I have restored the stub as per our agreement.
I would ask involved editors to assess the article in the Talk:Free_Republic/Sandbox and express their opinion (in a short paragraph) on the quality of the article, balance, and NPOV language. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 14:41, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
I though that I was acting as the mediator, but it seems that you have overtaken that role, making proposals, changing the parameters for the engagement, etc. If editors want my involvement, then I would be happy to continue. Otherwise, you can go back to the previous situation before I was invited to mediate. As for the deadlines, as said before, we need to be somewhat flexible. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:53, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
(UI) I am back and will participate as long as Jossi is in charge of this mediation. - F.A.A.F.A. 03:29, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
And I don't consent to the current sandbox version. I'll be back onto this topic when I am not busy making money... :-) -- BenBurch 03:16, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
The "compromise version" that I have put together is available at Talk:Free Republic/Sandbox/Compromise version.
Please write your comments below, in bullet format, maximum 5 bullets per editor. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 03:23, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
-- BryanFromPalatine 04:28, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
F.A.A.F.A. 05:09, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
-- RWR8189 19:15, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Respsonse to your response. I don't think we are supposed to 'debate' each other on these points so I will only demonstrate that Free Republic is much better known for being the losing party in a major copyright infingement lawsuit than it is for 'memogate' Free Republic + Dan Rather = 85,300 GHits compared to Free Republic + Fair Use = 1,100,000 GHits - F.A.A.F.A. 08:10, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
With all due respect to everyone concerned, how many times does that have to be said? Really, How Many Times? ArlingtonTX 00:35, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
Before registering as 12ptHelvetica I have been contributing here at Wikipedia without registering an account for over two years. Please don't be confused by the short history in my "talk" or "contribs" links. In all of my time here at Wikipedia, I have never seen an article that was more slanted than this article before Bryan went to work on it. Let's remember who slanted it in the first place.
Thank you for your comments and the orderly manner in which you made these. It is very helpful to me (and I hope to you as well) to be able to read the main points of contention. I will take these comments into account on the next revision of the compromise version. I hope to have this new version ready by tomorrow, for a second and last round of comments and subsequent edits. Thanks again for your participation. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:25, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
(UI)I again encourage you to read up on WP. The quotes from JR, and the thread on DU are original research, primary sources AND self published sources, all of which are usually NOT allowed. "Self-published material may be acceptable when produced by a well-known, professional researcher in a relevant field or a well-known professional journalist." see Incidents like Chuy's are ONLY allowed because they were documented by RS V secondary sources. I'll let Jossi explain this to you, since you and 'your friends' don't believe me, RW, or L2B - F.A.A.F.A. 02:49, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
I had no time to work on the revised version, as promised. Hope to find such time in the next day or so. Happy holidays to you all.
≈ jossi ≈
(talk)
02:13, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
==Social organization and events==
There are local chapters within Free Republic which are organized through ping lists, e-mail, and Free Republic mail.
The more active chapters organize live protests, which they call "Freeps." Often these are counter protests, as responses to protests by groups whom they oppose. "Freepers," will assemble at a predetermined location with signs and banners which are generally designed and hand-drawn by individual members.
One such Freep was described by reporter by Kerry Lauerman for Salon.com [8] in 2001. A number of Freepers paid $20 each to attend the conference at which conservative politicians and thinkers of varying pedigrees spoke to the issues that most interested the audience; the rights of man, the problems with the news media, and striper lakes. The climax of the evening was the presentation of a large Confederate Flag, to "Bob Johnson, from Los Angeles, for spearheading the Free Republic Network."
in 2005, Free Republic helped organize and stage a 'Freep' in Washington D.C. intended to show support for the troops and in opposition to the September 24 2005 anti warprotest which drew an estimated 100,000. Free Republic's D.C. chapter leader and frequent spokekperson for the group Kristinn Taylor was quoted as saying that they "were prepared for 20,000 people to attend the pro-military rally, billed as a time to honor the troops fighting, the war on terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world." Instead of the 20,000 expected, an estimated 100 reportedly did attend. [www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1491040/posts]
Free Republic's counter-protest activities at Walter Reed Army Hospital are also notable. In 2005(? confirm date) the Antiwar group Code Pink initiated recurring protests outside the hospital, home to many soldiers severely injured in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The protests reportedly included mock caskets and signs which said "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton." sentiments offensive to many members of Free Republic. The D. C. Chapter, along with other groups, organized successful counter-protests, which allegedly resulted in Code Pink severely curtailing their Walter Reed protests, a clear victory for Free Republic and the other pro-war groups. [9]
(Also find and include info on FR's letter writing and gift giving campaigns for the troops) Comments? - F.A.A.F.A. 21:58, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
In January 2005, Free Republic hosted an inaugural ball at the Washington Plaza Hotel with the intention to celebrate the reelection of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, as well as honor our men and women serving in the Armed Forces. The event featured Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and his rock and roll band, Capitol Offense.
-- RWR8189 09:40, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
"Followers of the Free Republic gained notoriety earlier for posting death threats against President Clinton. This was the most direct:"
Jossi, can you add this into the next version? - F.A.A.F.A. 03:00, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
More:
[www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1092851/posts The Enemies List on Free Republic]
Ouch! - F.A.A.F.A. 03:09, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
link to critical comments from a conservative claiming that FR and Jim Robsinson have shifted from being genuinly conservative to mainstream GOP Bush-backers. RWR feels these are a BLP violation, so he keeps deleting them. - F.A.A.F.A. 21:26, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
I don't mix with freepers since it bacame socializt. I would never mix with the commies at DU and DKos. I will find links to rimjobs socializt posts. I see there are many socializt leening freepers here. you can't fool a real bonefide conservative like me. Rkba69 04:01, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
Note I have decided again to refactor the original comments per WP:NPA WP:BLP and WP:RPA. If these accusations don't merit removal, I don't know what does. FAAFA, if you disagree go to the ANI and see what they think.-- RWR8189 06:00, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
maybe your a socializt because only socilaizts and GWB lovers defend FR. you cant be a real conservative like me. I know that for sure. why are you defending FR and JR and his socliizt leenings? Rkba69 07:07, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
I have posted a new version at Free Republic, which I believe is a fair description of the site, its aims, and the controversy about it. I know that it is not perfect, but I believe is a useful article for our readers. As said at the beginning of this "informal mediation" process, neither side will be 100% happy with it, but hopefully they can "live with it".
