Who is AGK?, brand new arbitrator Options

[Peter Damian]

Let's take a look at this new arbitrator. I now know his real name and identity, which are not particularly relevant here.

What is relevant is his age - born November 1990, which means he was 15 when he first joined Wikipedia, and 17 when he became an administrator at his second attempt. An extraordinarily rapid rise to power, now a member of the Arbitration committee having just turned 21.

Joining in early 2006, he showed a desire to become an administrator immediately, saying to Flo Knight "I was brought up in a rough part of Glasgow, Scotland I feel my knowledge of the Scottish delinquent personality would be of use as a 'Hall Monitor' http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...&oldid=43600120, and then at editor review - "I think I may want Adminship, but I am worried I have been with Wikipedia for too short a time despite the fact that Adminship is the one thing I want most on Wikipedia! Please leave comments or advice about how I am doing, and whether or not I should go for Adminship. Also, if I did go for it would you honestly vote for me or not??? Thank you very much." http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...&oldid=69211753

Shows commendable dedication to the cause by his 'vandal fighting'. "Your new Wikipediaholic Score First of all, how did your score climb SO QUICKLY? How is it even possible to score that high if you're not Jimbo Wales? By the way, you made some errors in the ranking, like labelling 2nd as 2st, 3rd as 3nd, and 4th as 4rd. I have fixed them. AstroHurricane001 22:11, 18 October 2006 (UTC)"

Also shows commendable ambition in his attempts to climb the ranks.

December 27, 2006: adds himself http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...&oldid=95877655 to the standby list for CheckUser clerks. Not yet granted.
December 29, 2006: requests http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Med...ons/Anthony_cfc to join the mediation committee. Denied.
December 31, 2006: requests http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?titl...93&oldid=503873 OTRS access. Not granted.
January 9, 2007: requests http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?titl...ev&oldid=509373 CheckUser access. Denied.
January 16, 2007: attempts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_tal...uest_for_Access to gain access to the Bot Approvals Group. Denied.

In February, his first application for RfA was turned down http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Req...hip/Anthony_cfc . The comments are highly intersesting. "An interesting note is that every one of the powers he's applied to is one that Essjay holds; this seems almost like a form of wiki-stalking. In short, I think Anthony cfc just wants any power he can possibly get, and that's never a good trait in administrators. I do not trust him to handle the tools properly. Ral315 (talk) 02:57, 9 February 2007 (UTC)"

Aso, in a bizarre request on another wiki in May 2007 http://wiki.editthis.info/Wiki/Special:Contributions/Shmm, he simultaneously joins and asks for administrator rights. He is turned down flat, although objects that "The fact I'm a Bureaucrat on a Wikimedia Foundation wiki, as well as the Developer for a private Wiki, surely seals the deal? --Shmm 17:26, 1 May 2007 (EDT)", adding "I have a sincere desire to protect this Wiki, as I have being protecting others of the Wikimedia Foundation --Shmm 15:17, 2 May 2007 (EDT)"

Is that true? Since that was before his second successful RfA, on what WMF wiki did he have Bureaucrat rights, in May 2007??

His user page talks about an interest in and knowledge of classical studies, but his main work on Wikipedia seems to have been 'gnoming'. His work on Good Articles is mostly minor changes to grammar (sometimes making it worse), or linking or applying templates or other inconsequential stuff. (I haven't checked that carefully, however, so take that with a grain of salt for now).

Is this the kind of arbitrator Wikipedia needs?

This post has been edited by Peter Damian:

[thekohser]

Is this the kind of arbitrator Wikipedia needs?

Absolutely! It's very fitting.

[melloden]

I think most kids on Wikipedia are like that. Someone point out a fifteen-year-old Wikipediot that wasn't obsessed with being an admin at first.

I think it's interesting he was elected to the mediation committee in 2007. Until recently, I think he was the chair of that, too.

Disproportionate number of Wikipedia-namespace edits, it seems. I couldn't imagine why.

[Kelly Martin]

I think it's interesting he was elected to the mediation committee in 2007. Until recently, I think he was the chair of that, too.

The Mediation Committee does absolutely nothing of any value; the whole point of participating in it is as a stepping stone to the ArbCom.

[that one guy]

I think it's interesting he was elected to the mediation committee in 2007. Until recently, I think he was the chair of that, too.

The Mediation Committee does absolutely nothing of any value; the whole point of participating in it is as a stepping stone to the ArbCom.

Well it's hard to do something when all the results are non-binding.

[melloden]

I think it's interesting he was elected to the mediation committee in 2007. Until recently, I think he was the chair of that, too.

The Mediation Committee does absolutely nothing of any value; the whole point of participating in it is as a stepping stone to the ArbCom.

Steven Zhang is a coordinator of the mediation cabal... and I think he still wants to be an admin, too. Possible parallel?

