as to urban legends and other folklore inspired by these events" and peacock phrase like "popular" that are intended to hype credibility. I couldn't even get past the lede when [3] [4] these were reverted in less than 10 minutes. So essentially this foretells that Anmccaff is taking ownership of this content.

I expressed my concern that the conspirators have a commercial interest in making this negative publicity go away. I'm not the only one to bring this up, going back to the first talk archive, there are clear efforts to push POV dating back years; the Cato Institute, non-credible, Koch brothers funded corporate shill, is identified as leading this cause, which would be consistent with the various corporations wish to rewrite history. They can't make the actual conviction go away. That was made by people who were involved at the time. This is historical. Nobody here was involved in 1949. We all are dealing with third hand accounts. We shouldn't just examine this from our recent perspective.

The lede is quoting Guy Span (c.2003) saying Bradford C. Snell (c.1974) "fell into simplistic conspiracy theory thinking, bordering on paranoid delusions" which certainly serves to discredit him. An accusation like that in a WP:BLP would have to be much better sourced.

So I had to ask; who is Guy Span? Anmccaff's response, like so much of his communication in talk, is less than coherent, but it does not mount anything positive to say about this non-notable individual's credibility to be the authority on this subject. Span's own claim is that he was the editor of the blog where this was posted, so its a self-source. Looking down the references, Span is quoted and sourced some 15 times in the article. Removing the peacock term calling Span "noted" is one of two clean ups I have successfully made. The other one was a spurious (empty) heading "Cracks in the Facade" which is about as POV oriented a title as can be created.

I also called out a factual error regarding San Francisco's continued use of ground level streetcars, which I personally documented as recently as 2010, again my edits were reverted. So it is clear we do not have a collegial attitude happening here. This is a clear effort to push this POV. Trackinfo (talk) 11:26, 29 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I am quite frustrated with this progress. As you can clearly see how one user completely dominates and overwhelms the conversation. Neutrality is up against a single purpose POV pushing account. There are too many threads to track down. For each response there are ten new answers without any sense of coherence. Well there is one coherent thought, pushing the POV that all of this story is a myth; that the conspirators had no fault in the results; they were just making sound economic decisions. From their point of view, they did make sound corporate decisions, to push their (admittedly inferior) technology and to kill the competition. They did this successfully. This is not just based on trends in purchase decisions. The act of removing the ability of alternatives to compete, the removal of the tracks and easements served their interests well. Those decisions were made by people the conspirators put in place to make those decisions. We've had 60 to 80 years pass since those decisions were being made. That's a lot of time to produce a lot of revisionist data and opinions. From the perspective of wikipedia neutrality, we should not be reporting just one side of the issue while making exceptional efforts at rebuking the others. Trackinfo (talk) 22:03, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Summary of dispute by Anmccaff

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

There are fairly deep divides here not merely on matters of opinion, but of matters of fact as well; it would be useful if any volunteers had decent access to a library in a major US or possibly Canadian city, or an academic library focused on ground transportation. I think the article is loaded with weak references -several self-published- selected to fit a pre-existing narrative, and edits made to "balance" whenever the factual underpinning of the selected story was weak. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anmccaff (talk • contribs) 22:12, 27 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

As you can now see, the recent time line of this dispute goes as follows:

Petereastern announces he will be taking a break from the discussion, but will be keeping an eye on it, checking in from time to time.Anmccaff (talk) 06:51, 2 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I make a series of changes, all of which I would be happy to defend as main-line thinking by transit scholars. They were made slowly over time, to allow questions and input. After a few weeks....Anmccaff (talk) 06:51, 2 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Trackinfo posts an emotion-laden jeremiad, mainly denouncing one of the sources, implying that both the source, and anyone who would use them, was probably in the pay of GM, roughly. He also announces that he can't find references to a writer who is using a blatant pen-name. I will pass over the irony of someone posting as "Trackinfo" denouncing a pen-name, but "Petereastern" could have easily enlightened him on some of the reasons, good and bad, why someone active in an industry during a time of consolidation might not want to write a column that dissects controversial parts of that industry's history openly under his own name.Anmccaff (talk) 06:51, 2 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

He also edited out a reference to tunnels on the SF Muni system, claiming it was inaccurate. (It wasn't, and isn't, but it was ambiguous. Simply changing "used" to "use" fixed that.) Again, the talk page was laden with stuff that, in another forum, might be actionable.Anmccaff (talk) 06:51, 2 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Petereastern, the person who had selected and (over-)used the source Trackinfo so objected to, returns(?), claiming he had not, in fact, kept an eye on the board as he had promised, and suggests that the correct thing to do is to post the article as disputed -and remember, Trackinfo was questioning a source that Petereastern himself used extensively - and begin a formal dispute here. That is to say, faced with someone denouncing his work, Peter egged on an obviously over-exited person to start a dispute.Anmccaff (talk) 06:51, 2 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Meanwhile, I asked on the talk page -originally the wrong talk page- if someone could recommend exactly where to take up a dispute.Anmccaff (talk) 06:51, 2 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Peter then cited here two works which disagree rather strongly with the tack he had taken with the article, one of which, it transpires, he hadn't even read. After reading it -and remember, this article is a staple of the discussion, he announces, roughly, that the article needs a complete revision...something I have stated for several months now.Anmccaff (talk) 06:51, 2 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

If you have any questions, I can add links to each of these points. Can you recomment where these issues should be brought up?Anmccaff (talk) 06:51, 2 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Talk:General Motors streetcar conspiracy discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

Coordinator's note: Hi PeterEastern. I am not taking this case, but there are a couple of things that need to be fixed. First, could you specify exactly what the disputed changes are? It's rather difficult to have an orderly case if no one is sure what exactly is being disputed. Second, please notify all parties by putting {{subst:DRN-notice}} on their talk page. Thanks. --Biblioworm 02:57, 29 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Will do. By way of context, although I have edited WP for many years, this is the first time I have actually been involved in this process. PeterEastern (talk) 05:58, 29 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Biblioworm, to what extent do you want discussion here, now, before an actual DRN volunteer takes this on?