Regarding the lead, as it is from your comments a highly contentious issue, please note that leads needs to present a summary of the article including any critical aspects. WP:LEAD tells us: The lead should be capable of standing alone as a concise overview of the article, establishing context, explaining why the subject is interesting or notable, and describing its notable controversies, if there are any.
I would hope that the debate and the work we have put into this will be enough to eliminate any future editwarring. Yes, we all have our POVs, and it is not usual that we get to engage in direct debates with people that have antagonistic POVs to ours, but this is what Wikipedia is all about.
I wish you a very happy holiday season, a happy New Year, and happy editing as well. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:40, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
One task that is needed is to convert all hyperlinks to external sites using the web cite template as follows:
) ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:42, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
you need more stuff about FR banning real conservatives. and about the censorship. FR is all socializt now, and the socializt freepers are defending their socilazit king at FR. there are no conservatives there. Rkba69 07:25, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
I'm not sure how you term that as the last conensus version, as it is quite different from the last version Jossi posted.-- RWR8189 07:20, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
I just started articles on the real conservative altenitives to the soclizit free republic, and you socializts are trying to delete them. liberty forum, liberty post, ad original dissent. that proves your soclists. socilaizts hate freedom of speech. like stalin
STOP IT —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Rkba69 ( talk • contribs) 07:34, 24 December 2006 (UTC).
I have restored the "compromise version" that I drafted, with the hope that editors may re-consider it as such. The other option seems to be yet-another-endless-edit-war, that will only result in aggravation for all involved. Please give it some thought. Thank you. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:17, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
If that is accepted, editors may agree to only add new material that is properly sourced, and reach agreement on removal of any existing material before deleting it. These may be wise ground-rules to adopt, so as to not to lose the work done so far. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:17, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
1) The info on the lawsuit is POV, innaccurate, and misleading. I can find no source claiming that the WSJ and Reuters threatened action. I can find no source stating '$1M in attorney's fees'. The crux of the matter was NOT the money. Free Republic argued the case on (at least) 4 grounds: a) that they were non-profit b)'fair use' c) that they were 'transforming' the articles d) 'Free Spech'. ALL of these arguments were denied. They had to pull every copyrighted article from LAT and WAPO and agree to never post full text articles again. A notice is still required to be on their site years later. lawsuit link 1 lawsuit docs and analysis - F.A.A.F.A. 21:18, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
Todd Brendan Fahey's Bio: "Todd Brendan Fahey is a Ph.D. candidate in English at University of Southwestern Louisiana, holds the Master's in Professional Writing from University of Southern California, received his Bachelor of Science, cum laude, in Justice Studies from Arizona State University and studied in 1985 at The University of London-Union College. He began graduate coursework in The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State, before his acceptance into the prestigious Professional Writing Program at USC.
Fahey has served as aide to Central Intelligence Agency agent Theodore L. "Ted" Humes, Division of Slavic Languages, and to the late-Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) chief Lt. General Daniel O. Graham; to former Arizona Governor Evan Mecham (R-AZ), former Congressman John Conlan (R-AZ) and others. He is currently stationed in South Korea as a strategic writer." RS V source for criticism. - F.A.A.F.A. 05:16, 25 December 2006 (UTC)
Barabara Hartwell's Bio: BryanPalantine wrote "Fahey has been accused of stalking by Barbara Hartwell, an individual I find credible"' BIO: "Barbara Hartwell [claims she is] a survivor of CIA MK ULTRA and PHOENIX [mind control] Projects, trained and utilized by CIA as a deep cover operative and professional CIA asset, under mind control programming, which the perpetrators of this mind control believed was "guaranteed under National Security"." Hartewll wrote: "My own sister, Irene Adrian, was a victim of CIA-sponsored child sexual abuse. In early adulthood, while under mind control by CIA, she was sexually abused by a number of politicians, including Nelson Rockefeller. She was held hostage in a hotel room by Dick Cheney during the 1970s, while living in Omaha, Nebraska. " LINK ! LOL ! Keep the laughs coming! Maybe you'll want to start an article on the 'credible' Barbara Hartwell you seem to believe and admire so much Bryan! - F.A.A.F.A. 05:41, 25 December 2006 (UTC)
I know I haven't been part of the big discussion on the redesign of this page, but let me just point out that, as show by a 'ping' this morning, there are many paleoconservatives on Free Republic as well. (www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758302/posts) Why not just say the website is for conservatives? Kc8ukw 16:59, 25 December 2006 (UTC)
From what I can tell from the history, this revision was a neutral version prior to either 12ptHelvetica and ArlingtonTX's edits, which were apparently attempts at locking the article in some sort of agenda made note of at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#Possible sockpuppetry and other issues.— Ryūlóng ( 竜龍) 03:59, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
What specifically is the edit requested? Tom Harrison Talk 04:41, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
Some links:
tech law journal all docs except ameneded final judgement
current inaccurate POV version
Because it has been a practice of Free Republic to allow its users to copy and paste copyrighted news stories in their entirety to its discussion boards, Free Republic was sued by The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. The tort complaint of $1,000,000 was filed in the US Court of the Southern District of California. [14] Many members view the lawsuit as an unsuccessful conspiracy by a "liberal media" to stifle the organization; founder Robinson referred to the suit as "a life and death struggle with elements of the socialist propaganda machine."[15] The federal trial court judge awarded a summary judgment for $1,000,000 in damages to the two newspapers, plus over $1,000,000 in attorney's fees. Free Republic appealed this decision to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In a negotiated settlement, Free Republic agreed to remove the posted articles from the sites listed in the complaint, and paid these two newspapers $5,000 each. Today, other publishers, such as Condé Nast Publications, have joined The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times in objecting to the posting of entire copyrighted articles. Users now post excerpts from such publishers (as allowed by fair use), and the site filters submissions against a watchlist of "banned" sources, by request of their webmaster or as a result of the lawsuit, as a precaution against future lawsuits.[8]
Proposed version
Because it has been a practice of Free Republic to allow and even encourage its users to copy and paste copyrighted news stories in their entirety to its discussion boards, Free Republic was sued by The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times for federal copyright infringement.
