User talk:Ched/50

Morning Coffee 3/10/15

The unspoken political truth (my truth anyway?) is that many on the right side of the U.S. political spectrum will not admit what has been their major focus on "What is wrong with the US" is this --------->"...there is a black man in the White House."
They pledged (signed a petition no less) to work against him from his very first day in office. They won't say it but their actions and pronouncements over the past 6 years show it. Any success the President has achieved, and there have been many, have been in spite of them rather than with them. He has shown remarkable guile in not calling them out for their racist practices. This most recent act of communicating with foreign powers behind the presidents back is Treason. . Buster Seven Talk 15:07, 10 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

So, Ched, is this really okay with you? And it's tea for me, and do I really want to talk about stuff here that could potentially turn up quoted elsewhere in a discussion to "prove" that I have a conflict of interest in some particular topic? Wikipedia is a minefield, these are some of the mines. Or perhaps the field. Carptrash (talk) 16:52, 10 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, Carp. I see your valid point. For me, its not a problem. I don't hide my political leanings. I have been liberal-minded and democratic leaning since the day I arrived. I voted libertarian during my 20's but that was b4 Reagans brand of conservatism. Maybe I just wanted to balance my earlier bouts of humor with some serious discussion but, you are ~~right~~ correct. Maybe WP is not the place.. Buster Seven Talk 19:42, 10 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not able to be online much at a stretch right now, but feel free to make yourself at home everyone. Anything that improves articles, or the project in general I am all in favor of. Hope to back more actively soon. — Ched : ? 22:40, 10 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Buster7:. It's been my personal experience that it's best (for me anyway) to not fall into any political or religious discussions on wiki. Suffice to say that I take great offense to some of the things you say and imply in your opening statement; but support your right to say it. — Ched : ? 17:28, 12 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
@Ched:, @Carptrash: Just so we are clear...I think you both completely missed my point. Its NOT what I say...its what I hear being said...Its NOT what I believe, its what "they" believe. Its the unspoken message between the lines of Fox News, etc... Its what I hear the rare times I listen to Hannity or Limbaugh or other rabble-rousing TV/radio hosts. Its what underlies all the problems that some people have with President Obama and anything positive he does. I've been a Bahai for 30 years...I believe in the brotherhood of mankind as a core religious belief. I would never say such a nasty thing, so filled with hate and bile. I'm really surprised that you would think I would hold such a nasty comment as a righteous thought. Being misunderstood happens a lot on Wikipedia. Ive rarely been so disappointed. I'm speechless..... . Buster Seven Talk 18:17, 12 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It did catch me off guard - sorry I misunderstood you. — Ched : ? 18:18, 12 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Speaking as a bit of a conservative whose reservations about Obama are primarily about the current possibly negative economic impact of Obamacare, I regret to say that there is a lot of more or less race-based criticism of Obama on the right. Unfortunately, political pundits in general tend to take the most effective easy attack available, and race is still an easy attack. For Dubya, at least so far as I can recall a few years later, the attack tended to be on his being a recovering drunk and/or some sort of military service dodger. Both of those were, comparatively, kind of low blows too. And, unfortunately, in comparison to the case of the "Gene Newtrich" villain in the old Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman TV show and some similar events in what is generally hoped to be apolitical entertainment, at least in the cases you mentioned it is contained to pundits. I don't know myself, not being much of a TV watcher anymore, how many obvious subtle or obvious attacks Obama has gotten on TV dramas and comedies though. John Carter (talk) 19:44, 12 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Ya know, ... my thoughts are this. Back when I was young, it was all so defined. Yes-no, right-wrong, black-white. But it seems to me that over the years that's simply way too constraining. Truth be told, it's a matter of percentages. Me? I'm 99% white. 99% male. and likely 99.999% asshole. My views of Obama have absolutely nothing to do with the percentage of skin tone. I'll take Allen West or Ben Carson over Pelosi, Biden, Clinton, or Wolf any day of the week. I think racial tensions have declined drastically over the last 6 years. Police shooting? Obama? Wright? ... doesn't matter, it's as bad now as it was when I was growing up in the 50s. If you say "you" in any form, be it right wing or left wing .. it's profiling, and that's disgusting to me. I love my country, but in a lot of ways "America" is so juvenile in its understanding of humanity. Having "big balls" doesn't make a point of view right. — Ched : ? 09:41, 15 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Afternoon Tea, March 10

Survey

What is the first thing you do when you log on to Wikipedia?

