User:WLRoss

They should have captured Bin Laden alive and made him pass through airport security for the rest of his life

Pray: To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled on behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy.

The ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr.

In politics stupidity is not a handicap.

'Western journalist: What do you think of Western civilization? Mahatma Gandhi: Yes, that would be a good idea.'

Who I am
I live in South Australia.

My family is of Welsh origin and, due to skills, were paid to immigrate to Australia, arriving here in 1849, some 13 years after settlement of my state.

My ancestor, his wife and 7 children (plus another born during the voyage) sailed on the barque SS Aden. Launched as the SS Delta in 1856, she was built by Summers, Day & Co of Southampton with a gross tonnage of 812, measuring 257 ft. 6 inches by 29 ft. 10 inches beam. She was powered by direct-acting trunk steam engines of 210 hp, driving a single screw, which gave her a service speed of 12 knots. She could carry 112 first class, and 22 second class passengers, and in 1869, carried official guests from Marseilles to Port Said for the formal opening of the Suez Canal. She was sold to Shanghai owners in 1872.

The following is an account of the hardships endured during their voyage as reported in the October 10, 1849 issue of the South Australian Register: From London via Plymouth - Captain William Samuel Baker, arrived Port Adelaide on 12-09-1849 with the charge of 172 passengers all paying their own expenses (not free or assisted passengers), many of them of superior origin to himself, and many more in still better circumstances. The ADEN had an accident on the way to Adelaide, colliding with a fishing boat off Start Point (England) on May 29th, 1849 causing her mast and gear to be carried away. There were numerous complaints about the master and officers, including the surgeon - Dr J. Heigenbottom, who was reported to have been "not only professionally incompetent, but was gross and improper in his language, and seldom sober". "Our first source of complaint and grievance arose out of the manner in which the ship was provisioned. We had good meat till we left Gravesend, but as soon as we got away to sea, there arose such a stench as was quite unbearable from some flesh which was boiling in our cook's coppers. This, more than the rolling of the ship, turned us all sick, and we went into every out-of-the-way place to avoid the stench. The surgeon declared it would bring on some disorder, and promised to see the Government Inspector about it on arrival at Plymouth; but he did not do so. This meat was given to us for three successive days after leaving Gravesend, and we all became so ill and hungry that we threatened to kill the cats and boil them. On the third day the stuff was left boiling in the coppers - all the passengers having agreed to allow none to be taken out of the boilers." During the stay in Plymouth, the passengers had no fresh provisions served out to them - the captain's reason being because they had refused to eat the beef served out to them on their way down the channel. May 21st was beef day and when it was served, was totally rejected as being unwholesome and stank so abominably that most threw it overboard. The report went on to mention that the Captain and first mate Mr Court disagreed about the condition of the beef, but even the sailors were not offered the horrible stuff. "Some of the casks of beef were branded 1839. The flour given to us in lieu of potatoes consisted almost entirely of lumps as hard as chalk, and was so mildewed and nasty, that laterly it was mostly thrown overboard, as we could not eat it. Many complaints were made about the meat and puddings always being boiled in salt water. The biscuits were mouldy, the butter rancid and we were never given our full allowance of water. Mr Sloper and Mr Bennett were seized with cramp in the stomach and suffered intensely, and other passengers also suffered from the same cause. In terms of our agreements, arbitrators were to be selected from amongst the passengers, to see that the provisions were fairly and correctly apportioned, but more than once the captain ordered away the persons so appointed and grossly abused them. Most gross instances of dishonesty on the part of the officer serving out the stores were witnessed by several passengers who complained they received short weight (of their supplies). One of the passengers insisted on the scales being emptied and then tried one against the other, which was for a long while refused, but when done the cheat was instantly discovered. The report went on to mention that the Captain was very fond of throwing it in our faces "that we had paid such extravagant amount of passage money, that certainly we had a right to be waited on and to receive all kinds of luxuries." It is true that the steerage passengers paid only £15 each, but for this Messrs. Marshall and Edridge promised to supply them as well as the rest with good food, water, lights, fire and cooking, yet on every score they had serious grounds of complaint. On September 3rd some of the ship's stores were stolen, partly due to the dishonesty of some of the officers. The Captain declared that until someone owned up to the theft, their provisions would be stopped. The passengers went in a body to the quarter-deck and told the Captain that the officers were responsible, and reminded him that the Passengers Act required 22 weeks of stores to be put on board for the Australian voyage, and as they had been out only 16 weeks, there ought to be stores for 6 weeks still on board. Remonstrance’s having failed they threatened to institute legal proceedings against him on their arrival in Adelaide. This eventually brought the Captain to his senses. Besides these breaches of contract, we have to complain that our meat and puddings were always boiled in salt water, and sometimes the water used for tea was wholly or partially sea water. For days we were compelled to suffer thirst or drink water caught from the dirty poop during tropical showers, which stunk awfully of tar and the washings of the hen coops.