[17] Many members viewed the lawsuit as a conspiracy by the "liberal media" to stifle the organization; founder Robinson referred to the suit as "a life and death struggle with elements of the socialist propaganda machine."[15] Free Republic's defense claimed that the site was non-profit, and argued
Fair Use,
First Amendment and that the works were 'transformative'. All these arguments were overuled and/or disallowed. The federal trial court judge ruled against Free Republic and awarded summary judgment for $1,000,000 in damages to the two newspapers, plus attorney's fees. Free Republic announced their intent to appeal this decision to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and filed a brief, but chose another avenue. In a negotiated settlement, The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post were granted a permanent injunction against Free Republic enjoing them from further copyright violations. Free Republic removed all the copyright violations and agreed to post a notice on their website describing the stipulations, and to direct its members to cease violating copyright law. Each paper was awarded a sum of $5,000, a significant reduction from the original award. Users now post excerpts from copyrighted articles (as allowed by fair use), and the site filters submissions against a watchlist of "banned" sources, by request of their webmaster or as a result of the lawsuit, as a precaution against future lawsuits.[8]
(will add refs) - F.A.A.F.A. 05:45, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
New Proposed Version
Because it has been a practice of Free Republic to allow and even encourage its users to copy and paste copyrighted news stories in their entirety to its discussion boards, Free Republic was sued by The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times for federal copyright infringement. [19] Many members viewed the lawsuit as a conspiracy by the "liberal media" to stifle the organization; founder Robinson referred to the suit as "a life and death struggle with elements of the socialist propaganda machine."[15] Free Republic's defense claimed that the site was non-profit, argued Fair Use, First Amendment and that the works were 'transformative'. These arguments were overuled and/or disallowed. The federal trial court judge ruled against Free Republic and awarded a summary judgment for $1,000,000 in damages to the two newspapers, plus attorney's fees. Free Republic announced their intent to appeal this decision to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and filed a brief, but chose another avenue. In a negotiated settlement, The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post were granted a permanent injunction against Free Republic enjoing them from further copyright infringement. Free Republic removed all the copyright infringements and agreed to post a notice on their website describing the stipulations, and to direct its members to cease posting copyright infringements. Each paper was awarded a sum of $5,000, a significant reduction from the original award. Users now post excerpts from copyrighted articles (as allowed by fair use), and the site filters submissions against a watchlist of "banned" sources, by request of their webmaster or as a result of the lawsuit, as a precaution against future lawsuits.[8] Hows's that? - F.A.A.F.A.
WP:Voting_is_evil should be your first stopping point. And if you seek to suppress well sourced criticism in this article, then I suggest you read WP:NOT. You clearly are simply not understanding what this encyclopedia is at all. Now, whether the ignorance is due to your newness in the project, [refactored] or willful flouting of the rules I will leave to those more psychic than I. -- BenBurch 17:46, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
Regarding your comment above, some of which I have refactored: There is no excuse for personal attacks on other contributors. Please do not make them. It is your responsibility to foster and maintain a positive online community in Wikipedia.
Some suggestions:
FAAFA, the supreme irony of all of your false accusations and personal attacks is that they're now taking place in a section titled, "Personal attacks." Your sockpuppet investigation was a miserable failure. You aren't making any friends. Do you want to reach a consensus, or do you want to keep on attacking people? -- BryanFromPalatine 12:26, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
On Dec 26, User DP1976 admitted that he was also User IP 209.221.240.193. HERE User 209.221.240.193 posted on Dec 14, HERE and subsequently, user BryanFromPalatine both edited said post 'claiming ownership' of the post by adding his name HERE and added additional text to this same post, again representing himself as 'BryanFromPalatine' HERE
One user/IP address is therefore posting as at least three different and distinct 'users' in an effort to illegally 'vote' and sway consensus. (edited condensed version for RWR) - F.A.A.F.A. 08:20, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
Well I hope it somehow happens that this is not the case. I am not interested in breaking the rules or gaming the system in this discussion.-- RWR8189 08:39, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
I won't participate any farther in this until something is done to get BenBurch and FAAFA's rampant hostility and suspicion under control. I will take this opportunity to stress the fact that both BenBurch and FAAFA are DU alumni, with extremely turbulent personal histories here at WP as evidenced by their Talk pages and related archives (including FAAFA's old username). They have now graduated to the use of templates, and even a sockpuppet allegation to pursue their malicious activities here at WP. Everything Bryan has said here is 100 percent accurate. Furthermore, the two IP histories 209.221.240.193 and 208.250.137.2 are completely different. Prior to December of this year no one article, nor even the same general subject matter, has ever been edited from both locations, nor did they have anything in common with FR. There is no crossover until December of this year. One was in use for a year; the other was in use for over two years. There is an abundance of proof available to completely destroy this sockpuppet allegation. The Meatpuppet allegation is more difficult to defeat but, once again, the previous anonymous IP address histories are an indication that there is no common agenda. We do know each other. We come from the same geographic area. But it's clear that we have differences of opinion, as evidenced by our different responses to the hostility and suspicion of these two DU representatives. They do seem to have gotten strangely silent. -- BenBurch 05:53, 27 December 2006 (UTC) Infer nothing from that. Look at the time of your post. That is 05:53 Greenwich Mean Time, which is 12:53 a.m. on the East Coast of the United States and in Indiana, and very late in the evening (seven minutes before midnight) in Palatine, Illinois. A lot of people in the United States tend to get "strangely silent" at that time of night. - DP1976 14:21, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
So are FAAFA and BenBurch sockpuppets? Because they agree with each other on everything. Jinxmchue 16:46, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
ON 12/21, DP1976 edited the post of 12ptHelvetica adding content HERE - F.A.A.F.A. 03:51, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
Confirmed DP1976 and BryanFromPalatine. It is
Possible that 12ptHelvetica is the same.
Dmcdevit·
t
09:05, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
Sockpuppetry Findings DP1976 & BryanFromPalantine
Reposted by F.A.A.F.A. 09:22, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
There has been a finding that DP1976 is a sockpuppet of mine. This is an erroneous finding. It is a shared IP address belonging to not just DP1976 and I, but several thousand other employees of a corporation scattered at five sites throughout the Great Lakes region. [25]
