Essjay -Wikipedia- wrote:
First, it would have been nice for Kevin to either
email me, as the
blocking policy suggests, or leave a note on his talk page; however,
as we all know, it is much more satisfying to burn an admin at the
stake via the mailing list rather than try to resolve the situation
directly. I feel it such a waste to have a dozen different ways to
contact me listed on my talk page and have none of them be of any use
to him.
It was never my intention to burn anyone at the stake. I posted this to
the mailing list per the instructions I see when I try to edit a page
now: "If you believe that our blocking policy was violated, you may
discuss the block publicly on the WikiEN-l mailing list." I didn't want
to contact you directly since I would have preferred if someone from a
more neutral standpoint could have handled the situation since I feel
that the block you have placed on me suggests a personal bias.
I issued the indefinnate block after Kevin trolled Cool Cat and
several other users, including Anthere, over a completely
inappropriate userbox. I settled on an indef block because he admitted
that his intention in the entire situation was to troll, and we all
know that trolling is the last thing Wikipedia needs, although it
certainly receives more than its share. I announced the block in
#wikimeda, and no other admin saw fit to adjust it, although there
were several (including two Board members, and, if I remember
correctly, Jimbo himself) in the channel and actively discussing the
matter. Further, the block was recorded in the block log, as all
blocks are, and no other user saw fit to raise the issue on my talk
page, AN/I, or elsewhere.
I absolutely deny that I trolled anyone other than Cool
Cat. I left
this comment
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Anthere#My_user_box) on
Anthere's userpage but there is absolutely no way it can be construed as
trolling or anything similar. I'm very surprised that no other admins
commented on my shockingly severe ban, I can only assume this is because
they trusted your judgement in the matter.
Given that several other users have been affected by the resulting
autoblocks, I'm willing to reduce the block to 24 hours (from whatever
time I set it) and be done with the matter, provided that, as Kevin
asserts that he has been a upstanding contributor for a long time, he
gives up trolling and goes back to making useful edits. If he intends
to continue trolling, however, I'm not inclined to reduce the block,
as why would I unblock someone so they can return to trolling.
According to the
block log only one other user has been affected by my
block, that is not several. I have no idea how any other users could in
fact be affected since I have a static IP address.
I don't normally get the mailing list emails, so if another admin sees
a response from Kevin indicating that he has given up trolling and
would like to be unblocked, please feel free to unblock, and leave me
a note on my talk saying that it has been done. If one of you
disagrees with the block (and I'm sure there will be at least one), I
invoke what I have written on my userpage:
<quote>
I strongly encourage other administrators who feel I have made an
action inappropriately to take the appropriate action to rectify it
and follow up with a note to me.
</quote>
If, by some odd chance, Kevin would like to email me directly, instead
of involving the entire mailing list, he is welcome to do so. I'm also
available by the other twelve methods listed on my userpage.
As always, peace be with you all.
Essjay
I don't appreciate your sarcasm here Essjay. Since you have posted this
to the mailing list rather than emailing me directly I can only assume
you are happy for it to be handled in public now.
I still very strongly feel that Essjay's overreacted with his block.
I'm not going to allow myself to be portrayed as a merciless troll by
him for this when in fact all I did was leave a practical joke on a
user's talk page. I appreciate that I did wrong but I do NOT deserve an
indefinite ban from Wikipedia and I question whether I deserve a ban at
all, but that's not for me to decide.
I would very much appreciate it if this situation could be arbitrated as
I am extremely unhappy about being treated this way considering the time
and effort I have put into Wikipedia in the past.
Regards,
Kevin Mulligan
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