Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Biography/Archive 29

Crucifixion
Hello, I notice crucifixion is tagged as in this wikiproject - I've left it as I wasn't totally sure, but that's a mistake, no? Dsp13 (talk) 15:00, 1 September 2008 (UTC)
 * also I notice Dalai Lama, which seems dubious - though perhaps (as opposed to e.g. Pope) justified in this wikiproject on account of the reincarnation believed to go on? Dsp13 (talk) 15:14, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

TfD nomination of Template:Persondata
Template:Persondata has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for Deletion page. Thank you. Road Wizard (talk) 18:06, 2 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Maybe if someone created a bot to add the Persondata to the 95% of biographical articles that don't have it (that number taken from the TFD discussion), maybe it might not attract deletion discussion. I actually might have voted to delete it myself. I remember when it first came in, and I think since then I've only seen it on about five or six articles that I've worked on and, frankly, I haven't even thought to add it to any that I have created. If they can create a bot to chase articles with naughty fair use photos, surely they can create one to at the very least add a blank template and drop a note on the article creator's talk page saying "please fill in the blanks". 23skidoo (talk) 13:39, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
 * What happened to the the TfD? Nothing on the TfD page and no evidence that anything has even been there. --billinghurst (talk) 10:52, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
 * It was closed as Speedy Keep after a few days.
 * That is an interesting idea, 23skidoo and it may be worth a mention at WikiProject Persondata. There are some potential problems with dumping blank templates on a few hundred thousand articles, but it may be possible to form a consensus that the benefits of wider publicity of the template could outweigh the detriments.
 * As a side note, if you work on a lot of biography articles there is a semi-automated tool for adding persondata. The script for the tool can be found at User talk:Dr pda/persondata.js. Road Wizard (talk) 17:02, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Disputes about Roald Dahl's anti-Semitic remarks
I would like other people to come to the talk page on Roald Dahl to provide input. There is currently a debate about his anti-Semitic remarks. I say his remarks (including "There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity.... Even a stinker like Hitler didn't pick on them for no reason") were definitely anti-Semitic. There are those who disagree, and say he was merely anti-Israel, though in an interview shortly before his death he did sort of refer to himself as anti-Semitic. marbeh raglaim (talk) 19:54, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Louise Lasser lacks cites
Louise Lasser seems to lack adequate cites (in, for example, assertions of questionable behavior in TV appearances). I'm not sure whether this warrants addition of  , as I'm not sure whether the "unsourced or poorly sourced" claims are "controversial" per that template. Would anyone familiar with these issues care to take a look? Thanks. -- 201.17.36.246 (talk) 20:39, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
 * As a first step I have added fact and unreferencedsection tags to the areas of the article with poor sourcing. I have not considered whether any of the unsourced claims fail WP:BLP, so another editor may wish to review the article from that angle. Road Wizard (talk) 20:54, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I have now removed the negatively phrased statements that have been flagged as without references for 3 days. Road Wizard (talk) 21:20, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

Rudyard Kipling FAR
Rudyard Kipling 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. Sandy Georgia (Talk) 16:13, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Bob Dylan FAR
Bob Dylan 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. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tealwisp (talk • contribs) 5 September 2008

John Fund / Personal Life
There is currently a section in the John Fund article which notes civil claims and counterclaims made by a former girlfriend and the columnist himself. I have cleaned up the section, changing POV-ish wording and removing unreliable cites, but I suspect that BLP issues remain. For one thing, while I do not personally dispute the fact that it happened, the only source is a gossip column in the New York Daily News. Does this rise to WP:RS per bio articles? Secondarily, I wonder if the mere inclusion of a civil case where the claims were eventually dropped merits mention in a BLP. Thoughts? WWB (talk) 21:00, 7 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Or, should I put this on the BLP Noticeboard? Not certain of the exact protocol, and I see this page seems to be light on the "LP" ... if I hear nothing back, I'll post it there later this evening. WWB (talk) 21:06, 7 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Nevermind; discussion moved back to Fund article. WWB (talk) 23:39, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

