Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Collect and others

Case opened on 20:56, 23 March 2015‎

Case closed on 01:35, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Watchlist all case (and talk) pages: [/index.php?title=&action=watch Front], [/index.php?title=/Evidence&action=watch Ev.], [/index.php?title=/Workshop&action=watch Wshp.], [/index.php?title=/Proposed_decision&action=watch PD.]

Editors should edit the as needed, but the other content of this page may not be edited except by clerks or arbitrators. Please raise any questions about this decision at Arbitration/Requests/Clarification and Amendment, any general questions at Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee, and report violations of the remedies passed in the decision to Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement.

Involved parties

 * , filing party

Prior dispute resolution

 * March 17, 2015: Collect's talk page
 * March 17, 2015: ANI
 * March 16, 2015: ANI
 * March 15, 2015: MrX's talk page
 * February 15, 2015: Collect's talk page
 * December 31, 2014: MrX's talk page
 * May 18, 2009: Declined Arcom case
 * April 15, 2009: RFC/U

Statement by MrX
Collect's contribution history consists of constructive editing overshadowed by a long-term pattern of BATTLEGROUND behavior and Gaming the system. His user page, user talk page, subpages (User:Collect/BLP), and essays such as WP:Mutual admiration society, WP:Sledgehammer, Collect/Pissing on essays one does not like loudly testify to his combative approach. He has an extensive block log for edit warring, and has edit warred other times without consequence. His comments during content disputes are typically acerbic, dismissive, misleading and unyielding. He has misrepresented facts, made WP:POINTY edits , forum shopped/canvassed , made carefully worded personal attacks , and compared editors' contributions with McCarthyism.

Collect persistently claims BLP violations at various fora, but when asked to substantiate his claims, he frequently evades providing straightforward answers, instead weaving convoluted semi-explanations and inapt analogies. Other times he simply doesn't answer legitimate questions. He insists on an unusually high, non-negotiable standards for BLP to including insisting on sources that verify other reliable sources. Many times the concerns are not BLP policy concerns at all. In many BLP/N discussion, consensus found that his assertions of BLP violations were unfounded, yet he often persists in filibustering, forum shopping, and "moving the goal posts". Many of his BLP/N reports involve Ubikwit and apparently arise out a long-term conflict between the two.

There is a theory afloat that editors who have been critical of Collect are trying to eliminate a political opponent. While I acknowledge my own (US) liberal bias, I reject the thought-terminating notion that I, or any other editor, is trying to eliminate political opponents. A small percentage of my edits have been to political articles, but I have worked collaboratively with several conservative-leaning editors on political content (evidence available on request). I have also taken Collect's side on a number of occasions.

Both Fyddlestix and Jbhunley made good faith efforts to request that the community examine Collect's conduct (not content) at ANI, with abundant evidence. Unfortunately they were attacked as POV pushers and radicals, and the complaint was closed after eleven hours by an administrator.

We no longer have RFC/U. The extensive history, lack of receptiveness to discussion by Collect, and the dysfunctional environment at ANI, suggests that Arbcom is the last and only resort for a fair examination of Collect's conduct.

Dear ODear ODear/'s conduct should also be scrutinized for unnecessarily inflaming disputes with comments like this.

(Note: I have included editors involved in the recent content dispute related to Project for the New American Century, however several of these users are not parties to the longer term conduct issues involving Collect.)


 * I'm hesitant to provide detailed clarifications for each diff because of the 500 word limit, and perhaps it should occur in the evidence phase anyway. It is almost impossible to understand the WP:GAME issues without reading the entire threads.- MrX 22:12, 18 March 2015 (UTC)


 * (and others): This case has nothing to do with merits of the list article that was brought to AfD. Had I cared enough to research the subject more thoroughly, I'm almost certain that I would have voted to delete it as an undesirable POV fork. The issue at hand is a pattern of user conduct over a long period of time. That some of the above diffs relate to the AfD discussion is merely because they are the most recent and coincide with my perception that Collect's conduct has reached a tipping point.- MrX 23:41, 18 March 2015 (UTC)


 * @Courcelles: The case proposed is about Collect's long-term conduct, not politics, and not every editor under the sun. The other parties listed should be removed from the case if it is accepted.- MrX 02:36, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Collect
OK -- see Articles_for_deletion/List_of_PNAC_Members_associated_with_the_Administration_of_George_W._Bush

Which is the actual sum total of the actual complaint here. See whether my position appears to be supported by consensus or whether the position of the complainants on that issue have been supported by community consensus. Note the amount of support for SYNTH and/or BLP issues being clear.

Note that I have been subjected to multiple AN/I threads - all having the same basic complaints and all having the same basic population.

Note that I had an SPI complaint - involving some of the same basic population.

Note that I have been Harassed repeatedly - including a "new section" on my user talk page:

Is Florida a "fringe" state filled with fringe politicians who believe in fringe ideas?

I am getting rather tired of all this stuff, the overt repeated attacks on me, and the absurd SPI complaint, etc. I provide no evidence - the evidence is around you - look at the remarks pasted concerning me by the same small group of editors. I make no complaint here about them - such statements as they make will likely duplicate statements made over and over in the belief of "proof by iteration" alas. But when a single editor posts over 40K of "complaints" about me personally in under three weeks, I think I should be terse indeed.

See  with the close: ''Querulous complaint remitted to AfD and WP:DR if the OP refuses to drop the stick after that. Guy (Help!) 12:59, 17 March 2015 (UTC)''

Followed by a demand for a ban -- and this response: ''Oppose this sanction, support application of the WP:TROUT to the filing party. You want measured in-depth conversation? ANI is the last place you should go. And actually I think you know that perfectly well and are banking on the WP:BOOMERANG not coming back your way. Guy (Help!) 23:17, 17 March 2015 (UTC) ''  and multiple agreements on that.

This current action is "vexatious litigation" and possibly harassment to boot. Kindly deal as needed. Collect (talk) 21:10, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Oh -- for the claim I accused others of McCarthyism - the only salient quote of mine I could find was
 * To the extent that it intrinsically and deliberately violates multiple policies, it should not be "merged" but should be salted thoroughly. A neighbor of my aunt was caught up in McCarthyism, I see no reason to endorse that same logic today. It is noted that personal anecdotes have no relationship to policy, and at least one editor interprets this as attacking him personally, even though it was given only to show my personal state of mind about such SYNTH usage Collect (talk) 14:55, 14 March 2015 (UTC) (emended to make clear the personal issue I have was historical, and not a personal accusation in any way, shape or form, about any editor on Wikipedia using such WP:SYNTH as such) Collect (talk) 11:58, 18 March 2015 (UTC)   MrX seems to think my reasonable animus to what happened to a friend of a relative is in any way an attack on current editors.  It is not, and was not, such. Collect (talk) 21:16, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

By the way, I shall limit my entire participation to my comments above in the belief that any further engagement on the PNAC BLP/SYNTH is not salubrious for Wikipedia. Let the AfD be settled, and let everyone abide by that result in peace. Collect (talk) 21:26, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Um -- Viriditas is the precise person who proposed calling Florida a "fringe state" and otherwise harassed me - and had been instructed to not do so in future. For him or her to assert he or she is "uninvolved" is a long stretch indeed. Administrators%27_noticeboard/IncidentArchive877 closed all of 9 days ago - which I suspect is telling about the harassment problem. Collect (talk) 23:11, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

I ask each "essay" be examined and discussed individually.

Also that the claims that my positions are politically biased be checked by actual examination of edits in context and not by "diffs", and examination of all the BLPs I have edited, and not by measuring repetition of accusations.

Again, I specifically decline to participate in a witch-hunt, and ask that the arbitrators examine all of my essays de novo, and not based on iterated opinions but on the original evidence. I feel I have been a net asset to Wikipedia, and that my removal will not in any way benefit the project, but that is my personal opinion only. If you feel that the project benefits from my departure, then that is the right of the committee.

