The Rambling Man

[CrowsNest]

NOBODY TELL THE RAMBLING MAN THAT AN ENEMY IS APPLYING FOR ADMINSHIP

He is grieving, goddamnit. Yes, I know he said that piling right back into wiki-battles is what his dear departed Pop-Pop would have wanted, but come on, he was overcome with grief. He didn't know what he was saying.

Let us leave him to his quiet contemplation and funeral planning.

Just the 58 edits today, so it must be a bad one. Must have found one of Grandad's old Wikipedia punchcards, back when he used to secure the integrity of the Main Page. Oh, the memories, those shares hobbies, those long fireside chats about those evil DYK Admins. Grandad wanted to shoot them all of course, but TRM would have to quietly explain, things are different now.

He must be in hell, all these precious memories. This is not the time to be placing him in a tortuous bind, making him choose between keeping a low profile while he is before the wiki-court, or unloading at RfA in an act of bloodthirsty revenge. That would just be cruel.

Still, he's at least showing some of that British grit. No longer referring to his old dead imaginary GrandPapa, it's now just "personal stuff".....

Great news, DYK are soon to be doubling up the rate of hooks, so I'll be twice as busy at WP:TRM once I get through my personal stuff.

We've all been there, looking forward to the time our dead relatives would just hurry up and get in that damn ground, freeing up our time to work on our Wikipedia sub-pages.

I mean, come on, this is important. This is about the quality of an encyclopedia. All you fools stupidly thinking of it as a social media site, silly places where people only have time to whinge about their own problems and personal issues, you're the problem. If you haven't got that from the thousand extra words TRM has added to his case just today, then you clearly never will.

Dead Imaginary Grandad Judges You!

[CrowsNest]

A bad taste joke about a dear departed Grandad (don't tell me, he loved jokes like this), or an innocent error (look above)?

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... =871452704

Hinting at the latter, is perhaps the oversight that the death notice still says 'today". Then again, you can see how that would be useful too. Poor Grandad. He's died every day for a whole week! That's gotta sting.

The Rambling Man's Mansion must be overflowing from all those flowers that the concerned Wikipedians will have been sending him. I am suddenly reminded of the recent case where a fake death story was uncovered when someone asked for details of the family so they could pass on their regards of the funeral. Hmmm. Sounds like a job for Jytdog. Remember dude, ask for Rambling Man Junior, not Rambling Man The Third.

[CrowsNest]

I strikes me you (in particular) are very keen to enforce something on me, no matter what. The Rambling Man (talk) 09:00, 2 December 2018 (UTC)

In reply to.....

TRM: OK, but you also said you'd reduce the harshness of your tone, and yet you've continued to post harsh comments on this page. Even in your response to my question you take an unnecessary sideswipe at the DYK project and then point fingers at unnamed other people. I'm sure you see why that makes serious consideration of a voluntary agreement as an alternative to this restriction difficult. My personal view hasn't changed much since the original case, or from the last request that resulted in the current sanction wording - I think you should spend much less of your wikitime on criticizing others, and ideally should completely take a break from the question of what's on the main page unless it's an article you wrote yourself. Wikipedia is much more peaceful and less stress-inducing when you're working at your own pace and not on something that has frequent time pressures, which would make anyone snappy to do for too long. My view-with-the-arb-hat-on is that I think we're going to have to do something else about all of these highly personalized negative comments. The "competence" wording was intended originally to be very focused on a particular pattern of unpleasant interactions, but on review it seems that it's only resulted in new unpleasant patterns forming. Opabinia regalis (talk) 08:10, 2 December 2018 (UTC)

So weak. So utterly pointless. Were we not at the state of "something else" needs to be done, some days ago? Right about the time the nonagerian Grandad Rambling Man dropped dead in mysterious circumstances.

This has to be something like the thousandth time TRM has made it clear, in this process and throughout his editing career, that he simply does not care what they think, he does not care what they suggest as a realistic way forward, he is going to offer what he is happy with, and he expects (because it has happened so may times before) that people will bend over backwards to accommodate him if he just keeps digging his heels in and blaming everyone but himself for his predicament. It works.

Watch as there will be another ten or so go arounds here, the prospect of a site ban never ever being broached. "Something else" will inevitably either never appear, or be something TRM will have figured out how to get around, if not openly flaunt his unchecked ability to be who he is at his very core, before the ink on AC/N is even dry.

They have all the evidence they could ever possibly need, to prove what TRM is all about. He is not reformable. A ban is inevitable. That they have given him so many opportunities to endlessly repeat this nonsense, endlessly engage in these obvious games, has arguably only benefited him.

[CrowsNest]

On and on it goes.

If it were me having to pretend I was a willing part of this farce, I'd be asking the Arbitrators if they are even bothering to discuss this issue. What is the hold up? Grandad is dead and hopefully buried, and getting on with with this important matter is what he would have wanted, his grieving Grandson said so himself. So what are they doing? When will we see this "something else" Opabina referred to.....

This is a very simple case.

