User:Ad Orientem

Ad Orientem
— Wikipedian ♂ —
Name	Ad Orientem
Born	1966
Name in real life	John
Nationality	American
Country	United States of America
Current location	Florida (usually)
Languages	English, and on a good day a little French, Spanish and Latin
Time zone	Eastern American
Ethnicity	Irish Swedish Russian
Family and friends
Marital status	No
Pets	If you want a friend who will never betray you, get a dog.
Education and employment
Occupation	Gentleman
Education	BA MA MLS
Hobbies, favourites and beliefs
Hobbies	History Philosophy Theology Baseball (Mets!) Ships
Religion	Orthodox Christian
Politics	Classical Conservative / Libertarian
Account statistics
Administrator	Yes

About

Just another 50 something classical conservative trapped in the wrong century. My interests are eclectic and include politics, philosophy, theology, economics, history (European & Byzantine), ships especially ocean liners and baseball (GO METS!). I enjoy reading on a wide range of topics and also the occasional historical fiction novel (Patrick O'Brian, Dewey Lambdin, Julian Stockwin).

"Fear no insult, ask for no crown, receive with indifference both flattery and slander, and do not argue with a fool." - Aleksandr Pushkin

"Discussions should be conducted without fondness for dispute or desire for victory." - Benjamin Franklin

Places from my past

Admin Stuff

Things that need doing

Guide

Stats

Recently active users including admins

Association of Deletionist Wikipedians

I am a proud member of the Association of Deletionist Wikipedians. Some random thoughts...

OK, we have the two world wars and the sinking of the Titanic covered. How much more do we really need?
!Voting Keep should be safe, legal and rare.
An article without a single cited reliable source is not an article. It is a 21st century specie of graffiti and should be dealt with accordingly.
I am SOO glad I did not find this group before my RFA. I would never... ever... have passed.

Some Thoughts on AfD

When Commenting Be pithy. Be concise. Cite policies or guidelines if possible. Confine your comments to what is germane to the discussion and be brief. Above all, be brief! None of us are paid (and certainly not by the word). Plowing through walls of text when there are another 60 AfDs waiting for closure is not what we want to deal with.
Relist? Sure. But not ad infinitum. The first relist is not an issue as long as there is no discernible consensus. A second is also not a big deal if there is little or no participation. Especially if what participation there is, is not of one mind. But after two I generally will be looking to close the discussion and will only relist a third time if I think there is a realistic chance it will add clarity. I don't relist AfD discussions beyond three times. If we can't reach a verdict over the course of a month then it's time to admit the jury is deadlocked and declare a mistrial. Which brings me to...
No consensus I suspect that some admins regard a "no-consensus' close as some kind of personal failure. I however think it is not a big deal and simply reflects the messy reality that is Wikipedia. I don't close as no-consensus unless the discussion has been relisted at least once and I prefer twice unless there is very heavy participation and it is obvious that no agreement is going to be reachable. A no consensus defaults to Keep and almost always is w/o prejudice to a future renomination. In some cases where participation is very heavy and opinions are all over the place I may add a note encouraging a short cooling off period before renominating.
Soft delete If a discussion has been relisted at least once, with either no participation or just a single delete vote, the article has not been the subject of a previous AfD or contested Prod, and I find the OP's rational to be reasonable I may call it a soft delete. That is effectively treating it as an expired Prod (per the recently revised deletion guidelines). In such cases WP:REFUND applies.
Userfication I generally no longer accept requests to userfy articles at AfD unless there is a clear consensus in favor of that outcome at the discussion. [1]

Some Thoughts on ANI

ANI is not a place typically associated with happy endings. In my experience most of the time you are better off avoiding it if you can. There is a reason it is often referred to as the drama board. Talk to an individual admin first if that's a viable option.
Yes, there are times when ANI is the least bad course of action or you just really don't have a choice. Make your case. Be concise. Cite diffs where applicable. And be sure to notify all involved parties.
ANI discussions have a bad habit of taking on a momentum and life of their own, becoming bloated, unwieldy and WP:TLDR. Conceding the odd exception, in my experience most ANI discussions cease being productive after 2-3 days. Admins should consider closing discussions after that point.
Don't be afraid to admit you were wrong. We all make mistakes and if you do or say something that turns out to have been wrong or less than great, admitting as much upfront can actually end up enhancing your position. In the case of OPs it may also help deflecting the dreaded WP:BOOMERANG.
It is not uncommon for experienced editors to assist with reviewing reports, which can be helpful, especially where the report is complicated and might require a little digging. Additionally, some editors considering RfA will do this to help gain experience with policy and guideline questions as well as dealing with problematic editors. However, in general newer and inexperienced editors should stay clear of the drama board to the extent possible.