For instance, for me its Check my Watchlist. . Buster Seven Talk 20:09, 10 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
See if I have a message, glance over the headlines and lede story ("Another cricket player!?!?") then go to my watch list, which is approaching 4, 000, not counting talk pages.Carptrash (talk) 20:21, 10 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
There's a place to start other than the Watchlist? Why would one bother? Intothat darkness 18:50, 11 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
If I don't have any pings or user talk page changes, the first thing I generally do is hit the watchlist, except in rare cases when I am engaging in edits which take more than one day to finish, I sometimes go straight to the page I'm editing in the hopes of getting as much done as possible as fast as possible by avoiding distractions. John Carter (talk) 19:11, 11 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
1st - check on last/any article I'm working on. 2nd - check my contribs to see if I need to check back on anything, or clarify something I said. I do look at my watchlist sometimes though, usually to see what adminy boards are active, and what folks I know are saying today. — Ched : ? 17:22, 12 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I'm never not logged into Wikipedia. I have a Chrome extension that gives off a little notification for every Watchlist change and generally keep up with it throughout the day, and oftentimes check my Watchlist on my phone when travelling (public transit). In the morning when I get to work, I catch up to a night's worth of Watchlist changes, check UTRS for new appeals, check SPI for whatever needs archiving. ☺ · Salvidrim! · ✉ 20:11, 12 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

From the original page

I'm halfway to 50! Guess I'm too fresh-faced for you wizened old vets. ;) ☺ · Salvidrim! · ✉ 16:12, 2 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Where can an old fella sit around here??? I notice all the park benches are freshly painted. Maybe I'll just take a nap under that tree over there...... Buster Seven Talk 12:56, 3 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Nice! Intothat darkness 15:04, 3 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I've always liked the term, Silverbacks. If this thing gets goin' I suggest we be called Silverbacks. . Buster Seven Talk 23:24, 5 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Old farts gather together to create articles

John Carter said the following at Cheds talk just now
I seem to remember, although my memory fails rather often lately, that I read something recently about a group of retirees in Albania or some other European country who gathered together to create articles in their home language wiki.
. We might as well do some work while we chat about our assorted medical conditions.. Buster Seven Talk 20:51, 6 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe, considering the month, for at least the month, we might try to work together with the WP:TCC to develop some of the maybe sub-par core topics? If there are any we can find of a particularly poor level of quality, like Start class or worse, I might be able to find some old PD reference works on the topics which we could incorporate text from (I've found at lot recently) and some more recent reference works which might either indicate that the old material is still useful (hey, not everything old is outdated, right?) to indicate it should be included, or alternately, some more recent reference sources which might indicate what material needs to be added and possibly some secondary sources which could be used to support it. Hell, we might even be able to get an FA or two out of it. Anyone have any specific articles or topics they think might be worth the effort? If we can agree on something, maybe, and this is just a maybe, we could get a piece in the Signpost indicating the existence of the group, possibly with an image of us all in our designer golf outfits, unforgettable however hard you try? Anyone see anything at WP:VA that looks appealing to them? John Carter (talk) 21:17, 6 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Like WP:TCC. . Buster Seven Talk 23:14, 6 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Dayum ... I didn't realize anyone found this. Hey - welcome all. Let me get back to this in a bit. — Ched : ? 21:58, 6 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

And I think the idea to create/improve articles is abso-freakin-lutely fantastic. Oh, and User:Salvidrim!, we're non-exclusive ... beside, ain't nobody can see through the screen anyway ... (ok .. Skype actually can do that, but it's a minor point). Buster, since we're considered Neanderthal in the extreme, I guess we just have to pull up a rock to sit on. I'll try to finish up my work on Bonny Hicks (it was a copyedit thing) in the next couple days ... and I'll jump in here.
I like the old west (US), sci-fi, TV, movies, NASCAR, ... well, just tons of stuff. — Ched : ? 22:18, 6 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest we combine FA (featurerd articles) with RT (requested templates). . Buster Seven Talk 22:46, 6 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Decorating

.