1. It is not ArbCom's job to bend over backwards to continually accommodate the problem children

2. Wikipedia editors are supposed to treat each other with respect.

3. Wikipedia editors are supposed to learn from their mistakes

4. Wikipedia editors are not supposed to ignore the perfectly valid views of others

5. Wikipedia editors are not supposed to assume ownership of a process, at least not to the point it deters others from participating

6. Wikipedia editors are not supposed to cause disruption to prove a point

7. Wikipedia editors are not supposed to grandstand or pursue long standing grudges or greivances

8. Wikipedia editors are not supposed to be dicks

He's not going to change, he doesn't want to change, he is just going to keep grandstanding, point making, and finding new and creative ways to be a dick. As if creating an entire unofficial parallel bureaucracy because he couldn't stand being told to play nice when using the official one, wasn't already LEVEL 10 on the dick scale.

If you don't plan to do anything, if you can't agree, then stop torturing the rest of the community by holding out hope there might one day be some respite from this utter tool.

They already killed his Grandad out of frustration, who knows who might be next......

[CrowsNest]

....Coming from a very small family, it leaves a huge gulf and that's something which will take time to get used to..... The Rambling Man (talk) 12:10, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

......Had a particularly stressful couple of days, but making progress on the "formalities" which is all I can really do I guess..... The Rambling Man (talk) 09:40, 30 November 2018 (UTC)

My grandfather was basically a father to me, and his sudden loss, albeit at a ripe old age, has hit me hard hard hard.The Rambling Man (talk) 22:37, 5 December 2018 (UTC)

In a word, bullshit. Someone please find me any evidence at all, that TRM's mental state or even his daily activities, have changed in any way whatsoever. It is all lies. He's barely missed a beat in doing what he does on Wikipedia, nor in mounting his defence in this current proceeding.

I'm not using it as an excuse for anything here, before the Arbcom hawks come circling, that's entirely separate. But I do appreciate the kind words from those of you who cared enough to communicate with me, rather than those of you who took it as a chance to continue to hound me and harrass me during this pointless Arbcom case. The Rambling Man (talk) 22:37, 5 December 2018 (UTC)

Wow. Has anyone seen anybody on Wikipedia use this fake death as a chance to "continue to hound" this piece of shit? Unbelievable that he can say something that disgusting, in the middle of this process to decide what to do about his unceasing bad behaviour, and still nothing is done.

Of course by hounding he means, continued with the process. Which they were entitled to do, since despite people saying he's could take time off, he didn't skip a beat, hasn't had a single day off. Let that sink in. The guy he claims was like a father to him died, and he hasn't taken a single day off Wikipedia for the subsequent 11 days.......

25 November - 55 edits
26 November - 81 edits
27 November - 95 edits
28 November - 52 edits
29 November - 39 edits
30 November - 100 edits
1 December - 58 edits
2 December - 75 edits
3 December - 98 edits
4 December - 51 edits
5 December - 124 edits

He supposedly died on 24 November. There is nothing there to back up his story.

Are we meant to believe he was buried on the 29th? Seems unlikely, since he edited from 12 noon to half one. Then a single edit at 3.30pm.

Disturbingly, you can imagine he was perhaps buried in the afternoon, the single edit being the grief stricken TRM being unable to even survive the service without checking his watchlist. It can't have been much of a wake either, TRM was back on the Jimbo juice bright and early next morning, for a four hour session.

If your supposed closest relative behaved this way on the day of your funeral, would you haunt them for eternity?

One day off, and a hangover. It isn't too much to ask, is it?

To put it another way.....

The Rambling Man's average daily edits in 2017: 75.41
The Rambling Man's average daily edits in 2018 up until now Grandad supposedly died: 78.52
The Rambling Man's average daily edits in the 11 days since his pops died: 75.27

Tragic.

[CrowsNest]

Who'd have thought it. The chilled out asshole doesn't get along with the upright asshole.....

TRM: Really, you've gotta chill or you're gonna blow a gasket. Not everything on Wikipedia is ultra-serious business. You might find that you get along better with other editors and are reported to AE and ANI fewer times if you just lightened up a bit and didn't take everything so gol'darned seriously. I'm sure this advice is unwanted, and especially so (perhaps) coming from me, but it's meant in the friendliest way possible, without rancor: try to take things a little easier, won't you? It would really be best for you, and also good for Wikipedia. Beyond My Ken (talk) 03:47, 6 December 2018 (UTC)

Ken, no disrepect, but I think you're probably just about the last person here that I'd take advice from on "getting on better" on Wikipedia. Cheers though! The Rambling Man (talk) 07:29, 6 December 2018 (UTC)

TRM, that's a legitimate point, but it really doesn't invalidate what I wrote earlier. Best, Beyond My Ken (talk) 07:32, 6 December 2018 (UTC)

[CrowsNest]

Fuck me.