And, perhaps more importantly, is there any more manageable way to notify interested parties? There are a great many more people than us three involved here.Anmccaff (talk) 16:58, 29 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I have now added the requested details above in a new section 'Summary of dispute by PeterEastern'. PeterEastern (talk) 17:41, 29 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I am a DRN volunteer and I am opening this case for discussion. Please do not comment about motivations or behaviour of other editors. This is a content based discussion. If after this DRN one or more parties wish to question the behaviour of another editor, then Administrators Notice Board is one option. If the parties would prefer to discuss issues of consensus, this is not the proper forum, again I would suggest the Administrators Notice Board. Please answer the inquiries succinctly. Questions which are not raised in initial discussion may be raised by the parties after some basics are out of the way. I do ask that each of you respond to each inquiry. This is a structured process to try to bring the parties to an understanding if not agreement. --Bejnar (talk) 02:33, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Stalled

Volunteer comment: This case appears to have stalled. No one, including the moderator User:Bejnar has not commented for 5 days. Unless there is further moderated discussion soon, this case will need to be closed.-- — Keithbob • Talk • 14:56, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for taking a look. Do you have any specific comments or questions about what was posted, and can you recommend where to take it from here?Anmccaff (talk) 15:19, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

You need to get your moderator back on the case to either moderate/continue the discussion or to summarize and close the case. I have not read the case. Has there been any progress or resolution? Why has the discussion stalled? -- — Keithbob • Talk • 15:46, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I think, based on the comment by one editor, that the editors have stalled on the case because they are waiting for the moderator to return or for a replacement moderator. Robert McClenon (talk) 15:51, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Well, we can't exactly drag the moderator back in in here, and he may have excellent reasons to be elsewhere. (Or he might have just looked over the whole mess and run off screaming to Tierra del Fuego. On second thought, I suspect that might count as an "excellent reason," too.) As for why it has stalled, I would say it is partly because it doesn't belong in here in the first place. The main points of dispute go well beyond sources.Anmccaff (talk) 16:09, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I raised the issue on talk:Dispute resolution noticeboard here a few days back, and did an update this evening as requested. PeterEastern (talk) 21:22, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry for the delay. I'm back. --Bejnar (talk) 10:44, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Inquiry 1

Please list the five facts in the article (or recently in the article, Oct. 2014 to date) that are most contentious. --Bejnar (talk) 02:33, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I do not believe my dispute is with facts. Frankly, I do not know enough of this historical information from personal knowledge to state what is a true fact and what is false. I was not in those boardrooms in the 1930's. My objection is with the directed conclusions from this information, the structure of the writing to guide a specific narrative from the information presented. A lot of people present a lot of theories and can post revisionist statistical information about what occurred before the conspiracy and after the conspiracy. Everything may or may not be a factor. Did the conspiracy's thumb on the scale cause events to occur, did it hasten what was already set in motion, did it embed its result more firmly for decades? Nobody really can know the answer, so wikipedia should not be drawing a conclusion that one set of facts are valid and others are discredited. Trackinfo (talk) 10:06, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

As Trackinfo said, facts are thin on the ground. We have claims and simplistic conclusions aplenty, mainly in two flavours to suit ones politics. If I was to boil this issue down to one disputed fact, it is that the impression that the article gives currently that the conspiracy theory is a folk-tail and myth. What I believe we should be saying is 'actually, it wasn't that simple, there were many contributing factors to the decline of the streetcars in the USA'. Personally, I am reassured when people from both sides complain that the article being biased away from what they know to be true! PeterEastern (talk) 10:21, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

When I began my efforts to clean up this "tone" issue, the first thing I removed was the deliberate, discrediting, lede statement of this being an urban myth. Its immediate reversion stated volumes as to what resistance I was going to get from the opposition and set this dispute in motion. Trackinfo (talk) 10:30, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Trackinfo. I know you are frustrated, so am I, but let's take this slowly and focus on the questions being asked. I think we have captured our view of the disputed fact in this article above, and are agreement that there is only one of these. PeterEastern (talk)

Inquiry 2

Please list up to five of the most unreliable sources in recent use (Oct. 2014 to date) in the article, together with one sentence for each as to why it is unreliable. If any source has been discussed at the Reliable sources noticeboard please so note and provide a link. --Bejnar (talk) 02:33, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I would like to make a slightly nerdy distinction in relation to reliability of sources before we respond to this. The subject of this article is the conspiracy (or not), and is not the history of streetcars int eh USA per se. As such, I think we would agree that the official 1974 Senate Hearings documents are a reliable source for the subject, and also for what was said in the hearings of that year.

I am also reasonably confident that we will agree that we need to be very cautious in regard to treating the claims made by individuals during the hearings as evidence of what happened 30 years before the hearings as facts in themselves, and in particular we have agreed to discount claims made by Snell in this regard. What we are short of are sources that we can rely on for what actually happened during the period 1938-48 and what the key players did and did not do in that time.

Have I captured the distinction correctly and is that useful?