1. Farmington Hills, Michigan;
2. South Bend, Indiana (where the server is located);
3. Hoffman Estates, Illinois;
4. Mt. Prospect, Illinois; and
5. Broadview, Illinois.
Since DP1976 has announced that he "won't participate any farther in this until something is done to get BenBurch and FAAFA's rampant hostility and suspicion under control," and since the prescribed remedy for a sockpuppet finding is treating the two accounts (DP1976's and mine) as one, there is no reason to not continue the editing process. Also, I'll be appealing this ruling. -- BryanFromPalatine 12:58, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
Please note that the use of sockpuppets is not an automatic banning offense, but it is strongly discouraged. The reason for discouraging sock puppets is to prevent abuses such as a person voting more than once in a poll, or using multiple accounts to circumvent Wikipedia policies or cause disruption. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 21:54, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
With the departure of DP1976, there isn't a consensus in favor of making the changes FAAFA wants to make. I support removing the sentence in the lead that's based on Todd Brendan Fahey and the link to his article. The sentence that follows it is a repeat and should also be removed. Until we have a consensus on changes, I think Jossi and the admins should keep the lock on the page. It is my understanding that Bryan can still participate but if DP1976 shows up, then DP1976 and Bryan must be treated as one person. I remain open to any changes or suggestions Bryan offers to make. ArlingtonTX 23:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
FAAFA, are you really going to start an edit war over the archiving of a 400-acre Talk page? Everyone who's still participating in this is fully familiar with the info and the issues. But some of us have dialup connections, and will have trouble downloading your 10,000 word witch hunt. -
12ptHelvetica
02:24, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
In the Free Republic#Terminology and subculture section, please delink [[Zot!]]. The link provided is to a comic book, not an article on the term "zot!," and therefore needn't be linked. Picaroon 02:19, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
User BryanFromPalatine ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki) was confirmed as both a sockpuppet and puppeteer of DP1976 ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki)
“ | ![]() ![]() |
” |
Note that 12ptHelvetica ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki) was suspected of also being a sockpuppet of the main puppeteer BryanFromPalatine
EVIDENCE
BryanFromPalatine ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki)
At 17:49, on 9 December 2006 Puppeteer BryanFromPalatine was 3rr 24 HR blocked for excessive edits to Free Republic.
12ptHelvetica ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki)
At 22:10 on 9 December 2006 user 12ptHelvetica was created. His first edit was to Free Republic agreeing with 208.250.137.2 who is in fact 12ptHelvetica as documented in the sockpuppetry findings. His next post was a vote in a consensus agreeing with his puppeteer BryanFromPalatine and other members of the sock crew. His next 4 edits were to Free Republic - all within the 24 hour block period of puppeteer BryanFromPalatine . Since these actions were so blatant and obvious, BenBurch warned him that he was a suspected sock puppet of BryanFromPalatine within an hour of his first post. After being accused of sockpuppetry, 12ptHelevetica did not post for the next 48 hours. 90%+ of his posts have been to Free Republic.
DP1976 ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki)
At 22:32 on 10 December 2006 user DP1976, a confirmed sockpuppet of puppeteer BryanFromPalatine was created. His first post (other than creating his user page) was a vote in a consensus, of course agreeing with his puppeteer BryanFromPalatine and other members of BryanFromPalatine's sock crew. This was barely 24 hours after BryanFromPalatine was blocked for 3RR. Over 90% of DP1976's edits have been to Free Republic.
ArlingtonTX ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki)
At 21:07 on 10 December 2006 user ArlingtonTX was created.This was barely 24 hours after BryanFromPalatine was blocked for 3RR. His first post was responding to sockpuppetry charges by Ben Burch against puppeteer BryanFromPalatine. His second post was a vote in a consensus, agreeing with his puppeteer BryanFromPalatine and other members of BryanFromPalatine's sock crew. Every post of this user has been to Free Republic or to sock puppet cases related to his puppeteer BryanFromPalatine.
I am confident that an investigation will show that users ArlingtonTX and 12ptHelevetica are additional sockpuppets of the confirmed sockpuppeteer BryanFromPalatine who was shown to be the puppeteer of confirmed sockpuppet DP1976.
This blatant sockpuppetry mandates blocking of all the members of BryanFromPalatine's sock puppet army, all the related IP's, and especially puppeteer BryanFromPalatine himself.
NEW INVESTIGATION - F.A.A.F.A. 02:40, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
Wikipedia:ANI#User:12ptHelvetica -- BenBurch 03:16, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
I requested third party input on the lawsuit rewrite from editors involved with copyright issues on Wiki. Hopefully we'll get some. I was going to post an official RfC in "society, law and sex", but there weren't any law cases there, so I thought it better to post where I did. - F.A.A.F.A. 07:15, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
Now that the issue is all resolved, is there any objection to archiving this whole bloated sock-puppet discussion?-- RWR8189 07:15, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
WP:ANI#Discussion_on_blocks -- BenBurch 16:12, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
Now that all that is sorted out, may be it is a good time to resume editing. Hope that editors that have kept their editing privileges intact, engage now in making this article better. Happy editing. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 23:58, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
I would renew my objections to the Fahey article being cited in the lead. Lewrockwell is not a reliable source, and the criticism itself is not particularly unique or notable. I think a generalized summary of criticism in the lead is sufficient as per WP:LEAD, but I don't think Fahey is the way to go.-- RWR8189 01:28, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
I agree with RWR8189. Neither the Fahey article nor any material derived from it should be used in the lead. I also oppose the changes that F.A.A.F.A. has just made to the section on the Washington Post's lawsuit. F.A.A.F.A. has just been successful in removing User:DP1976 (who IMHO is an intellectual properties attorney) and 12ptHelvetica (who IMHO is an expert typesetter and forensic document analyst). Their experience and skills were very valuable in examining the more important events in the history of Free Republic for obvious reasons, and their input on this article will be missed. Now that he has removed the experts who have the knowledge to oppose him, F.A.A.F.A. believes that he owns the article. ArlingtonTX 21:23, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
BenBurch and F.A.A.F.A. are single-purpose accounts. (FAAFA initially used a different name.) Over 90% of their edits and Talk posts have been in pursuit of this agenda. Their agenda is to portray everything that is politically left-wing in a favorable light; portray everything that is politically conservative in a negative light, especially such activist organizations as Protest Warrior and Free Republic; and harass and intimidate anyone who gets in their way, going so far as to use modified warning templates and sock puppetry allegations as part of their campaign of intimidation.
This agenda is a direct defiance and deliberate undermining of the WP:NPOV philosophy. It is an attack on one of the fundamental principles of Wikipedia. There is either a cabal, sock puppet or meat puppet relationship between these two. ArlingtonTX 20:32, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
Can you? Yes, it is a good description of the site from my experiences, but it also appears to be original research. We cannot just be describing things here, we must be citing the descriptions of reliable sources. I will strike the section by tomorrow if nobody can find a description that can be referenced in a reliable source. -- BenBurch 04:41, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
There is a consensus against including the material based on Fahey. RWR8189 and I agree that it should not be included because Fahey doesn't satisfy the criteria of RS. Placing it in the lead of the article compounds the error. It should be removed immediately. This is not vandalism. This is consensus. ArlingtonTX 19:23, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
And that includes you all! Don't drink & Drive! -- BenBurch 03:05, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
I have restored the stub as per our agreement.