[carbuncle]

Posted without further comment. From AGK's request for "temporary" adminship on meta:

Apologies for the length of this (feel free to move it to the talk page if necessary), and apologies if some of it sounds choppy. Parts of this summary were cobbled together from other pages and discussions. Below is a list of most of the requests that AGK's made over the course of his time on Wikipedia; I'm sure I've missed a couple (and if I missed any requests where he was granted a right/position, I apologize):

December 27, 2006: adds himself to the standby list for CheckUser clerks. At the time, not granted.
December 29, 2006: requests to join the mediation committee. Denied.
December 31, 2006: requests OTRS access. Not granted.
January 9, 2007: requests CheckUser access. Denied.
January 16, 2007: attempts to gain access to the Bot Approvals Group. Denied.
February 9, 2007: requests adminship on the English Wikipedia. Not granted.
March 3, 2007: requests to join the Mediation Committee again. Denied.
March 6, 2007: requests to become an administrator at the Simple English Wikipedia. Denied, and he leaves that wiki soon afterward, indicating that he was editing there for the sole purpose of gaining adminship (though has since made some edits under his current username, AGK).
March 9, 2007: Adds self as CheckUser clerk, shortly after the process is made more open (previously, checkusers -- primarily Essjay -- added users themselves). I recall a conversation with Essjay before he left the site in which he told me that he did not wish for Anthony to become a clerk; this is of course hearsay, and Essjay can't back this up. However, Essjay privately, and to a lesser extent publicly, complained that many of the positions that Anthony/AGK applied for were positions that Essjay held, or positions under Essjay (i.e. CheckUser clerk), and that the requests seemed to him as a form of stalking.
April 4, 2007: requests OTRS access again; request withdrawn.
April 19, 2007: requests to become a coordinator of the Mediation Cabal via e-mail. Not granted.
April 27, 2007: requests adminship on the English Wikipedia for a second time. Granted this time; I voted Neutral.
May 18, 2007: requests to join the Mediation Committee for a third time. Granted; I was unable to register my opinion on his nomination before it closed.
May 23, 2007: becomes a VandalProof moderator.
May 24, 2007: Just a day later, removed as moderator by AmiDaniel, "due to complaints from a variety of sources".
July 24, 2007: requests OTRS access for a third time. Denied.
December 27, 2007: Named an Arbitration Committee Clerk (at the time, a trainee; since then he's been named a full clerk)
February 6, 2008: Named as an observer to the Working Group on ethnic and cultural edit wars.
February 11, 2008: requests OTRS access for a fourth time. Denied.
March 8, 2008: requests an account on the Foundation wiki. Request not yet acted upon.

AGK even admitted on March 5, 2007 that "I appeared power-hungry, and to an extent I was. Might I here point out that I have since eliminated all nominations from my mind - Adminship, etc.. - to concentrate on being permitted to formally mediate cases alongside a group of Wikipedians who I each hold in the highest respect, for one reason or another." The request to join MedCom was declined just hours later; he applied for adminship on the Simple English Wikipedia just a day afterward. I believe this speaks to AGK's hunger for power.

In response to Majorly and EVula, I have to admit that AGK has not abused these powers, though I feel that in some cases he's made poor judgments. As a fellow mediator (and a fairly unsuccess I don't feel comfortable judging his Mediation Committee actions, as a mediator emeritus, but I think AGK's handled some things rather poorly. For example, he was involved in a minor edit war with Daniel and I, regarding text on his userpage that was unquestionably copyrighted. He took offense that Daniel and I were involved, due to prior disputes we've had with him, and attacked us for that while acknowledging that we were right regarding the copyright status of the text. Moreover, he noted that he didn't have that great a grip on copyright issues, and "[had] not offered [himself] to OTRS for copyright queues". This is absolutely false; in July 2007, AGK's third OTRS request specifically notes that, at least initially "'I only wish to start helping out with permissions".

I feel that while he's a great contributor, he lacks the sensitivity to others to realize that some of his behavior can be extremely irritating, and in some cases can be interpreted as "wikistalking". Throughout Anthony/AGK's time on Wikipedia, he's seemed to follow in the footsteps of Essjay and Daniel. Both Essjay and Daniel have noted that AGK/Anthony has borrowed from their userpage design significantly; while it doesn't seem like the biggest concern, I can see where they could be concerned about confusion, and also how it could "weird them out".

More concerning, as noted above, is that many of the positions he's applied for were originally held by Essjay or Daniel. For example, in one of many coincidences, AGK first inquires about becoming a VandalProof moderator, just two days after Daniel becomes one. In early 2007, his requests to join the Mediation Committee, OTRS, CheckUser group, CheckUser clerk, and Bot Approvals Group were all presumably motivated by the fact that Essjay held each right. I wouldn't be worried about this, since it happened last year, except that it's still happening. Anthony asks for temporary Meta adminship less than four weeks after Daniel receives it for a different purpose -- another coincidence?

I guess to me, it's not a concern that AGK will do it wrong -- though he's had his troubles, I expect temporary adminship, to focus on MediaWiki messages only, is a task that is purely janitorial, and he should run into no trouble there. However, I find it troubling that it seems he treats these positions like trophies. I don't feel that encouraging this would be good for Wikimedia or for AGK, and I don't think that, given these concerns, the task he wishes to accomplish is that important that denying him adminship would adversely affect the Wikimedia mission. Ral315 (talk) 08:31, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

[Peter Damian]

Seemed to have had a love affair with Essjay.

