Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2008-02-05 Julian calendar

Request details
Please get one of the parties to agree to resolve disputes by the normal WP methods of debate and discussion on the Talk page.

Who are the involved parties?
Myself (Chris Bennett) and an anonymous user who posts from a small number of IP addresses. So far: 156.61.19.39, 217.169.37.146, and 62.140.210.158. Part of the problem is that this user ignores both requests and demands to take on a name or a handle. I call him AIA for Anonymous IP Address.

What's going on?
Over the last 2 weeks or so, AIA has repeatedly edited this article to reflect his opinions on two matters: the precise position of the leap day in the early Julian calendar, and the length of the intercalary month in the pre-Julian calendar, which is a subject that properly belongs in the Roman calendar article. While both questions, the first in particular, are subjects of uncertainty, his opinions on both are generally out of line with standard scholarship, which he appears not to be very familiar with. He refuses to engage in discussion on the Talk page, nor to justify his reasoning, provide relevant primary sources, citations to relevant scholarship, nor to engage in any of the normal means of discourse. He will read the Talk page, but then, having made up his mind, he edits the article to reflect his conclusion ex cathedra, usually by just reasserting his previous position. He has changed his mind -- from the right view to the wrong view -- on pre-Julian intercalation but refuses to explain why. His edits are frequently polemic and argumentative, not NPOV, and on some occasions he has attacked me in the article, by name, for points I have made on the Talk page. He only communicates directly via the "Edit summary" line.

I have found this behaviour very exasperating, to put it mildly, and have shown my annoyance from time to time. Nevertheless, I have been very patient in waiting for him to understand and use more normal methods of discourse. I think we may have actually closed out the first issue, but he is now focussing on the second. I am out of patience. I need help.

What would you like to change about that?
I would like AIA to:

a) Debate and discuss his concerns, not rush to judgement.

b) Debate on the Talk page, not load up the article with polemic

c) Debate on the Talk page of the correct article for the pre-Julian intercalary month issue

d) Try to reach agreement before making changes to the article on issues under dispute

e) Take a handle or a name. It is very disconcerting to debate a collection of IP addresses.

Mediator notes
I would accept this case, but I find it exceedingly unlikely that the IP user will respond here. I instead have requested semi-protection on the page. RogueNinja talk  02:40, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

Semi-protection was declined. Try one of the admin intervention lists. RogueNinja talk  09:36, 5 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Any reason given? I thought about going for this directly, but decided to be gradualist.  If there's a good reason not to do it, maybe it points to another way out of this.  --Chris Bennett (talk) 16:34, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
 * The declining admin said there was not enough activity to justify it. He said to just watchlist the article and revert vandalism as found.   RogueNinja talk  18:25, 5 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Don't know that I'd call this vandalism, just misuse. There are legitimate questions buried in what this guy writes, but they can't be debated properly the way he goes about it.  Semi-protection might help persuade him to reconsider his ways.  Maybe not, I did a WHOIS on these IP addresses, at least two of them are public library terminals, and I guess the third is too.  It is not unreasonable not to take a handle that is remembered on a public terminal.  But he could still use the Talk page.


 * OK, thanks, maybe I'll try to find an admin who gets the point. --Chris Bennett (talk) 19:38, 5 February 2008 (UTC)