I started my comments by pointing out why civility is so hard to manage on Wikipedia. TRM is not the first, nor will he be the last, editor who will exemplify the issues - a valuable contributor who is passionate about the content and can become frustrated by the what he sees. Is what he says problematic? Yes. When put in context, is it more problematic than the other behaviour? No. This is why "gotchas" don't work, and civility remedies are a gotcha. I do agree that there are diverse opinions on the committee and that's a GOOD THINGTM because there are diverse opinions in the community. If we can find a solution that the committee is happy with, in spite of the diverse opinions, then we have a good chance of finding something the community will be happy with. That's how Arbcom works. WormTT(talk) 11:08, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

I will ask again, where does it say the Arbitration Committee's job is to find compromises that satisfies all of the community? Civility is still written policy, if a sizeable portion of the community don't like that, and want to abandon all idea it is enforceable, then they can do that. Until then, your role is to see it enforced, and screw anyone who is upset at seeing it enforced.

You will not find a solution that everyone is happy with, because TRM is an asshole, in the opinion a sizeable portion of the community. That he justifies his assholery on the entirely self-certified basis that he is doing good for readers, is immaterial. There are academic research papers that prove what he does is not good for readers, because it harms Wikipedia 's ability to help them. Having one person working Main Page quality control is not the Wikipedia way, but by letting TRM be all he can be, that has been the end result. It is so obvious-productive-productive, even Opabina spotted the issue, and she loves assholes.

Just do your fucking job, or resign. Jesus.

[CrowsNest]

People are now openly making jokes about how long this is taking to resolve.

But never fear......

@Dweller: You're right, this has gone on far too long, and I'd like to extend my apologies to The Rambling Man for this just sitting here. The problem is that we're stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place - TRM's past "gentlemen's agreement" did work, but only temporarily - if we were to remove all sanctions and go back to that, isn't it likely that we'll just be kicking the can down the road? With no enforcement options, we may simply end up with yet another TRM case, and I don't believe that's good for anyone. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of just tweaking the sanctions and hoping for the best, nor do I like the idea of something draconian. The community cannot come to a consensus on the matter, the admins at AE cannot come to consensus. I don't believe that we could craft a remedy that fixes the problem gracefully - so perhaps the best option is to kick the question of what to do up to the committee when the community cannot make a decision. We are considering options, and hopefully we won't take too much longer. WormTT(talk) 15:39, 6 December 2018 (UTC)

No, dickhead, the problem is you are treating this as if the defendants, The Rambling Man and his defence lawyer Dweller, are of equivalent standing to the prosecution, which is you, the embodiment of the State.

There is no equivalence. He has no human rights on Wikipedia, the State is all powerful, because it is literally the embodiment of the will of the people. The law of the land says people who won't help themselves and thumb their noses at the justice system, squandering the numerous chances they have been given to prove they can be an upstanding citizen, get the Chair. The State doesn't fuck around trying to find compromises.

So throw the damn switch already.

Christ knows what garbage they are cooking up. As I said, TRM will have figured out how to lawyer his way around whatever it is so he can continue to be a dick before the ink is even dry.

You doubt me? How's this for a proposal?

The Rambling Man has to be nice to anyone and everyone.

Nope. It took me five seconds to imagine a way he would get around that. Ten seconds to find two.

[CrowsNest]

For those Arbitrators thinking a topic ban, voluntary or otherwise, solves anything, consider this - he voluntarily removed himself from ERRORS (to avoid an actual topic ban being proposed). Why did he do that? Because a voluntary topic ban isn't a real topic ban at all. As his enemy Sandstein likes to point out, a topic ban stops you from engaging with the topic at all, you cannot even discuss it.

Are you understanding now why they hate Sandstein? He enforces the law as written. He enforces topic bans how they're supposed to be enforced, to fix what they're supposed to fix, and he enforced TRM's special restriction how any reasonable person would have, to fix the problem it was supposed to fix. The problem are those corrupt Administrators who deny there is even a problem, or seek to blame others for it.

The entire reason for them all trying to make this about Sandstein, their fantasy story about how he has it in for TRM, is they are shit scared there is someone still in the building who still bothers to enforce the law, and you might actually turn this into an enforceable law, like a real topic ban.

The law already says TRM should have been asked to leave a long time ago, regardless of all his special flower restrictions. The problems you are having, are a symptom of you not facing up to that reality, pretending like he is going to change, or others will grow to accept him, like fungus.

He is not compatible with Wikipedia. He is toxic. He is poison. He pretended his Grandad died to avoid the possibility of a topic ban or similar.

Throw. The. Switch.

[CrowsNest]

JzG has hit up in the solution.......dump DYK!

The problem is not TRM, the problem is DYK. There are determined POV-pushers who will golf around a subject to try to crowbar it onto the main page, there are vested contributors determined to have their contributions recognises, there are fringe editors pushing views they know would never make it to the main page otherwise, there are trolls and so on. There needs to be a broader discussion of DYK. The small number of gatekeepers there are burning out.

These pieces of shit are willing to say or do anything to pretend there isn't one primary cause of all the trouble The Rambling Poisonous Snake experiences.

Still no sign of anyone from the top table having a solution.

What a bunch of cowards.