17:16, 2 March 2007 "Essjay works with Jimbo, so I'm sure he was appointed with Jimbo as informed as possible. In all honesty, this has been blown out of all proportion."

14:00, 3 March 2007 "Good evening; I respectfully beg to differ - at the end of the day, we are an encyclopedia: and that means articles. No articles have suffered because Essjay (incorrectly) stated he had a formalised qualification in the areas in question. At the end of the day, he is still very knowledgable in those areas; the edits he made to these articles are not degraded because he doesn't have letters after his name, and that's why this has been blown out of all proportion. The term disallusioned [sic] lynch mob was simply used as a metaphor to show that certain editors who haven't actually been directly affected are calling for him to be stripped of CheckUser, Oversight, Arbitrator, etc.. - from what I've seen, he's doing an excellent job on the ArbCom. Perhaps some should take a leaf out of Essjay's book and refrain from editing here until the room temperature has calmed down. Dixi, Anthonycfc [T • C] 14:00, 3 March 2007 (UTC)"

21:45, 3 March 2007 ""As I've been saying in another discussion, this is an encyclopedia - of articles. Simply because he doesn't have a string of letters after his name, does not mean his edits are of a secondary standard. The fact of the matter is, we cannot prove that had Essjay formalised his knowledge in this area (i.e. was a professer), his edits would have been of a higher standard; and it works the opposite way: claiming he was qualified when he was not, whilst not correct, does not mean his edits are null and void. Kind regards, anthonycfc [talk] 21:45, 3 March 2007 (UTC) Post script: I've renamed the header from "Shut up, you big babies" to "Achievements v. Controversy" because that was the subject of the first section post, for civility and WP:NPA purposes."

03:38, 4 March 2007 "You will be sorely missed my friend. While you probably won't get this, my best wishes go with you wherever you are. Good luck with Wikia, and to Mia (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/smile.gif) it is a shame the trolls won the battle..they won't win the war. Aeternum vale anthonycfc [talk] 03:38, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=112484352

This post has been edited by Peter Damian:

[Eppur si muove]

Seemed to have had a love affair with Essjay.

21:45, 3 March 2007 The fact of the matter is, we cannot prove that had Essjay formalised his knowledge in this area (i.e. was a professer), his edits would have been of a higher standard;

Just the fine sense of judgment that we need in an Arb.

What puzzles me is that genuine professionals such as Brad and Cas tolerate working with the Ephebocrats. How many of the other Arbs have the professional background or life experience to be able to make complex judgments about people?

[Kelly Martin]

How do we know that AGK isn't, in fact, Essjay?

[TungstenCarbide]

How do we know that AGK isn't, in fact, Essjay?

(IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/laugh.gif)

[EricBarbour]

How do we know that AGK isn't, in fact, Essjay?

We don't, but it is doubtful. Too much evidence AGK's not an American, for one.

AGK's profile on AN/I is very telling--he's basically a Facebooker who creates virtually no
content, but constantly slimes and backstabs people he wasn't directly in dispute with.
There are almost no direct user complaints about AGK, because he hides behind other
admins when doing his dirty work. He likes to use Sandstein, Postlethwaite, YellowMonkey,
and other "evil patrollers" as his "cover". He lets the loudmouths and ban-freaks
take all the heat. If you want to say this makes a "good administrator", you can, but
I don't think he's a real "asset".

This is typical.
AGK swoops in, makes an offhand comment that matches with "cabal" attitudes, then runs away.
Leaving the others to argue pointlessly. (That's basically what Essjay was like.)

He's also spent a lot of time sucking up to Durova, Daniel, Ironholds, NY Brad, and....Alison.
You might ask her directly, for her impression of the lad.

A good example of a pure suck-up. Wikipedia DOES NOT need this guy, any more than it
needs the evil patrollers--he's helping to enable them.

This post has been edited by EricBarbour:

[A Horse With No Name]

He's also spent a lot of time sucking up to Durova, Daniel, Ironholds, NY Brad...

Ewww...who would want to suck those characters? (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/sick.gif)

and....Alison.
You might ask her directly, for her impression of the lad.

Alison does impressions? (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/tongue.gif)

I can do a fairly adequate Jimmy Stewart and a better-than-average Bob Hope. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/wink.gif)

[EricBarbour]

Alison does impressions? (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/tongue.gif)

I can do a fairly adequate Jimmy Stewart and a better-than-average Bob Hope. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/wink.gif)

Welcome to my headache.

Join me, in the great misery of trying to do "research" on the un-researchable. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/tongue.gif)
(Most of it should be read in Pee-Wee Herman's voice. Seriously.)

[melloden]

A good example of a pure suck-up. Wikipedia DOES NOT need this guy, any more than it
needs the evil patrollers--he's helping to enable them.

Wikipedia can't survive without people like AGK. They need someone who doesn't actually improve the encyclopedia to be in charge of the people that do. Aren't most admins like this, anyway?

[Cla68]

A good example of a pure suck-up. Wikipedia DOES NOT need this guy, any more than it
needs the evil patrollers--he's helping to enable them.

Wikipedia can't survive without people like AGK. They need someone who doesn't actually improve the encyclopedia to be in charge of the people that do. Aren't most admins like this, anyway?