Some Thoughts on RfA

If you are interested in what I look for in a Candidate for Admin click here.

On Pseudo-Science and Fringe Theories

Why Wikipedia Is So Tough on Bigfoot

Things I (probably) Won't Do

Administrator Assisted Wikicide Ok, you have decided to leave, and you want someone to lock the door after you. Sorry, you will need to ask another admin. Yes, there are some admins who will block non-disruptive users on request as a form of "RETIRED and I really mean it." I however, am not one of them. If your stress level has reached the point where you think it's time to go, then just post the retired template and move on. If you are really really sure you aren't coming back, just scramble your password (don't save it) and then log out. But if you are sure that you want to be blocked you can post the request at WP:AN.
History Merge Huh?
Filters My command of tech probably peaked with the advent of the electric typewriter (it was a wondrous thing). So if you see me playing with edit filters there are probably just two potential explanations; my account has been hacked or I've gone mad.
Userfying deleted pages See the section on AfD above.
I strongly disagree with parts of MOS:GENDERID. As a consequence, I generally avoid articles and most discussions where that guideline applies or is likely to be a major issue. Additionally, I have stopped patrolling the Fringe Theories Noticeboard following what appears to be a hostile takeover from the Atheist Inquisition.[2] There is a limit to the amount of belittling and condescending commentary directed at persons of faith that I am prepared to endure. Some exceptions exist and I will deal with naked vandalism or other obvious forms of disruption wherever I find them.

A man has got to know his limitations. -SFPD Inspector (Dirty) Harry Callahan

Administrator Recall

I am open to recall under the following procedure:

A motion of "No Confidence" may be filed at WP:AN by any experienced editor in good standing (2+ years tenure, 5,000+ edits, no current or very recent sanctions).
The motion would remain open for discussion for five days from being filed unless withdrawn by the OP, which may be done at any time.
The discussion would be open to participation by any auto-confirmed users but only experienced editors, as defined above, may !vote.
At the end of five days, if the motion has the support of six experienced editors, three of whom are current admins, I will either resign or request a vote of confidence from the community via a second RfA.

Barnstars & etc.

I have a few with many thanks for the kind words.

		The Barnstar of Diligence
		For consistent and careful application of our notability criteria in AfD discussions. RomanSpa (talk) 13:24, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

		The Barnstar of Diplomacy
		for your two proposals to settle the great "allision" controversy of 2014 I hereby award you your second Barnstar. Keep up the good work. Now you can't say you have just one anymore... Cheers! Cuprum17 (talk) 00:10, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

	The Citation Barnstar
	From one royalist and medievalist Orthodox to another. Prayers to your father.. Sigehelmus (talk) 00:54, 3 May 2015 (UTC)

		The Half Barnstar
		Thank you for your many common sense edits to the USS PC-552 article, making the previous well-intentioned but malformed work more worthy of its subject. For improving the page, I award you with appropriate partial credit (shared with User:Dual Freq) and this very equally shared barnstar. BusterD (talk) 22:21, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thanks for your help today! Patient Zero^talk 13:51, 6 January 2017 (UTC)

	The Original Barnstar
	Thank you for your detailed explanation! Lasalleexplorer (talk) 15:46, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thanks for helping me out with that rather unusual issue yesterday. I actually find it really amusing that my home IP is blocked with good reason, hahaha. Seppi333 (Insert 2¢) 22:54, 26 February 2017 (UTC)

		The Admin's Barnstar
		Thank you for cutting a stubborn knot with a great edit. Well done. Please stick around over there. SW3 5DL (talk) 03:25, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

		The Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
		Thank you for your tireless anti-vandalism work on Titanic II. There seems to be no end to those who maintain that this ship is going to be built despite all evidence to the contrary. Blue Riband► 04:58, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

	The Barnstar of Diplomacy
	Well done/thank you for achieving what I thought was impossible. — Calvin999 09:51, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thanks for the diplomatic relations, but also being responsive and helpful about other issues I've contacted you about here. Not sure if I've thanked you properly for it, so here's a barnstar! Ss112 10:46, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	For single-handedly cleaning out a backlog of nearly 40 requests at RfPP. You deserve a medal, but all I can give you is a barnstar. From the looks of your talk page, you need a bigger cabinet to keep them all in. MelanieN (talk) 00:49, 2 July 2017 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Nice job clearing out the backlog at WP:RFPP. RileyBugz^会話_投稿記録 23:57, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thanks for clearing the recent request for page protection backlog! Your efforts are very much appreciated! RileyBugz^会話_投稿記録 23:19, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

