Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2017 November 19

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November 19

Removal of Bias in High Fructose Corn Syrup

While doing research on sugars, I was reading Wikipedia's reference to High Fructose Corn Syrup. HFCS is controversial, to say the least. The article looks like it was written by the corn lobby. It is highly biased. I made an edit which both identified that there was a controversy, and included references from valid studies made before and after 2014 that call into question the slanted assertions and studies that were paid for by Coca-Cola and the corn lobby by whomever authored the page and/or edited it previously. User:Zefr rolled back my edits claiming "bias" but did nothing more than support either their bias, or the bias of those who want to make sure that the page only espouses one line of research that is growing outdated. Even the claims within, that HFCS and Sucrose are fundamentally the same are cherry-picking the data. HFCS came on the scene as fats were being removed from foods in the 1970s. The cheapness of the corn-based sugars saw their greater use, which alone is worthy of noting in that it confirms the other existing assertions that excessive sugar is harmful. Beyond that, though, if legitimate studies continue to question whether the additional monosaccharides in HFCS contribute to disease and even decreased social function, why should they not be part of the record?

I contacted Zefr with this challenge, and I respectfully ask that someone more objective in the Wikipedia hierarchy review the challenge of the edit and the existing content of the page. If that level of bias is allowed to stand, it calls into question the veracity of other content that apparently can be influenced by an editor/editors espousing or endorsing a bias with hand-picked information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Theclevertwit (talk • contribs) 05:31, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

The place to discuss disputed edits to the article is Talk:High-fructose corn syrup. --David Biddulph (talk) 05:51, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Besides, the second paragraph of the description sounds surely critical. Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk, contributions) 11:20, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Hello, Theclevertwit. There is no Wikipedia hierarchy: content disputes are resolved by consensus. Please see WP:dispute resolution for the various stages of the process. --ColinFine (talk) 13:11, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Hello, ColinFine Thank you for your guidance. Subsequently the editor was in touch and demonstrated a clear bias. I provided additional information and will go through the procedures as noted. In a decade of putting up content, I have never encountered the situation before, and was unfamiliar with the process. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Theclevertwit (talk • contribs) 12:06, 20 November 2017 (UTC)

Recreation of deleted articles

This article was deleted in 2010 because of lack of notability. Not much has changed since then except for some sensationalistic coverage of a one-time event. What should be done about the recreation of this deleted article? 32.218.44.192 (talk) 01:59, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

In my opinion, nothing as of right now. The recent coverage in People, CNN, Huffington Post et al combined with the coverage since 2010, will weigh strongly in the subject's favor. Anyway, our policy on individuals known for one time events applies only to low profile individuals, and not perhaps individuals like the subject. Thanks, Lourdes 04:33, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Sorry, I wasn't aware that small town city council members were high profile. 32.218.47.166 (talk) 04:44, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Well, that's just my opinion about this particular woman, and not a general opinion about council members of towns. You could take up the notability issue at the talk page of the article. After reasonable consideration, if you feel the article should be deleted, you could follow Wikipedia's deletion procedure after giving a good look to Wikipedia's deletion policy. Thanks, Lourdes 09:11, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

It is not a low profile/high profile thing. NOTNEWS and BLP1E are about having a higher bar for what counts towards notability immediately after the event, but that bar is not impossible to meet. BLP1E gives the example of John Hinckley Jr.: that guy would certainly not have a Wikipedia article if it wasn't for the Reagan assassination attempt, but he is still notable for this sole event; he was already notable one day after it, even if more in-depth sources emerged only later.

For the matter at hand, I would guesstimate WP:AFD to be less likely to delete than to keep but not by a very large margin. It certainly would not be a spurious AfD. I can nominate myself if you want me to.

The only other remotely plausible option, WP:G4, would certainly be a spurious CSD tagging (the article is substantially different), so one would have to go through AfD again. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 18:56, 21 November 2017 (UTC)

Liberty Writers News

Good evening.

Liberty Writers News is my favourite news website. It is the anti-Fake News website. It is biased toward Conservative views, which is fine by me. However, when I read what is written about Liberty Writers News on Wikipedia, I am appalled, as Mr. Standstein, the editor of this article, is obviously a Leftist who is attacking and smearing this excellent news site. I am, again, forced to deal with another Progressive Projection, this time, by Mr. Sandstein, with the use of the term “fake news”. This term is a President Trump Patriot term. We Conservatives own it.

I ask that this article be removed and that I replace it with something more accurate. I also would monitor Mr. Sandstein's views and other articles that he has published, as they are obviously biased toward the real Fake News: The Left. By this, I mean that Mr. Sandstein likely believes in the Trump/Russia Dossier or Trump/Russia election hacking collusion, both prime examples of current FAKE NEWS that have left Mainstream Media (MSM) without many millions of former listeners and viewers.

Anyway, being a Capitalist, I loved to give back to Wikipedia and donate generously as nothing is free. I was about to say, "No more" to giving to Wikipedia, however, I thought that you would take my proposal and let me go with this Liberty Writers News article. Publishing biased lies about Liberty Writers News is an attack on me.