I don't understand how anyone can find WP participation fulfilling if they don't actually complete a few articles. Otherwise, what else is there that shows you have actually done anything that might be of benefit to someone?

[Peter Damian]

I don't understand how anyone can find WP participation fulfilling if they don't actually complete a few articles. Otherwise, what else is there that shows you have actually done anything that might be of benefit to someone?

I think AGK's early comments demonstrate that he imagines Wikipedia is all this knowledge sitting there, a bit like ancient Rome before the Goths and the Vandals, and that his contribution is the heroic fighting of vandals, to prevent the collapse of the empire. The idea that there was nothing worth protecting has not yet occurred to him.

[melloden]

A good example of a pure suck-up. Wikipedia DOES NOT need this guy, any more than it
needs the evil patrollers--he's helping to enable them.

Wikipedia can't survive without people like AGK. They need someone who doesn't actually improve the encyclopedia to be in charge of the people that do. Aren't most admins like this, anyway?

I don't understand how anyone can find WP participation fulfilling if they don't actually complete a few articles. Otherwise, what else is there that shows you have actually done anything that might be of benefit to someone?

Leveling up, perhaps?

If you put something vague like "volunteer response team at Wikimedia Foundation" on your resume, I doubt anyone would be able to verify what you actually do there. Or "steward for Wikimedia," not as if that means anything to anyone else in the world, but it makes people think you're important and have benefited people.

[Fusion]

I don't understand how anyone can find WP participation fulfilling if they don't actually complete a few articles. Otherwise, what else is there that shows you have actually done anything that might be of benefit to someone?

Mr Cla, you are the best sort of WP editor, there to try to benefit mankind and (I imagine) without any great POV to push. Few indeed are as you are. Many are not in it to benefit anyone else. They just seek an ego trip. Or they just like correcting spelling errors.

[Casliber]

......Or they just like correcting spelling errors.

I just had this idea for a competition of sorts....I wonder about the weirdest typo and how many catches it could catch. I've seen loads of folks correcting common ones, but maybe coming up some weird ones like "atnidisestablishmentarianism" or "hexocyannoferrate" and see how many guffs a bot (or person) can catch......has anyone played this game before?
Cas

[Peter Damian]

20:06, 2 June 2010 AGK (talk | contribs) blocked GiacomoReturned (talk | contribs) (account creation blocked) with an expiry time of 16 hours ‎ (Personal attacks (and repeated restoration thereof).)

22:32, 2 June 2010 LessHeard vanU (talk | contribs) unblocked GiacomoReturned (talk | contribs) ‎ (No discussion found, thus no consensus, and blocking admin was involved in discussion leading to block - "odious" is used by WP, so not forbidden.)

This post has been edited by Peter Damian:

[lilburne]

Or "steward for Wikimedia,"

Sounds like someone that comes around with the tea and biscuits.

[EricBarbour]

Or "steward for Wikimedia,"

Sounds like someone that comes around with the tea and biscuits.

That would be "useful and honorable work". People who do "useful and honorable work" on WP tend to be guys like Giano and Malleus---"troublemakers".

[radek]

Ugh, aside from Geni and what's his face, AGK was the one I was genuinely worried about (that is, more than average).

I think I was right.

And how in the world is this a "good article"? After reading it I barely have an idea of what happened. What the hell is a "unique footage of insanity"? I mean, the phrase sounds cool in a song-lyrics kind of way, but in an encyclopedia article?

This post has been edited by radek:

[Ottava]

......Or they just like correcting spelling errors.

I just had this idea for a competition of sorts....I wonder about the weirdest typo and how many catches it could catch. I've seen loads of folks correcting common ones, but maybe coming up some weird ones like "atnidisestablishmentarianism" or "hexocyannoferrate" and see how many guffs a bot (or person) can catch......has anyone played this game before?
Cas

Nerd. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/tongue.gif)

[Michaeldsuarez]

I think I was right.

Whatever happened to "everyone has a say" and discussions being "open to anyone"? Why is an open project becoming more and more closed? First, they use WP:CANVASS in order to discourage off-site discussions, and now this.

Also, isn't it obvious that users interested in the topics being discussed are also the ones who want to see disputes regarding those topics resolved and handled properly while users not interested in those topics aren't insightful enough about the problem and don't care about how it's resolved?

This post has been edited by Michaeldsuarez:

[Kelly Martin]

Also, isn't it obvious that users interested in the topics being discussed are also the ones who want to see disputes regarding those topics resolved and handled properly while users not interested in those topics aren't insightful enough about the problem and don't care about how it's resolved?

Isn't that another way of saying that people interested in and knowledgeable about a topic inevitably have a conflict of interest regarding it and therefore ought not edit it at all?

It has long been Wikipedia policy that articles should only be edited by people who are utterly ignorant of the topic.

[melloden]

Whatever happened to "everyone has a say" and discussions being "open to anyone"? Why is an open project becoming more and more closed? First, they use WP:CANVASS in order to discourage off-site discussions, and now this.

There's a small difference between "everyone has a say" and "we care about your say."

