Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2007-03-30 The Freechild Project

Request Information
Clarity on dispute resolution process when one user will not positively engage with another.

Who are the involved parties?
User:Freechild and User:Skaraoke

What's going on?
After slandering me repeatedly here, an first-time user that echoed User:Skaraoke's statements marked this page with AfD. Now User:Skaraoke repeatedly comments on the talk page here and routinely dodges questions regarding his original reason for suggesting he was going to AfD the page - which he originally threatened here. A series of what appears to be sockpuppets repeatedly comments on the page. Meanwhile, User:Skaraoke repeatedly refers to his original threat to AfD the page on other, unrelated pages such as this and this. I have attempted to resolve the issue directly with him on those talk pages, as well as his own; however, he only replies on on mine without showing any signs of resolution.


 * I have serious issues with the continual use of the inflammatory (and inaccurate) word "threat" throughout this paragraph. Sockpuppetry is a serious accusation, and Freechild should be very careful about making it without evidence. (For the record, valid evidence does not include asserting "No real person could possibly agree with Skaraoke's atavistic opinion and reject mine!") The rest of what he has written is so far removed from reality that I really don't know what to say about it, and I'm tired of having my time wasted because some paranoid moonbat reads things into what I write that aren't there, and then hassles me about them. (And yes, I've read WP:NPA...)  User:Freechild has a vendetta against me because I discovered that some of the citations on his vanity page were misleading and/or dubious when I looked at the sources.  The only reason I even found this page was because Freechild flamed me on Talk:Teaching for social justice, thereby drawing my attention. - Skaraoke 11:58, 30 March 2007 (UTC)


 * And there it is: "The only reason I even found this page was because Freechild flamed me on Talk:Teaching for social justice, thereby drawing my attention." User:Skaraoke admits that the only reason for this AfD is vendetta, and that it is for a discussion that hardly constitutes a flame war - and if it did, one that should not drag out over three articles 1, 2 and this, the ultimate flame. The very argument for the AfD on this page, stated here as well as each of the above cited pages, is that this article is a vanity page. User:Skaraoke has also repeatedly resorted to namecalling. That is after I proposed to User:Skaraoke on that user's talk page that we resolve the issue ourselves. What an utter waste of valuable WP contribution time. - Freechild 15:39, 30 March 2007 (UTC)


 * "'And there it is: 'The only reason I even found this page was because Freechild flamed me on Talk:Teaching for social justice, thereby drawing my attention.' User:Skaraoke admits that the only reason for this AfD is vendetta,"


 * Yet again, Freechild is imagining things that aren't there and drawing unwarranted conclusions from them. All it means is that I wouldn't have known that the article existed if Freechild hadn't made himself known to me through his actions.  I would have had problems with the page regardless of how I found it.


 * As an example of how Freechild doesn't seem to recognize the nature of his own behavior, in the other mediation complaint that he made yesterday, trying to get sympathy for having been subjected to supposedly inappropriate behavior, he couldn't seem to do so without overtly (and completely extraneously) insulting my nationality in the first sentence:


 * "'The article creator wrote an article without citations while making crass assertions, all very American.'"


 * Since participation in these mediation processes is voluntary, I will not participate in any more of them. It is clear to me that Freechild is using them as a form of harassment, and I do not want my name username added to any more of them without my permission. - Skaraoke 23:00, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

What would you like to change about that?
I would like to engage with User:Skaraoke in a mediation process; barring that, I would like for that editor to discontinue his harassment and to reconsider the accusations he slanders me with.
 * I would also like to note that User:Skaraoke edited his comments, deleting the threat he posed to me: "If this happens again, I am going to go for serious administrative sanctions. Just so we're clear, Freechild, that is a threat." He also placed a vandalism tag on my page in reference to me undoing his revision of his comment. - Freechild 03:20, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
 * The other editor involved in this has stated their intent not to participate in any voluntary mediation here. Its been a few weeks, no words have been exchanged, and I am exhausted trying to deal with it, so... Thanks for your attention to the matter - hopefully it will be a non-issue in the future. - Freechild 02:48, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Mediator response
Before we begin, I would like to ask that you both step away from the situation. I realize that it's been a few days and I hope that means that you've both had the opportunity to cool down a little bit.

That said, I'm willing to help you two come to an understanding if you're both willing to be civil. What I'm seeing in this mediation request doesn't give me the impression that either of you is terribly interested in working through these issues. I'm happy to help you out, but you've both got to agree not to worry about getting the last word. I find that it's easier to avoid making personal attacks and threats if you ignore each others' personal attacks and threats.

If you're still interested in mediation, just reply here letting me know that you accept my involvement, and are willing to be civil for the duration of this process. I will politely remind you if I feel you're losing your civility. Look forward to working with you both! --Moralis (talk) 02:05, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

UPDATE: As per Freechild's comments in the previous section, I have closed the case. If the parties ask me to, I will happily re-open it upon request. --Moralis (talk) 03:03, 11 April 2007 (UTC)