-- PeterEastern (talk) 04:00, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

For fear of being repetitive from my statement above, but answering the request that followed: I am not questioning any specific source (possibly save Guy Span). I am questioning the directed conclusions by the writing style of the article giving positive weight to some sources while discrediting others. What we have here are largely a set of opinions based on some limited statistical information. Even in their day, governmental agencies did not know how to track this information, so their franchise fees were based on loose flat fees. Nobody really knew what was going on, obviously. If they could have foretold the future, they would have made different decisions. We have a lot of opinions of what would have happened, or what was already happening. The factual existence of this conspiracy interrupted that normal flow of events. The directed revisionist opinion here is to ignore the conviction; that the guilty parties did nothing wrong and the billions they have made in subsequent profits at the expense of our society were just what would have happened in the normal course of human events. That conclusion is what I object to. Calling this a myth or an urban legend dismisses the entire story. It is almost worse than having the article deleted. It is intended to make this bad publicity go away as something to be forgotten. Trackinfo (talk) 20:54, 31 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

---

Lovearth.net Site of Mark R Elsis: There isn't a single conspiracy theory he doesn't support. Holocaust denial to Pearl Harbor and 911 conspiracy theorist, his websites cover them all. Cites Guibault and Snell.Anmccaff (talk) 04:31, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

We only rely on loveearth as an accurate source of what Snell said in 1995, 'Snell, Bradford (1995): The StreetCar Conspiracy: How General Motors Deliberately Destroyed Public Transit'. We have already agreed this and other works by Snell should only be used as evidence of what Snell, who is notably for the subject said, not as evidence of what happned. I have just noticed at least one place where we take what is written as fact and would support a rewording to say 'Snell says...' or an alternative source or remove the content. Given that Snell writes from a conspiratorial perspective, is it not to be reasonable to reference such a site as evidence? PeterEastern (talk) 09:51, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

What is there about Elsis or Snell that suggest this is an accurate rendition of something he said earlier? Remember, Snell goes on, to this day, about the fines in the NCL case, even though he was required to insure that the sentencing judge's reasons were included in the '73 hearings. That strongly suggests mendacity or a very poor memory. (Moreover, haven't you noticed that Snell's "approved" versions of his words are all published with footnotes stripped? Odd, that.)Anmccaff (talk) 06:50, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Anything by Louis Guilbault: Self published; one on the "cites" given here is, in essence, a copy of a letter to the editor. Has published a vanity book on the subject.Anmccaff (talk) 04:31, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I believe that we cite him only once (cite 17 currently) for a minor point of fact that we can surely get from other sources. If this bothers you then I would support your replacing it with an alternative. PeterEastern (talk) 09:51, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Um...no. Take the damned thing out. It's a series of lies, and it's self-published, what makes you so certain it expresses accurately any "point of fact?"Anmccaff (talk) 06:50, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Anything by Brad Snell: Snell has a deservedly low reputation on questions of fact, and repeatedly made assertions which are either outright lies, or a sign of a very poor memory. (Snell repeatedly comments on the small size of fines levied against the NCL defendants, yet the Senate subcommittee papers make the reason for those token fines clear, and Snell was himself made directly responsible for seeing that was in the record, which must have stung.)Anmccaff (talk) 04:31, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

As I noted in my 'nerdy distinction' above, we have already agreed that what Snell says is notable, but is not reliable; it therefore depends on how he is used. Some time back I did a pass through the article when I attempted to remove all uses of Snell as a reliable source of facts. Have I missed anything? If so then do please fix it. PeterEastern (talk) 09:51, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

"Modern Transit" and Akos Szoboszlay. (at least on this subject.): Very, very close to self-published work. Blinkered partisanship, with obvious errors of fact.Anmccaff (talk) 04:31, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I wasn't aware that we were using it as a source. It is only listed in 'external links' for 'Conflict of Transportation Competitors'. As such I don't this it is relevant to this process. PeterEastern (talk)

I'm not sure if it is in the current version, but it was certainly in the older; I removed in over your vehement objections, if you remember. If you don't, look here: [[[5]] and [[6]].

Black, Edwin (2006): "10". Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives. St. Martins Press. A well-known writer of sensationalist potboilers; often takes Snell et al at face value.Anmccaff (talk) 04:31, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Again, I can't see anywhere where we use this as a source. It is only listed in 'further reading'. PeterEastern (talk) 09:51, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Aside, of course, from [H*tler's Carmaker] Now there's a nice, balanced reliable source.Anmccaff (talk) 06:50, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Fellmeth, Robert C. (1973): Politics of Land: Ralph Nader's Study Group Report on Land Use in California. Grossman Publishers. pp. 410–14. Assumes facts rather than investigating them. (The other side on this argument here likes this work so much it was put in the "further reading" twice.)Anmccaff (talk) 04:31, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Again, I can't see anywhere where we use this as a source. It is only listed in 'further reading'. PeterEastern (talk) 09:51, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

...twice.Anmccaff (talk) 06:50, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Inquiry 3

Please list up to three of the most important reliable sources for the article. If you can narrow it to one that would be best. --Bejnar (talk) 02:33, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

No.no.Ten thousand times, no. There isn't a single, reliable source that will cover a wide enough sweep here.

A first pass has to start with Hilton and Due, whose work Snell mis-cited.Anmccaff (talk) 04:45, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Responding to Amnccaff Are you saying that there is no reliable sources at all for this?!

Personally I am supportive of all the main sources used in the 'Footnotes/Citations' section as reliable sources as long as they are used appropriately. I have not reviewed all of the 'Notes' sources. The only source that is being challenged on talk at present is Span, Guy (2003) where there is a view being expressed that he is self-published and working under a pseudonym. This blew up only after I withdrew from the article so I have not followed the conversation in detail. What I would say in support of Span is that his work was hugely useful to me when I did my makeover of the article in 2010 in that his writing was one of the most accurate and balanced explanation of what had happened that was available to me at the time, other than Cliff Slater. It is my recollection that much of what he said as fact has subsequently been verified from other sources but I am happy to be proved wrong.