[gomi]

It has long been Wikipedia policy that articles should only be edited by people who are utterly ignorant of the topic.

Or who are willing to pretend they are.

[Michaeldsuarez]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=469457721

I see that AGK is open to criticism </sarcasm>

This post has been edited by Michaeldsuarez:

[FightingMac]

His user page talks about an interest in and knowledge of classical studies, ...

Did he ever mention any particular area of expertise in classical studies?

Looking at his early contribution history it was pretty much minor edits to do with Glasgow and railways before he focused exclusivley on admin work. I don't see any classics edits and I wonder if he has an alternative account for those.

Can anyone point me to any academic research on users like AGK who are exclusively concerned to police Wikipedia? I can't understand their mindset.

This post has been edited by FightingMac:

[Detective]

Can anyone point me to any academic research on users like AGK who are exclusively concerned to police Wikipedia? I can't understand their mindset.

You can't? Basically, these are people who don't have much going for them in real life. They need something to raise their self-esteem. At best, they see helping Wikipedia as a way of doing something useful and productive (they think); unable to do much on the content side, they can at least do "janitor" jobs. At worst, of course, they are bullies. I'm sure that AGK is towards the good end of the spectrum.

[FightingMac]

... Basically, these are people who don't have much going for them in real life. They need something to raise their self-esteem. At best, they see helping Wikipedia as a way of doing something useful and productive (they think); unable to do much on the content side, they can at least do "janitor" jobs. At worst, of course, they are bullies. I'm sure that AGK is towards the good end of the spectrum.

Well, I suppose that's right, but I still don't understand what attracts them to a project for which they have no natural affiliation whatsoever. AGK simply hasn't added anything to the project of any substance at all. Cambuslang railway station appears to be the apex of his ambitions as a content contributor. So why should he want to police Wikipedia, and more to the point why does Wikipedia let him?

I imagine an anorak without a brain cell in his head, I'm sure that's right from what I've seen of his edits, and yet he's at the top of the Wikipedia hierarchy, and one moreover at the heart of this shadowy and distinctly suspect paedocracy that we know has taken over Wikipedia and which no one ought to feel comfortable about, especially in the light of the Essjay affair. How many more fantasist jesuit administrators are there in there, comfy tucked into the closet skirting board, mentoring obviously naive and impressionable youth like AGK one wonders?

I can't see any good coming of any of that. I can't imagine why anyone with any common sense can presently feel comfortable about entrusting their privacy to Wikipedia when it's run by types like these, nor indeed can I imagine why fellow administrators of old would want to associate with people like these. I honestly can't fathom it. What on earth can be the attraction? Types like AGK are exactly the sort of persons I make any excuse to avoid.

I do think people like AGK should be outed. In general I don't think Wikipedia ought to be administered by anonymous names. If they're mature enought to take on that role, then they should be mature enough to take public responsibility for their actions. But when the individual involved is so nakedly suspect, as here, then their motivation and background should certainly be more closely examimed.

Every year it gets worse and worse, this policing thing in Wikipedia. Regarding vandalism, the cure is now far worse than the disease ever was. It is beyond me why people are so equanimous about the phenomena. I find these people quite simply repulsive.

I do wish one of our Brit red tops (I mean the popular press in the UK) took an interest in all this and outed a few of these characters. Really in the public interest, because in practice there is no protection for juvenile editors in Wikipedia beyond well-intentioned advice about guarding their privacy (but that just serves to strengthen the anonymity of those who seek to prey on them).

[Shalom]

AGK's old username is Anthony cfc. Who knows what cfc stands for, I do not know.

Why not spill all the beans, Peter Damian? What do you lose?

[FightingMac]

AGK's old username is Anthony cfc. Who knows what cfc stands for, I do not know.

Why not spill all the beans, Peter Damian? What do you lose?

I should imagine "cfc" stands for "Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum" (see [[Congregation of Christian Brothers]] ) in Wikipedo, but that is surmise of course. I should think that is the origin of the "classics" remark. It's a tease (tee-hee).

My great-aunt Jemima, who is not greatly pleased with AGK's recent administrations on her behalf, has enlisted the support of certain persons skilled in these matters and I expect she will be in a position to counsel him in due course.

We must be compassionate, as he is very likely a victim of sexual abuse and crudely outing him as you suggest would be cruel and unnecessary in the circumstances. But of course there may well be public interest issues involved as well that need balancing.

Whatever the outcome, AGK will plainly never enjoy bragging rights. I'm not sure he quite understands the effect of what he does. He says he comes from a tough Glasgow background. I do not believe this. I suspect that is fantasy. You can come from Glasgow and still be a very tender flower indeed. If he really did, he would know that the sort of thing he allows himself on Wikipedo is something not very dissimilar to marching into one of those eponymous (a Wikipedo word, fucked if I know what it means) sawdust strewn public bars doon the Gorbals of old, picking some tough looking docker type whomever, and ordering the barman not to serve him because he has reason to believe he hasn't paid his council tax whatever and anyway he looks like a pedo obviously.

In the real world , Anthony dear boy, you don't survive doing stuff like that.

[FightingMac]

I can add a little more to this now.