	The Teamwork Barnstar
	For stepping up to the mantle and co-nominating 331dot’s successful RfA, here is a barnstar. Ritchie333 ^(talk) ^(cont) 10:11, 30 March 2018 (UTC)

	The Original Barnstar
	thanks for your note, I desperately need some help setting up few items on wikipedia. would you be kind to help me setting up with few basic steps? need to learn siting as well I have to add one item to another page. Rami Al Hatab (talk) 11:54, 13 May 2019 (UTC)

	The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
	Once we get this solved, I hope I can welcome you back. Thanks for everything. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 21:05, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

	The Padlock Barnstar
	Hello Ad Orientem, welcome back and thank you for protecting Wikipedia via WP:RFPP. About this Barnstar, Awarded to any administrator who secures Wikipedia by placing a padlock. per Barnstar criteria. I've chosen you to be the first admin to receive this award. Again, welcome back and thank you. JudeccaXIII (talk) 16:01, 28 July 2019 (UTC)

		The Admin's Barnstar
		Keep up the good work! Cheers! Central Time 301 03:17, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thank you for dealing with persistent IP-hopping vandals threatening violence and randomly removing infoboxes. RandomAct^{(talk to me)} 05:02, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

	The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
	I'm officially barnstar-avoidant, but, doggone it, I've had a really long day, and it was really nice to be able to sit down and look at my watchlist and sigh, "Ahhh, good ol' Ad-O blocked that disruptive tube-sock" (a favorite epithet of Wikipedia widower Alphadeltafoxtrot). Thanks for all you do. Julietdeltalima (talk) 03:08, 5 February 2020 (UTC)

	The Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
	Thank you for protecting Wikipedia against vandalism. For this, I award you this barnstar. Williamwang363 (talk) 23:03, 13 March 2022 (UTC)

	The Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
	Thanks for protecting the Wikipedia against vandals. For your efforts, I award you this barnstar. Williamwang363 (talk) 21:05, 11 April 2022 (UTC)

	The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
	For your swift actions in dealing with possible vandalism.... Keep it going! Volten001 ^☎ 02:01, 26 April 2022 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thanks for actioning AIV so quickly, vandal patrollers appreciate you! Mr.weedle (talk) 03:20, 18 September 2022 (UTC)

	The Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
	Thank you for your hard work and contributions as an admin. TBH, I can't count how many warnings and blocks you have posted. Sarrail (talk) 00:51, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

		The Admin's Barnstar
		Ad, I love you. I love looking at my Watchlist and seeing "Ad Orientem has blocked yadayada" every single time. You are the best. You constantly keep that page clear like its a baby or something I don't know anymore. P.S. I will continue to try and make my block requests funny but legit at the same time to try and get you guys to laugh or to get you to roll your eyes in annoyance, whichever comes first. You have earned this one. Keep up the good work and keep getting those bastards that aren't here to build this place. Best, Zeke (talk) 03:27, 28 November 2022 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thank you for your good work on AIV Andre🚐 02:58, 5 January 2023 (UTC)

		CVU Anti-Vandalism Award
		Thanks for your tireless efforts against fighting vandalism! 𝑭𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 (talk) 16:07, 2 May 2023 (UTC)

	The Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
	Thanks for dealing with vandalism and helping out at AIV a lot! Appreciate it! — Prodraxis {talk • contributions} (she/her) 22:20, 9 July 2023 (UTC)

	The Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
	Thanks for all your AIV work and handling the ones I send over. Cheers! Seawolf35 (talk) 01:01, 16 September 2023 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thank you for blocking 76.93.58.213 for repeated disruptive editing after several warnings by me. If you didn't block them, I would have to use more of my time. Faster than Thunder (talk \| contributions) 02:06, 13 December 2023 (UTC)

	The Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
	For responding swiftly to an AIV request thetechie@enwiki: ~/talk/ $ 03:08, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

	The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
	Thanks for your years of work in–among various other contributions–upholding NPOV. (In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing you more in the post-1992 politics arena again...) In any case, best wishes! Biohistorian15 (talk) 16:54, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thanks for your admin work (and response to my false requests at AIV) Myrealnamm (💬pros · ✏️cons) 17:22, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	While I think more could have been done in the situation, you were still the only admin I pinged that actively considered my unblock request as such in any detail. Thank you very much for helping me understand my options at the time! Biohistorian15 (talk) 18:14, 4 September 2024 (UTC)

		The Admin's Barnstar
		For taking care of the disruptive editing here. Cheers! JeffSpaceman (talk) 22:59, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

Best comeback to one of my blocks

I haven't done anything wrong, you're being very unfair on me, unblock me please this very instant, I have terminal cancer. You have a very small penis.[3]

Absent Colleagues

This Wikipedian remembers
DGG.