Breaking sources down, I think we should all agree that we have some excellent primary sources, notably transcripts of the 1951 court case and the 1974 Senate hearings. As noted above Snell is a fine source for what Snell said and claimed, but not of fact. I would suggest that Bianco, Martha (1998), Slater, Cliff (1997) are probably our best tertiary (or are they secondary?) sources. I would want to review the Span discussion on talk before discounting him as a good source.

-- PeterEastern (talk) 10:12, 30 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Inquiry 3a

Editor Anmccaff stated: There isn't a single, reliable source that will cover a wide enough sweep here. Given, for the purposes of this inquiry, that no single reliable source covers all the territory, what are the most important reliable sources for the article? Editor PeterEastern has already answered this question above. --Bejnar (talk) 19:48, 31 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Both Slater and Bianco are good sources, but they disagree totally with the point of view User:PeterEastern and User:Trackinfo write from. They are, however, only as good as a short paper can be in discussing a very big topic. As a quick guide to the actual history that is easily accessible on the internet, Slater, "Guy Span", Bianco, Stan Schwartz, and, oddly, Tom Wetzel together make a good start. (You have to make minor allowances, since that list contains one old-line commie, and someone whose experiences with conspiracy true believer's calls for new trolleys has pretty well soured him on public transit.) Van Wilkins piece is also useful. To really get at the meat of it, though, Bob Post's work and Brian Cudahy's are preferable and provide a good many primary source refutations of some of mistakes of fact which were in the article. Demoro is also good, but was a reporter, not a scholar, and his work sometimes reflects that. (He refers throughout his book on the Key system to "Frank Teasdale," which is how he heard the name, not "Teasdel" as it was actually spelled.) Post, Demoro, Cudahy, and Hilton are not widely available online without some digging. The various house and senate hearings on antitrust in '55(?) and the '70s are both available online, as are the hearings that led to the current system of federal support of transit. Hilton, although he concentrates on the earlier interurban systems, gives a great deal of insight into streetcars as well, and is worth reading for that if you find a copy avaiable.Anmccaff (talk) 05:45, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

For the next pass, Bottles, Adler, and Gregory Thompson's The Passenger Train in the Motor Age, which covers a parallel topic, the fight between road and rail in California, would be helpful, and are all easily avaible online.Anmccaff (talk) 05:58, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Inquiry 3b

Are there any objections to Bianco, Martha (1998) or Slater, Cliff (1997) as reliable sources? If so please state the basis in one sentence.

No objections. One could quibble that the source we use for Slater, Cliff (1997), including the claim that it was published in Transportation Quarterly, is a self-published. There is however ample separate evidence from good sources that it was. Transportation Quarterly is again a bit elusive, but it's publisher, the Eno Center for Transportation, appears to be very solid indeed. PeterEastern (talk) 03:41, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Anmccaff answered above that they were acceptable. --Bejnar (talk) 11:01, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Inquiry 3c

Are there any objections to the works of Snell as reliable sources for the fact that Snell made certain statements? Keep in mind WP:RSOPINION and WP:INTEXT. If so please state the basis in one sentence. --Bejnar (talk) 19:48, 31 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

No objections. PeterEastern (talk) 03:43, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

What "works of Snell" have been presented? Except for the official Senate subcommittee stuff, everything has passed through another set of hands, or through Snell's hands again.Anmccaff (talk) 03:27, 3 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Anmccaff: I do not understand your comment. In some versions of the article Snell was cited for his opinion. Do you object to citing Snell for that purpose? --Bejnar (talk) 10:56, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

A few points: First, aside from the Senate hearings, which are now, since I got back on the article, fully available, there are no completely sourced works of Brad Snell used in the article. Next, Trackinfo and PeterEastern were using, among other things, a third-hand (at least) version of something Snell probably wrote in the 1990s, sourcing it from a notoriously conspiraphilic, unreliable website. There is nothing in the article that counts as something Snell admits to, and some publisher stands behind - the Senate subcommittee expressly disavowed it. All of the "works of Snell" used in the article are about the equivalent of a newspaper clipping.

As for Snell, personally, as a source, what he said obviously has to be taken into account while discussing the aspects of this matter that are essentially folklore, but that must be done in a way that gives him his proper weight as a knowledgeable expert....which is to say, next to none. Anmccaff (talk) 15:26, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Inquiry 4: original research

Wikipedia:No original research provides The prohibition against OR means that all material added to articles must be attributable to a reliable published source, even if not actually attributed. The verifiability policy says that an inline citation to a reliable source must be provided for all quotations, and for anything challenged or likely to be challenged ... and The only way you can show your edit is not original research is to cite a reliable published source that contains the same material. Even with well-sourced material, if you use it out of context, or to reach or imply a conclusion not directly and explicitly supported by the source, you are engaging in original research;.

Is each contentious conclusion in the article supported by a reliable source? Please list any (up to five) that are not.--Bejnar (talk) 19:48, 31 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

--

Bear with me on this response, which although not exactly answering the question is I think is a useful observation to make at this point.

I have just read Bianco, Martha (1998) from top to bottom for the first time and I think it is an excellent and very well presented explanation of why streetcars declined and why GM keep getting the blame. Slightly embarrassed that I have not read it before, but there was a lot to read and it was only referenced at one point, in the Roger Rabbit sentence, and appeared to an article about Roger Rabbit and popular cinema and not the serious academic paper on the subject that it is. I wish I had read it a lot earlier, and I would now put it forward as the single anchor source that we could use as the basis of a review of the article that you asked for above.