Seriously

I might move most of this to the talk page. Then putting a "goals", "articles" type of thing here. I admit I made the page as a "pointy" thing ... but I really REALLY like John's idea of turning this into a positive. Actually I know a few women gettin on in years I wouldn't mind being here either. Of course they'd have to deal with our being slobs, belching, and fartin around the joint. — Ched : ? 23:50, 6 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Also seriously. You can remove the murphy bed if you like. It's not real comfortable anyway. I just thought a little levity might help while we get moved in and settled. I get silly after the first 6 pack. This en-devour of yours is what I thought should happen with LB's idea. Just open a page and get the thing started. What's the big deal? . Buster Seven Talk 02:42, 7 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

So

is this where old grumps are supposed to meet and talk about editing wikipedia and other ailments? Well I'll kick off with my glaucoma and cataract surgery earlier this week. Hmm think either (or both) of those articles might want this picture? Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 04:49, 8 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Well that shit just sucks. Best wishes on a quick recovery. Yep .. you're more than welcome here. Nice to meet ya. We're gonna work up a gameplan in a bit. They say anything about macular degeneration? (I can't spell for shit) — Ched : ? 07:00, 8 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

"Gameplan" Pheeew for a minute I though you said "bedpan." Meanwhile, a general question for all the ancient ones, what would you do if a book or two, fell off the top shelf, behind the book cases? Carptrash (talk) 22:49, 8 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

First things first. That's a mighty old photo. The Commons page says it was created one hundred years ago today. I'm surprised this hasn't happened before. Second, have you tried a coat hanger?If that doesn't work you can always move up to a more manly tool for the job......a

. Good luck! . Buster Seven Talk 23:49, 8 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

In the words of the great American philosopher Yogi Berry: forecasting is hard...especially about the future. Thanks for creating this Ched. It has great potential and I'm sure with your nurturing it will be a pleasant place to visit. Keep the doors and windows open. Its the best policy.. Buster Seven Talk 23:56, 15 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Morning coffee, March 17

User:Carptrash You would think that the Foundation with all its $million$ could afford a lousy $10 T-shirt. It is incredible that a 10 year veteran of volunteering thousands of hours to this site is, for some silly bureaucratic rule, is deprived an honor that is due him. Background: Someone we all know (and love) recently was awarded the Editor of the Week award. With the award comes a WP T-shirt, requested by The Editor Retention Project, and dispensed by the Foundation. In the midst of e-mailing back and forth about size, etc., the "Eddy" winner mentioned how happy he was to be receiving a new T-shirt because he had mis-placed one he had received YEARS before. "STOP!", the Foundation shouted. With not the slightest consideration of the editors feelings, the Foundation, in its stinginess, rescinded the valid request, and sent the editor, shirtless, back to his workspace to continue the next decade of free labor. Hint: The editor in question worked diligently, with a magnifying glass at times, to create articles and lists. In spite of an ailment that would stop most, he continued doing what he loved----editing Wikipedia. Just the slightest investigating by the Foundation would have revealed his worthiness for a T-shirt that basically amounts to Free Advertising for Wikipedia. ReallY! Think about how insulting that is! I hope the editor steps forward and a campaign is mounted to get him his frickin' T-Shirt. More than most, he deserves it! . Buster Seven Talk 12:25, 17 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

OK - I'm lost. links? — Ched : ? 14:05, 17 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Hint. Does this guy look familiar?

I pinged him. Let's see what he has to say. . Buster Seven Talk 14:11, 17 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Well that really sucks. Sorry Carp. You, our editors, deserve better for all the money we put in their pockets. Damn shame they can't spend it well. — Ched : ? 18:04, 17 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Update: According to the Foundation, donor funds are involved and they come with strings attached regarding repeat recipients. Per Editor Carp; I also just heard from the wikifolks who are sending me something that is NOT a tee-shirt, which is a very nice way of cutting the Gordian knot that I had tied around myself. All ends well! . Buster Seven Talk 22:45, 18 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]