Hey, I'm new to the list, and I hope to keep up a bit. The main reason I subscribed was to talk about User:VeraCruz/Lir. I've been speaking to them on and off of Wikipedia, and they seem like a nice person. We've been speaking about various topics, and when advising me about Wikipedia, he's taught me a lot about empiricism and NPOV. I've read some articles he has contributed a lot to...
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kuwait http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis_auxiliary_cruiser http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bail http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Mayhew_Wainwright_IV
...and I've been fairly impressed. I asked him if he could help me with a stub article I started, about Moulay Ismail, the Bloodthirsty. I had been unable to find much information on him, but over an IM conversation...
Him: are u talking about the prince of saudi arabia? Him: or the sultan? Me: This is a 17th century dude. Him: associated with Louis XIV ? Him: asked to marry the Princess of Conti? Him: did he have 800 children/ Him: he ordered that the heads of 10,000 slain enemies adorn the walls of the two great imperial capitals, Fes and Marrakech. Him: heh us hould include this conversation where i find info for u as an example of how useful i am Him: Moulay Ismail enlisted over 25,000 Christian prisoners and 30,000 common criminals to build his pretentious city, and brought over 16,000 slaves from sub-Saharan Africa to serve in his military machine. By the time of his death in 1727, the Black Guard, as it was known, had grown tenfold and was one of the largest death guards in Morocco's history. Me: 800 children.. Me: Yeah. Me: Geez man. Him: His grandson, Mohammed III, moved the capital back to Marrakech Him: most of Ismail's great monuments are still standing Him: Most of the fanciest tile work and wealth were stripped from Meknes and used to build up other imperial cities
and he also gave me a LOT of helpful links. *groan* I need to synthesize all of that information later...
I understand there were disagreements with other users. This is of course bound to happen, and Wikipedia boasts its ability to resolve those sorts of conflicts through its Talk page. This user is obviously someone who has the potential to be a great contributor to Wikipedia. I see no reason for him to be banned.
Thanks,
cprompt