Looking forward to your positive response,

Luigi Grimaldi, Defender of Liberty and Western Civilization and Culture Member, John Birch Society Member, Christian Heritage Party of Canada — Preceding unsigned comment added by Luigi Grimaldi For Liberty (talk • contribs) 03:30, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

@Luigi Grimaldi For Liberty: I'm sorry but Wikipedia reports what reliable sources say, and if it's predominantly that the website is one of fake news, then that is what we cover. It is preaching to the choir and unwarranted to dismiss @Sandstein: as a "leftist".--Jasper Deng (talk) 04:03, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

@Luigi Grimaldi For Liberty: Note also that, like most Wikipedia articles, this one does not have "an editor" – as the "View history" tab shows, around ten other editors have significantly contributed to it. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.0.37.45 (talk) 10:47, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Hi Luigi Grimaldi for Liberty. I haven't read the article, so I've no idea whether it is accurate or not, but I would not advise trying to replace the whole article. Wikipedia aims for a WP:Neutral point of view, so if you feel that this article lacks WP:Balance then discuss this on the talk page of the article, citing WP:Reliable sources to back up your alternative viewpoint. Dbfirs 12:10, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Montpelier, Vermont

Hello,

Is is OK to upload on Commons this flag ([1]), the official flag of Montpelier, Vermont since the article is not providing it?

Thanks

WhatsUpWorld (talk) 04:07, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

It would be better to ask at Commons, WhatsUpWorld. But on http://www.montpelier-vt.org/site/copyright I see "All content © 2006-2017 Montpelier, VT and its representatives. All rights reserved", so my suggestion would be no, it is not OK. But it's possible that it could be uploaded to Wikipedia itself, if the way it is used meets all the criteria in the WP:non-free content criteria. --ColinFine (talk) 13:19, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

References from e-readers

I have recently purchased a Kindle e-reader to access research materials for my ongoing Wikipedia projects. This purchase was mostly driven by economic reasons; Amazon will offer a text at $62.00 in hardcover, or $2.75 in the Kindle edition (just as an example), so it's going to be an obvious saving over time.

My question is how do I cite info from e-books into the standard ref /ref format? There are no page numbers on my Kindle, just as one example. I expect there is an FAQ on this, and if anyone could give me a link I'd appreciate it. Wreck Smurfy (talk) 05:03, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Hello Wreck Smurfy, if you can give a quick read to EBOOKS, can you tell me which all fields listed there (apart from page no) will not be accessible in Kindle books? That would help us in understanding the issue better. Thanks, Lourdes 09:08, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, that's just what I was looking for. If citing the chapter is sufficient, then this issue is solved. Much obliged. Wreck Smurfy (talk) 01:43, 20 November 2017 (UTC)

Biography

How Many Reference Do I Need When Am Writing Biograhy On Awikipedia? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.210.147.23 (talk) 12:14, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Hello there. I'd suggest you first read Wikipedia's notability guidelines (WP:GNG, WP:BIO) apart from the biographies of living persons policy. Specifically, WP:BIO would give you a fair idea of what's required in terms of citations in biographies. Once you've understood that, use the WP:your first article link to proceed ahead. The English Wikipedia requires a fairly good level of English in its articles, so do keep that in mind too. Come back for any more assistance. Warmly, Lourdes 06:46, 20 November 2017 (UTC)

Karynburme

Karynburme – an ancient Kazakh hot dish. It is cooked from the young lamb dismembered meat; salted, peppered, add wild onions, optional Bulgarian pepper, potatoes. Tripe is cleaned, turned over with a smooth side inwards and filled with a prepared billet. Afterwards, a small hole is digged in the ground, the branches of trees are burned and they heat up a lot. Tripe is smeared with clay and laid in a prepared pit. From above also lay branches and burn the fire. Meat in the pile is brewed in its own juice for about two hours. In fact, our ancestors were preparing familiar meat in the oven, cooked in the sleeve. This dish, with certainty it can be said, has been popular since ancient times among the steppe people, batyrs. Everyone who at least once tries this dish will never forget his juicy, fragrant taste with the smell of steppe wind. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Akmetnar (talk • contribs) 13:29, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

@Akmetnar: Hello, this is the page for help in how to edit Wikipedia. Please see WP:WIZ, WP:AfC and WP:YFA in respect of article content. I will also leave a welcome message at your talk page. Please sign your posts on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~). Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 13:34, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Does Wikipedia have a find and replace function?

I'm the administrator for the Kabiye [Wikipedia] which came out of the incubator in June. Now that we're up and running, we need to do quite a lot of spelling harmonisation, e.g. of country names, scientific terminology etc. Does Wikipedia have a find and replace function to help with this? Gnangbade (talk) 19:54, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

@Gnangbade: The source editor has a find and replace feature for the page you are currently editing, assuming you use the desktop version with JavaScript in your browser. Click "Advanced" above the edit box and then the icon at the far right. There are tools like Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser to make semi-automatic edits like this to multiple pages. Bots can do it fully automatic but it requires somebody who can run the bot. The English Wikipedia requires permission to run bots. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:11, 20 November 2017 (UTC)

George Bowes (soldier)

Please fix up the MESS I have made when I tried to add a file/old portrait to an info box. Sorry 203.132.68.1 (talk) 22:37, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Fixed.[2] PrimeHunter (talk) 22:45, 19 November 2017 (UTC)