Actually I will miss the drama quite a lot. Without Skankbone and David Gerard, and with FT2 having resigned all his bits, what entertainment value is left? Answer that question if you will.

This is slightly off topic, but apparently Shankbone's Facebook account was suspended without notice earlier in the month:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#...id=192653318728

Tznkai has blocked for six months, and asked for a community ban.

Might be forgetting something.

Well, he spread some nasty lies about me, too. However, I will gladly make a deal with him: when he stops lying about me, I'll stop telling the truth about him.

Laughter. Horse, forgive me for ever having been rude about you.

Although I still haven't quite forgiven 'Paster Theo' for voting my indef block (together with about half a dozen others who are now blocked themselves).

Forgive you? Petey, I've never been angry at you!

I am sorry for putting the "Pastor" on that horrible bandwagon. That was poor judgment on my part, truly.

Actually I will miss the drama quite a lot. Without Skankbone and David Gerard, and with FT2 having resigned all his bits, what entertainment value is left? Answer that question if you will.

I did marvel at the Pastor's edit history - a work of art, truly. Articles on horse-racing and one on wrestling, if I'm not mistaken. Very funny.

Results

Findings: It is Artículo bueno.svg Confirmed that

* David Shankbone (talk • contribs • Luxo's • VVV's • deleted contribs • logs • block user • block log • checkuser) ==
* Bucktoothed beaver (talk • contribs • Luxo's • VVV's • deleted contribs • logs • block user • block log • checkuser) ==
* IMournRuthPointer (talk • contribs • Luxo's • VVV's • deleted contribs • logs • block user • block log • checkuser) ==
* Fagle (talk • contribs • Luxo's • VVV's • deleted contribs • logs • block user • block log • checkuser) ==
* Fat Jenny (talk • contribs • Luxo's • VVV's • deleted contribs • logs • block user • block log • checkuser) ==
* Fat Jenny foto fixer (talk • contribs • Luxo's • VVV's • deleted contribs • logs • block user • block log • checkuser) ==
* Fix Fotos (talk • contribs • Luxo's • VVV's • deleted contribs • logs • block user • block log • checkuser) ==
* I Smell Beaver (talk • contribs • Luxo's • VVV's • deleted contribs • logs • block user • block log • checkuser)

I leave it to others to review contribs and block as appropriate. Note that there was a question about Fat Jenny on en:wp ... this may help. ++Lar: t/c 12:56, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Mr. Shankbone is toast.

Wow, even Jimbo lost his patience with Mr. Miller.

Mr. Shankbone is toast. Who was it that said that these socks for were known by ArbCom?

:I've removed that as this account has already been shared with Arbcom as an alt and unless there is a policy that a userbox be added it would seem to only embolden those who have nothing better to do than harass when no actual problem has been shown. If there has been a change in policy on these issues please show me the discussion so I understand where the multitudes of users with alt accounts should be shown as to how to brand themselves. [[User_talk:Benjiboi| -- <u style="font-size:14px; font-family: cursive;color:#8000FF">Banj<font color="#FF4400">e</font></u><u style="font-size:14px;font-family: Zapfino, sans-serif;color:deeppink">b<font color="#AA0022">oi</font></u>]] 23:24, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure what to make of the sole edit of Shankbone sock Fagle on Commons: they changed the attribution from "Courtesy of Lucas Entertainment and in the Public Domain" to "David Shankbone" (with the obligatory link to his blog, of course) and with the edit summary of " we all know who this was who took it - it's in the diff history, let's give credit where credit is due". The change was undone by IP 68.39.100.112 which seems to be also controlled by Shankbone just based on the contributions. Odd.

I'll see what I can do. As of a week ago I've begun to do [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/DavidShankbone all my work on the Commons] after repeated requests by JKelly. I just came into possession of a better camera than the one I had when I took the F Line subway photographs (a crappy Kodak Coolpix) - I have a much better Konica as of this weekend. I enjoy the challenges you presented and will let you know as I obtain them. David Shankbone --[[Benutzer:68.39.100.112|68.39.100.112]] 15:43, 4. Feb. 2007 (CET)

...
And after all that......he was finally nailed.
Not for any of those multitudinous sins, oh no.
That stuff wasn't important.

He was nailed for running sockpuppets, and lying about it.[/b]

I can only conclude that Wikipedia is a sick, sick, diseased madhouse.

George, so far I know, you've not been involved with David Shankbone. Would you mind reviewing his six-month block? I've explained the situation here. SlimVirgin 05:29, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia's version of "tax evasion", I guess.