First of all, it might be of interest to note that one of AGK's comments noted in Peter Damian's opening contribution in this thread, the one about his being brought up in a tough district of Glasgow and his odd remark that knowledge of the 'delinquent personality' might come in useful, has been revision deleted from its history. What the significance of that might be I know not, but I suspect it is because he is caught out in a fantasy. There are indeed rather a lot of these revision deletions in Anthony's contribution history.

This is his first unsuccessful RfA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Req...hip/Anthony_cfc which was refused, and this is his second successful http://en.wikipedia.g-webs.com/wiki/Wikipe...r_adminship/AGK.

The first carries a prominent pull-quote reservation from his mentor Essjay (indicative of the influence he waged at the time that it survived), and in addition there are significant comments referencing AGK's self-confessed bi-polar condition. The second refers not at all to his bi-polar condition but does record how proud he is of Cambuslang railway station where he drafted in the combined resources of no less than four editors ... well you have to (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/smile.gif).

The bi-polar stuff is interesting because AGK permanently blocked a user RobvanderWaal (I must declare an interest, Rob is 'family') who had been waging a personal crusade against the hijacking by Major depressive disorder of Vincent van Gogh's (also 'family' I should declare, strange but true if only rather distantly) painting At Eternity's Gate as an icon of mental distress. In fact the painting, as its article (contributed mostly by Rob who briefly became a wikiaddict before coming to his senses), not to mention its title, makes clear, is an image of sanctity. When Rob came to query it on Major depressive disorder (the intellectual property is seems of that well known slimebag Casliber, who has also made a typically stupid and immature remark in this thread I notice) he was hounded by a user Basalisk, apparently a Swansea schoolboy passing himself off a physician. When Rob exposed this editor's pretensions (amongst other things Basalisk announced his putative success in his final medical examinations with the triumphant salutation "I'm a doctor now, bitches"), Rob was blocked by AGK for being a sock of Rinpoche (erm ... also 'family', oh well that's family for you i.e you tend to be related to other people because of it and for no other good reason, which is really so totally unfair and arbitrary).

Quite apart from any issues to do with van Gogh's legacy, the issue is important from a medical point of view; in the first place because iconising van Gogh's painting in this way romanticizes suicide, but far worse because it also reinforces the well known fallacy that people who suffer clinical depression are necessarily in despair (a position also maintained by the good doctor Basalisk incidentally). This is simply not so, and it's especially not so in the case of teenagers (the Bridgend suicide incidents are a tragic example of that). Rather it is a classic case of cause and effect. Suffering from depression makes it more difficult to deal with feelings of despair, but feelings of despair are not necessarily symptomatic of depression and certainly not a necessary adjuvant with the condition; in fact the World Health Organisation does not list feeling of despair as one of the symptoms of clinical depression.

That fucking little ozzy cunt Casliber knows this perfectly well, or certainly ought to, because he's a psychiatrist, but then of course he's just basically yet another wikiaddict with multiple issues about matters of fact and whether they really in fact matter when balanced against the common good of the community (i.e. pricks like Basalisk).

Just to mention. I suggest AGK's block of RobvanderWaal was not disinterested.

And would you by any chance be from Cambuslang then, brother Anthony? The whole family's in on this now (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/smile.gif) ...

(Added): OMG, some of us actually are from Cambuslang! Now there's a laugh ... (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/laugh.gif)

This post has been edited by FightingMac:

[FightingMac]

I can add a little more to this now. ... There are indeed rather a lot of these revision deletions in Anthony's contribution history. ... The second refers not at all to his bi-polar condition but does record how proud he is of Cambuslang railway station where he drafted in the combined resources of no less than four editors ... well you have to (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/smile.gif).

The bi-polar stuff is interesting ...

It's amusing to go through his very earliest edits. They start in February 2006 and the second edit is already devoted to that flower of Wikipedia Cambuslang railway station , which 6 years 4 months on has achieved such perfection of minimalist unity and form ... (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/smile.gif)

In less than a month we see the first of his very many revision deletes and we know from the example I quote above, where he sought to repress a revealingly juvenile remark about his knowledge of the delinquent personality, that in at least that one case vandalism or privacy wasn't the issue.

The first dozen or so edits are more anoraks and then we come to his first intrusive edit at Atkinson index, a relatively obscure normative measure in statistics that we know brother Anthony couldn't possibly have the slightest inkling of. It seems our Anthony wasn't satisfied with its wiki quality because he slings this in at the bottom of the article

== NOTICE ==

Thank You for editing Wikipedia. The RC Patrol would like to inform you that your article is '''incomplete''' and is likely to be deleted if not expanded.


I have wikified this article, so as to inform the community of the oppurtunity (sic) here. However, it is preferred that you personally continute (sic) the article.


Thank You.

He's not actually yet on RC Patrol, and the desperate owerweaning politeness a harbinger of that repressed inappropiately intrusive invasion of personal space, bordering on simple agression, that soon becomes such an evident hallmark of his edits. He also possibly reflects it's not actually a RC after all, rather a stub, because two minutes later he reverts himself and removes it.

Of course that's all intensely revealing.