I would ask involved editors to assess the article in the Talk:Free_Republic/Sandbox and express their opinion (in a short paragraph) on the quality of the article, balance, and NPOV language. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 14:41, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
I though that I was acting as the mediator, but it seems that you have overtaken that role, making proposals, changing the parameters for the engagement, etc. If editors want my involvement, then I would be happy to continue. Otherwise, you can go back to the previous situation before I was invited to mediate. As for the deadlines, as said before, we need to be somewhat flexible. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:53, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
(UI) I am back and will participate as long as Jossi is in charge of this mediation. - F.A.A.F.A. 03:29, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
And I don't consent to the current sandbox version. I'll be back onto this topic when I am not busy making money... :-) -- BenBurch 03:16, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
The "compromise version" that I have put together is available at Talk:Free Republic/Sandbox/Compromise version.
Please write your comments below, in bullet format, maximum 5 bullets per editor. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 03:23, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
-- BryanFromPalatine 04:28, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
F.A.A.F.A. 05:09, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
-- RWR8189 19:15, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Respsonse to your response. I don't think we are supposed to 'debate' each other on these points so I will only demonstrate that Free Republic is much better known for being the losing party in a major copyright infingement lawsuit than it is for 'memogate' Free Republic + Dan Rather = 85,300 GHits compared to Free Republic + Fair Use = 1,100,000 GHits - F.A.A.F.A. 08:10, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
With all due respect to everyone concerned, how many times does that have to be said? Really, How Many Times? ArlingtonTX 00:35, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
Before registering as 12ptHelvetica I have been contributing here at Wikipedia without registering an account for over two years. Please don't be confused by the short history in my "talk" or "contribs" links. In all of my time here at Wikipedia, I have never seen an article that was more slanted than this article before Bryan went to work on it. Let's remember who slanted it in the first place.
Thank you for your comments and the orderly manner in which you made these. It is very helpful to me (and I hope to you as well) to be able to read the main points of contention. I will take these comments into account on the next revision of the compromise version. I hope to have this new version ready by tomorrow, for a second and last round of comments and subsequent edits. Thanks again for your participation. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:25, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
(UI)I again encourage you to read up on WP. The quotes from JR, and the thread on DU are original research, primary sources AND self published sources, all of which are usually NOT allowed. "Self-published material may be acceptable when produced by a well-known, professional researcher in a relevant field or a well-known professional journalist." see Incidents like Chuy's are ONLY allowed because they were documented by RS V secondary sources. I'll let Jossi explain this to you, since you and 'your friends' don't believe me, RW, or L2B - F.A.A.F.A. 02:49, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
I had no time to work on the revised version, as promised. Hope to find such time in the next day or so. Happy holidays to you all.
≈ jossi ≈
(talk)
02:13, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
==Social organization and events==
There are local chapters within Free Republic which are organized through ping lists, e-mail, and Free Republic mail.
The more active chapters organize live protests, which they call "Freeps." Often these are counter protests, as responses to protests by groups whom they oppose. "Freepers," will assemble at a predetermined location with signs and banners which are generally designed and hand-drawn by individual members.
One such Freep was described by reporter by Kerry Lauerman for Salon.com [8] in 2001. A number of Freepers paid $20 each to attend the conference at which conservative politicians and thinkers of varying pedigrees spoke to the issues that most interested the audience; the rights of man, the problems with the news media, and striper lakes. The climax of the evening was the presentation of a large Confederate Flag, to "Bob Johnson, from Los Angeles, for spearheading the Free Republic Network."
in 2005, Free Republic helped organize and stage a 'Freep' in Washington D.C. intended to show support for the troops and in opposition to the September 24 2005 anti warprotest which drew an estimated 100,000. Free Republic's D.C. chapter leader and frequent spokekperson for the group Kristinn Taylor was quoted as saying that they "were prepared for 20,000 people to attend the pro-military rally, billed as a time to honor the troops fighting, the war on terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world." Instead of the 20,000 expected, an estimated 100 reportedly did attend. [www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1491040/posts]
Free Republic's counter-protest activities at Walter Reed Army Hospital are also notable. In 2005(? confirm date) the Antiwar group Code Pink initiated recurring protests outside the hospital, home to many soldiers severely injured in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The protests reportedly included mock caskets and signs which said "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton." sentiments offensive to many members of Free Republic. The D. C. Chapter, along with other groups, organized successful counter-protests, which allegedly resulted in Code Pink severely curtailing their Walter Reed protests, a clear victory for Free Republic and the other pro-war groups. [9]
(Also find and include info on FR's letter writing and gift giving campaigns for the troops) Comments? - F.A.A.F.A. 21:58, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
In January 2005, Free Republic hosted an inaugural ball at the Washington Plaza Hotel with the intention to celebrate the reelection of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, as well as honor our men and women serving in the Armed Forces. The event featured Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and his rock and roll band, Capitol Offense.
-- RWR8189 09:40, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
"Followers of the Free Republic gained notoriety earlier for posting death threats against President Clinton. This was the most direct:"
Jossi, can you add this into the next version? - F.A.A.F.A. 03:00, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
More:
[www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1092851/posts The Enemies List on Free Republic]
Ouch! - F.A.A.F.A. 03:09, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
link to critical comments from a conservative claiming that FR and Jim Robsinson have shifted from being genuinly conservative to mainstream GOP Bush-backers. RWR feels these are a BLP violation, so he keeps deleting them. - F.A.A.F.A. 21:26, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
I don't mix with freepers since it bacame socializt. I would never mix with the commies at DU and DKos. I will find links to rimjobs socializt posts. I see there are many socializt leening freepers here. you can't fool a real bonefide conservative like me. Rkba69 04:01, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
Note I have decided again to refactor the original comments per WP:NPA WP:BLP and WP:RPA. If these accusations don't merit removal, I don't know what does. FAAFA, if you disagree go to the ANI and see what they think.-- RWR8189 06:00, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
maybe your a socializt because only socilaizts and GWB lovers defend FR. you cant be a real conservative like me. I know that for sure. why are you defending FR and JR and his socliizt leenings? Rkba69 07:07, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
I have posted a new version at Free Republic, which I believe is a fair description of the site, its aims, and the controversy about it. I know that it is not perfect, but I believe is a useful article for our readers. As said at the beginning of this "informal mediation" process, neither side will be 100% happy with it, but hopefully they can "live with it".
Regarding the lead, as it is from your comments a highly contentious issue, please note that leads needs to present a summary of the article including any critical aspects. WP:LEAD tells us: The lead should be capable of standing alone as a concise overview of the article, establishing context, explaining why the subject is interesting or notable, and describing its notable controversies, if there are any.