For form's sake, I specifically ask that the committee examine the Editor Interaction tool results to see whether I have been "chasing" anyone at all over four thousand and more pages, and whether any editors providing comments have been, instead, chasing me. Also I suggest a general CU to ensure that all participants are, indeed, separate individuals as a matter of form rather than as any accusation of multiple personas.

I ask that my list of blocks presented on my talk page be examined, with findings made on each block, as that appears to be one issue at hand. Any improper or marginal blocks should be then discounted.

I ask that the partial list of articles edited from my user page be examined to see how widespread any problems actually are out of several thousand articles.

Again I trust my requests will be met as otherwise there is to be no evidence at all to be presented by me, other than the words I have already written and my deeds already done.

I have been through this sort of witch hunt before when Ikip front-loaded an RFC/U with fourteen CANVASSed editors, and I do not care - just ask that the process be based on full and complete examination of my edits. I am currently beset on multiple sides - and some Arbs already do have possession of the Harassment evidence.

These should not be onerous requests as otherwise I shall be mute. As such is the case, I am done with this case, come what will. Here I stand. Collect (talk) 11:52, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Fyddlestix
I have gone into depth on this in the past here here and here. I thought it might be helpful to tell how I (as a relative neophyte) first encountered Collect:

I had no prior experience of Collect, Ubikwit, or the PNAC page prior to stumbling across these edits by Collect: 1234 5. This looked to me like WP:POINT and edit warring, so I tried to offer a compromise. Ubikwit responded nicely enough but I inferred that neither editor was going to be much interested in cleaning up the article, which was in a bad state.

I started some cleanup, but when I removed the 9/11 junk Collect replied to my talk page post, reinserted the questionable quote (which, by my count, 3 other editors had deemed wholly out of place in the article). I replied on the talk page with what I feel was a reasonable, well-thought out response, and removed the quote a second time, taking care to first add new, well-sourced text which I hoped might satisfy Collect.

Collect has treated me as an enemy ever since. He immediately filed this RFC, which as I told him, mischaracterized my position (but linked my edit). He refused to re-word it.

Since then I have observed that Collect sometimes calls for reinforcements on unrelated pages, and often cries "SYNTH" and "BLP" in situations where the violation is unclear. He refuses to reply when cornered with a request for specifics, only to reopen the debate elsewhere. Note those 2 diffs are exactly a month apart, and that the same issue is being discussed. Collect never replied to either post, but a day after the second one he did go to Jimmy Wales' UT page and posted the claim that the table was SYNTH again, without notifying any of the other parties in the debate. He then proceeded to badly mischaracterize the people debating him and his own actions. here for example he claims a group of us had "brought him" to drama boards, but Collect is the one who has made the most "board" posts by far: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. I made one.

The final straw for me, however was his suggestion that this was my "preferred" version of the PNAC article. This is a blatant falsehood, and Collect knows that - I've done more into improve that article than anyone else in recent weeks, removing much of the material that Collect himself objected to. I know that Collect knows this, because he thanked me for my edits. Yet now he accuses me of wanting to reverse my own edits, and to restore content which he knows I oppose.

Please Note that this drama and Collect's conduct issues long predate the AFD that I and others have been accused of trying to influence by making this complaint. The article @ AFD was created, I think, to bring an end to the conflict that started here one way or another. Fyddlestix (talk) 04:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Apologies if this puts me over my (heretofore carefully adhered to) word count, but briefly: Dear ODear's suggestion that this is about blaming PNAC for the Iraq War, or about unjustly labeling people "neoconservatives," as well as MONGO's suggestion that this is some kind of "radical" liberal crusade against collect are wholly without basis, and I will/would challenge them to produce diffs to back up their statements. Heck, I can't think of/remember a single other article in the American politics area that I'd edited before stumbling into this PNAC mess. My edits have also always been sourced with RS (usually academic monographs/journals), and been consistent with what the literature shows. Allegations of a relation to the Iraq war have always been clearly labelled as third party opinions, and countered through reference to literature that dismisses those assertions. PNAC was labelled neocon because an overwhelming majority of RS on the subject do the same.
 * If Collect is eventually found to have engaged in unacceptable behavior, I hope you will also take a glance at the people who have been constantly enabling and defending that behavior, despite it often being (in my opinion) clearly unacceptable. Fyddlestix (talk) 12:49, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Jbhunley
I wrote up the basics on my complaint in this [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&diff=prev&oldid=651792540 ANI post]. The ANI that material was meant for was closed in a matter of hours. I will break out highlights as time permits. I do not know how long I have to write my statement and I want to get this material in before it closes. I entered in to this at the [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons/Noticeboard&diff=prev&oldid=646451371 1st BLPN thread on Feb 10]. [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Project_for_the_New_American_Century&diff=649569512&oldid=649565293 My first edit to PNAC talk page March 2 2015]. [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project_for_the_New_American_Century&diff=649876172&oldid=649875584 My first edit to PNAC article March 04 2015]. My only other extended interaction with was a collegial discussion on his talk page starting [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Collect&diff=649701780&oldid=649689429 Mar 3]   Jbh (talk) 00:12, 19 March 2015 (UTC)  So I have no history of conflict with  or in this topic. Jbh (talk) 23:24, 18 March 2015 (UTC) Some particularly bad comments by A good example of some of the issues - from a post at AfD - "While this is ongoing, and an AN/I thread is ongoing, this has been filed Arbitration/Requests/Case. 'May we live in interesting times' - but the primary bone of contention appears to be whether the material in this list violates WP:BLP, WP:SYNTH, or any of the other reasons presented above which, at this point, I daresay agrees with my basic stance. As it is thus intimately connected to this precise AfD, it seems proper to tell folks here about it. Cheers to all. Collect (talk) 5:45 pm, Today (UTC−4)[//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/List_of_PNAC_Members_associated_with_the_Administration_of_George_W._Bush&diff=651986542&oldid=651967320]" I see no congruence between the above statement and the request made here by. Jbh (talk) 00:36, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Reply to - Not offended by the WP:TROUT. Tastes a bit like crow though. Jbh (talk) 23:27, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
 * [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/List_of_PNAC_Members_associated_with_the_Administration_of_George_W._Bush&diff=651372752&oldid=651372356 The purpose of this article is not to simply list people which is already done in the parent article, it is to connect them to the Bush administration per se, and to link them to a purported conspiracy to cause the Iraq War. ] - Imputing I had a bad motive for creating article.
 * After telling Collect that personal anecdotes (about McCarthyism) are not a useful argument in AfD - [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/List_of_PNAC_Members_associated_with_the_Administration_of_George_W._Bush&diff=651465500&oldid=651465006 Is your argument actually serious- or just meant to demean those who actually seek to avoid the errors of the past?] Some other references to McCarthyism, , , , , and This is no longer analogy it is an attempt to frame the debate and conflate other editors with McCarthyism.
 * 's claim [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=651209511&oldid=651202714 "Apparently some feel compelled to point out its evility...] when paired with this, in reply to a question of [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=651339629&oldid=651335033 Whose idea was it, anyway?], [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=651341928&oldid=651339629 Ubikwit, Jbhunley, Fyddlestix, MrX mainly. A few others join in from point to point.] - All of the editors mentioned were mentioned in   not code that would generate notifications and they had not been notified the thread was open. Jbh (talk) 23:46, 18 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Reply to    Jbh (talk) 02:33, 19 March 2015 (UTC)  - My opinion is that we need to focus on the behavior issues of . In my short interaction with him I have found that the behavior which is frustrating but OK in a user talk conversation with no import is extremely disruptive when trying to improve the encyclopedia. I have found that once he takes a position there is no compromise and no consensus is accepted unless it is his consensus. I have found no way to break through this. Sources are discounted or not addressed. Nothing will change his position, he keeps repeating hypotheticals and will not detail his actual complaint. When asked "What, precisely, do you consider to be SYNTH in this situation? What information do you want the sources to include so it will not, in your opinion be SYNTH? He simply disengages from the dispute resolution forum he started. " [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons/Noticeboard/Archive217#Project_for_the_New_American_Century] Only to bring the exact same issue up [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Project_for_the_New_American_Century#Synthetic_table.2C_poorly_sourced again], and [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Project_for_the_New_American_Century#Collect.27s_wholesale_removal_of_long-standing.2C_well-sourced_material again] and [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons/Noticeboard#PNAC_Bush_List again]. This last one caused me to create, out of shear frustration at his unwillingness to engage in collaboritive editing, the article which ended up at [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/List_of_PNAC_Members_associated_with_the_Administration_of_George_W._Bush AfD] and precipitated the [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents#Collect ANI complaint] which led to this Arbcom request.  To fail to address the behavioral issues would, in my opinion, simply push the problem into the future and result in ongoing damage to the creation of the encyclopedia. If American Politics needs to be addressed I request it be considered a seperate issue. This is a behavior issue not a content issue. Thank you for your consideration. Jbh (talk) 02:28, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Reply to  I have seen no statements or implications of PNAC "causing" the Iraq war in the time I have been editing in this subject area. Diffs, I believe, should be provided for such accusations so as to avoid taring all with the same brush. Also you should note that was blocked for that same week  was. While I have not always agreed with and often vehemently disagreed with  I have found them open to compromise and I can have an intellectually honest discussion with them about the sources. Jbh (talk) 11:49, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Reply to  - In response to your email now provided to ArbCom  - feel free to search through my contributions.  has said he will do the same thing [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Collect&diff=651797569&oldid=651797370] but did not offer a way to avoid it happening. It also makes me reconsider my opinion on this [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&diff=651815823&oldid=651814003] issue of threats I thought was closed. Jbh (talk) 18:16, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by MastCell
I think that there is a long-term, ongoing behavioral issue with Collect which warrants review by ArbCom. Briefly, by way of background:
 * Collect has racked up 8 blocks for edit-warring, each time on a politically charged and ideologically divisive topic. (One of these was overturned by consensus, and on many other occasions he was unblocked early with a promise to behave).
 * His block log understates the degree of edit-warring, as he has been let off with warnings for additional 3RR violations and instances of unrepentant edit-warring (e.g. here).
 * In the Tea Party case, Collect was identified as being excessively dismissive and inflammatory in his interactions with other editors, and was topic-banned for 6 months as a result.
 * Since the expiration of his topic ban, Collect's edit-warring has ramped up, most recently leading to a week-long block this month.
 * , the admin who placed the most recent edit-warring block on Collect, wrote:


 * ... which I view as a good summary of Collect's pattern of problematic behavior and which, I think, will be detailed if or when a case is opened.


 * Collect's approach to content disputes is fundamentally maddening and uncollaborative. He habitually misrepresents sources, refuses to engage other editors' arguments, employs strawmen, and stonewalls rather than admit error.
 * Collect presents himself as a stalwart defender of WP:BLP. I think he misuses this policy opportunistically to excuse his own edit-warring and applies it thoughtlessly and carelessly. I will also (if this case is accepted) present at least 2 egregious BLP violations committed by Collect, which I cleaned up, and for which he refused to take responsibility. In general, I think he lacks an understanding of the letter and the spirit of BLP and his focus on this policy, while not always misguided, has done more harm than good.

At a minimum, I think there is evidence here to suggest that this is an editor with a history of suboptimal behavior (as identified and sanctioned previously by ArbCom) and a long-standing and escalating habit of edit-warring on ideologically charged topics. I think a case should be opened, because there is no other venue to deal with disruptive behavior from long-term, established editors. As should be evident from the statements here, this dispute is quite heated and involves a number of established editors. If not addressed, it will continue to fester and harm the encyclopedia. I think the charge of "forum-shopping" is sort of ridiculous, since with the closure of WP:RFC/U, there is no other forum to address such issues. MastCell Talk 00:06, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by MONGO
Collect has been the object of attention by those that disagree with his politics for some time now and it is high time the witch hunt, baiting, harassment and personal attacks against him are put to an end. I have limited time to provide evidence for several days but will add at least one additional party to this case at that time.--MONGO 22:14, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

I expect this case to be accepted and will resume adding diffs of named parties during the evidence stage.--MONGO , my argument is that Collect has been hounded, baited and harassed by multiple editors, which are named. There are likely others, so while it may appear to be about politics, its about harassment by a clique that want to eliminate Collect because he makes it more difficult for them to violate BLP and misuse this website to POV push.--MONGO 02:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Diff showing complaint about Viriditas harassing Collect--MONGO 00:47, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * personal attack against me by Viriditas
 * Viriditas warning to cease hounding me which happened in this thread
 * MrX badgering JzG about closing a complaint about Collect in section "Your ANI close" MrX accuses Collect of forum shopping then proceeds to say he's taking further action (aka forum shopping) and finishes by insulting me after I advise him and others to disengage.
 * Here, while successful, it should be noted that MrX has just recently asked for sanctions against another editor that is not liberal.
 * MrX defends an editor with a similar political outlook to his own, even though that editor was using less then sensational references to support a sensational claim on a BLP. That same editor that MrX was defending has been blocked five times in the last year. Why is MrX so happy to defend what appears to be nothing more than a troublesome editor, but wants to come after Collect, over and over. Its really pretty easy to see the issue here if anyone looks at it with NPOV and justice in mind.
 * In this discussion Collect is questioning the supporting evidence for labelling a BLP subject as a neoconservative or neocon. As I stated in the subsection that follows, liberals like to toss that label around like an epithet. Collect recognizes that as well and is in disagreement with Ubikwit who is searching for more evidence to support that label. Point is, since Ubikwit is liberal and liberals toss that label around like an epithet, the issue is that it becomes a BLP violation in the context it is being used. The talkpage is bogged down with liberals trying to figure out a way to discredit the BLP subject and little or no discussion about how to improve the rest of the article.
 * I resent Ubikwit's commentary that I was trolling him as he makes below. I queried him why he, a liberal, is interested in only adding negative information to a BLP on a conservative. The entire talk page on that article is littered with repeated efforts by Ubikwit to find ways to disparage that subject. It's actually very ugly that he has no other apparent interest in that article. I referenced this in my last comment. Why does the website allow this misuse of BLP to stand. He has no business behaving in this manner on any BLP, and his block log seems to indicate this.
 * Ubikwit has resorted to once again labeling my sincerely questioning as "trolling". An injunction may be needed in this matter.

The case should be about Collect and those that have been in disagreements with him. If we have had two other arbcom cases then no reason for a third if DS can be implemented. Why is arbcom creating more work for everyone?--MONGO 00:06, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Still cannot understand why the need for an American Politics case overall. Especially difficult to grasp why we toss in Tea Party and Gun Control...why not also include Climate Change, alledged Police Militarization, the Occupy Movement and every other hit button topic. If you want a secondary case, then make it about BLP, and use it to implement BLP bans on editors that edit BLPs of persons they disagree with and filibuster adding only negative stuff to those articles.--MONGO 19:36, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Ubikwit
I'm going to keep this brief by incorporating the pertinent matter from a recently declined request I filed here involving Collect. I agree with Floquenbeam and NE Ent regarding the scope of the case. I also think that the preventative measures implemented should include the imposition of discretionary sanctions across the entirety of American politics. The current status of only have recourse to AN/I seems to be too permissive and some editors take that as a license for abuse, and groups can game that system. In addition to the mention I made at the recently closed An\N/I of Collect's complaining about my edits at the PNAC article to, including the expected unsubstantiated claims of BLP violations, etc:
 * PNAC
 * "PNAC: FGS do something"
 * "PNAC: and yes - he keeps on!"
 * Only one other editor commented in that thread“Yup” He also tried to provoke me at another article to which he followed my edits, and then complained to here.
 * -- Ubikwit  連絡見学/迷惑 03:58, 19 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Even with this request under consideration, has tried to troll bait and provoke me with personal attacks, etc.,  at a page he's not been active on before.
 * Note that I do not recall having interacted with MONGO significantly on any article on Wikipedia.
 * Accordingly, while I think that the central issue of the case should be Collect's conduct, the question as to the scope of the case may require some deliberation so as not to be overly constrained, yet not unwieldy. Incorporating "Neoconservativism", as per 's suggestion might accommodate that. Perhaps something along the lines of "American Politics III, User:Collect and Neoconservativism, broadly construed".
 * I understand that the scope of Collect's misconduct would thereby be constrained, but there is no doubt sufficient misconduct there to keep the Committee busy for a month or two.-- Ubikwit  連絡見学/迷惑 06:49, 19 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Just a note that I've seen the statement of, and would reiterate that many of the RfC's started by Collect at various venues have been pointy diversions from the task of drafting wording corresponding to reliably sourced statements and the positions described thereby. I believe that the misrepresentations of my edits by LM2000's statement have been adequately addressed in other threads, including (Sam Harris AN/I 2), so I won't go through that again here. Suffice it to say, that insofar as the political implications of the writings and public statements of Sam Harris have resulted in his being described as espousing right-wing, neoconservative views, etc., the material falls under the scope of American politics.-- Ubikwit  連絡見学/迷惑 03:39, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Note on scope If two cases are to be opened and one is to be on American politics, broadly construed, then it would seem that practically the entirety of the case I requested with respect to the problems on the Sam Harris article should be addressed. Aside from adding LM2000 as a party, others would certainly include, etc. It would have been preventative to have dealt with the issues then, but here we are again with an even bigger problem. Although this request was filed against Collect, a couple of editors are trying to make a scapegoat of me, diverting from the egregious misconduct of Collect. Accordingly, there would seem to be further issues regarding delimiting the parties of the second case that the Committee has to deliberate. Aside from Mongo's personal attacks and inflammatory remarks trolling, has also appeared out of the blue at a couple of articles/talk pages and edited in a disruptive manner. I should note that he was also a party to the Tea Party case, but dropped out of sight during the case, and avoided sanctions. Then, he shows up at another article he'd never edited, as follows. Lastly, If Collect is not to be named as a party in the second case, that might save work for him, but will probably result in increasing the burden on me, and my conduct is not the subject of this request, though many of Collect's partisan collaborators are trying to make it one. That would result in a patently an unacceptable demand on my time. And I repeat, I am not the subject of this request. Therefore, I'm going to have to insist that my concerns be taken into consideration as well. -- Ubikwit  連絡見学/迷惑 04:55, 20 March; 15:41, 26 March 2015 (UTC) OK, I've added the diffs, and submit that the editing of Mongo and Capitalismojo (most of it after this request was underway) is representative of a group dynamic among partisans that edit paying no attention to the sources in a manner focused on "the opponent" and attempting to obstruct the introduction of all sourced content that they find negative with respect to their ideology and associated figures.
 * 1)
 * 2) After I reply “WP:NOTBATTLE”, he thanked me and deleted offending material, then I thanked him.
 * 1) first ever edit here, no participation in discussion/RfC at Talk, but moves sentence from lead, questions whether it is due at all
 * 2) apparently hasn’t read the sources and doesn’t even understand that the letter was not a personal letter, yet claims text is pointy and tendentious, after acknowledging that the sentence inserted by Collect “looks inane”, and doesn't respond to replies by JBH and me.

And one other point, though I haven't been around here long enough to have the perspective of, among the administrators here, the use of the tools by could use scrutiny, particularly with respect to User:Is not a/User:Dear ODear ODear, whom was indeffed as a result of this AN/I I filed. MastCell revealed his partisan sympathies with this comment Ubikwit has edit-warred to restore extremely dubious external links, while Collect has repeated unsubstantiated and irresponsible accusations of anti-Semitism against Ubikwit. There was an open RfC on one link and the claim of edit warring questionableas I described here in reply, and that was closed in favor of restoring the link, a tertiary source without a single objectionable source linked in it. There was nothing "extremely dubious" about that link, or the other one, for that matter. I don't care what MastCell's politics are, only that they maintain their bias(pov) within NPOV an in relation to the sources, like everyone else, and not denigrate (in this case, a form of misrepresentation as "not RS") sources they don't agree with when making an administrative statement.

It would seem to me that such act facilitated the continual disruption at the same articles/topics, when a topic ban proposal would seem to have been in order, because it is not clear why he would acknowledge misconduct but then state, in a manner such as to preempt even the pursuit of a topic ban, etc., "the owner of the account is free to use his or her main account if s/he wishes to contribute to contentious topics"(same diff). Moreover, the account under which the user resumed editing has few edits, while the editor earlier demonstrated substantial Wikipedia knowledge, and had refused to respond to a question I posed at his UT page as to the existence of a possible COI. I understand that there is a disclosure system regarding alternative accounts so as to protect privacy, but that seems subject to being abused/gamed. In this case, it resulted in a second SPI being filed against the same user, wasting everybody's time, basically, yet MastCell was not around to perform any preemptive administrative action to prevent that in relation to the user that had apparently pre-disclosed to him. In short, I'm not sure whether he abused the tools, but his actions as an administrator in that case--as well as in at least one other mentioned in the request for arbitration I filed (he closed an AN/I thread on Collect prematurely, perhaps)--bears scrutiny.-- Ubikwit  連絡見学/迷惑 10:59, 20 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Note, I am aware that my statement exceeds the limit, but there seems to be no alternative in addressing the proposed scope of the(se) cases due to the obvious extenuating circumstances, including the request I filed a short while ago that was declined but is now being reintroduced in conjunction with the extraordinary suggestion of opening two overlapping, related cases in parallel, etc. Of course, I will reduce the text upon request by the Committee.-- Ubikwit  連絡見学/迷惑 15:16, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Volunteer Marek
Broadly speaking I'm uninvolved here, although of course being active on Wikipedia I've ran across a few of the people listed above.

With respect to MrX's statement about Collect, frankly, I think it is ridiculous to single out some essays someone has written (and AFAICT, misrepresent them) as a basis for an ArbCom case request. Even without reading further into MrX's statement that right there raises red flags about MrX's good faith. THAT kind of manipulative behavior is an example of battleground mentality, not the mere fact that someone wrote some essay that someone else doesn't like. I also think that the accusation that Collect "insists on an unusually high, non-negotiable standards for BLP" is... an unintentional compliment. We probably need more of that not less. The rest of the initial statement by MrX appears to be fairly standard Wikipedia style mud slinging where some fairly innocuous diffs and somewhat irate statements are presented as if they were "teh worst thing ever!!!!". It's hyperbole meant to appeal to emotion and prejudice, rather than a well substantiated request.

With respect to Dear ODear ODear's statement above, I roughly agree. My interactions with Ubikwit have been unpleasant to say the least, and I do think that user has a serious problem when it comes to, at least, Kagan and Nuland (as I'm not really active in Israel-Palestine topics, I can't comment more broadly), and yes, they do dance right on, if not over the BLP line. Volunteer Marek (talk) 22:06, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Request for greater clarity, from non-party Writegeist
Mr X, without commenting on the merits of the requested case itself, I'm finding it a little difficult to match some of your comments precisely to the diffs provided in support. E.g. re. Collect misrepresenting facts: can you be more specific about the particular facts misrepresented according to diffs 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27? Similarly with the diffs 45, 46, and 47 re. filibustering, forum shopping, and "moving the goal posts"—would you be willing to give more clarity here? And also as you may deem necessary elsewhere? Thank you. Writegeist (talk) 21:49, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

I don't quite see how anyone can disagree with the politics of a user who not only appears at articles on people, organizations, issues, and so on (there used to be list at his user page, which may or may not still be present there) that span just about the entire political spectrum, but who also periodically issues vehement denials of any particular bias. Reading the request for this case one can see that it was very clearly prompted, rightly or wrongly, by disagreement with behaviors, i.e. the perceived battleground mentality, system-gaming, edit-warring, dismissiveness, misrepresentations, insinuations, pointiness, personal attacks, evasions, straw men, and misuses of BLP policy, etc.; behaviors which, if long-term, ongoing, and corroborated by evidence, another user might reasonably view as sufficiently tendentious and disruptive to warrant Arbcom action. Writegeist (talk) 23:26, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by mostly uninvolved Gaijin42
Only involvement was commenting at the AFD. Somethign to criticize all around, but this does seem a bit like forum shopping in the face of a fairly strong consensus against the filing party's argument, especially in light of the multiple other venues that have been tried recently by various participants.

I suggest that this case should be declined and the PNAC and related articles be placed under DS per WP:ARBAPDS. The continued issues (if any) could then be dealt with swiftly by normal admin processes or WP:AE. Gaijin42 (talk) 22:00, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by uninvolved A1candidate
I consider myself to be uninvolved in this particular dispute, but I note the following points:

1) Administrator JzG closed the ANI thread before the community had much of a chance to participate

2) Administrator JzG contributed to the inflammatory environment by demanding "application of the WP:TROUT to the filing party" "; this statement is likely to further offend the filing party.

3) When asked to clarify his actions, administrator JzG bluntly dismissed the filing party's case as "a rallying cry to attract supporters"

This administrator has shown similar patterns of WP:BATTLEGROUND conduct in many other disputes. He also uses abusive language and invokes his admin status to silence other editors. He bites the newcomers, attacks other editors by labelling them "apologist" in the edit summary and accuses them of being "quackery supporters". I think it is time for the Committee to take action.

Statement by Cla68
There has been ongoing battle between two loosely associated groups of editors in WP for years. One side appears to favor left-wing/liberal, environmental, anti-religion, dogmatic western science/medicine activism, and the other is more right-wing/conservative/libertarian, pro-free market capitalism, religion, and theistic science. Several of the names listed above are heavily involved in one side or the other, including several admins who really don't hide very well that they are trying to support one of group of editors using their admin privileges. If the ArbCom and all the editors involved are up to it, why not get this all out in the open now and get this area cleaned up? The constant conflicts and POV-pushing by these groups of editors, many of them long-time, heavily involved participants here, is one of the main reasons, IMO, that WP has had such a hard time recruiting new volunteers the last few years. Cla68 (talk) 22:54, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by uninvolved Viriditas
I wholeheartedly support Gaijin42's proposal above; please decline this case and place the relevant articles under DS per WP:ARBAPDS. I've actually been discussing this very proposal for several months. It seems that several of the editors named as involved are getting more and more disruptive in the American politics topic area. Collect's behavior on the PNAC articles as described above seems to be very similar to MONGO's on American Sniper (see his talk page contribs), and when MONGO was recently brought to ANI, the closing admin said, "If there is a long term pattern of abuse, as they seem to allege, it would probably be best dealt with at arbitration." I would like to suggest that what we need here is strict arbcom enforcement in the American politics topic area, particularly in regards to Collect and MONGO, who seem to be engaging in disruption in this topic area at this time. Viriditas (talk) 23:09, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

I am very confused about how a reference to a news story breaking that day about how Florida has "banned" any discussion of climate change by scientists in their state, amounts to "harassment" of your person. And when even mainstream Time magazine acknowledges that the GOP is "fringe", your claim of harassment becomes even more strained. If you're not a senator or the governor of Florida, how can I be "harassing" you? Facts may be funny things, but they are not "harassment" of any kind. I should point out that according to WP:AOHA, "making accusations of harassment can be inflammatory...It can be seen as a personal attack if harassment is alleged without clear evidence that the others' action is actually harassment." Viriditas (talk) 23:21, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

your notion of "involved" is unusual. I am not involved in any of the disputes listed above, nor have I touched any of these articles or their talk pages or the relevant content dispute noticeboards. You falsely claimed I "harassed" you during a discussion on your talk page that has absolutely nothing to do with this topic. Viriditas (talk) 23:50, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Capitalismojo
Suggest a decline.

I have, I think, gotten along fairly well with Mr.X, but I find this an unhelpful request. The proximate cause is apparently Collect's "obstinate" BLP stance at the PNAC AfD debate. I along with apparently 26 or 27 other editors agree with the position taken by Collect there. Two editors wanted to keep, two suggest Keep/Merge. Collect did not start the AfD. Collect made only two several edits to the AfD debate, none problematic in my view. He is reliable and consistent in his BLP stance regarless of the politics of the subjects of BLPs. This, therefore, seems to me as a poor use of ArbComm time and resources, and perhaps even as a misuse of ArbCom in a sense. It strikes me, perhaps unfairly, that this is using the process as punishment. Capitalismojo (talk) 23:23, 18 March 2015 (UTC) Update: The AfD was closed with a delete (Collect's position) was the "clear consensus" per closer. 30 Delete, 1 Keep, 2 Keep/Merge, 5 Merge/Redirect, 1 Delete/Merge.

Comment by Alanscottwalker
Just to note that the AfD mentioned by Capitalismojo is quite odd, in my experience, with multiple !votes for delete but the same !votes saying the information belongs in another article. That seems to me to be a merge of sorts but as such a thing is odd, it does suggest there is something going on that has nothing to do with the AfD, and if the committee does wish to plumb the depths of what it's "really" all about - it won't find it in that AfD, and good luck to you. Alanscottwalker (talk) 23:55, 18 March 2015 (UTC)(as an aside, Captalismojo's count is somewhat off, if that matters) Alanscottwalker (talk) 00:20, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by uninvolved Cwobeel
Politics aside, this is about behavior. We all have our biases, but when Collect edits conservative politicians' biographies, he often times raises BLP concerns that are at best strenuous, with the seemingly overall intent to suppress material that may reflect poorly on the politician. This, even if the material is the politician's own words! Here are some examples that illustrates Collect's editing behavior as described by Mr. X: unusually high, non-negotiable standards for BLPs (Joni Ernst article): ,,, ,. Surely, we have BLP, BLPREQUESTRESTORE, and BLPNEWBAN to protect BLPs, but it should not be used as a blunt tool to suppress content that is properly sourced and relevant, or to misuse them in an attempt to game the system. I have no concerns in other areas to which Collect contributes quite productively, but behavior issues such as misuse of policies to advance a bias, are within ArbCom's remit. -  Cwobeel   (talk)  00:31, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Cas Liber
I tend to agree that the politics and opinions of alot of editors will impede any debate that takes place on AN/I (or elsewhere) to the point that it will be impossible to gain consensus, especially for long-term tendentious behaviour. Hence a case examining the conduct will be by far the easiest way to determine if sanctions are warranted or not. AN/I will be buried in walls of text, indignance and vitriol. Hence I recommend accepting the case. Just try to make it a quick one. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:39, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

PS: Should add that an accusation of misusing sources trumps all edit-warring in seriousness and hence should be examined for truth or discarded. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 01:46, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Floq
The original case request focused on Collect; the other parties included were based on their interactions with him. I see people adding parties left and right (ha!), based on the broader chronic "American politics broadly construed" battleground. This is a truly excellent way to bog down a case. If the case is accepted, I suggest it be refocused down to Collect and his interactions with others, and the list of parties trimmed accordingly. Unless you want to open a free-wheeling Left vs. Right Battle Royale case. --Floquenbeam (talk) 00:58, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by NE Ent
Case scope: Collect, narrowly. NE Ent 02:07, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by mostly uninvolved EvergreenFir
Without spending hours scrutinizing every diff and comment, it seems there's an issues that ANI has failed to resolve. It also appears to be spilling over into other pages (e.g., Talk:Robert Kagan). Given this spillover, it would seem the scope is more about neoconservatism in general.

For full disclosure, my slight involvement was on Talk:Robert Kagan where I engaged in discussion with a number of folks party to this case.  Eve rgr een Fir  (talk) Please &#123;&#123;re&#125;&#125; 05:57, 19 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Requesting a clerk split the vote tallies into the Collect case and the American Politics case for clarity.  Eve rgr een Fir  (talk) Please &#123;&#123;re&#125;&#125; 00:53, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by uninvolved Begoon
I don't have a view on the specific rights and wrongs here, because I haven't examined them. One thing does concern me, though. Whilst I can see the merits to achieving better focus by splitting into 2 cases, it seems to me that Collect is likely, then, to be "defending" himself in 2 simultaneous cases. That seems, on the face of it, a somewhat onerous expectation. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the nature of the "split" and "separation"? Begoon &thinsp; talk 13:42, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by uninvolved Guy Macon
It appears that the standard "Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter" section is inadequate in this case, because of stated opinions such as "Accept as two distinct cases" and "Accept Collect case about that editor's behavioral issues. Postpone American Politics II". There should be two counts for the two proposed cases. --Guy Macon (talk) 23:00, 19 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Having read the reply in the clerk's notes section, I would strongly encourage the arbitrators to not discuss their options on the mailing lists and deal with the case opening by motion instead of by vote count. Those vote counts are an important part of any arbitration case, and help us non-arbitrators to give informed advice to you. It would be a simple matter to ask a clerk to create two vote tallies rather than us having to create workarounds like the "Presumptuous pseudo-clerking by Short Brigade Harvester Boris" section. I'm just saying. :) --Guy Macon (talk) 20:43, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by LM2000
I first became involved in the Collect/Ubikwit conflict late last month on Sam Harris (author). A large part of the edit war revolved around Ubikwit's determination in keeping this bit of content in the article, which references the popular atheist's alleged "tribal affections for the Jewish state", sourced to the non-notable Theodore Sayeed. An RfC unanimously opposed its inclusion. Despite some editors in the RfC voicing direct opposition to the source in question, Ubikwit reused it elsewhere in the article days later. Ubikwit then sought out the opinions of the most outspoken critics of Harris and pasted their most critical quotes into the BLP, this included their connecting him to neoconservatives despite him being a self-proclaimed liberal. These edits showed no regard to WP:DUE, WP:NPOV, and BLP; they turned the article into a WP:COATRACK. A second RfC unsurprisingly found unanimous opposition to these edits. At this point Ubikwit tried to start an Arbcom case, but that was declined and sent to AN/I. It sat on AN/I for days until Ubikwit and Collect were both blocked for edit warring on the PNAC article. Before this, Ubikwit edit warred and attempted to reinsert similar contentious material 16 times.

Swarm did suggest an IBAN between Collect and Ubikwit in the AN/I thread after the fact but I think that this puts a band-aid on a geyser. At this point their interactions have spread out across multiple pages, involve several other editors, and such a ban does little to address the long-standing BLP issues here. I think the cases of Sam Harris and the PNAC list are clear in that consensus is on Collect's side. Dear ODear ODear lays out a case that Ubikwit has been labeling subjects as Jews and militant right-wingers for quite some time, in the short time I've interacted with Ubikwit I can also confirm that this has been my experience as well.LM2000 (talk) 00:30, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by John Carter
I regret to say that it is getting kinda hard to follow the accept/declines of two different cases below. Maybe having some some of hyphenated numbering in the vote count for the two separate cases will make it easier for the rest of us to keep track of the totals here? John Carter (talk) 01:20, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Presumptuous pseudo-clerking by Short Brigade Harvester Boris
OK, looks like there's a clear majority to accept each case.

I'm not sure how you folks are going to handle two complex, highly personalized and divisive cases running simultaneously. But I guess that's why you're paid the big bucks.

@Euryalus, apologies for the copy-and-paste error. Corrected.

@Seraphimblade, Guerillero, apologies to you as well for mixing up your comments. In fact I'll just make a pre-emptive apology to all arbs, parties and onlookers, along with a promise to order new bifocals.

Statement by OccultZone
Collect is a prolific member. He has been in dispute with many editors, widely because of his topic range that he has selected. While he is correct so many of the times, it is usual for anyone to indulge in some sort of dispute with another editor. I believe that even if this case as been accepted, a lot of misunderstandings would be cleared up. Thanks.  Occult Zone  (Talk • Contributions • Log) 05:58, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Rich Farmbrough
Having come across a recent aspect of this and looked at it in some detail, it seems to me there is a case to be made that their are WP:BATTLEGROUND issues involving this collection of editors, which the community has not resolved. As usual proper analysis of who said what about whom and when would be required to establish exactly which editors require the application of which sized trout. If it is felt that one or more editors cause disruption only when editing a certain topic, then a topic ban is clearly an option.

I would suggest caution in opening an "American Politics" case. If the AfD referred to by AlanScotteWalker (with whose comments I agree) among others reaches the "wrong" conclusion, it is hardly a significant worry, nor will it be the first, or last, AfD to do so. I strongly doubt that any action by the Committee could make a whit of difference to the alleged, and quite possible, political bias in the community. Nor do I see that placing "American Politics" (broadly construed) under any known form of sanctions would be a useful exercise. Indeed we have far too much of the encyclopedia under various forms of sanction already.

All the best: Rich Farmbrough

Statement by jps
It would be helpful if arbcom would address the fact that WP:BLP is often used as an excuse for ignoring editing restrictions by and others who agree with his approach. jps (talk) 18:33, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Beyond My Ken
I would think it would be most efficient if the committee were to deal with the Collect case before proceeding to the American Politics case. Doing them at the same time seems to me a recipe for overloading the Arbitrators. BMK (talk) 21:23, 21 March 2015 (UTC)
 * All I can say is that you folks are gluttons for punishment. Good luck! BMK (talk) 02:57, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by AndyTheGrump
Not a statement, but a simple question, and a formal objection. Why is 'gun control' included in the American politics 2 topic? As far as I can see, the subject hasn't come up in discussions, and one of the major issues concerning articles on the subject of firearms regulation that led to the previous gun control arbitration case was the way that what was supposed to be an international topic was dominated by the narrow perspectives of a particular faction within the U.S. It seems to me that by including 'gun control' (itself a loaded term that Wikipedia must seriously consider stop using) within 'American politics', ArbCom is making a fundamental categorical error which serves to enhance the inherent bias resulting (to a large extent) from the demographics of the contributor base. I would like to state for the record that I consider this misappropriation of a global topic to be contrary to the expected standards of ArbCom. If firearms regulation needs to be discussed within this case at all (which appears as yet not to have been demonstrated), it needs to be done in a manner that avoids imposing the very bias that led to the previous ArbCom case - which means narrowing its remit, and describing the subject in a neutral manner which clarifies the scope, and makes it entirely clear that the subject matter is solely restricted to matters directly concerning the United States. As someone heavily involved in the previous 'gun control' case, I will formally state that I will, as a non-U.S. contributor, refuse to participate further in any arbitration which misappropriates a global topic, and reimposes the objectionable bias that has previously plagued the topic, to the great detriment of Wikipedia - and I will advise anyone else in a similar position to do the same. If further arbitration concerning firearms regulation is needed (I'll refrain from exppressing an opinion at this point), it must, if ArbCom is to carry out the role required of it be done in an appropriate and neutral manner - which, I have to suggest, necessitates separating it from this case, making it entirely and unambiguously clear that as an international encyclopaedia, Wikipedia does not define subjects according to the narrow perspectives of one particular country, and accordingly naming the case using appropriate terminology, making the global scope of the topic entirely clear. AndyTheGrump (talk) 13:23, 22 March 2015 (UTC)


 * I see that the wording has now been revised to indicate the degree to which 'gun control' is considered within the scope of any arbitration: "...any United States-related overlaps with the Gun Control topic". Hopefully ArbCom will bear in mind the international scope of this subject, and not let narrow U.S.-based perspectives cloud their judgement should they make any decisions regarding the issue which might have broader consequences. AndyTheGrump (talk) 17:09, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Atsme (uninvolved)
I have great respect for Collect's ability for accuracy and strict adherence to BLP policy regardless of his own persuasions. We have had a few minor disagreements in the past, but I learned from them, perhaps because my goal is to keep writing GAs and FAs. In reviewing some of the diffs provided above, my conclusion is that some editors may have lost sight of NPOV, and what should be included in a biography as well as how it should be written. They may need to reevaluate their reasons for initiating this ARBCOM. I am concerned that some editors have become insensitive to BLPs as a result of the information we are finding on the internet including op-eds and blogs that are riddled with COI, partisanship, and other bigotry. I am also seeing what has become a common misconception (to quote the very wise words of TenOfAllTrades) ''that a source can be declared "reliable", and that declaration is a fixed, absolute judgement. Reliability depends both on the source itself and how it is used.'' Collect has skillfully managed to stay above the fray with such matters, and has kept contentious material in perspective by adhering to policies with a complete understanding of WP:V, WP:NPOV, and WP:BLP, including any narratives in the notes that may accompany the respective policies. Adherence to BLP policy often frustrates opposing editors who are partisan and want only to discredit, the latter of which is often fundamentally noncompliant with NPOV. We all have disagreements which brings in behavioral issues, but any editor who has spent time analyzing and studying WP:PAG knows that Collect's argument is on target, and that should be the first and foremost consideration as it relates to his behavior and insistence on following BLP policy. To accuse editors of using policy as a tool to win an argument is a claim that is neither plausible nor substantive. Winning arguments based on policy is a clear indication that policy prevailed, as well it should. Atsme &#9775;  Consult  15:26, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by The Devil's Advocate
While it has been some time, I have had my own interactions with and observed interactions between several parties to this case, though I am not a party to the instigating dispute. Not sure if my current restrictions cover ArbCom space or if my prior involvement is sufficient to avoid it being a violation either way, but I think I could provide valuable evidence regarding the parties involved in this dispute. Do the Arbs see any issue with my potential participation in this case?-- The Devil's Advocate tlk. cntrb. 22:27, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Statement by Konveyor Belt
I find it pretty poor form for the ArbCom to be blocking and removing the statement of one of the parties to the case with no explanation and no discussion on wiki at all. Actions like these undermine the procedure and fairness of the case process.  Konveyor   Belt   16:58, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

Clerk notes

 * This area is used for notes by the clerks (including clerk recusals).


 * The arbitrators are discussing their options on the mailing lists and the case opening will probably be dealt with by motion instead of by vote count below. --L235 (t / c / ping in reply ) 04:17, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
 * I've added a to the place in your section where I thought you wanted it to end. The open blockquote with no close was messing with the indent in all the other sections. --L235 (t / c / ping in reply ) 18:45, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
 * A reminder: Professional behavior is expected in arbitration, as elsewhere in Wikipedia.  Conduct issues during arbitration (incivility, personal attacks) are taken into account by the arbitrators in drafting decisions.  Robert McClenon (talk) 23:28, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Collect: Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter <11/0/0/0>
Vote key: (Accept/decline/recuse/other)
 * Accept. There are a heck of a lot of accusations and counter accusations flying backwards and forwards here, including of involved/biased admin actions on ANI threads. I think there is enough here that the claims warrant looking at to determine whether there is any substance to them, and, if there is, what remedies will restore order and prevent re-occurrence. I also think the formal structure of an arbitration case is probably the best way to go about doing that with the minimum drama. Thryduulf (talk) 01:42, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * I agree with my colleagues that this is two separate cases, one regarding the behaviour of Collect and the other regarding the American Politics topic area. I'm not sure that one needs to wait for the other though as both are ready for arbitration now. Thryduulf (talk) 12:43, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Note Everyone choosing to comment on this request, or participate in a case if one is accepted, should be aware that standards of decorum will be strongly enforced, by blocks if necessary, and that misconduct by anyone is sanctionable. Thryduulf (talk) 01:42, 19 March 2015 (UTC)


 * has a very good point. Do we need a "Collect" case, one that would essentially be "American Politics III", or nothing? (I'm counting "Tea Party" there.) The scope of the request has wildly drifted from one about an editor to one about a massive topic area. Can we get statements focusing on whether we need one, both, or neither of those two distinct cases? Because what will not work is conflating the two different issues into one case. Not decided that we need any case yet, but we absolutely don't need a rolled-together mess. Courcelles (talk) 01:50, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Accept only as two distinct cases. Courcelles (talk) 11:44, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * I have begum working on a motion to formally accept this, one of the provisions is that Collect would not be a named party, nor would evidence about him allowed in the American Politics case. Us deciding to split this should not result in more complications for them. Courcelles (talk) 02:52, 20 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Don't we already have DS in this area anyways? -- Guerillero &#124;  Parlez Moi  04:19, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * We have the option of DS being asked for, but in practice, that hasn't happened often and has been imposed even less so. Seraphimblade Talk to me 04:47, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Accept two cases per my colleagues.-- Guerillero &#124;  Parlez Moi  17:55, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Accept. American politics is a perennially contentious topic area, and clearly that hasn't stopped since the last case. Things will only heat up more over the next year or two, so I think it's time for another look. Seraphimblade Talk to me 04:47, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Two cases is fine with me as well. Seraphimblade Talk to me 19:09, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Also just as a quick note, you reversed Guerillero and my statements, though it doesn't affect the counts and they're essentially saying the same thing anyway. Thank you for compiling those, it's not presumptuous, it's just helpful. Seraphimblade Talk to me 17:17, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Accept Collect case about that editor's behavioral issues.  Postpone American Politics III, to be about behavioral issues on that topic generally, mainly to consider if we need to update of change topic sanctions.  DGG ( talk ) 05:24, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * interpretation: Accept, focusing on Collect. Decline American Politics at this time.  DGG ( talk ) 16:20, 19 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Accept mostly per my learned colleague, Seraphimblade.  Roger Davies  talk 05:27, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Comment: I'm fine with this as two cases. One focusing on Collect; the other on American Politics,  Roger Davies  talk 11:44, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Accept, assuming that the scope can be clarified somewhat, per Courcelles. Yunshui 雲 水 08:36, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * To clarify, I would accept either a case on Collect, a case on American Politics, or both, but not a single case dealing with both topics. Somewhat ironic that my call for clarification required clarification... Yunshui 雲 水 12:36, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Accept with caveat Sorry, that's not a standard vote, but at the moment I think this is best handled as two cases. I note that of the other 5 accepts, one states "Accept Collect case", which I don't think means the case as described so far, and an "Accept" from Yunshui which calls for a clarification of the scope. Dougweller (talk) 11:13, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Accept as two distinct cases. I agree that trying to combine the two topics here into one case is a terrible idea, but I think there are sufficient issues with both to warrant two cases instead of just a narrowing of scope. GorillaWarfare (talk) 16:18, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Accept a case on conduct issues surrounding Collect and those editors he is in regular dispute with, without prejudice to either "side." Decline a wider American Politics case. -- Euryalus (talk) 19:32, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * , good point, and one reason why I think we should only pursue one case.
 * , thanks for the impromptu clerking which is a helpful tally. However, while you record my votes right, the quote on the right is incorrect.-- Euryalus2 (talk)
 * Inconsequential additions - (great name by the way), thanks for the correction but you have forgotten to include GorillaWarfare in the table., you have a begum working on the motion? :)
 * , your explanation for the emails remains unclear. Can you expand on it at all? --Euryalus (talk) 08:18, 21 March 2015 (UTC)


 * What was the intent on sending those emails in the first place, and am I missing any context? -- DQ   (ʞlɐʇ)  21:39, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Accept two separate cases. -- DQ   (ʞlɐʇ)  15:39, 21 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Accept to examine Collect's conduct only. Decline in relation to American Politics. AGK  [•] 00:48, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Motion: Collect request
The case request of 18 March 2015 is accepted. As it consists of two distinct yet related issues, it will be handled as two cases, namely:

1. Collect and others

This case is focused on individuals and will examine allegations of misconduct by Collect and those who interact with him, irrespective of topic.

2. American politics 2

This case is focused on a broad topic and will examine allegations of misconduct within the American Politics topic, which – for the purposes of this case – also includes the Tea Party Movement topic and any United States-related overlaps with the Gun Control topic. While Collect may participate in this case, no allegations concerning him may be made within it, nor any proposed findings or remedies posted.

3. Procedures

a. All people making statements in the present request will be initially added to the lists of parties for both cases and all statements added to both cases. Please note: being listed as a party does not imply any wrongdoing nor mean that there will necessarily be findings of fact or remedies regarding that party.

b. As the cases proceed, the drafters will (i) prune the lists of parties to remove uninvolved participants and (ii) delete non-relevant statements from the case main pages.

c. Both cases will broadly follow the standard timetable but with the American politics 2 case having three weeks for the evidence phase instead of the usual two.

d. Arbitrators and Arbitration clerks may at their absolute discretion copy or move material from one case to the other.

e. Arbitration clerks are instructed to adopt a zero tolerance approach to disruptive or inappropriate conduct of whatever nature on case pages. Any clerk or arbitrator, may, at their sole discretion, impose blocks, bans from participating further in the case, or any other reasonable measure to enforce proper decorum in these cases.

f. The standard evidence lengths will apply and be strictly enforced.



Enacted --L235 (t / c / ping in reply ) 01:26, 24 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Support:
 * Roger Davies talk 11:24, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Seraphimblade Talk to me 12:20, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Thryduulf (talk) 12:38, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Dougweller (talk) 13:09, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * -- Guerillero &#124;  Parlez Moi  17:04, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Courcelles (talk) 17:31, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * GorillaWarfare (talk) 19:35, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Still unconvinced re the need for the second case or the inclusion of Gun Control, even if limited to a US context. However, procedural support for this motion as a good way of running the two cases concurrently. I note in passing that there may well be additonal overlap between the cases - we cannot assume that an examination of conduct issues involving Collect cannot lead to FOF and remedies involving other people as well or instead. This is not "Collect: guilty or not?" It's "Recent history involving Collect: what are the causes of any current and intractable editor conduct problems by anyone involved?" -- Euryalus (talk) 22:56, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Also echo Euryalus' last part of their comment. -- DQ   (ʞlɐʇ)  15:18, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Like Euryalus, my support for some parts of this proposal is procedural. AGK  [•] 19:05, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
 *  DGG ( talk ) 19:12, 24 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Oppose:


 * Abstain:


 * Comments:
 * I might suggest modifying the wording to "includes the Tea Party topic and overlaps with the Gun Control topic as it pertains to the United States." Gun control in other countries political systems isn't within scope of this case at all, might as well make that specific. But gun control, as a political and second amendment flashpoint in US political discourse, very much is. Courcelles (talk) 17:35, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Duly added. Arbitrators: please revert if you disagree,  Roger Davies  talk 12:22, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Please all note the word limits for evidence. To avoid walls of text, the word limits will be enforced by a) a reminder, b) another reminder, and c) our friendly case clerks simply snipping your evidence off at the point the word limit is reached. The Committee may grant word limit extensions, but unless one is granted it will be necessary to stay within the posted restrictions. This piece of casepage bureaucracy brought to you by Euryalus2 (talk) 20:33, 22 March 2015 (UTC).
 * @Everyone: a slight expansion on this here. I'll post this on the evidence talkpages as well, when we get to them. -- Euryalus (talk) 21:59, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Also duly added. Arbitrators: please revert if you disagree,  Roger Davies  talk 12:22, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

Temporary injunction (none)
=Final decision =

Purpose of Wikipedia
1) The purpose of Wikipedia is to create a high-quality, free-content encyclopedia in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual respect among contributors. Use of the site for other purposes, such as advocacy or propaganda or furtherance of conflicts, is prohibited. Contributors whose actions are detrimental to that goal may be asked to refrain from them, even when these actions are undertaken in good faith.
 * Passed 13 to 0 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Standards of conduct (1)
2) Wikipedia users are expected to behave reasonably, calmly, and courteously in their interactions with other users and to approach disputes in a constructive fashion, with the aim of reaching a good-faith solution. Personal attacks, incivility, assumptions of bad faith, harassment, disruptive point-making, edit-warring and gaming the system, are prohibited, as is the use of the site to pursue feuds and quarrels. Editors should also avoid accusing others of misconduct when this is done repeatedly or without simultaneously providing evidence or for the purpose of gaining an advantage in a content dispute. Editors who repeatedly violate these standards of conduct may be sanctioned.


 * Passed 13 to 0 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Quality of sources
3) Wikipedia content generally rests upon reliable secondary sources as these meet requisite standards for fact-checking, interpretation and context. More partisan sources may be useful for referencing individual or organisational viewpoints but are unlikely to be suitable for the sourcing of general statements in Wikipedia's "voice." Particular care is required when including partisan sources in the Biographies of Living Persons policy on the coverage of public figures, in order to avoid a misrepresentations of accuracy, neutrality or context. Controversial sourcing usually requires editorial consensus either on the article talkpage or at the Reliable Sources Noticeboard.
 * Passed 13 to 0 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Standards of conduct (2)
4) Editors will sometimes make mistakes, suffer occasional lapses of judgement, and ignore all rules from time to time in well-meaning furtherance of the project's goals. However, strong or even exceptional contributions to the encyclopedia do not excuse repeated violations of basic policy. Editors who have already been sanctioned for disruptive behavior may be sanctioned more harshly for repeated instances of similar behaviors.
 * Passed 13 to 0 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Locus of the dispute
1) The case focuses on user conduct in conflicts involving and others, principally in articles associated with United States (US) politics.
 * Passed 11 to 2 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Collect (2)
2.1) is a long-term contributor to Wikipedia with more than 40,000 edits over eight years. Despite many positive contributions they have often been involved in disputes involving two-way accusations of battleground conduct, misuse of sources, personal attacks and hounding. Collect was briefly topic-banned from a subset of US politics articles in 2013.
 * Passed 12 to 0 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Collect (Edit Warring)
2.2) Since the 2013 topic ban, Collect has edit-warred in US politics articles. ,
 * Passed 13 to 0 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Collect (Disruption 1)
2.3) Since the 2013 topic ban, Collect has engaged in disruptive conduct regarding US politics articles, including assuming bad faith (, subsequently denied.) and abuse of process. (Lodging a nonsense RfC, lodging a different nonsense RfC, lodging a vexatious 3RR complaint) )
 * Passed 7 to 4 with 2 abstentions at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Collect (Disruption 2)
2.4) Since the 2013 topic ban, Collect has engaged in disruptive conduct regarding US politics articles including forum-shopping (linked examples #1, #2 and #3) and refusing to "hear" other editors.
 * Passed 12 to 1 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

BLPs
3) Collect's article edits are indicative of incorporating a non-neutral point of view, including:
 * added poorly sourced negative materials to certain biographies of living persons -
 * example 1 sourced to blog, example 2 sourced to blog;
 * while removing reliably sourced material from other BLPs -
 * Example 3, sourced to metro newspapers
 * Example 4 - sourced to widespread metro media coverage
 * Example 5, sourced to mainstream newspaper and
 * Example 6 - sourced to Huffington Post and NY Times
 * Example 7 - Sourced to New Yorker.
 * Passed 11 to 2 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Remedies
Note: All remedies that refer to a period of time, for example to a ban of X months or a revert parole of Y months, are to run concurrently unless otherwise stated.

Collect topic-banned (option 2)
2) Collect is banned from any page relating to or making any edit about US politics or US political figures, in any namespace. This ban may be appealed no earlier than 18 months after its adoption.
 * Passed 11 to 2 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

One Revert restriction
3) Collect is indefinitely limited to one revert per article in any 24 hour period. This restriction excepts the reversal of unambiguous vandalism.
 * Passed 9 to 3 at 01:26, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Enforcement log
Any block, restriction, ban, or sanction performed under the authorisation of a remedy (except discretionary sanctions) for this case must be logged in this section. Please specify the administrator, date and time, nature of sanction, and basis or context. All sanctions issued pursuant to a discretionary sanctions remedy must be logged at Arbitration Committee/Discretionary sanctions/Log.
 * blocked for one week for violating this sanction, per discussion at WP:AE. Bishonen &#124; talk 22:18, 13 July 2015 (UTC).
 * [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Collect&diff=next&oldid=679163785 blocked] for a fortnight for a topic ban violation. HJ Mitchell  &#124;  Penny for your thoughts?  22:08, 2 September 2015 (UTC)
 * Block upheld on [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard&oldid=679309225#AE_block_appeal_by_Collect appeal]. HJ Mitchell  &#124;  Penny for your thoughts?  00:08, 4 September 2015 (UTC)