To be clear, it doesn't refute the allegation that GM was heavy handed - to quote: "for GM and other bus manufacturers and suppliers to be successful in developing a market for diesel buses, they had to carry out an aggressive campaign to do so. Such a campaign required working together to foreclose competitive technologies – i.e., electric vehicles." But does suggest that GM keeps getting blamed for reasons more to do a desire for a neat simplistic story with good guys and bad guys than reality: "As this paper has suggested, the emergence and reemergence of the GM conspiracy myth has coincided with periods of urban transportation policy crisis, as were evidenced during the urban strife of the 1960s and the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s. The retrenchment of the federal government toward urban transportation policy during the 1980s only served to fuel the agenda of citizen activists, particularly among environmental groups (page 20)."" PeterEastern (talk) 21:42, 31 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

you seen to be under the misapprehension that Ms Bianco agrees with the technology foreclosure thesis.Anmccaff (talk) 07:40, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It closes with the observation: "In this regard, the compelling nature of the myth’s villain – the General Motors Corporation – speaks volumes. If we cannot cast GM, the producer and supplier of automobiles, as the ultimate enemy, then we end up with a shocking and nearly unfathomable alternative: What if the enemy is not the supplier, but rather the consumer? What if, to paraphrase Oliver Perry, we have met the enemy, and the enemy is us?" Not 100% happy with the word consumer, rather than the more nebulous 'citizen' or 'policy-maker', but this is a great single resource packed with referenced materials that have not made their way into the article.

My view is that this article, which has not been reviewed substantially since I did the major makeover in 2010 could do with another major review. I do also think that the balance should be adjusted more towards the idea that GM is a convenient scapegoat for a policy failure with major and long term consequences to this day, We should however avoiding whitewashing GM's aggressive motorisation policies. Ideally it should be a medium to tell the middle more complex story about a failure of policy during a period of rapid technologic transformation. Bianca (1998) would be the anchor for this. I would also like it to include more about the 'traction interests' and other additional content highlighted on talk by Anmccaff recently.

-- PeterEastern (talk) 21:42, 31 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The interested reader will note that "PeterEastern" recommended as a a reliable source Ms. Bianco before actually bothering to read her; the talk pages drip with similar examples of unfamiliarity with well known sources.Anmccaff (talk) 06:57, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

In direct response to the question, there is nothing that screams out at me as OR, other than possibly the unsupported generalisations referring to 'conspiracy theorists' that I mentioned 'Summary of dispute by PeterEastern'. PeterEastern (talk) 03:12, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Once you have read the suggested reading, you will see that "unsupported" is inaccurate.Anmccaff (talk) 06:57, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@PeterEastern:, you say that to object to unsupported conclusions, but when asked for same, replied possibly the unsupported generalisations referring to 'conspiracy theorists' that I mentioned . Could you be specific? List specific ones that are unsupported. @Anmccaff: One problem seems to be that there is more objection to behaviour than to content. Please do not comment on the behaviour of other editors. This is not the forum for that. --Bejnar (talk) 10:50, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you Bejnar.

In the 'Early Years' section I don't think it is justified to say "Conspiracy theorists emphasize GM's connections to the New York transit market". The source associated with this sentence makes no reference to conspiracies or conspiracy theorists that I can see. And then later in the same section the term is repeated in "While conspiracy theorists focus on the involvement of Hertz". No source offered. Finally there is the phrase "Tellingly, conspiracy minded authors do not discuss GM's work on the other side of the Hudson". The word 'tellingly' bothers me, as does the unsourced generalisation of 'conspiracy minded authors'.

Before we discuss this further, what reliable source do you have that ties this to any form of GM conspiracy at all? There's ample references -some now freely avaiable and listed on the article's talk page, that make a very strong case that bustitution was driven by politics, economics, social forces, and the legalities of franchising. Why not just take the section out, if you don't have a credible reliable source for it? No sourcing questions then. Right now, it draws a tacit conclusion not supported by evidence; isn't that what Wiki calls "original research?".Anmccaff (talk) 02:52, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

In the next section headed 'Edwin J. Quinby' we have the statement that "While Quinby's instrumentality is a keystone of many conspiracy theories, the federal government had begun investigating some aspects of NCL's financial arrangements as early as 1941". This is to my mind un-necessarily pointed and there is no sourced offered for the first part of this. Why not simply mention that NCL's financial arrangements had been investigated in 1941 in the appropriate place in the timeline, and then mention Quinby activities and the response to his activities at the appropriate point?

Probably worth also noting the reference 3 which explains how a number in the lead is calculated which includes the explanation "Conspiracy theorists put the number as high as 100". No source is given to support the term 'conspiracy theorists'.

DNB Volunteer: This would be better stated as [Source] puts the number as high as 100. with a FN. --Bejnar (talk) 00:53, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps, if one had a reliable source.Anmccaff (talk) 02:52, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Overall we have something that seems much angrier and less neutral and balanced in it presentation of the facts than I think is helpful. For sure, lets have an article that lays the facts out, and if the fact suggests, as Bianco expresses so well, that GM is more of scapegoat for what in hindsight were policy failings at the time than a villain then we should say so. However, if people have been passing on misinformation, which many certainly have done in this case from time to time, then we should highlight that, but not then label them all with the term 'conspiracy theorists', which is a pretty offensive term according to the urban dictionary entry for the subject [7].