I would hope that the debate and the work we have put into this will be enough to eliminate any future editwarring. Yes, we all have our POVs, and it is not usual that we get to engage in direct debates with people that have antagonistic POVs to ours, but this is what Wikipedia is all about.
I wish you a very happy holiday season, a happy New Year, and happy editing as well. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:40, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
One task that is needed is to convert all hyperlinks to external sites using the web cite template as follows:
) ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:42, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
you need more stuff about FR banning real conservatives. and about the censorship. FR is all socializt now, and the socializt freepers are defending their socilazit king at FR. there are no conservatives there. Rkba69 07:25, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
I'm not sure how you term that as the last conensus version, as it is quite different from the last version Jossi posted.-- RWR8189 07:20, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
I just started articles on the real conservative altenitives to the soclizit free republic, and you socializts are trying to delete them. liberty forum, liberty post, ad original dissent. that proves your soclists. socilaizts hate freedom of speech. like stalin
STOP IT —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Rkba69 ( talk • contribs) 07:34, 24 December 2006 (UTC).
I have restored the "compromise version" that I drafted, with the hope that editors may re-consider it as such. The other option seems to be yet-another-endless-edit-war, that will only result in aggravation for all involved. Please give it some thought. Thank you. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:17, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
If that is accepted, editors may agree to only add new material that is properly sourced, and reach agreement on removal of any existing material before deleting it. These may be wise ground-rules to adopt, so as to not to lose the work done so far. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 19:17, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
1) The info on the lawsuit is POV, innaccurate, and misleading. I can find no source claiming that the WSJ and Reuters threatened action. I can find no source stating '$1M in attorney's fees'. The crux of the matter was NOT the money. Free Republic argued the case on (at least) 4 grounds: a) that they were non-profit b)'fair use' c) that they were 'transforming' the articles d) 'Free Spech'. ALL of these arguments were denied. They had to pull every copyrighted article from LAT and WAPO and agree to never post full text articles again. A notice is still required to be on their site years later. lawsuit link 1 lawsuit docs and analysis - F.A.A.F.A. 21:18, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
Todd Brendan Fahey's Bio: "Todd Brendan Fahey is a Ph.D. candidate in English at University of Southwestern Louisiana, holds the Master's in Professional Writing from University of Southern California, received his Bachelor of Science, cum laude, in Justice Studies from Arizona State University and studied in 1985 at The University of London-Union College. He began graduate coursework in The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State, before his acceptance into the prestigious Professional Writing Program at USC.
Fahey has served as aide to Central Intelligence Agency agent Theodore L. "Ted" Humes, Division of Slavic Languages, and to the late-Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) chief Lt. General Daniel O. Graham; to former Arizona Governor Evan Mecham (R-AZ), former Congressman John Conlan (R-AZ) and others. He is currently stationed in South Korea as a strategic writer." RS V source for criticism. - F.A.A.F.A. 05:16, 25 December 2006 (UTC)
Barabara Hartwell's Bio: BryanPalantine wrote "Fahey has been accused of stalking by Barbara Hartwell, an individual I find credible"' BIO: "Barbara Hartwell [claims she is] a survivor of CIA MK ULTRA and PHOENIX [mind control] Projects, trained and utilized by CIA as a deep cover operative and professional CIA asset, under mind control programming, which the perpetrators of this mind control believed was "guaranteed under National Security"." Hartewll wrote: "My own sister, Irene Adrian, was a victim of CIA-sponsored child sexual abuse. In early adulthood, while under mind control by CIA, she was sexually abused by a number of politicians, including Nelson Rockefeller. She was held hostage in a hotel room by Dick Cheney during the 1970s, while living in Omaha, Nebraska. " LINK ! LOL ! Keep the laughs coming! Maybe you'll want to start an article on the 'credible' Barbara Hartwell you seem to believe and admire so much Bryan! - F.A.A.F.A. 05:41, 25 December 2006 (UTC)
I know I haven't been part of the big discussion on the redesign of this page, but let me just point out that, as show by a 'ping' this morning, there are many paleoconservatives on Free Republic as well. (www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758302/posts) Why not just say the website is for conservatives? Kc8ukw 16:59, 25 December 2006 (UTC)
From what I can tell from the history, this revision was a neutral version prior to either 12ptHelvetica and ArlingtonTX's edits, which were apparently attempts at locking the article in some sort of agenda made note of at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#Possible sockpuppetry and other issues.— Ryūlóng ( 竜龍) 03:59, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
What specifically is the edit requested? Tom Harrison Talk 04:41, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
Some links:
tech law journal all docs except ameneded final judgement
current inaccurate POV version
Because it has been a practice of Free Republic to allow its users to copy and paste copyrighted news stories in their entirety to its discussion boards, Free Republic was sued by The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. The tort complaint of $1,000,000 was filed in the US Court of the Southern District of California. [14] Many members view the lawsuit as an unsuccessful conspiracy by a "liberal media" to stifle the organization; founder Robinson referred to the suit as "a life and death struggle with elements of the socialist propaganda machine."[15] The federal trial court judge awarded a summary judgment for $1,000,000 in damages to the two newspapers, plus over $1,000,000 in attorney's fees. Free Republic appealed this decision to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In a negotiated settlement, Free Republic agreed to remove the posted articles from the sites listed in the complaint, and paid these two newspapers $5,000 each. Today, other publishers, such as Condé Nast Publications, have joined The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times in objecting to the posting of entire copyrighted articles. Users now post excerpts from such publishers (as allowed by fair use), and the site filters submissions against a watchlist of "banned" sources, by request of their webmaster or as a result of the lawsuit, as a precaution against future lawsuits.[8]
Proposed version
Because it has been a practice of Free Republic to allow and even encourage its users to copy and paste copyrighted news stories in their entirety to its discussion boards, Free Republic was sued by The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times for federal copyright infringement.
