Talk:2012–2013 Maribor protests

Please, mind the NPOV policy
Guys, I understand that this article is still very much work in progress, that things are likely to change etc. Nevertheless, as it stands now, the article barely fits the basic NPOV guidelines. Starting from the intro: I've been following the events closely; "Mariborska vstaja" (which means "Maribor Rising") has not been the most common term to refer to the protests. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I've come across it. Let me point out some of the most problematic formulations in the text:
 * "protesters from a variety of socio-economic and educational backgrounds": this is very difficult to assess without any sociological data (virtually impossible, I'd dare to say).
 * "against the corrupt mayor": I hope you understand why this is not NPOV. The intro should state that the demonstrations demanded the resignation of the mayor, accused of corruption.
 * "stating how the police did not use such measures against its own people even during the period of socialist Yugoslavia": this statement points to a fact, namely that this was the first time after 1990 where anti-riot police forces were used in Slovenia to disperse protests. However, the way it is stated, against goes against the NPOV policy; "its own people": do I really have to explain why this is a no-go?

The whole "Political situation in Maribor section" would demand some serious revisiting. In general terms, it seems ok to me (provided the sources quoted are ok), but the tone has to be changed in order to fit the NPOV guidelines, and phrases like "Because of his crude language and the alleged eluding of the law, Kangler is dubbed as "Maribor sheriff"" should be replaced with more neutral ones. Same goes with the description of the riots. "Some reporters described the events as police brutality": yes, and some (especially foreign ones, see the report in the Croatian daily Jutarnji List or Stefano Lusa's article in the Osservatorio sui Balcani e Caucaso, describe the police reactions as generally mild); btw, the phrase "some reporters" is followed by one single source with a link to a (one!) commentator, not even reporter. Other minor issues. "Resistances" (in the plural): what kind of term is this? "Riots": really? I would be cautious to distinguish between minor episodes of violence occurring during generally peaceful demonstrations, and riots. Bottom line: until this issues are solved, I'm afraid a non-NPOV banner has to be placed, in order to warn the reader of the problematic content and tone of the article. The infobox is very problematic, it needs serious revisiting. Best, Viator slovenicus (talk) 01:34, 6 December 2012 (UTC)


 * Ok, I have to correct myself: I don't know why I wrote that the term "Maribor Uprising" (Mariborska vstaja) was not used. It indeed was used (and it was obviously not on this page that I first came across the term). Let me explain what misled me: I was used to the names "first", "second" etc. Maribor Uprising, but I somehow did not connect it to the phenomenon as a whole. My bad. Nevertheless, all other objections remain valid, I believe. Viator slovenicus (talk) 14:46, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

Recent copy edits
I have made a series of copy edits. I am unable to speak Slovenian so my edits are pretty much tweaks for English-speaking readers--even though the English used in the article is excellent, there are always minor differences in the way that each language phrases things. If I changed the intention of anything, please revert my edit. On the other hand, if someone that watches this article believes that my edits have improved the wording, perhaps my tweaks could be moved to the central Slovenian protest article? Incidentally, I was one of the top editors of the Occupy Wall Street article for several months. The OWS movement is no longer active but hopefully ready to reorganize and resurface in the future. For now the US seems to be pretty much too "fat and happy" to revolt, but recent austerity measures that will be felt almost entirely by the poor, who have no voice in world politics, are certainly troubling and will soon affect the middle class as well. I do know that this country is very capable of extremely violent protests and equally extremely violent police response. It would be good to see that we had the maturity for nonviolence on both sides but I doubt it, certainly our police are extremely violent... My best to all of you Slovenians! Gandy (Stefanich - Stefanic?) Dancer. Gandydancer (talk) 14:46, 21 March 2013 (UTC)