-- PeterEastern (talk) 00:26, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

See #Inquiry 6. --Bejnar (talk) 00:53, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Inquiry 5

Objections to Guy Span as a source? --Bejnar (talk) 11:09, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

None when it is clear that some of his work is off-the-cuff journalism, the most recent examples of which are published in a fairly open forum that adds no weight to them. Speaking from personal observation (I've run into him elsewhere, and have spoken with him,) he is very knowledgeable about the subject, but I seriously doubt he cracked open a book -or really needed to, much- for some of these articles for "Bay Crossings," so minor points of fact should be cross-checked if possible, and I disagree with him on a couple of them, but he's a reliable source.Anmccaff (talk) 15:50, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

As I have noted already, I found his writing to be authoritative, full of detail and convincing. Where he is making specific claims he is clear about this, and where he is making educated guesses or speculating he is also clear. Where I have been able to checked his claims, I have found them to the accurate. Bay Crossings, who published the article have been in business for 15 years. Always worth cross-checking as mentioned above, and I would be interested to hear about any errors in the two documents that Anmccaff is aware of. PeterEastern (talk) 00:57, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Inquiry 6

Does the use of the term "conspiracy theorists" in this article constitute a violation of WP:NPOV? --Bejnar (talk) 00:53, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

[W]e should ... not then label them all with the term 'conspiracy theorists', which is a pretty offensive term according to the urban dictionary entry for the subject [8]. -- PeterEastern (talk) 00:26, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

What an interesting choice of cite. I think both the OED and the AHD use slightly less colorful definitions defining "conspiracy theory" as "the theory that an event occurs or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties, specifically a belief that some covert but influential agency is responsible for an unexplained event"" (OED) or "A theory seeking to explain a disputed case or matter as a plot by a secret group or alliance rather than an individual or isolated act."[[9]] and both give "conspiracy theorist" as a derivation needing no further explanation. Wikipedia's Conspiracy Theory might also be a good starting point. The "Urban Dictionary," barring discussion of adolescent slang or recherché sexual practices, is not, as we will no doubt discuss at some later step in the dispute process.

That said, how would you describe "advocates of believers in a conspiracy theory," which is how all of your favored sources, Bianco, Slater, and Span, appear to see them?Anmccaff (talk) 02:35, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I think the term not only violates NPOV, it is clearly inserted to discredit certain sources and alternative ways of thinking about the subject. Wikipedia's voice should not be picking sides. Present the evidence, clearly, coherently and with neutrality, the readers should be able to define what makes sense and what does not. Neutrality is what I strive for in this article. Trackinfo (talk) 05:14, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Conspiracy theorists is not the only offensive, demeaning phrase used in the article. As I accused in the beginning of this controversy, the problem has been peppered throughout the entire article almost like it is pounding one POV home. Trackinfo (talk) 06:44, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Talk:Gordon B._Hinckley

– New discussion.

Filed by Mormography on 09:50, 5 February 2015 (UTC).[reply]

Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Talk:Gordon B. Hinckley (edit | subject | history | links | watch | logs)

Users involved

Mormography (talk · contribs)
ARTEST4ECHO (talk · contribs)
AndyTheGrump (talk · contribs)
AsteriskStarSplat (talk · contribs)
ChristensenMJ (talk · contribs)
Good Olfactory (talk · contribs) - Not on disputed content but on "side discussion on civility"

Dispute overview

The word 'implicate' be changed to 'appear to implicate' or something simpler or something from a secondary source.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

Edit warring notices, talk page discussion

How do you think we can help?

Change the word implicate entirely with a word from a third party.

Summary of dispute by ARTEST4ECHO

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

In a nutshell AndyTheGrump, AsteriskStarSplat, ChristensenMJ and myself all feel that the version as of now, is more NPOV then the version Mormography has attempted over and over again to implement. The issue is if a forged document can "implicate" a person of wrong doing. All of us argue that it cannot so the words, "appeared to" (or something similar) is required to maintain NPOV. Mormography has simply refused to accept the consensus that a "forgery cannot implicate, it can only appear to do so, so this more nuanced wording is better" as stated by AsteriskStarSplat. Ironically I came along well after this discussion happened and a consensus was reached to add "appeared to". I attempted to help Mormography find a compromise he might like, which he rejected every attempt. Every edit Mormography has made in effect did the same thing, turned a "forged document" into "proof of misconduct". In the end he turned on me. Mormography as editing my words on the talk page in order to make it look like I agreed with him and intentionally misquoted me in an attempt to get Beeblebrox to lift his blocking, all violations of Talk page guidelines.

I feel that this Dispute Resolution was only opened by Mormography as an attempt to WP:HARASS others. The consensus has been reached by 4 editors to 1 editor. Mormography is simply trying to wear down everyone in order for him to get what he wants, and refuses to listen to anyone. He has been warned over and over by Good Olfactory and Beeblebrox (both Admins) that his behavior has been WP:Uncivil, WP:Personal Attacks, and WP:Edit warring. As a result of Mormography's actions, he was blocked from editing (none of us were) and Gordon B. Hinckley was full protected.

I request that this dispute resolution noticeboard be speedily closed as consensus has already been reached and it was only opened in order to harass others.--- ARTEST4ECHO^(Talk) 14:57, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Summary of dispute by AsteriskStarSplat

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

[Has declined to participate here, as is his/her right as no one is required to participate in moderated content dispute resolution. — TransporterMan (TALK) 22:55, 5 February 2015 (UTC)][reply]

Summary of dispute by AndyTheGrump

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

It appears to me that there has quite possibly been something of a breakdown in communication here. While Mormography was earlier insisting contrary to consensus that the article should state that a forgery 'implicated' Joseph Smith in questionable behaviour, his/her latest edit no longer uses the word. [10] Frankly though, given the latest thread on this issue, [11] I'm not entirely sure what Mormography actually wants - with confusingly-worded double negatives intermingled with apparent assertions that contributors (including myself) have reached a consensus regarding wording they have never seen, the threads is a prime example of people talking past each other. I would therefore suggest that rather than discussing imaginary consensus and arguing over who agreed to what, it might be better for all concerned if people just stated what their preferred text was, and on what grounds they supported it. AndyTheGrump (talk) 16:10, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Summary of dispute by ChristensenMJ

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Summary of dispute by Good Olfactory

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Summary of dispute by Mormography

It should be noted that Good Ol’factory is not just a side bar on civility, but rather the original editor of this BRD process. The protect state of the article is the new version as originally proposed by him.

Interesting enough, ARTEST4ECHO and I agreed about the wordiness of this proposed edit (semicolon). Another interesting fact is that ARTEST4ECHO has already proposed that the word implicate be removed altogether, but now appears to desire keeping it. So, as far as I can tell ARTEST4ECHO and I agree with the proposed edit's wordiness and the option of replacing the word implicate. ARTEST4ECHO’s summary of dispute is full of false accusations implicating me in bad faith. Preceding sentence is an indication I that I see no problem with the word implicate and believe the supposed problems with the word are more due to the power of suggestion. However, the word is now tainted (or ‘appears’ to be tainted?) and should be changed. The best solution would be to return to the original and then have the word ‘implicate’ replaced by a something chosen by a third party. ARTEST4ECHO previously suggested this, though not necessarily replacing the word by a third party. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mormography (talk • contribs) 21:02, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Talk:Gordon B._Hinckley discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

Volunteer notes: Welcome to the Dispute Resolution Noticeboard. Though I'm a regular volunteer here, I'm neither taking this case nor opening it for discussion at this time. I just want to make the following comments.

All listed parties have been notified.
This noticeboard does not deal with conduct disputes and will not discuss content here. I'm going to remove one comment made above about a party being blocked and ask that there be no further discussion of content.
Good Olfactory is probably not a necessary party here, having only dealt with conduct issues at the article talk page. I'm going to go ahead and leave him/her listed, but if he does not participate or does not care to participate it should not prevent this case from moving forward if all or most other parties do participate.

Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) 14:55, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Volunteer note 2: It has been raised that there is a consensus here and that the filing editor is arguing against that consensus. The DRN editor who takes the case will make a consensus evaluation and if a clear consensus does exist then the case will be closed (since there is no real dispute in that situation). If consensus is unclear, then the case will proceed. Just FYI, and others may certainly disagree, my personal — and I emphasize that this is just personal — quick rule of thumb for consensus is 3 to 1 if the 3 have an overwhelming, no-one-could-reasonably-disagree argument, 4 to 1 with a somewhat weaker but still pretty strong argument, and 5 to 1 with an argument which is merely reasonable, and in each case that's if the 1 has a merely reasonable argument. If the 1 has a strong or very strong argument, higher ratios are required. Theoretically, if the 1 has one of those overwhelming, no-one-could-reasonably-disagree arguments then the number on the other side shouldn't make any difference (but then you have to ask whether if his argument is so great why isn't anyone else buying it, though there can be good answers to that question). Note that this analysis only applies when there is no solution mandated by policy. When policy mandates a solution, policy wins, unless a local exception is established, but that also has to be done by consensus. Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) 15:18, 5 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Talk:Daisaku Ikeda

– New discussion.

Filed by Catflap08 on 08:53, 6 February 2015 (UTC).[reply]

Have you discussed this on a talk page?

Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

Location of dispute

Talk:Daisaku Ikeda (edit | subject | history | links | watch | logs)

Users involved

Dispute overview

I researched a quote via the WP:RX since the quote (used within another quote by Montgomergy) was disputed in the articles on Daisaku Ikeda and Soka Gakkai. As soon as I insist that critical issues should not be deleted I seem to run into a conflict with the same editor. Same occurred on the Toynbee quote.

Have you tried to resolve this previously?

At one stage quoted Montgomery pages 186-187 completly. Asked WP:RX to find Murata quote in order to clarify who hit whom.

How do you think we can help?

An end to the constant deletion of sourced material not in favour of advocates of SG/SGI and or Ikeda.

Summary of dispute by Hoary

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Under the heading "Remarkable deletions", the article's talk page shows a conflict over what is said in two books about an incident in which, it has been claimed in the article, Daisaku Ikeda abused and hit an older priest. The two books in question are David Montgomery, Fire in the lotus: The dynamic Buddhism of Nichiren (ISBN 1852740914); and Kiyoaki Murata, Japan's new Buddhism: An objective account of Soka Gakkai (ISBN 978-0834800403). It's not always clear who has seen these books. I have never seen either, have no comment on the reliability of either book, and have never heard of one of the publishers.

A paragraph was summarily removed. This dismayed me. (See the talk page.)

There's a dispute on the talk page between User:Elemential1 (surprisingly, not named above) and User:Catflap08 on the talk page about exactly what Montgomery and Murata wrote. It's an odd dispute. Elemential1 claims that each book says precisely this or that; Catflap08 doesn't seem to agree or disagree but instead seems eager to argue around what the content of cited texts. He also seems to be saying that an objection to parts of a paragraph aren't good reason to remove it in toto.

Catflap08 then presents a long quotation from Montgomery. If it's credible, it certainly shows the thuggishness of the organization that Ikeda would soon head. What it doesn't show is what Ikeda had to do with this. Catflap08 appears to think that Ikeda must have been involved and therefore this belongs in an article about him.

Numerous editors of the page (many of these SPAs) have long been unhappy about quotations from an article Polly Toynbee published about meeting Ikeda. There have been attempts to do away with all of this material, but various editors (including Catflap08 and myself) have opposed these, and none of these attempts has been successful. There have been demands that this journalistic account should be balanced by other journalistic or quasi-journalistic accounts; I have welcomed this idea. At one point I noticed that the article had developed odd descriptions of Toynbee and a book in which she's quoted at length; I brought this up.

The article was protected. Starrynuit suggested changes. As an admin, I accepted some, rejected others. These acceptances and rejections didn't trigger much visible dissatisfaction.