Jason McElwain
For anyone interested, Jason McElwain is now a GA nominee. Any help in making sure it meens GA standards is much appreciated. -- Mr.crabby   (Talk)   02:54, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Danny Casolaro
I would like to post the WP Project template on the Danny Casolaro talkpage, but I am uncertain as to what |peerage-work-group = to assign to that parameter. I think what I am looking for is a peer review on an article which someone began in 2004, and which I basically rewrote heavily a month or so ago. I found a page which described instructions for placing the expression peer-review in the WP Project template. I understand that. However I am  stumped by the parameter |peerage-work-group = (in the template). Would someone please advise me? Hag2 (talk) 15:55, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll put the project template on the talk page and fill that out. The work groups are outlined on the main project page, but so you know, the peerage work group is for persons of nobility. What you want is to check at WP:Peer review. Good luck! Wildhartlivie (talk) 16:51, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Wildhartlivie, I'm hoping that you have not yet put the template on the talkpage. I wanted to learn from doing that.  Anyway, I will go there now and check it out.  If you have done something other than what I was about to do, I will let you know on your talkpage.  Thanks for keeping a close eye on me.  *g* Hag2 (talk) 17:33, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I removed a few incorrect details to the template based on the parameters listed here. I did not remove the peer review request field, but note that it's a redlink and that the PR has not yet been initiated.  If it isn't, then that field should be removed, as well. María ( habla  con migo ) 17:58, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Section guide?
Under the structure guide, apart from writing tips there is no recommendation regarding the naming and organizing of sections, nor is it mentioned in the manual of style. Am I missing something? If not, could a guideline be made, please? --Paul_012 (talk) 18:01, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia 0.7 articles have been selected for Biography
Wikipedia 0.7 is a collection of English Wikipedia articles due to be released on DVD, and available for free download, later this year. The Version 1.0 Editorial Team has made an automated selection of articles for Version 0.7.

We would like to ask you to review the articles selected from this project. These were chosen from the articles with this project's talk page tag, based on the rated importance and quality. If there are any specific articles that should be removed, please let us know at Wikipedia talk:Version 0.7. You can also nominate additional articles for release, following the procedure at Release Version Nominations.

A list of selected articles with cleanup tags, sorted by project, is available. The list is automatically updated each hour when it is loaded. Please try to fix any urgent problems in the selected articles. A team of copyeditors has agreed to help with copyediting requests, although you should try to fix simple issues on your own if possible.

We would also appreciate your help in identifying the version of each article that you think we should use, to help avoid vandalism or POV issues. These versions can be recorded at this project's subpage of User:SelectionBot/0.7. We are planning to release the selection for the holiday season, so we ask you to select the revisions before October 20. At that time, we will use an automatic process to identify which version of each article to release, if no version has been manually selected. Thanks! For the Wikipedia 1.0 Editorial team, SelectionBot 23:02, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia 0.7 articles have been selected for Biography (core)
Wikipedia 0.7 is a collection of English Wikipedia articles due to be released on DVD, and available for free download, later this year. The Version 1.0 Editorial Team has made an automated selection of articles for Version 0.7.

We would like to ask you to review the articles selected from this project. These were chosen from the articles with this project's talk page tag, based on the rated importance and quality. If there are any specific articles that should be removed, please let us know at Wikipedia talk:Version 0.7. You can also nominate additional articles for release, following the procedure at Release Version Nominations.

A list of selected articles with cleanup tags, sorted by project, is available. The list is automatically updated each hour when it is loaded. Please try to fix any urgent problems in the selected articles. A team of copyeditors has agreed to help with copyediting requests, although you should try to fix simple issues on your own if possible.

We would also appreciate your help in identifying the version of each article that you think we should use, to help avoid vandalism or POV issues. These versions can be recorded at this project's subpage of User:SelectionBot/0.7. We are planning to release the selection for the holiday season, so we ask you to select the revisions before October 20. At that time, we will use an automatic process to identify which version of each article to release, if no version has been manually selected. Thanks! For the Wikipedia 1.0 Editorial team, SelectionBot 23:04, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Michel Foucault FAR
Michel Foucault 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. Thanks! Lesgles (talk) 20:58, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Barack Obama FAR
Barack Obama 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. Sandy Georgia (Talk) 03:45, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Harvey Milk
This biography has been recently rewritten to coincide with the anniversary of their death on November 27 as well as a feature film on them released around the same date. While awaiting further research material on request from libraries as well as some licensing for images it is now in a peer review. Other editors are welcome to offer constructive feedback and assistance. --  Banj e b oi    04:34, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Year of birth and year of death: should they be linked?
Hi. I know I'm not a regular here, but I imagine I'm not the only one who's watchlist has been lighting up recently with a purge of links to years (eg 1492) -- often leaving articles without any links to the date-hierarchy pages.