A steerage passenger (Mr Baldwinson) having requested the captain to notice the state of his berth (through various parts of which the water constantly dripped), he sarcastically remarked that "he (the passenger)" was very fortunate, as there would be no occasion for bringing water down there from the deck." To avoid the deck leakage, which also saturated the next berth, another passenger (Mr Farre) was obliged to sleep, during more than two months, with his knees cramped up upon a box only four feet long, his bed having become rotten from the leakage complained of, being thrown overboard, as well as those of two young men occupying the same cabin. On another occasion, for complaining of the shortness of our provisions, the first mate flung Mr Toller, the captain of the 13th mess, down on the deck, and swore he would put him in irons. After this rough usage, Mr Toller appealed to the captain, who taunted him with being "a sea lawyer," and by way of punishment ordered him to keep abaft the cook's galley during the remainder of the voyage. He also insultingly told him, when we had another appeal to make, to let it be made through a man, and not by the mouth of a boy. The foremost to complain was only regarded by the captain as a breeder of dissatisfaction, and the cause of all the existing ill feeling, and significantly reminded that he was not ashore, and that he had no higher authority to look to than the captain's. John Hartshorn, the passengers' cook (who is now in jail for insubordination) was almost always drunk and frequently offered to fight the passengers. He assaulted Mr Thomas Michelmore several times, and struck him in the face. At this time the first mate was standing behind the mainmast,  and seeing the cook strike Mr Michelmore, without knowing the cause, called out to him, "Hit him again, hit him hard." The cook also threatened to stab Mr McQueen, and committed such indecencies towards that gentleman as it would not be delicate to mention in print. Besides the Captain's abusive and ungently manner, he exercised the greatest tyranny over the passengers, as though they had been hireling menials or slaves. He imposed work upon them from the time of quitting Plymouth, which work we had been informed by Messrs’ Marshall and Edridge we were only to superintend, but were not required to perform. Passengers were compelled to draw water out of the hold for all the passengers and crew. They also had to go into the hold to pump it up, often lying on their bellies. They were compelled to scrape, holystone, wash and keep clean the between decks, and other tasks. When there was any show of resistance the Captain and Mr Court (the first mate) enforced their commands, by ordering that no break- fast or dinner should be served out until the work was done, and on one morning the captain came down at half-past five a.m., and threatened to stop the medical comforts of the sick if the passengers did not at once turn out, and clear up the place. "To our mortification we were told, on reaching Port Adelaide, that the agents in London had paid two passengers (Child and Simmons) £5 each for doing the drudgery. " The ship's cook, John Hartshorn, assaulted both Mr Thomas Michelmore and Mr McQueen several times. Several passengers, including Mr Baldwinson and Mr Farre, complained of the water constantly saturating their berths. The Captain responded by offering to throw them overboard. He offered the same to Mr Rosser for no apparent reason. He also used indelicate remarks to the women, which they very properly resented.