Alarm bells! I have been a participant in the editing of the article and have exercised my administrative superpowers on it. A dodgy combination, and in retrospect I regret this. I'd be happy to recuse myself from either (a) editorial involvement or (b) administrative involvement. Or, better, from both, because my interest in Ikeda is very minor.

Starrynuit added a somewhat hagiographic passage about Ikeda. Seventeen minutes later, Catflap08 removed it, with the edit summary WP:PEACOCK.

I was struck by two things here. First, however vapid parts of the passage might be, they're not covered by WP:PEACOCK. I wrote this up at Talk:Daisaku_Ikeda#Peacock. Secondly and more seriously, Catflap08 seemed indignant when one faulty passage he seemed to like was deleted in toto, but he was quick to delete another faulty passage in toto. Why not approach the two in the same way? I therefore warned Catflap08 about the need for neutrality.

The talk page has now blown up with "Murata reference". Despite learning that Murata says that Toda hit the old priest and not learning that Murata says that Ikeda did, Catflap08 wanted (wants?) the article to continue to cite Murata as saying that Ikeda hit the old priest. (Though sometimes he says that he doesn't care.) -- Hoary (talk) 05:56, 7 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Summary of dispute by Starrynuit

Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

Greetings, The sentence that I tried to correct and that Hoary ultimately deleted had long -- incorrectly -- cited Murata as saying that Ikeda admitted hitting the priest twice. The text of Murata reads, "Toda [not Ikeda] admitted hitting the priest 'twice' [p. 96] ..." This can be seen at http://books.google.ca/books?id=x8QKAAAAYAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=hitting

Murata's account of the Ogasawara Incident is disputed but that dispute is another matter; the inaccuracy of that one sentence in the article was the key issue here.

Thank you for your time. Starrynuit (talk) 06:45, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Talk:Daisaku Ikeda discussion

Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

Volunteer's Note: Welcome to the Dispute Resolution Noticeboard. I'm neither taking this case nor opening it for discussion at this time, but just reminding the filing editor that it is his obligation to notify the other participants of this filing by leaving a note on their user talk pages. The template mentioned at the top of this page can be used for that purpose or a custom-written note. If those notices are not given in the next two or three days — and placing a notice on the article talk page will not suffice — this listing will be closed as abandoned. Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) 15:04, 6 February 2015 (UTC) @ TransporterMan Thanks for reminding me.--Catflap08 (talk) 15:42, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

While I agree I did not indeed mention User:Elemential1 I filed the DRN due to Hoary's posts of 5th February onwards. In those posts yHoary went on about changing the “Ikeda hitting” issue. May I remind Hoary that it was him/her who threatened me with a topic ban? In the articles affected and mentioning the incident I then simply included the Murata clippings, as in the beginning of the dispute it was (a) disputed if Ikeda was present (b) that Murata made such a statement on page 69 of his book – apparently he did. The question if Ikeda was present was resolved since I included the rather lengthy Montgomery quote. In contrast to Hoary I do hold quite a bit of literature on Nichiren Buddhism which I find to be quite useful when editing on matters relating to Nichiren Buddhism. The only book I did not have since long out of print is the Murata one. The only ones I bined a long long time ago are the “human revolution” ones by Mr. Ikeda (novels). The articles on Ikeda and SGI were reedited and it did not slip my attention that in due course Ikeda was alleged hitting too, hence my Resource Request‎ to find out if Murata made such a quote and who was hitting who. While Hoary did question my neutrality I do begin to have doubts on Hoary’s ability to exert powers as an admin. The amount of information available either in English, German or French on Nichiren Buddhism is limited. The information published on and offline on SG/SGI is mainly published by SG/SGI itself. It comes natural that critical matters are few and credibility of authors is even more vital then. I work on Nichiren related matters for nearly eight years now. I believe I was able to contribute to the nuts and bolts of Nichiren Buddhism within articles dealing with the matter in a credible non-promotional way. Am I neutral on SG/SGI? No. Knowing this and having made co-editors aware of that I keep my own edits on SG/SGI related articles to a bare minimum. I am not sure if Hoary is aware of the fact but the usual tactics of SG/SGI advocates is (online and offline) to discredit authors of resources critical of SG/SGI. This has been an ongoing issue as if one does not like the message kill the messenger so to speak. What I surely do not like is therefore to delete critical material. Recently another editor and me were involved to get another editor to include some more facts on SG/SGI’s beliefs and dogma – fruitless task. So in the end maybe Ikeda was building his first human pyramid as a peace activity while the priest was harassed in 1952 – how should I know. What I do know (a) Ikeda was present among the 47 involved (b) Murata did make that quote on page 69 (c) Toda is said to have been hitting. Also since Murata apparently did not only write one book I am surprised that Hoary did not include a “citation needed” tag on the disputed sentence first. It just puzzles me that Hoary always enters the scene when it comes to references critical of SG/SGI, references not in Japanese. On the Toynbee issue it was agreed that the online text does not qualify as a resource – now its harder for readers to read the article. Fine. Nevertheless the article existed, I have had the Guardian pdf and the one made available to me by the help of a Resource Request. Discrediting yet again the author of the article as some editors tried I find worrying. To quarrel about resources, who said what where is one thing to discredit me as an editor making sure critical issues are neither deleted nor censored is another one though. Since I was the one who got the Murata quotes why should it be me to insist that Ikeda was hitting the priest? The conclusions Hoary makes beat me and asking me to edit the body of the text seems bizarre while earlier threatening me with a topic ban. --Catflap08 (talk) 09:34, 7 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Volunteer's note: I will remind all parties to this case to be concise, be civil, and comment on content, not on contributors. The comments by some of the editors appear to contain lengthy complaints about other parties and are long. Robert McClenon (talk) 20:41, 7 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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