I will look out for his bipolar edits to see what they might reveal about the boy. I shall also look for IP activity on his anoraks prior to 27 February 2006, the start of his editing on account, to see if we can pick up on his IP address; should be able to get that. Of course I know this all being done professionally by cousins, but I'm curious to know how far I can get on my own with my own strictly limited knowledge of Wikipedia mechanics.

Several possibilities with the bi-polarity, depending crucially when first diagnosed and whether self diagnosed or not. On the whole I expect it will prove to be essentially narcissism at stake here. It's interesting incidentally that the Bipolar disorder article is illustrated with yet another van Gogh painting (''The Plum-Tree after Hiroshige" for some reason) and earlier in its history with ''Starry Night'', where it's cited as evidence of his putative hypomanic episodes (but on the other hand the same painting is also cited as evidence of epileptic storms, another plausible candidate for van Gogh's condition, and I can add for family here that the night scene he was so fond of no doubt references that other most likely candidate neurosyphilis, which did for his brother as well just six moths after Vincent's death - an appalling tragedy incidentally). Out of interest I shall chase down the origin of those edits.

== POLITE NOTICE TO ANTHONY CFC (WHATEVER) AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES ==

That stuff about van Gogh and neurosyphilis wos just so-called ''''Irony'''' and in no way at all is be taken as saying I have something against him so please don't put words into my mouth about that like you always do grow up.

But the rest is deadly serius. I fucking mean it.

Thank You.

(Added) A sock of Astrotrain possibly? Astrotrain was anoracking on Scottish railways stations just before Anthony, but ceased directly on Anthony's account creation to concentrate on the Royal Family and the correct English word for what you are if you like buggering small boys, controversial stuff. We do know Anthony likes to create alternative accounts (but not socks god no, these accounts are strictly for serious reasons like having another to troll around and so on) as the morning takes him rolling out of bed. Astrotrain was eventually blocked for psychotic edit warring. Astrotrain fits the profile. He would have started it 2003 when he was 13 and fucking well not disposed to let on to his tough Cambuslang mates that he was into the Royal Family and NAMBLA.

(More) Also revealing is this

== NOTICE ==

This is a Warning from The Wikipedia RC Patrol.

Please stop adding sexually explicit content and nonsense to Wikipedia.

Further attempts to do so will result in implications against your user account.

Thank you

he put on Joe Decker's Talk page 14 March 2006, again less than a month after AGK started his account, the only possible edit from this respected editor and administrator it can refer to being an edit Joe made on the ongoing Roman Catholic paedophilia scandals at the time.

Joe responded with

As I've asked on your talk page, please provide a reference to any such abuse, I believe your complaint is without basis.

and indeed you can see on AGK's Talk Page that Joe responded there on 15 March 2006, except that everything on brother Anthony's cfc Talk page from its creation 27 February 2006 to 25 January 2007 has been revision deleted, so we never get to see the filth Joe put up that brother Anthony felt deserved implications, or indeed what little game NE2 was up to with that image of the eponymous, whatever the fuck that typical pedo word actually means, Cambuslang railway station on 25 January 2007.

Hmhhh ... (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/wink.gif)

This post has been edited by FightingMac:

[FightingMac]

(Added) A sock of Astrotrain possibly? Astrotrain was anoracking on Scottish railways stations just before Anthony, but ceased directly on Anthony's account creation to concentrate on the Royal Family and the correct English word for what you are if you like buggering small boys, controversial stuff. We do know Anthony likes to create alternative accounts (but not socks god no, these accounts are strictly for serious reasons like having another to troll around and so on) as the morning takes him rolling out of bed. Astrotrain was eventually blocked for psychotic edit warring. Astrotrain fits the profile. He would have started it 2003 when he was 13 and fucking well not disposed to let on to his tough Cambuslang mates that he was into the Royal Family and NAMBLA.

I think this is a wrap for that (grateful thanks to a member for sending me the link to the Editor Interaction tool).

When looking at the two early Wikipedia votes (which concurr), bear in mind that AGK was Anthonycfc at the time.

The Motherwell railway station edits made within 3 hours were first made on 28 February 2006 by brother Anthony to add station information here. Anthony made a minor edit at UK railway staions here at 17:33 before ending his edits for the second day on his new account. On the same day Astrotrain began editing in the evening at 17:35 and made his Motherwell edit at 19:49 that was simply to remove an extra formatting bracket that Anthony had inadvertently entered and that proves to be the last, as far as I can see, of Astrotrain's trainspotting.

No question these are socks and explains why we can't find plausible IP anoraks from Anthony before 27 February 2006, perhaps the most telling evidence.

I begin to question whether AGK is young or even necessarily resident in Scotland.

To clarify, I'm suggesting that AGK was Astrotrain, an adult probably in Canada with some Scottish background, who eventually developed administration ambition but couldn't possibly fulfill them with his record of edit warring on heads of state. So he creates an entirely fictitious persona as a youthful Anthonycfc from Glasgow. My theory anyway ...

This post has been edited by FightingMac:

[FightingMac]

......Or they just like correcting spelling errors.