Personally, I think this is damaging, because I think it can deprive readers of a useful pathway to click through to find out what was going on in the world at the particular epoch in which somebody lived, who the rulers were at the time, etc.

A suggestion recently floated, both at WT:MOSNUM and separately at User talk:Lightmouse, is that at least the birth year and the death year in the first line should be linked, to give such a gateway -- eg "Judah Messer Leon (1166 – 1224) was a French tosafist..." . But this is opposed by hardliners opposed to any linking of "solitary years".

It seems to me that the wholesale de-linking of dates is more systematically affecting biographies than perhaps any other type of article. So I thought I should bring it here, and ask: would it make sense to have at least the birth year and the death year linked in any bio? Jheald (talk) 17:05, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Article alerts
A while ago, there was a request for a bot that would notify WikiProjects when articles within their scope are entering or leaving some workflow, e.g. when nominated for deletion or as GA candidate. (See User:B. Wolterding/Article alerts.) The bot is now implemented in most parts, and currently awaiting approval. Following that, it will be run in a test phase with selected WikiProjects for a number of weeks.

We would like to invite your project to participate in this test phase. This is in particular because the project's scope is rather large, and so the generated list contains many relevant examples for testing the bot. A list of article alerts is currently being posted at WikiProject Biography/Article alerts. There are no obligations when you participate in the test, but your feedback about the bot is requested. See User:B. Wolterding/Article alerts/Test phase for details.

The list can as well be generated for individual workgroups; perhaps also one of your workgroups is interested in participating in the test. Please let me know if this is so.

If you do not wish to participate in the test phase, please leave me a short note on my talk page. Many thanks, --B. Wolterding (talk) 18:06, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Query on nomenclature
I'm working on rehabbing, copyediting, and sourcing Edward Drinker Cope. An issue I've had is with naming. In the early life section, I decided to call him by his first name, Edward, so as to distinguish between him and his father. Should I continue this pattern throughout, or should I switch to 'Cope'? Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs ( talk ) 03:01, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Biography article statistics
I notice that on the front page the 'Biography article statistics' show only two types of importance "Top" or "None". Is this a deliberate decision?Kwib (talk) 12:27, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Core vs Top
A second question. Is "Core" a subset of "Top" importance or are the terms interchangeable for the Biography project?Kwib (talk) 12:27, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Please contribute your opinions on proposals at Talk:Weatherman (organization)/Terrorism RfC
An RfC has started on whether the word "terrorism" can be mentioned and discussed in the article Bill Ayers, a leader of the now-defunct Weatherman (organization). The RfC Talk:Weatherman (organization)/Terrorism RfC also encompasses the same question concerning the Weatherman article and the articles on Bernardine Dohrn and Obama-Ayers controversy. Recently new sourced information was added at the top and bottom of the discussion page and several proposals for language have been added. Editors are discussing whether we can come to a consensus. Please take a look and participate. -- Noroton (talk) 18:20, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

FAR David Helvarg
David Helvarg 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. Cirt (talk) 10:51, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

AfD nomination of Carole Boston Weatherford
An article that you have been involved in editing, Carole Boston Weatherford, has been listed for deletion. If you are interested in the deletion discussion, please participate by adding your comments at Articles for deletion/Carole Boston Weatherford. Thank you. Do you want to opt out of receiving this notice? Rockfang (talk) 01:15, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Philitas of Cos FAC
I nominated Philitas of Cos as a featured article candidate; comments are welcome at Featured article candidates/Philitas of Cos. Eubulides (talk) 05:03, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

El Lissitzky at WP:FAR
El Lissitzky 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.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:00, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

RfC now open on linking dates of birth and death
Further to comments above on whether people would think that dates of birth and death at the top of a bio should or should not be linked, an RfC is now open at WT:MOSNUM Jheald (talk) 11:30, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Lord Nelson
Hi. I don't edit in this area, but I noticed that there is a long Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article on Nelson here: http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/lotw/1.html

It is the Life of the Day today, and available for a free substcription to Life of the Day. Best regards, -- Ssilvers (talk) 12:07, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Hugh Henshall
Hello. I've created this page to link correctly with a few canal articles I've been working on, but I cannot find a portrait of this man. My search abilities do not extend beyond Google Images and Google Books, does anyone know where I might look to find a suitable picture, if one exists? Parrot of Doom (talk) 12:13, 30 September 2008 (UTC)