Meanwhile, Slimmy's busy trying to get her pal unblocked:


… charming, just charming …

"We have no knowledge of this operative".

Who said that?

It's a joke, obviously. Playing up the angle that Shankbone was secretly known but has been "disavowed' now that he is in the hands of a foreign power.

I'm sure it's a quotation from Vietnam era. Was it Mister Kurtz in Apocalypse now?

I'm sure it's a quotation from Vietnam era. Was it Mister Kurtz in Apocalypse now?

Actually, Kurtz's best known line truly summarizes the WP experience: The horror! The horror!

I wonder when the mainstream media will pick this up?

There was a Shankbonish photo journalist in the film, played by Dennis Hopper. Willard gets to the place, Hopper, apologizing for severed heads adorning Kurtz's headquarters, says "The heads. You're looking at the heads. Sometimes he goes too far. He's the first one to admit it".

A few thoughts

I'm surprised, frankly, by how clueless I was in not thinking that these accounts would be such a firestorm. I knew there were some people who felt I should slap some sort of tag on them, but the guidelines over this are unclear. I'm also surprised that people feel I was trying to "avoid scrutiny" considering that both the two photography accounts, User:Bucktoothed beaver and User:Fat Jenny foto fixer were putting up David Shankbone photos that David Shankbone had just uploaded on Commons. User:A Knavish Bonded--an account I started specifically to 'start over' during the 2008 stalking episode until people kept pointing out it was obviously me--only was being used to re-design my User page since I decided to ditch it to return to the DS account. As Delicious carbuncle wrote, the connections were "mind-numbingly obvious". Although I was aware that creating those accounts was not optimal, if I wanted to be totally deceptive for nefarious reasons I wouldn't have done it this way.

It's probably true that to a degree these actions reflect a boredom with the site, but also an annoyance. I do find the environment here a challenge to enjoy more than it used to be for me and I probably have cared less and less whether I contribute in the way everyone else prescribes, or at all. So, I don't mind the six month block, and I don't mind if it is shortened or lengthened. In truth, the block is an effective way to help me focus on my writing and not in taking/uploading photos (something I enjoy, but takes a lot of time).

So, once everyone gets over these dastardly accounts, and the rash one-off comment that I made as Littlefoote in the midst of a tense time, I hope you'll see that for three years I spent at times up to six nights a week going to events to produce thousands of photographs so that we had some images where we used to have none.

I won't be checking back here or following any discussions on-wiki or off-wiki, but I welcome e-mails from anyone who wants to reply. In about a week I'll remove this message. I've moved on, and don't hold ill will toward anyone here (nor even at the Wikipedia Review). It's funny how when you disengage, all these silly political arguments and drahmaz cease to matter at all after a few days. I'm very proud of everything I accomplished here, and in the friends I have made on the site, but I'm also looking forward to living a less conflict-oriented existence in my spare time. My Wiki friends--for whom I feel most bummed if they were upset by the cluelessness I referenced above--know they can always call on me if they ever need something. Take care, David Shankbone 16:29, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, golly! It was apparently all just a big misunderstanding, folks!

Seriously off-topic -- there is an utterly bizarre made-for-US TV version of "Heart of Darkness" from the 1950s starring Boris Karloff as Kurtz and Roddy McDowall as Marlow -- plus Eartha Kitt as a native girl. Watching that, you may hear a slight whirring sound -- it is Joseph Conrad spinning in his grave.

Marlow-- who would make a decent Marlow in the 50's? Well, hell, obviously Humphrey Bogart! This would be a more African Queen like part. Real leeches do it everytime. Of course, he'd probably have said "already been there, been sucked like that...."

Surely you mean The Big Sleep, in which Bogart actually did play Marlowe.

I only looked on at the contribs on Commons, but this diff on de.wiki confirms it:

I'm curious why you use sockpuppets on Foot fetish articles, but not
to fix cable articles? You previously left a comment with your Comcast
IP on the talk page, from the same range and the same location you
used over on Meta, and that you also used to troll me on the Chihuahua
page[1], even making a seeming threat. We can run Checkusers to verify
all this, but that's not necessary, is it Greg? This certainly isn't
the way to win my love. But I have two questions: 1) why do you use
sockpuppets and meatpuppets to troll me, but you won't use them to fix
your cable company problems? The second question is how far would you
like to take this, because it is about to go further than you might be
able to imagine? --David Shankbone 05:12, 24 September 2008 (UTC)"

I haven't seen it, but I can imagine Karloff doing a decent Kurtz. McDowall's natural part would be as the White Russian/Photographer-- you know, the guy who goes for whatever propaganda is propagated by the system he's in. (True story-- Brando refused to even be on the same set as Dennis Hopper).