The passenger’s major grievance was about the activities held on July 5th under the pretext of performing the 'Crossing the Line' ceremony. They had agreed to pay the crew 1s. each to be excused the 'entertainment', only to have this over-ruled by the Captain giving as his reason "that the crew liked to amuse themselves as well as the passengers". In the case of Mr Sloper (who was the first to complain of the putrid flesh at the commencement of the voyage, and recommended a general resistance), no money could avert the treatment to which he was subjected, and which nearly cost him his life, and for the perpetration of  which they had the captain's licence. Mr Sloper was perched upon a pole, pinioned, and blindfolded. On opening his mouth to reply to questions put by Neptune's representative, it was filled with a disgusting compound of ordure, slush, tar, grease, &c, and on his refusing to answer further, a bottle was applied to his nostrils, into the cork of which three pins were inserted, which ran into his nose, producing excruciating pain, when his mouth was again filled with the filthy composition referred to. In this state of agony his sufferings were increased by the application of what is termed Neptune's best razor, specially prepared for the occasion, every stroke of the jagged edge of which inflicted painful wounds, two cuts in particular producing a deep mark extending from ear to ear; his face and chin were  bleeding with the marks of the razor. But this was not all. He was then hurled backwards, still blindfolded, pinioned, and smothered with tar, into a sail filled with salt water, three feet deep, in which two executioners disguised as bears, and consequently not recognisable, submerged him,  holding him, struggling, down for several moments, when all recollection left him; and when released, by order of the captain, he was more dead than alive. But the doctor was subjected to even worse treatment, although he vainly endeavoured to escape by offering an order on Adelaide for £5. The captain, all the while standing immediately opposite, encouraged the disgraceful proceedings, and evinced his delight by repeated bursts of laughter. Several other heartrending acts of cruelty were perpetrated on some of us, but space will not allow us to trouble you with their detail. One (Mr Murden) had a tuft of his whiskers pulled out, flesh and all, although be offered 1s to be released. Another poor fellow was treated most shame- fully, although he paid 2s 6d to escape, and many who struggled the hardest paid the most. This game lasted some time, till the spirits of some of the passengers got roused, when Mr George Wilcox, assisted by eight fellow-passengers, determined to make an end  of it. They took possession of the 'tween decks, pulled down the gangway ladder, and, arming themselves with the legs of stools, pistols, and whatever came in their way, assumed a position of defence. This brought matters to a crisis, and the captain coming amongst us to enquire what was the matter, we told him we were determined not to submit to any such insult, and would resist even at the expense of our lives; but we were willing, notwithstanding, to give the  sailors 1s each adult if they asked us civilly. The captain in vain urged submission on the ground of custom, and at length, growing pale and frightened, he ordered "the fun"  to be stopped. We must not omit to state that the previous night much mischief was done to the females' health and wearing apparel by numerous bucketsful of water being poured from aloft by one of Neptune's mischievous sons. The fees extorted from the passengers by this disgraceful stratagem were enormous, and were subsequently spent in the purchase of spirits, wine, and beer from the captain at about twice the ordinary charges. Understandably the passengers were upset as they were given to understand that no beer or ale was put on board for sale.

It was only after the passengers returned to their quarters that they discovered that one of Neptune's mischievous sons had thrown bucketsful of water over much of the passengers’ wearing apparel. Mr John Higginbottom, the ship's surgeon (a very young man) was not only professionally incompetent, but was gross and indecent in his language, and seldom sober. His general conduct was such as led the captain to put him under arrest, to thrash him, to rope's-end him, and to lash him to the rigging. If fact the passengers felt the presence of Higginbottom so objectionable that they signed a round-robin to the Captain asking for him to be landed at Madiera, which the captain consented to do, on being indemnified for the incidental expenses. This they declined, on which Mr Chaplin, a cabin passenger, with a large family on board, demanded to be put on shore. The captain, however, held on his course. As exhibiting the result of this state of things on board, written orders for medical comforts, issued by the doctor, were burnt by the captain, and the captain's orders were stopped by the surgeon, to the imminent danger of the health and lives of the passengers and ship's company. The SA REGISTER reported concluded with "Such is a slight description of the way in which the passengers were treated on board the ADEN in violation of specific contracts entered into with her owners Messrs’ Marshall and Edridge." A number of the passengers proceeded to Port Phillip in other vessels at their own expense. The passengers excluded Mr Larton, the second mate, from these complaints as his conduct was quite the reverse of those who were his senior officers.