[17] Many members viewed the lawsuit as a conspiracy by the "liberal media" to stifle the organization; founder Robinson referred to the suit as "a life and death struggle with elements of the socialist propaganda machine."[15] Free Republic's defense claimed that the site was non-profit, and argued
Fair Use,
First Amendment and that the works were 'transformative'. All these arguments were overuled and/or disallowed. The federal trial court judge ruled against Free Republic and awarded summary judgment for $1,000,000 in damages to the two newspapers, plus attorney's fees. Free Republic announced their intent to appeal this decision to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and filed a brief, but chose another avenue. In a negotiated settlement, The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post were granted a permanent injunction against Free Republic enjoing them from further copyright violations. Free Republic removed all the copyright violations and agreed to post a notice on their website describing the stipulations, and to direct its members to cease violating copyright law. Each paper was awarded a sum of $5,000, a significant reduction from the original award. Users now post excerpts from copyrighted articles (as allowed by fair use), and the site filters submissions against a watchlist of "banned" sources, by request of their webmaster or as a result of the lawsuit, as a precaution against future lawsuits.[8]
(will add refs) - F.A.A.F.A. 05:45, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
New Proposed Version
Because it has been a practice of Free Republic to allow and even encourage its users to copy and paste copyrighted news stories in their entirety to its discussion boards, Free Republic was sued by The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times for federal copyright infringement. [19] Many members viewed the lawsuit as a conspiracy by the "liberal media" to stifle the organization; founder Robinson referred to the suit as "a life and death struggle with elements of the socialist propaganda machine."[15] Free Republic's defense claimed that the site was non-profit, argued Fair Use, First Amendment and that the works were 'transformative'. These arguments were overuled and/or disallowed. The federal trial court judge ruled against Free Republic and awarded a summary judgment for $1,000,000 in damages to the two newspapers, plus attorney's fees. Free Republic announced their intent to appeal this decision to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and filed a brief, but chose another avenue. In a negotiated settlement, The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post were granted a permanent injunction against Free Republic enjoing them from further copyright infringement. Free Republic removed all the copyright infringements and agreed to post a notice on their website describing the stipulations, and to direct its members to cease posting copyright infringements. Each paper was awarded a sum of $5,000, a significant reduction from the original award. Users now post excerpts from copyrighted articles (as allowed by fair use), and the site filters submissions against a watchlist of "banned" sources, by request of their webmaster or as a result of the lawsuit, as a precaution against future lawsuits.[8] Hows's that? - F.A.A.F.A.
WP:Voting_is_evil should be your first stopping point. And if you seek to suppress well sourced criticism in this article, then I suggest you read WP:NOT. You clearly are simply not understanding what this encyclopedia is at all. Now, whether the ignorance is due to your newness in the project, [refactored] or willful flouting of the rules I will leave to those more psychic than I. -- BenBurch 17:46, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
Regarding your comment above, some of which I have refactored: There is no excuse for personal attacks on other contributors. Please do not make them. It is your responsibility to foster and maintain a positive online community in Wikipedia.
Some suggestions:
FAAFA, the supreme irony of all of your false accusations and personal attacks is that they're now taking place in a section titled, "Personal attacks." Your sockpuppet investigation was a miserable failure. You aren't making any friends. Do you want to reach a consensus, or do you want to keep on attacking people? -- BryanFromPalatine 12:26, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
On Dec 26, User DP1976 admitted that he was also User IP 209.221.240.193. HERE User 209.221.240.193 posted on Dec 14, HERE and subsequently, user BryanFromPalatine both edited said post 'claiming ownership' of the post by adding his name HERE and added additional text to this same post, again representing himself as 'BryanFromPalatine' HERE
One user/IP address is therefore posting as at least three different and distinct 'users' in an effort to illegally 'vote' and sway consensus. (edited condensed version for RWR) - F.A.A.F.A. 08:20, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
Well I hope it somehow happens that this is not the case. I am not interested in breaking the rules or gaming the system in this discussion.-- RWR8189 08:39, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
I won't participate any farther in this until something is done to get BenBurch and FAAFA's rampant hostility and suspicion under control. I will take this opportunity to stress the fact that both BenBurch and FAAFA are DU alumni, with extremely turbulent personal histories here at WP as evidenced by their Talk pages and related archives (including FAAFA's old username). They have now graduated to the use of templates, and even a sockpuppet allegation to pursue their malicious activities here at WP. Everything Bryan has said here is 100 percent accurate. Furthermore, the two IP histories 209.221.240.193 and 208.250.137.2 are completely different. Prior to December of this year no one article, nor even the same general subject matter, has ever been edited from both locations, nor did they have anything in common with FR. There is no crossover until December of this year. One was in use for a year; the other was in use for over two years. There is an abundance of proof available to completely destroy this sockpuppet allegation. The Meatpuppet allegation is more difficult to defeat but, once again, the previous anonymous IP address histories are an indication that there is no common agenda. We do know each other. We come from the same geographic area. But it's clear that we have differences of opinion, as evidenced by our different responses to the hostility and suspicion of these two DU representatives. They do seem to have gotten strangely silent. -- BenBurch 05:53, 27 December 2006 (UTC) Infer nothing from that. Look at the time of your post. That is 05:53 Greenwich Mean Time, which is 12:53 a.m. on the East Coast of the United States and in Indiana, and very late in the evening (seven minutes before midnight) in Palatine, Illinois. A lot of people in the United States tend to get "strangely silent" at that time of night. - DP1976 14:21, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
So are FAAFA and BenBurch sockpuppets? Because they agree with each other on everything. Jinxmchue 16:46, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
ON 12/21, DP1976 edited the post of 12ptHelvetica adding content HERE - F.A.A.F.A. 03:51, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
Confirmed DP1976 and BryanFromPalatine. It is
Possible that 12ptHelvetica is the same.
Dmcdevit·
t
09:05, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
Sockpuppetry Findings DP1976 & BryanFromPalantine
Reposted by F.A.A.F.A. 09:22, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
There has been a finding that DP1976 is a sockpuppet of mine. This is an erroneous finding. It is a shared IP address belonging to not just DP1976 and I, but several thousand other employees of a corporation scattered at five sites throughout the Great Lakes region. [25]