Marlow-- who would make a decent Marlow in the 50's? Well, hell, obviously Humphrey Bogart! This would be a more African Queen like part. Real leeches do it everytime. Of course, he'd probably have said "already been there, been sucked like that...."

Allstarecho left WP just in time to avoid the banhammer (he now edits as an IP and sticks to articles about what I assume is his alma mater's sports teams). He had some serious COI issues on [[Equality Mississippi]], an organisation that he founded. Allstarecho was topic banned from [[Matt Sanchez]] articles (and socks). He pushed the limits of this topic ban to the point that he was facing a full ban.

Coincidentally, Matt Sanchez appeared in gay porn as Pierre La Branche and Rod Majors. There are several portraits of him on Commons by none other than David Shankbone. I believe Benjiboi was also under some kind of topic ban related to Sanchez, but I may be wrong.

One either looks magnanimous or foolish for supporting an appeal. You make the call.

We can run Checkusers to verify all this, but that's not necessary, is it Greg? This certainly isn't the way to win my love. --David Shankbone 05:12, 24 September 2008 (UTC)"

Tznkai, could you please post the diffs here that are clear violations of SOCK so that we can see exactly which posts triggered your block? SlimVirgin 04:31, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm aware of that page, but I'm not seeing the violations of SOCK. I'm sorry if I'm being dense, but can someone please post the diffs here? For a six-month block, there should be multiple diffs showing unambiguous violations of the policy, and that's what I'm not seeing. SlimVirgin 04:43, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Bear in mind that he had stopped editing with User:David Shankbone on or around October 30. That account was created after that. Are you arguing that any account not called "David Shankbone" that edits material related to his work—even when it's obvious it's him and even after he stopped using the Shankbone account—is a violation of SOCK? SlimVirgin 04:52, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, Hesperian. These are from 2007 and 2008. The last two edits show A Knavish Bonded adding David's photographs to Chihauhau. First, are we blocking him for six months for two edits made 18 months ago? Secondly, were these really SOCK violations? It was obvious that Knavish was him. It's an anagram of his name, I believe. It edited PETA, Chihauhau, David's images, and some porn articles, all David's areas. Was this a SOCK or an alternate account? SlimVirgin 05:05, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Factual clarification: JzG had topic banned Benjiboi and Eleemosynary at an AE thread I initiated. Eleemosynary imploded shortly afterward with the curious conjunction of Swatjester, JzG, and me all asking him to return from the brink (how often do the three of us agree on anything?) Eleemosynary was an easy call; Benjiboi less so. He tried several appeals until, months back, I extended an unsolicited offer to appeal that topic ban for him. He accepted, ArbCom agreed. Of course that was before several other issues arose. One either looks magnanimous or foolish for supporting an appeal. You make the call.

But fwiw, there are certain disputes on WP where it's an advantage to be female and straight. Less mud to be slung.

What made me really notice him was the disgraceful Israel bias. Sticking the picture of a Palestinian kid with a toy gun into an article was just blatant.

Edit: Then again, I had a theory DS had a connection with Essjay for a while and that was what all the "protection" was about ...

Is that the royal "we", or the "I've got admin friends who know checkusers "we"?



In light of subsequent events, either usage from Shankbone is pretty funny.

His Majesty is offering a $50 donation to Wikipedia Review. Quick, grab the diff and the cash before he shifts ground again.

Unfortunately, he still refuses to admit that he did anything wrong.

Well yeah, but at least he's offering cash. Am not sure why... (shrug).

Let's be very clear. What Shankbone promised was a $50 check TO ME (or my film director doppelganger), which then may be contributed to WR, or wherever, if he ever contributed again to any Wikimedia project.

He then edited again in the same thread, which he then characterized as not "making a contribution". I guess he means article space and/or those valuable images of his.

Whatever. Maybe I'll send him an e-mail asking for either the $50 (which will likely get split between ProCon.org, WR, and the Internet Review Corporation, if I am truly the executor of that gift) or a very clear definition of what he considers "making a contribution".

At any rate, the last few weeks have been a real eye opener.

Still not sure what he intended at the end

Check out the Crisco discussion elsewhere on WR -- something besides the eye is being opened there!

He's making a public declaration that he truly intends never to contribute to Wikimedia projects again, and to hold himself to it, his "consequence" for failure is to do the one thing worse to him than the proverbial "eat my hat" -- it's "send Kohs money".

Or alternately it's meant to make us believe he's serious about holding himself to it.