User talk:YellowMonkey/Archive85

Marsh
Thanks for attending to my concerns. I am ready to support pending a solution to the Sydney Cricket Club link. I have left my thoughts at the FAC discussion. Just a heads-up, Harry Trott is at peer review if you have a chance to take a quick look. Cheers, Mattinbgn\talk 01:42, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Heh, I should but my knowledge of old old cricket is pretty bad - except for when I wrote it myself.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 03:23, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Gangtok FARC
Regarding your comment "I think we want better than this for a FA", do you specifically point out some aspect (such as, the lead, comprehensiveness, or, citations) or saying it in general? It would be very helpful if you can specify. Regards.--Dwaipayan (talk) 04:52, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
 * sikkiminfo references removed/replaced. Regards.--Dwaipayan (talk) 08:32, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Noted.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 02:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Complaint about user Exxolon
Hullo, you don't know me. I wish to complain about the above user. I've never had reason to do this before so I don't know the protocol and I am quite wound up right now. Maybe you can help. What happened was this:- I had just spent over an hour improving the the article on Countdown to Ecstasy an album by Steely Dan by creating individual entries for the songs on this fine album, saying very various things about the songs, some quote from the lyrics and so forth. Stuff that would have been interesting to any Steely Dan fan. I patiently categorised each article, marking them as stubs in the hope that other Steely Dan fans would add more in the future. Without any warning or discussion the above user deleted all my patient work and now all the links for the songs just redirect the original article which is meaningless. As you can see from homepage I am a serious Wikipedian who has created more than 30 new pages. I thought we were here to *expand* knowledge. The above user has just *diminished* knowledge without any discussion at all. I know I got upset and swore on his homepage but, as I said, I was wound up. I apologise for the swearing. I hope you can help.  SmokeyTheCat   •TALK•  22:44, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
 * This appears to be resolved. If there is a disagreement about merging, you can just document int he indiviudal songs in the album's wikipage.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 02:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Amcpaper.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:Amcpaper.jpg. You've indicated that the image meets Wikipedia's criteria for non-free content, but there is no explanation of why it meets those criteria. Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. If you have any questions, please post them at Media copyright questions.

Thank you for your cooperation. NOTE: once you correct this, please remove the tag from the image's page. STBotI (talk) 01:25, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Fixed (self deleted anyway)  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 02:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

New e-mail
Hi there!

Please open your mail box now. I've just sent you an e-mail. Thank you so much.Angelo De La Paz (talk) 16:54, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Noted.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 02:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Questia
Acknowledgments ix   Introduction  1 1. The Vietnamese Emperors 11 2. The Great Explorers: Prelude to the Conquest 31 3. The Conquest of Vietnam 47 4. French Administration 73 5. Reforms, Revolts, Revolutions 87 6. The Franco-Indochinese War 137 Bibliography 177 Index 181

-vii-

CHINA, VIETNAM, FRANCE: AN OVERVIEW In the 19th century, the Sons of Heaven began to phase out of a world they had ruled for some 5,000 years. The long disintegration process began with the warring states ( 403-221 B.C.) and continued with successive dynastic usurpa­ tions. In 1388, the White Lotus general Chu Yuan Chang became the founder of the Ming Dynasty, which later was brought down by the Manchu Nurhachi ( 1559-1626) who began the Ch'ing Dynasty. From then on, the Ch'ing had to continually fight against the White Lotus millennarians in the north and the secret society Triads in the south. After having crushed these internal revolts, the Ch'ing had to deal with western aggression. As for the White Lotus, they spread to adjacent countries where, under various religious denominations, they become involved in emancipation struggles.

In 1840, instead of paying their trade in silver currency, the British East India Company compelled China to accept opium bread from India. In response, the Special Commissioner Li Hung Chang destroyed the British opium stock, which he later refused to indemnify. When a Chinese was murdered by British sailors, Li Hung Chang ordered the withholding of all foreign shipments. The British reacted by sending 20 gun ships with 4,000 troops to destroy Chinese coastal cities and Guangzhou. Their armed vessels were the advanced guard of a com­ mercial fleet loaded with opium. This was the "Opium War" which British prime minister Gladstone described as "a war more unjust in its origin . . . I do not know and have not read of."1 Two years later in 1842, an exhausted China had to sign the Treaty of Nanking, which opened five ports, including Shanghai, to international trade. In addition, Hong Kong became a British colony.

As for the French, taking advantage of a temporary lull ( 1830-1860) and with British approval, they also went on to create havoc in China. By the time of the Treaty of Whampoa in 1844, they had several Chinese ports opened to French

-1- trade and religion. That year, the United States obtained the same rights with the Treaty of Wanghsia.

In 1850, the impotence of the Chinese government and the influence of Prot­ estant Christianity led to the outbreak of the Tai Pings, who seized half of the country and established the capital of Nanking. Their leader, a Christian mystic named Hong Xiu Quan, who claimed to be a brother of Jesus Christ, was sup­ ported by the West. But when his European allies sided with the imperial gov­ ernment and turned against him, he was defeated and committed suicide.

In 1856, hostilities resumed in Kwang Si after French missionary Chapdelaine was executed in Hsi Ling (Kwang Si) and a British ship was detained by the Chinese authorities. This was enough for France and Great Britain to dispatch several gunboats to seize Canton. This was known as the "gunboats diplomacy," which ended in 1858 by the treaty of Tien Tsin. China had to pay as war reparations 30 million pounds sterling to England and 15 million to France. Eleven Chinese ports were now opened to European trade.

The following year, 1859, Dowager Tzu Hsi, convinced that the Boxer rebels retained supernatural powers, allowed her troops to join the insurgents in a common assault against the foreign legations. In retaliation, 12,000 western sol­ diers stormed Peking and destroyed the Summer Palace. Tzu Hsi fled. She came back to sign the treaty of Peking on October 25, 1860. If it were not for the U.S. proposal of an Open Door policy, China could have become a western colony.

Treaties with China had ominous backlashes. Because westerners were al­ lowed free trade, their first objective was to reach Yunnan, reputed to be the Chinese El Dorado. What was supposed to be the ideal road -- the great Yang Tse Kiang River with its three splendid gorges -- was nothing but a great disil­ lusion. Thus, while the British went back to India to explore the Irrawady River, the French moved to Vietnam, determined to explore the Mekong. In the pro­ cess, they secured control of Cochinchina (South Vietnam).

Actually, Vietnam policy was not explicitly formulated by the French gov­ ernment until Napoleon III. At the outset, the French presence was made pos­ sible by a quid pro quo among sailors, traders, and missionaries. The last-named provided political economic information on the Far East in exchange for trans­ portation facilities on board merchant ships. The first missionaries even had to disguise themselves as traders, hence creating quite a confusion about their real activities.

In France, to win support for a conquest of Annam, they spread tales of a fabulous country where "gold was found everywhere even in ducks' feces." The French East India Company, created by Louis XIV's finance minister Colbert in 1664, took some initiative to establish in Asia. From 1732 to 1741, Thomas de St. Phalle relentlessly advocated the conquest of Vietnam. But before him, since 1720, Pierre Poivre had already been exploring Nam Ha (Cochinchina) as a missionary, and later he became a silk trader in China. In 1740, Dupleix, governor of the French East India Company, succeeded in ousting the British

-2- from Madras and Pondicherry. But six years later, the French were expelled from Madras and set about looking for more bases in the Far East.

In 1748, Pierre Poivre became an expert on Cochinchina politics. Having secured a position within the French East India Company, he succeeded in ob­ taining the direction of a trade mission for the account of the company. He had problems with a powerful ruler, Lord Nguyen Phuoc Khoat (Vu Vuong), who not only did not pay for his purchases, but was even less easy to deal with when Poivre, without his permission, left Vietnam with an attractive male interpreter, Michel Cuong, perhaps as collateral for imperial debt. This incident, which in our present culture is simply a fact of life, assumed unexpected proportions: Missionaries were banned from Nam Ha until Bishop Bennetat, under order from Dupleix, was able to locate Poivre with Cuong in the middle of Mauritius Island. Thus, relations resumed between France and Annam but not the way the French expected.

In 1758, Admiral d'Estaing sired the idea of dispatching an expedition just for the purpose of looting royal treasures in Phu Xuan (Hue). Perhaps, at that time, it was the way French businessmen recovered their losses. Anyway, his expedition ended in disaster.2

Ten years later, in 1768, de Choiseul, war minister under Louis XV, envisaged with the French East India Company an expedition against Nam Ha, but in 1770 he fell into disgrace and the French East India Company, after the recall of Dupleix, collapsed for lack of government support.

In Nam Ha,3 rivalry developed among Jesuit, Lazarist, and Dominican mis­ sionaries, which resulted in the elimination of the Jesuit team in 1774. Whether a secret expedition ordered by French foreign minister Vergennes had any re­ lation to this Jesuit problem was not clear. Yet, in 1787, an event of primordial importance occurred, which was to have a definite impact on Franco-Annamite4 relations. In November 1787, the Treaty of Versailles was signed with Lord Nguyen Anh, the future Emperor Gia Long, by which King Louis XVI would provide Nguyen Anh with a contingent of troops in exchange for ownership of Poulo Condore Island and the port of Danang, and unrestricted rights to establish trade factories all over Nam Ha. Negotiated by Bishop Pigneau de Behaine for the account of Nguyen Anh, the treaty was conspicuously silent on missionaries' rights. It was probably a mistake in Pigneau's calculations, since he took for granted that later Nguyen would pay him back with money and religious priv­ ileges.

France never implemented the 1787 treaty. Although the 1789 Great Rev­ olution was given as an excuse, history reveals that the Govemor Count de Conway of Pondicherry had received discretionary power to implement the agreement. Because he chose not to cooperate with Pigneau, the bishop had to build up the expedition at his own expense. Nguyen Anh became Emperor Gia Long. In spite of his debt toward Pigneau, he had to protect his country's in­ terests. Thus, at the first sign of French interference, he secretly instructed his successors to keep them at arms' length.

-3- After the death of Gia Long, his son Minh Mang, who as a good Confucian did not like Catholic missionaries particularly after Le Van Khoi's revolt, began to show systematic hostility toward France. First he courteously rejected a friendship treaty offered by Jean Baptiste Chaigneau, who was acting then as the French consul in Hue. Later, he again refused audience to Captains Courson and de Bougainville when they came to Danang. In 1824, utterly disenchanted, Chaigneau definitively left Vietnam with Vannier. In 1826, France made the last effort for diplomatic resumption by appointing Eugene Chaigneau to suc­ ceed his uncle Jean Baptiste, a French consul. He was never able to obtain one audience with Minh Mang. After he left, France made no further attempts.

It was the beginning of a period of isolation in which the new emperor, following the 1637 Japanese example, closed his country to missionaries and official trade. By the end of his reign, the opium war was a dominant concern to Minh Mang. Professor Paul Mus reported that what happened in China "gave Minh Mang a new perspective on the dark dangers which came from the West."5 The presence of the Spanish in the Philippines, the Dutch in Indonesia, and a French consulate in Manila, let alone the French Far East fleet cruising endlessly in the South China Sea, were his motivation for sending a friendship mission to France and other European nations. The resulting fiasco evidenced their al­ ienation after the barbaric execution of Father Marchand. His death in 1841 prevented him from concluding an accord with America.6

Yet, as their purpose was to obtain a consensus in order to force Paris to intervene in Vietnam, the French missionaries succeeded in enlisting the navy commanders who were anxious to emulate the British by having their own colonial empire. Considering that communication with Paris, at that initial stage of submarine cables, was still problematic, it was a good pretext for French commanders to place Paris in face of the "fait accompli."

It is also doubtful that at the outset, the French government had any definite vision about Vietnam, for costly wars in Europe and interminable problems at home deprived Paris of any overseas ambition. Under pro-British king Louis Philippe, anticlerical prime minister Guizot, to avoid jeopardizing entente with Britain, would do nothing to help the missionaries, for he badly needed external peace to devote time to domestic problems. Hence, the protection of missionaries was not in his political agenda. According to him, they had to take responsibility for their own doing. But in the remote Far East, the collusion between the navy and the church was beyond his control.

In 1840, Captain Favin Leveque arrived in Danang to demand the liberation of five missionaries, including priest Miche, who would later play an important part in the orientation of Franco-Vietnamese relations. Not only did the new emperor Thieu Tri readily comply, but he was friendly enough to the French to expect a rapprochement. In fact, Thieu Tri revealed himself to be a ruler wise enough to avoid any open conflict with France. Thus, he refrained from ordering imprisonment or deportation of missionaries, although a death sentence might

-4- be pronounced to stay within traditions. When in 1845 the turbulent Bishop Lefebvre was sentenced to death, Admiral Cecille was dispatched by Guizot to obtain his release. Two years later, in 1847, Lefebvre was again captured when he returned to Vietnam. This time Cecille sent Captain Lapierre to Danang. Whether Lapierre was aware or not that Lefebvre had already been freed and on his way back to Singapore, the French first dismantled masts of some Vi­ etnamese ships. Later, on April 14, 1847, in only one hour, the French sank the last five bronze-plated vessels in the bay of Danang. According to some ac­ counts, this incident occurred after Vu Van Diem, a Catholic convert, had passed on military secrets to the French.

Finally, public pressure, manipulated by the Catholic church, forced Guizot to adopt an ambiguous line of conduct. Under the cover of assistance to the British in China, in 1843 he dispatched a fleet under the command of Admiral Cecille and Captain Charner, together with a diplomatic mission headed by Lagrene, who was to negotiate trading privileges with China. Because all of them were repeatedly instructed to keep away from the Vietnam coast for fear of British reaction, Lagrene went on to acquire the island of Basilan near the Philippines in order to build a base similar to Hong Kong. Unfortunately Spain strongly objected, claiming that Basilan was part of the Philippines. Thus, Gui­ zot had to withdraw.

Later Cecille, at the instigation of his missionary friends, came back to Guizot with an even more daring project: France would restore the Le Dynasty in Tonkin and would obtain the possession of Danang as a reward. At this point, in the Pacific Ocean, Admiral Dupetit-Thouars, also with the advice of two missionaries, seized the island of Tahiti and proclaimed it a French protectorate. The British reaction was serious enough to compel Guizot to offer an appreciable indemnity. Afterward, a frustrated Guizot decided to shelve the question of Vietnam for an indefinite time.

In France, the fast-growing heavy industry -- Le Creusot, Decazeville, Thion­ ville -- provoked the emergence of a worker class with social and political de­ mands. Indeed, for 13 hours of daily work, men were paid 2 francs; women, 20 cents; and children, 10 cents.7 Unanimously supported by republican intellec­ tuals, progressive merchants, and liberal Catholics, the workers' movement or­ ganized banquets and demonstrations demanding reforms. They wanted, of course, higher wages. They also wanted voting rights, for out of a population of 30 million only 168,000 were able to vote, provided they paid a 200-franc special tax every year. In 1847, the famine came to exacerbate the general situation. The workers took to the streets joined by bourgeois intellectuals and the Catholics, who were against government monopoly over university educa­ tion. Popular demonstrations turned to bloody confrontations when Guizot sent in the army under famous General Bugeaud. When he was finally dismissed by Louis Philippe, it was too late. The king himself had to go. His abdication to his grandson, the Count of Paris, was rejected: The people wanted no more of

-5- the Orleans or Bourbon dynasties; they wanted the republic. A provisory com­ mittee was formed with workers and intellectuals including Lamartine, Arago, and Louis Blanc.

In spite of popular inclination for a republic, Republicans were not ready. They preferred to stay in the opposition, which is a traditional politician's tactic. Furthermore, the Napoleon I myth was well alive. Hence, the people turned toward his nephew who had on his record two failed coups d'états. On Decem­ ber 10, 1848, Louis Napoleon was elected president. Obviously, it was not a good choice for, as one can expect, by atavistic instinct, he was obsessed with reestablishing the imperial regime. Indeed, three years later, on December 2, 1851, for the third time, he reenacted Napoleon I's coup d'état of 18 Brumaire (the second month of the Republican calendar, October 23-November 21). Then, capitalizing on popular illusion, on December 21, he made himself emperor by plebiscite. Now he could devote his time to restoring the two essential features of the imperial system: "internal authority and external prestige."8

For external prestige, Louis Napoleon was anxious to wipe out the shame imposed on his uncle by the Treaty of 1815. But Louis Napoleon was no military genius. The series of wars he prosecuted in Europe, except for a few minor victories, turned out to be disasters, as were some of his colonial enterprises. On June 19, 1867, Maximilian, his candidate to the imperial throne of Mexico, was executed by the Mexican revolutionaries.

At home, the opposition of the Republicans became a constant threat to the imperial regime. Indeed, Gambetta declared that "all regimes were honored with an anniversary except those of the 18 Brumaire and the December 2." Even inside the imperial cabinet, opposition developed. Since no official policy ex­ isted for Vietnam, on April 22, 1857, Napoleon III created the Committee of Cochinchina. The apparent reason was to find a market for French-built loco­ motives and ships, but it was more to restore French prestige after continuous failures. His ministers disagreed. Minister of foreign affairs Walewski conveyed to the emperor his colleagues' reluctance to bellicose action in Cochinchina. Finance minister Fould bluntly said he did not know where Cochinchina was and, anyway, he would not allocate 6 million francs for a military expedition. Another minister, Billaut, advised "not to trust priests and sailors," referring to the missionaries and admirals, and yet another accused the Jesuits of fabricating a deplorable situation in Annam. Finally, given a negative consensus, it was decided to leave imperial orders about Cochinchina to the discretion of the navy commanders on the field.

In China, Admiral Rigault de Genouilly received on November 25, 1857, the first instruction to move his fleet to Danang. One month later, December 20, 1867, the Anglo-French occupation of Canton released de Genouilly from the China field. On August 31, 1958, he took Danang with a contingent of 3,000 Franco-Spanish troops. Professor Cao Huy Thuan quoted Bishop Retord as de­ claring that the conquest of Danang was crucial, for it was located near Hue the capital and would consequently bring unbearable pressure on the Annamite gov­

-6-

And now I got blocked, need an account. I can try later and read another 6 pages and so on. I think that's the way it will work. Wandalstouring (talk) 09:17, 23 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Meep, doesn't work, certain pages are blocked without acc. Can possibly try from the state library, but it's hard to get online there. Wandalstouring (talk) 09:21, 23 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Oh ok, take it easy. I've found another person who has full access apparently.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Whoops
Sorry about that was one edit behind, I was trying to rv to the revision that read "was" and not "as." Sorry about that.¤~Persian Poet Gal (talk) 05:38, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * No problem at all. I goof up all the time and self-rollback or get rollbacked myself.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

FAR
By all means, yo can list any concerns you think important. Marskell (talk) 06:45, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Thnaks,  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Miss Universe 2008 seimi-protection?
Is there any chance you could consider semi-protecting this article? Not all the edits are vandalism per se but the volume of unconstructive edits is becoming overwhelming (I'm talking about things like adding unreferenced material despite numerous entreaties not to, people changing contestant heights willy nilly, putting in unsourced contestants and dates etc). I've been trying to keep a handle on it, and User:Angelo De La Paz has been useful but its just becoming too frustrating because its so constant, and the number of reversions is just ridiculous. I know that semi-protecting in this sort of circumstance is a grey area but for the integrity of the article I've finally given in and thought I'd see whether it was possible. I'm under no illusion that it will fix all the problems, but it might take some of the pressure off. As well, its only going to get worse with the delegates arriving in a month. Cheers PageantUpdater talk • contribs  02:54, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Sure.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Cheers, thanks :) PageantUpdater talk • contribs  03:47, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Possible for FAC?
Hi Blnguyen,

It's been quite a while you probably last heard from me. ;) I'm thinking of trying to salvage a near-condemned article and will need a favour from you. Odex's actions against file-sharing was previously shot down by FAC and GAC due to various reasons and I don't know whether all the criticisms thrusted at it were legitimate, and if it's worth to salvage the article and be able to pass it through FAC again. I will need some further assistance per Tony1 to have a second or third opinion on the copyediting state of the article if it's going to stand any chance for FAC. (my grammar can be atrocious at times!). Apologies for the long rambling and g'day! - Best regards, Mailer Diablo 18:19, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, I can't see any inherent problem why it can't be FA if it is copyedited, so I guess it boils down to whether you think the toil is worth it. I suppose I do take FA more seriously than most.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 03:23, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Ode
Want to do something exciting?

Do some citing!

Or if you'd rather be a doormat,

You could always fix some formats.

I'd certainly be grateful,

And it would be jolly fateful,

If Bradman won back his star,

That he lost at FAR.

Cheers, --Dweller (talk) 13:13, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
 * It used to be an FA? Pity about Phanto.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 02:20, 15 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Let's focus on the future... tons of work to do. Hint hint. --Dweller (talk) 13:42, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Sure, teh library should fix this up pretty soon. Did you remove any of the info from WP or is some of the stuff in daughter articles. I hope we didn't slaughter any info completely from WP.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 07:35, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
 * In this round, I've not yet removed anything much, other than the massive list of ELs I've posted to the article talk page. --Dweller (talk) 06:58, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Vietnam War
Hi Blnguyen

Can I ask you to help with the Vietnam War. It needs some citations for the many fact tags and someone familiar with the topic should be easily capable of doing this. I offer you a virtual truck of bananas in return. ;) Greetings Wandalstouring (talk) 10:39, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Sure I guess, so, although I hardly know much about the VN War. Or any war for that matter. I only started editing MILHIST for general politics and most of my articles on military history are more about politics and such forth.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 07:35, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

William Trueheart
I noticed you added "William Trueheart" to Wikipedia last fall. I have a wealth of information on this fellow, as he was my father. I can provide you with a few missing tidbits but I don't really know how to edit some of the fields. For instance, his dates: 1918-1992. Woodlore (talk) 02:35, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, that's great to have you, although by WP:V and WP:RS the information needs to have been published in the third-party reliable source, so you can't add info that is not documented but only known through personal experience.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 02:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

No problem. Most of what I know about his professional life is from published histories, Senate testimony, and the NYT archive anyhow. Woodlore (talk) 02:13, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Salman Khan‎
hello. i hope it won't be necessary to engage in a pointless contest over this, but one needn't be convicted. he caused the death of someone...whether he was convicted of a crime or not is of no consequence. per wp:blp: ''Category names do not carry disclaimers or modifiers, so the case for the category must be made clear by the article text. The article must state the facts that result in the use of the category tag and these facts must be sourced.'' all requirements are satisfied. --emerson7 06:55, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, but we do not put people in categories for murderers unless they have been convicted. In this case SK has not been convicted of manslaughter, he has only been arrested.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 02:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Appeal - Please help
It is high time that the abuses against the unjustly banned user "Gibraltarian" were dealt with rationally and fairly. My ban was brought about by a troll user's malicious complaint, and he continually vandalised any words I tried to post in my defence. I appeal to you as Arbcom member to please contact me on a_gibraltarian@hotmail.com to discuss the matter.

This is a massive injustice, and only allows others to continue to assert factually incorrect, maliscious, offensive and POV items about my country.

Many thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.120.246.83 (talk) 15:25, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Congratulations Jack Marsh
Once again. Graham Colm Talk 20:48, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Seconded -- Mattinbgn\talk 00:45, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Thankyou again for the help kind gentlemen,  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 02:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Kazi Nazrul Islam
Hi Blnguyen - as you are a key contributor to this article, I would like to like to inform you of the changes I've made. Please don't take offense at the removal of data. My reasoning is this - speaking in context of the overall article, why risk removal of FA status. Its a subject on which there doesn't seem to be as many sources available. As a solution, I don't see why we can't just remove the non-essential sentences/facts without due citations - none of them seem critical or vital to the article. It won't diminish, as it doesn't seem people here can find any better literature. And is it worth risking the status of the overall article over those non-essential sentences? I don't think so. To be sure, I've left those alone which I felt were of some importance. Regards,  Vishnava talk  12:45, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh, no feel free to edit. I don't have a strong opinion or enough knowledge to comment on the content too much, as long as opinion and subjective comments are attributed accordingly.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

70.243.80.195
Does this mean that the IP address in question is a sock of the banned User:Ekajati? And if there is any possibility that User:Rosencomet is a sock of both, I assume that fact (or non-fact) will make itself known? Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 14:11, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah, Ek's been using it that's for sure. But Rosencomet is in another part of the US.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Request for help
Hi Blnguyen, a few years ago you contacted me, offering to help and asking if I would be interested in joining the WikiProject Adelaide project. I am now at the stage where I think I need help to further develop my skills on Wikipedia and would like some assistance to do so. I also have an idea on how I could help to with the Adelaide project. Could you please contact me and let my know how I can go further on this site. Marionlad —Preceding comment was added at 11:39, 24 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, there's lots of ways. I guess if you travel around the city you can take pictures of random streetscapes and schools and put them in the relevant suburb articles. And of course heaps of articles could do with infoboxes. But there isn't any projkect leader to instruct people to do any tasks, you can add whatever is of interest as long as it conforms with Wikipedia policies. But at WP:ADEL there is a list of tasks that variuos people have compiled.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Full protection
Hi there! I've had got some headaches and stressed in some days because some problems with User:Saimdusan in Buddhism by country and Religion in China. If you can so please block it for a month. You could see its Talk Page and history section and you will know why it should be block. And please open your mail box too, I've just sent you a private e-mail. Thank you so much and best wishes to you. Have you got a nice birthday?Angelo De La Paz (talk) 03:13, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * The first one doesn't seem to have an edit war and I am already participating in teh second one so I can't lock it. I've noted the mail.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

can't see which FAC you're referring to
No link ... TONY  (talk)  17:55, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Request for Mediation: John Howard
Hello. A request for mediation has been lodged for the John Howard article, concerning whether information about an incident between John Howard and Barack Obama should be included or deleted from the article. The link for the RfM is Requests_for_mediation/John_Howard. The issue is still being discussed on the article talk page. Please go to the RfM page and list whether you agree or disagree to be involved in mediation of this issue. Thank you,  Lester  01:45, 27 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Noted.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 02:48, 27 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Hello Blnguyen. My opinion is that we are both involved in the Obama dispute. We both reverted the article. Therefore, we both should be involved in the Request for Mediation. The mediation is an attempt to prevent the issue from escalating at some future time. Regards,  Lester  03:19, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh has been nominated for a featured article review. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. Please leave your comments and help us to return the article to featured quality. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, articles are moved onto the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article from featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Reviewers' concerns are here.  Arman  ( Talk ) 10:31, 27 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Passed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 03:29, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Re: Butterfly Cat
Sorry about that, thanks for letting me know. Im still getting to know all the various guidelines and policies. Ill be sure to read up on them.

Thanks Printer222 (talk) 04:10, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Update
When you update DYK, please upload image. You know the image is vulnerable to vandalism otherwise. --BorgQueen (talk) 05:12, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Noted.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 03:29, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Ron Hamence/Charlie Walker
Ayup, I notice that you mentioned on Charlie Walker (cricketer) that he and Ron Hamence are cousins. Do you have the source for this? --Roisterer (talk) 10:19, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes. "The A-Z of Australian cricket" that I have used in most of my FAs. It's under one of their entries, can't remember which.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 09:44, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Signpost updated for May 19th and 26th, 2008.
You are receiving this message because you have signed up for the Signpost spamlist. If you wish to stop receiving these messages, simply remove your name from the list. Ralbot (talk) 07:06, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Image:IndFA2.jpg listed for deletion
An image or media file that you uploaded or altered, Image:IndFA2.jpg, has been listed at Images and media for deletion. Please see the to see why this is (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry), if you are interested in it not being deleted. Nv8200p talk 02:28, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Noted,  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 03:29, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi
Excuse me, could you tell me how i can put Montenegrian translation of Shah Rukh Khan page on site,(because there arent neihter Serbian, Croatian, or equal language for this page) and also how to add some pictures that are missing for some movies? Thanks. :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gorannk (talk • contribs) 01:05, 24 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, if there isn't any SRK article on the Serb/Croat/Macedonian wiki then you can't really do anything. So you can start by writing an article on SRK on those wikis and then linking them like they do at the bottom by adding the interwiki links. For the pictures from movies, they would be copyrighted and WP:FU - so you need to discuss the pictures in the main bodyso that the picture satisfies WP:FUC - #8 is the main thing - the picture has to add to the readers' understanding. So that aside, you can pull the picture from anywhere that it is available (randomly off the internet).  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Yuvraj Singh
Excuse me Blnguyen, why did you omit the perfectly legitimate changes I made to Yuvraj's Style section? (see Yuvraj article). The previous edition of that section had no actual mention of style apart from mentioning his preference for pace bowling, then goes on to talk about fielding records and attitude problems! Surely my edition was more relevant! Cheers, Chandra —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ozchan (talk • contribs) 00:53, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I have no objection to the content in principle, but you need to find a source so that we know it isn't an orginial analysis per the WP:NOR policy. Please see WP:RS and WP:V. All the best Chandra,  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)