1. Farmington Hills, Michigan;
2. South Bend, Indiana (where the server is located);
3. Hoffman Estates, Illinois;
4. Mt. Prospect, Illinois; and
5. Broadview, Illinois.
Since DP1976 has announced that he "won't participate any farther in this until something is done to get BenBurch and FAAFA's rampant hostility and suspicion under control," and since the prescribed remedy for a sockpuppet finding is treating the two accounts (DP1976's and mine) as one, there is no reason to not continue the editing process. Also, I'll be appealing this ruling. -- BryanFromPalatine 12:58, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
Please note that the use of sockpuppets is not an automatic banning offense, but it is strongly discouraged. The reason for discouraging sock puppets is to prevent abuses such as a person voting more than once in a poll, or using multiple accounts to circumvent Wikipedia policies or cause disruption. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 21:54, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
With the departure of DP1976, there isn't a consensus in favor of making the changes FAAFA wants to make. I support removing the sentence in the lead that's based on Todd Brendan Fahey and the link to his article. The sentence that follows it is a repeat and should also be removed. Until we have a consensus on changes, I think Jossi and the admins should keep the lock on the page. It is my understanding that Bryan can still participate but if DP1976 shows up, then DP1976 and Bryan must be treated as one person. I remain open to any changes or suggestions Bryan offers to make. ArlingtonTX 23:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
FAAFA, are you really going to start an edit war over the archiving of a 400-acre Talk page? Everyone who's still participating in this is fully familiar with the info and the issues. But some of us have dialup connections, and will have trouble downloading your 10,000 word witch hunt. -
12ptHelvetica
02:24, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
In the Free Republic#Terminology and subculture section, please delink [[Zot!]]. The link provided is to a comic book, not an article on the term "zot!," and therefore needn't be linked. Picaroon 02:19, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
User BryanFromPalatine ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki) was confirmed as both a sockpuppet and puppeteer of DP1976 ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki)
“ | ![]() ![]() |
” |
Note that 12ptHelvetica ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki) was suspected of also being a sockpuppet of the main puppeteer BryanFromPalatine
EVIDENCE
BryanFromPalatine ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki)
At 17:49, on 9 December 2006 Puppeteer BryanFromPalatine was 3rr 24 HR blocked for excessive edits to Free Republic.
12ptHelvetica ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki)
At 22:10 on 9 December 2006 user 12ptHelvetica was created. His first edit was to Free Republic agreeing with 208.250.137.2 who is in fact 12ptHelvetica as documented in the sockpuppetry findings. His next post was a vote in a consensus agreeing with his puppeteer BryanFromPalatine and other members of the sock crew. His next 4 edits were to Free Republic - all within the 24 hour block period of puppeteer BryanFromPalatine . Since these actions were so blatant and obvious, BenBurch warned him that he was a suspected sock puppet of BryanFromPalatine within an hour of his first post. After being accused of sockpuppetry, 12ptHelevetica did not post for the next 48 hours. 90%+ of his posts have been to Free Republic.
DP1976 ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki)
At 22:32 on 10 December 2006 user DP1976, a confirmed sockpuppet of puppeteer BryanFromPalatine was created. His first post (other than creating his user page) was a vote in a consensus, of course agreeing with his puppeteer BryanFromPalatine and other members of BryanFromPalatine's sock crew. This was barely 24 hours after BryanFromPalatine was blocked for 3RR. Over 90% of DP1976's edits have been to Free Republic.
ArlingtonTX ( talk + · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser( log) · investigate · cuwiki)
At 21:07 on 10 December 2006 user ArlingtonTX was created.This was barely 24 hours after BryanFromPalatine was blocked for 3RR. His first post was responding to sockpuppetry charges by Ben Burch against puppeteer BryanFromPalatine. His second post was a vote in a consensus, agreeing with his puppeteer BryanFromPalatine and other members of BryanFromPalatine's sock crew. Every post of this user has been to Free Republic or to sock puppet cases related to his puppeteer BryanFromPalatine.
I am confident that an investigation will show that users ArlingtonTX and 12ptHelevetica are additional sockpuppets of the confirmed sockpuppeteer BryanFromPalatine who was shown to be the puppeteer of confirmed sockpuppet DP1976.
This blatant sockpuppetry mandates blocking of all the members of BryanFromPalatine's sock puppet army, all the related IP's, and especially puppeteer BryanFromPalatine himself.
NEW INVESTIGATION - F.A.A.F.A. 02:40, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
Wikipedia:ANI#User:12ptHelvetica -- BenBurch 03:16, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
I requested third party input on the lawsuit rewrite from editors involved with copyright issues on Wiki. Hopefully we'll get some. I was going to post an official RfC in "society, law and sex", but there weren't any law cases there, so I thought it better to post where I did. - F.A.A.F.A. 07:15, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
Now that the issue is all resolved, is there any objection to archiving this whole bloated sock-puppet discussion?-- RWR8189 07:15, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
WP:ANI#Discussion_on_blocks -- BenBurch 16:12, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
Now that all that is sorted out, may be it is a good time to resume editing. Hope that editors that have kept their editing privileges intact, engage now in making this article better. Happy editing. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 23:58, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
I would renew my objections to the Fahey article being cited in the lead. Lewrockwell is not a reliable source, and the criticism itself is not particularly unique or notable. I think a generalized summary of criticism in the lead is sufficient as per WP:LEAD, but I don't think Fahey is the way to go.-- RWR8189 01:28, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
I agree with RWR8189. Neither the Fahey article nor any material derived from it should be used in the lead. I also oppose the changes that F.A.A.F.A. has just made to the section on the Washington Post's lawsuit. F.A.A.F.A. has just been successful in removing User:DP1976 (who IMHO is an intellectual properties attorney) and 12ptHelvetica (who IMHO is an expert typesetter and forensic document analyst). Their experience and skills were very valuable in examining the more important events in the history of Free Republic for obvious reasons, and their input on this article will be missed. Now that he has removed the experts who have the knowledge to oppose him, F.A.A.F.A. believes that he owns the article. ArlingtonTX 21:23, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
BenBurch and F.A.A.F.A. are single-purpose accounts. (FAAFA initially used a different name.) Over 90% of their edits and Talk posts have been in pursuit of this agenda. Their agenda is to portray everything that is politically left-wing in a favorable light; portray everything that is politically conservative in a negative light, especially such activist organizations as Protest Warrior and Free Republic; and harass and intimidate anyone who gets in their way, going so far as to use modified warning templates and sock puppetry allegations as part of their campaign of intimidation.
This agenda is a direct defiance and deliberate undermining of the WP:NPOV philosophy. It is an attack on one of the fundamental principles of Wikipedia. There is either a cabal, sock puppet or meat puppet relationship between these two. ArlingtonTX 20:32, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
Can you? Yes, it is a good description of the site from my experiences, but it also appears to be original research. We cannot just be describing things here, we must be citing the descriptions of reliable sources. I will strike the section by tomorrow if nobody can find a description that can be referenced in a reliable source. -- BenBurch 04:41, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
There is a consensus against including the material based on Fahey. RWR8189 and I agree that it should not be included because Fahey doesn't satisfy the criteria of RS. Placing it in the lead of the article compounds the error. It should be removed immediately. This is not vandalism. This is consensus. ArlingtonTX 19:23, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
And that includes you all! Don't drink & Drive! -- BenBurch 03:05, 1 January 2007 (UTC)