Growing up I was taught the Church of England faith as religious instruction was compulsory in Australian schools at the time. Although this was originally my family's religion, it was abandoned for atheism during the Great Depression due to the corrupt practices of the church during a period when they should have been helping people. As a result, I was raised as an agnostic and encouraged to follow whatever religion I chose and I sometimes attended church or synagogues with school friends. Due to marrying a Catholic, I brought my children up in the Catholic faith. I myself can probably be called a liberal Jain.

I am naturally left-handed. During my early school years, this was discouraged by the teachers with Corporal punishment. My parents eventually stopped the authorities from using this practice after I required medical treatment due to a particularly severe punishment after being caught using my left hand to write with. As a result, I can write both left- and right-handed and play most sports with either hand, although I am still preferentially left-handed; I have, however, lost the ability to throw left-handed.

I love the colour black and usually dress in that colour. If I had been born 20 years later I would probably have been part of the Goth subculture although I'm probably also a hippie at heart. I attended the Meadows Festival in 1972 and the Sunbury Pop Festival in 1973. The cover of the Sunbury 73 record album is a photograph of the crowd taken from the stage and I can be seen just below the centre. This same photo, although taken in 1973, is also featured on the cover of the DVD for the 1972 event.

I have been a single parent with full custody of my two boys since the 1990s. My eldest son left home when he married in 2006 while my youngest left after buying his own home in 2008.

Achievements such as they are
In 1975 I was tested by MENSA and scored in the 97th percentile. I did not finish the test which I attribute to dozing off as it was conducted very late at night a considerable drive from my home LMAO. Too bad you can only apply once. I had previously scored 135 on the Stanford-Binet and 156 on the Cattell.

6 years experience with fireproof building materials (my father owned the manufacturing company) where i took an interest in heritage architecture as during this period many government Victorian era buildings were having fire proof walls and floors installed. I became experienced with restoration of Italianate architecture and worked on many government buildings such as Old Parliament House. Later a further 21 years experience in the fire protection industry as a supervisor, instructor, technician, consultant and troubleshooter for a company with an 11 figure turnover. Until I retired I held top secret security clearance (access only) for both U.S. and Australian military research and defence facilities (the stories I could tell but then I'd have to kill you) and was a member of the National Fire Protection Association.

In the late 90s as a result of new laws requiring the replacement of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), I designed and built the first Halon reclamation system with a recovery efficiency rate of 100%. The unit is now used in several Australian states and also America. The company I worked for received an award for innovative engineering for the design.

I have certification for teaching, rescue, entry and supervisory work in the permit required confined space industry. I am licensed in OHS and give lectures to companies. I am licenced to handle radioactives used in industry.

My hobbies
Retired from full time work in 2004.
 * In 1965 I joined the St. John Ambulance service. I left in 1976.
 * In 1989 I joined the local fire brigade as a volunteer fireman. I left in 2001 after suffering a severe articular fracture while playing baseball. As a result, I lost 50% of the movement range of my wrist and thumb. During my time with the brigade I completed all firefighting level certificates and was certified for SCBA.
 * Currently a volunteer tutor of university students in most subjects. I also proof read and correct student papers.
 * I like to research world history and religions.
 * An avid reader of world newspapers and current events.
 * I have written an article that has been published in a peer reviewed historical magazine.
 * I have been credited as co-author on several academic papers on Indigenous subjects.

Strange but Interesting Facts
According to the Global Rich List...I am the 885,077,013th richest person on earth by income.

I was born with blue eyes and blond hair. From around the age of six, my eyes changed to Hazel while my hair went dark brown. If I drink enough alcohol my eyes turn blue for a short period of time. I'm almost teetotal but do drink once or twice a year and everyone knows when I do lol.

The greatest influence in my life is without doubt Julius Sumner Miller and the concept of the Fair Witness. I try to model myself on both.

Before my voice broke I sang in a choir and gave public performances. Since it broke I can't sing worth a damn :-)

Throughout school I always wanted to be an Egyptologist. I spent most weekends in the museum teaching myself to read and write hieroglyphics which, along with the Latin and French I learned in high school I have long since forgotten. I am however still able to speak some German, probably because I had more German friends than ancient Roman or Egyptian.

In the early 1970s I designed and built the fluted Archivolt entrance archways for the Elder Conservatorium at the Adelaide University. The original arches had deteriorated beyond repair with the subsequent loss of the original fluting. In 1979, Adelaide's original Parliament House built in 1854, was restored and converted to become the Adelaide Constitutional Museum (opened 1980, later closed and returned to office use). Most of the original Ceiling rose's, Rosettes, Architraves and Moldings were beyond repair so I had to replicate the originals. Instead of using the traditional materials I developed a new process using foundry sand, plaster, Sisal fibre and white cement which is expected to be much longer lasting. My name will be forgotten but my work will last for hundreds of years.

While speaking to Prince Philip I accidentally called him "Phil" (he smiled).

I have written letters regarding politics or the Iraq War to the newspaper for many years and to date all but one have been published.

I sometimes write online historical articles on various websites. I recently found myself used as a source in a Wikipedia article.

I used a firearm for the first time in 1977. In 1980 I ranked fourth in the state in an Olympic Trap shooting competition. I gave up shooting in 1981 and have not handled a weapon since.

In the mid 1990s my employer paid for me to take the full Myers-Briggs typing system personality test. I can only say that I am a textbook example of an INTP.

I don't like cliff hangers in TV series. When a new movie is released, I usually come to Wikipedia to read the article first to see how it ends before going to see it. I also prefer to know who won a game and what the score was before watching a match on TV. I just cant understand what why some people have problems with spoilers.

What interests me
Just about anything but a few things are prominent. Although I am a pacifist, military history also has a place in my heart.
 * I have a large collection of Science and Science Fiction books.
 * I’m very much interested in all history. Not just the propaganda history you learn in school but the warts and all history you never hear about because it “may” offend someone or does not suit the agenda of the country teaching it. Res ipsa loquitur
 * I have written articles for history magazines for which I have been paid. I guess this means I can add author and historian to my resume.
 * In 2014 I received a certificate in Global Social Archaeology after passing a University course in the subject.
 * I’ve researched my family tree to 1630 and have my mothers from 1762 so genealogy interests me.
 * Religion.
 * Indigenous Australian topics
 * My grandfather served in the 2/10th Battalion, which fought in North Africa including Tobruk and New Guinea.
 * My father served in the 2/27th Battalion, which fought in the Middle East and New Guinea including Kokoda.

After he passed away I gained much admiration for my father from researching his war record. He was too young to join the army so he added 9 years to his age and joined in August 1940 without his parent’s permission or knowledge. Why he added 9 years baffles us as adding 2 was all he needed (he was already 6ft tall and pictures of him in uniform indicate he did look the age he used). Following the arrival of the 2/27th in Egypt my fathers true age was discovered and he was discharged and returned to Australia. He rejoined with permission in March 1941 and was returned to Palestine in time for the Syria-Lebanon Campaign in June 1941. In August 1942 the 2/27th was sent to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and took part in the Kokoda Track campaign and the following Buna–Gona campaign. By the time it was relieved in January 1943, from an original battalion strength of 945, 268 had died and 607 had been wounded. In August the reformed battalion returned to Papua and took part in the Ramu Valley, Dumpu and Finisterre Range campaigns, known collectively as the Shaggy Ridge campaign. The 2/27th arrived back in Australia in March 1944. The battalion left Australia for its last operation of the war, the Battle of Balikpapan, in June 1945 and from October to January 1946 was the occupation force in the Celebes. Due to problems with Malaria my father was discharged in November 1945. The 2/27th was disbanded in March 1946.

My father was affected by Polio having one leg shorter than the other that also had wasted calf muscles yet he was still accepted and eventually fought in the most physically demanding theatre of the entire war. Interestingly, due to his young age when he joined, he was four inches taller and his hair had gone gray by the time the war ended. Until late in life my mother was completely ignorant of his war service claiming that he never spoke of anything war related and in fact she never realised he went to New Guinea let alone took part in Kokoda. All the photos he sent home during the war show him drinking beer with army buddies, riding camels and similar standard tourist shots. He never sent pictures or letters from New Guinea and he never claimed his medals. My sister claimed them on his behalf in 2003 after considerable pressure to get him to sign for them.

My father was one of the wounded in the camp hospital mentioned in the infamous running rabbits incident.

What I’m doing here
I came across Wikipedia doing research and like the site although I can see its shortcomings. I like to correct obvious inaccuracies. I rarely actively hunt subjects to edit but do it by arriving at pages by clicking the embedded links while reading a topic and subsequently seeing something I am not happy with.

Advice for new users
Over 50% of all Wikipedia edits are performed by less than 1% of the editors. The most active 2% of editors, contribute 73% of all Wikipedia edits. This may sound daunting to a new editor but therin lies a story. The quality of Wikipedia lies in the information it provides, not the number of edits made to create it. The vast majority of edits are spelling corrections, formatting, adding links and adding categories etc. While these type of edits are extremely valuable, if you count only edits that have contributed actual content to Wikipedia, some 80% of the people who have written the actual content have done so as anonymous IP addresses and the majority of contributors have made few edits in total. People read Wikipedia because they want to know something, not because everything is spelt correctly and formatted clearly. New users will find many experienced editors are quick to critisize or revert their edits and many are driven away by this all anons are stupid attitude but this is counterproductive. Wikipedia content relies on new editors and whether you decide to register or remain an anonymous IP address, your contributions are more valuable than those of the most experienced editors. Don't be discouraged. Take the knocks and keep editing and hopefully you will learn and eventually register so you can interact more productively with the community.

What you can do
I accept that I can be wrong and wont get upset if reverted. I try to be neutral but I doubt anyone is entirely free of bias no matter how well meaning they are. Do not be afraid to criticize or debate me.

I’m happy to talk to anyone. You are welcome to contact me for discussion if you wish.

Be aware that I travel a lot and may not answer promptly.

Humorous behaviour
I sometimes see some strange behaviour so will post the most mind boggling here.

My edit: "...onto a nearby building." An editor changed it to "...onto an adjacent building." I pointed out that there was not only a road but another building between the two buildings in question so adjacent (dictionary def; "immediately adjoining without intervening space but not necessarily touching") was not correct. This turned into a minor edit war with the other editor insisting that "By New York standards they are adjacent."

This is an example of how "involved" some editors can get if they don't like your editing. In April 2011, my 911 article editing was brought up in a WP:RFC/U with a request that I be banned from editing all 911 related articles. Seven editors supported the RFC/U but between them only posted this single diff as evidence. One of the supporting editors even suggested that my taking a NPOV position on the subject was proof of bias. The RFC/U failed and was subsequently deleted.

My edit: "...with analysts expressing concern that Ugg was losing its appeal."

An editor changed it to "...with some analysts expressing concern that UGG was losing its appeal." with the edit comment; "reduced other anti-Deckers spin with more accurate representation of what the sources actually say." The exact wording of the source; "However, analysts have expressed concern that Ugg is losing its exclusive appeal." It seems some editors have a problem with cognitive dissonance.

What I hate

 * Editors that delete content because it has no cite. I don't care if you do not agree with the claim, unless it is obviously wrong, tag it or look for a cite yourself. Delete it if you can't find a cite after a good faith search.

First scientist: What are the odds of an asteroid making an impact on Manhattan? Second scientist: Astronomical. First scientist: Then it can't be an asteroid! (In the movie this sets her up as the "expert" but in reality it sets her up as moron who doesn't deserve to be on the team!)
 * Bad Science in movies. FFS pay for a consultant! The following dialogue is from The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film):

The Infamous 3RR
Be Aware! 3RR can be ambiguous. You will know that 3RR means getting blocked for reverting an edit three times in 24 hours. What is ambiguous is that it doesn't have to be the same edit you revert. Reverting any three edits made to a page even if they are not the same one can get you blocked. Be Careful! If you are correcting false information by replacing it with what the source actually says, this still counts as a revert. Even if it is not a true revert because you just reworded the edit for grammar or clarity, it still counts as a revert if you use the Undo button to remove the original text, only use the button if you intend replacing the original text with a highly modified version. Note! 3RR will not always apply to other editors in certain "cliques" so try not to get in a dispute with them in cases where your reversions would normally be seen as undoing vandalism which are exempt from 3RR.

CT Beliefs
I DO NOT believe in 911 conspiracy theories. I do not believe the entire official explanation either until investigations are completed, so until then I'll sit on the fence (see and  for the "conspiracies" I think need explaining.). I believe Popular mechanics is discredited BS (see here) and NIST cheated to get it's results. They admitted they manipulated the results, (see NCSTAR 1-6) and were critisised by peer reviewed engineering publications for doing so, but that does not mean I believe in CD. There has to be some as yet undiscovered factor that caused the towers to fall but then that is OR. For example, a 1990s building collapse similar in appearance was attributed to a fault the engineering design. Unfortunately a design fault can never be positively determined as the WTC blueprints were destroyed in the WTC1 collapse and the only copies were lost in WTC7.

While my first Wikipedia edit was in December 2006, my first edit to a 9/11 conspiracy article was in August 2007 as this was the first time I read any of the 9/11 WP articles and to my amazement discovered that instead of the expected CT bias I found far more anti CT bias. I believe conspiracy theories should be treated in a NPOV fashion based on the evidence available. I have made edits debunking some but I do not make edits supporting any unless it is reliable material. Just because a fact supports a CT does not make the CT true. I would prefer not to edit the subject at all but there are too many editors deleting any fact that remotely lends support to conspiracy theorists. These biased editors make WP a joke so I will strive to maintain some semblance of NPOV. I let my record talk for me. I've made over 200 edits in 911 articles, some support the official theory but most involve alternative theories. Over 90% of these edits received consensus and are still in the articles (albeit some took months of arguements to get consensus). I've been lied to, threatened and had edits misquoted. In one case I had an edit reverted with the comment: conspiracy theory ridiculousness not supported by scientific or relaible (sic) evidence and was warned I could be banned if I tried to add the edit again. Consensus supported the reversion. I had in fact cut and pasted the text (unaltered) directly from the NIST report findings. If those with a debunking agenda do not like it then tough. While these editors are useful for keeping out blatant CT pushing they should get a life and put their own bias on the backburner in the interests of NPOV. For an example of why some of these editors should not even be allowed to edit at all see here.

For a more in depth look at how I view Wikipedia 911 articles you can read this: Evidence presented by Wayne.

Be aware that editing 911 is a minefield. Be careful to be civil and remember that WP policy is very strictly enforced by elected Admins who may not have legal training. For this edit (on the grounds that it "indicates that you're unwilling to work within community norms") and for removing a tag without replacing it with a reference, which my edit comment notes I did as the sentence already had a reference, I was reported five days later by an admin I had previously been involved in a [dispute with on the basis that this ambiguous post that makes no mention of it being a warning was actually "a warning with a link to [the ArbCom] decision" per the ArbCom decision "Discretionary sanctions" as required before sactions can be implimented and I received a 1 week topic ban for "Disruptive Editing" (my only ban to date). I requested clarification for why I was banned for two edits made before I was allegedly "warned" contrary to WP policy which states a ban "can be imposed "if, despite being warned" the editor continues with the bad behaviour" but the Admin declined to answer so I assume policy interpetation is remarkably fluid. A favourite ploy of my opponents in disputes is to mention that I was reported to [[WP:ARB9/11]] for my editing and support of conspiracy theories as if this supports their case in often unrelated disputes. However, they always neglect to also mention the Arbcom's outcome hoping that editors will assume my guilt. This is the Arbcom case in question, showing it was closed after no evidence of disruptive or POV editing was found.

Articles
Nothing gives a better idea of an editors interests (and POV) than the articles he works on.
 * Average daily page views in brackets.

Articles I created

Articles that are predominently my work. ie: from stub to article (S) or a major rewrite (R)

Articles that I have contributed substantially to.