I just had this idea for a competition of sorts....I wonder about the weirdest typo and how many catches it could catch. I've seen loads of folks correcting common ones, but maybe coming up some weird ones like "atnidisestablishmentarianism" or "hexocyannoferrate" and see how many guffs a bot (or person) can catch......has anyone played this game before?
Cas

Peedocracy perhaps?

There is a word paedocracy in the OED incidentally, defined as "government by children"; in the corpus since 1647: 1647 J. Noyes Temple Measured 34 Some are+unseasonable, ignorant, youthful. This is a *Pedocracy as well as a Democracy.

Not sure about government by sad fucks, but there definitely ought to be one.

[FightingMac]

... To clarify, I'm suggesting that AGK was Astrotrain, an adult probably in Canada with some Scottish background, who eventually developed administration ambition but couldn't possibly fulfill them with his record of edit warring on heads of state. So he creates an entirely fictitious persona as a youthful Anthonycfc from Glasgow. My theory anyway ...

His Simple English wikipedia user account had this info box (diff is here):

"My username is derived from the initials of the football team I support, Celtic F.C., and my forename, Anthony, from the greek, ανθος (flower). I am one of few Simple Wikipedians that hails from Scotland, UK. I am a supporter of the EU and of its expansion, of the United Nations and the complete control of the UN over all worldwide peacekeeping at the expense of George W. Bush's rain of terror. I hail from a small town near the City of Glasgow - the largest and most influential city in Scotland, and the Second City after the Capital, Edinburgh.

I am extremely gifted in that I am blessed with both excellent academic and sports skills; I am an avid player of football (as well as a follower) and I participate in weekly swimming events and such like. I believe that the common Western trend of overeating is dangerous and will eventually have a negative impact on the biological chain of evolution in some distant time or place. I am not a follower of Humanism - I simply admire the elegance of the logo. Neither, do I select any of my icons for any other reason but to show uniformity and open-mindedness towards the religions of others. My religion is Roman Catholic; however, I disagree with both the way the Roman Catholic Church is ran (namely the beautifying of mass services that has become all to common of late) and of the amount of funds that head in its direction.

I am blessed with a tremendous family who are always nearby, consisting of my mum and dad, younger brother and two younger sisters; I am also in a steady relationship with a non-Wikipedian (despite my best efforts (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/smile.gif) and I am a heterosexual male who dislikes intently discrimination against same-sex marriages and homosexual, bisexual or transgender individuals.

I am training for my P.P.L. (Private Pilot's License) which I hope to achieve in a few years; I enjoy flying, and support the improvement of environmental capabilities of aircraft to allow the upholding of Aviation as well as the environment's stabality. I use - and support - public transport, and disagree with the expansion of road links (e.g. the planned M74 Extension in Glasgow), except where necessary.

Although I am a newcomer to Wikipedia Simple, I have been around at Wikipedia English for almost a year before deciding to turn my attention to this worthwhile yet perhaps slightly neglected project that deserves a place as sister to Wikipedia English."

In an earlier version he declares himself an OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) sufferer. He had a contact page with various email addresses. Declared himself as having an account with the Scottish Wikipedia, but he never made a single edit there.

So, native of Cambuslang (presumably), Celtic football club supporter (the 'cfc' ... oops), Roman Catholic, named after a Greek flower (yeah we got that, don't ask), bit of an all rounder academically and sportingly, very unfortunately also a bit of a nutter by way of obsessive compulsive bipolar syndrome but at least he's not a fatty destroying civilisation as we know it today, huge admirer of UN peakekeeping, hetererosexual but supports LGBT and extra-Wiki relationships, uses public transport and supports it, bit of a private pilot ... cousins say they're close (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/smile.gif).

The eponymous Cambuslang railway station in Simple English at Anthony's hands is immortal:

There is a train every ten minutes. Trains come more often at busy times of the day. The station has a ticket office at the top, with a bridge across the track and two ramps down to each platform.

I feel his pain, the poor poor boy. Won't someone take pity and let me tell his story to the world? What it's really like to grow up with obsessive compulsive bipolar syndrome, a Roman Catholic with a family, in a tough delinquent Glasgow suburb like Cambuslang on the wrong side of the tracks at the eponymous Cambuslang railway station? Plus he might well have dyslexic syndrome as well unbeknownst to him but its unmisteakable signs are sadly all too obvious to those of us with expertise in the field.

Oh the dear dear boy, how little can he know how much I care for him, how I yearn to help him! I know Jimbo would immedialy launch an online appeal for him, once the facts were out there in the open, to get him sent over to the US where they have proper hospitals, run by the United Nations for all we know, to treat his condition for just a few thousand dollars a week, money Jimbo could easily raise if he just at least had a photo of Anthony or something to get him going, perhaps one in a pilot cap to be on the safe side.

Will everyone please please help.

Meanwhile I'm writing the Rutherglen Reformer to see if they can help because this is a tragedy that has been allowed to go on for far far too long and it's time we put a stop to it. Apparently South Lanarkshire council has just axed a project to provide a new public toilet at the eponymous Cambuslang railway station, which is just so short sighted and exactly the sort of thing that Anthony could play a real part advocating for because of his medical condition which can find him short at any moment, if he only he was prepared to do the decent thing and out himself for the common good. What a waste!

This post has been edited by FightingMac: