User talk:Renamed user ixgysjijel/Archive 15

User:BanyanTree/ArchivesBox

Would you be interested in Manchu history? If you do, could have a look at

]

Hi, I assume you followed me from Yang Jisheng? I'm afraid that I know very little about Chinese history and would be unable to contribute constructively to the discussion. - BanyanTree 09:29, 5 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What about Zhou Enlai? Give it a crack?Arilang1234 (talk) 21:50, 5 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This had been vandalized, modified, and generally was a mess. I tried to make it better, then simply went through each edit in the history. Most of the current text is what you originally put in back in Feb 2005. If you have a chance, please give it a look, and possibly improve on the "restored" version. All the best. sinneed (talk) 00:13, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ha! Isn't that just like Wikipedia?

The current version looks relative clean to me. If I recall correctly, I ended up writing such extensive criteria for that category page because I didn't feel up to fighting over the details of the article rebellion, which I see is still about where I left it three years ago. Ideally, there wouldn't have to be anything on that category page but "see rebellion", but that page is filled with landmines because of the multiple possible meanings, which multiple editors will have a stake in. I am only semi-active on Wikipedia these days and have a few other items in the mental queue, including hopefully finishing the rewrite of civil war sometime before I grow senile, so am unlikely to have to time to revisit these pages, but thanks for your cleanup. Cheers, BanyanTree 08:38, 17 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure you have the article on your watchlist but I replied to your note on the page move. Interested in your opinion on the matter. Cheers, Pascal.Tesson (talk) 00:53, 20 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I wasn't watching but have now commented. Thanks. - BanyanTree 01:30, 20 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Banyan, I wrote an explanation for removing that sentence plus its reference at

]

Carlos Cardoso and Arthur C. Clarke?

Hi, I just posted a query at talk:Carlos Cardoso#Arthur C. Clarke connection? concerning Cardoso, and wondered if you might have any information. Thanks. Wwheaton (talk) 16:30, 18 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Morning BT,

I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. —

talk) 15:27, 19 December 2008 (UTC)[reply

]

Nicopolis

Hi BanyanTree, I reverted your additions to the Nicopolis article. Barbara Tuchman is not a reliable source. I noted this on the talk page if you'd like to continue the discussion there. Adam Bishop (talk) 13:38, 20 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion continued at Talk:Battle of Nicopolis#Tuchman? - BanyanTree 14:49, 20 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I noticed you were not made aware of

]

Thanks muchly. - BanyanTree 19:55, 8 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, after seeing what the input of the community has been on the article, which has been to remove all mention of the two restaurants famous for half-smokes as "gratuitous" despite the citation, I think I'll spare my blood pressure and take pass, at least for now. - BanyanTree 20:49, 8 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with you about the restaurant mentions and find your restraint admirable. I'll do some source research. At the very least, I have added the restaurants into a See Also section. Hipocrite (talk) 22:42, 8 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As an addition (balancing) note, though I assume you already were doing this, it is probably best if you do your best to avoid User:TechnoFaye for the forseeable future. Hipocrite (talk) 22:46, 8 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the thought. I assume I will get back to the article again, so won't make any promises.

Speaking of no editors or situation in particular, in my opinion, the only thing worse than editors who spend hours whining, when a fraction of the effort would result in a perfectly fine article if they bothered to listen to the criticism they were given, are the editors who respond to such whining by doing the work that the whiner refuses to do. It's called "enabling" and just pushes back the date when the whiner finally exhausts the patience of the community and everyone wonders why they waited so long. - BanyanTree 10:32, 9 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Just interrupting regular radio silence to wish you a happy new year, BT! I'll have to come and eat half-smokes one day at your mother's (or is it your father's?) place! —

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Mark!!!! What a delight to hear from you! Happy New Year to you as well.

Did you see? I finally got accused of admin abuse at ANI! True, I had to inform the complainant of the existence of ANI, but I think it still counts. The funniest thing about the "BanyanTree is obviously the owner of a restaurant with a million-plus dollars in annual revenue, who somehow also has time to spend four years editing Wikipedia, and therefore any mention of the restaurants famous for a certain type of sausage in the article for that type of sausage is advertising, and let's just ignore my profane ALL-CAPS insults of identifiable living people"-drama is that I've never actually eaten a half-smoke. Ha! In any case, hearing from you again has made my day. Take care, BanyanTree 10:32, 9 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

What the hell did I do? --Double Sevenforth (talk) 23:24, 11 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Morning BT,

There are a few articles on cities in Botswana which have the title

but they're probably uncontroversial so I was wondering if it would be appropriate for me to just ask you to do them? Those in question are:

• Lobatse, Botswana -> Lobatse
• Ramotswa, Botswana -> Ramotswa
• Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana -> Selebi-Phikwe

Obviously Kanye, Botswana and Sowa, Botswana should remain as they are as those terms are ambiguous.

Cheers —

]

Hi Steve,

Makes sense to me and

Wikipedia:Naming conventions (settlements) appears to think so to. (Did you know that the wiki now has three different pages for naming conventions on articles about locations? Crazy.) Glad to be of help. Cheers, BanyanTree 10:48, 12 January 2009 (UTC)[reply

]

Signpost ITN

I'm going to start something at

]

Celebrity deaths

Not desirable because it no longer becomes a redirect. Try it. Carlossuarez46 (talk) 21:37, 27 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

• Yes, the bizarre things that happen here. I do a lot of short page patrolling and you'd be surprised to see how often people don't want to write out the name of their subject but use PAGENAME templates to do it for them - which of course can make the subject unfindable in our search logic. Carlossuarez46 (talk) 22:05, 27 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Barnstar moved to User:BanyanTree. - BanyanTree 21:53, 2 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, Spencer. It would be great if a few more editors wandered onto the template. - BanyanTree 21:53, 2 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have nominated

]

=

I notice that the Museveni article starts out saying he is originally from Rwanda, and came to Uganda as a child. Further on the article says "Ssemogerere also accused Museveni of being a Rwandan, a statement often repeated by Museveni's opponents because of his birthplace near the Uganda-Rwanda border, and his supposedly Rwandan origins ..."

Shouldn't the bio be clear about whether his origin is an established (or acknowledged) fact, or simply a hypothosis or allegation? - Stephen —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stephengeis (talk • contribs) 13:47, 13 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

My good fellow, I you mistaken. I added nothing Darfur. So could you please why you that I added to it? Sir mXe (talk) 22:50, 7 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I notice that this category you created is unpopulated (empty). In other words, no Wikipedia pages belong to it. If it remains unpopulated for four days, it may be deleted, without discussion, in accordance with Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#C1. I'm notifying you in case you wish to (re-)populate it by adding [[Category:Old requests for Africa peer review]] to articles/categories that belong in it.

I blanked the category page. This will not, in itself, cause the category to be deleted. It serves to document (in the page history) that the category was empty at the time of blanking and also to alert other watchers that the category is in jeopardy. You are welcome to revert the blanking if you wish. However, doing so will not prevent deletion if the category remains empty.

If you created the category in error, or it is no longer needed, you can speed up the deletion process by tagging it with {{

}}.

--Stepheng3 (talk) 21:44, 10 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. BJBot (talk) 05:02, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. BJBot (talk) 05:02, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As an expert in things Central African, would you mind taking a look at the new CNDP article and making any changes you see fit? Happy to do some editing under your lead should wish. Kind regards from the UK, Buckshot06(prof) 15:59, 22 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sure. I tend to concentrate on events from the mid 1990s to early 2000s, but I'll see what I can do. - BanyanTree 23:55, 22 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for uploading the Gersony Report article. Prunier certainly ought to be listened to; do you have 'From Genocide to Continental War,' as well? I have a feeling he just repeats the data between the two books. Cheers Buckshot06(prof) 12:44, 25 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Same book actually. ([1]) Published as Africa’s World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of Continental Catastrophe in the US and From Genocide to Continental War: The ‘Congolese’ Conflict and the Crisis of Contemporary Africa in the UK. I think the US title is probably the dumbed down one. Sigh. I'm probably no more than a quarter into it and I keep having to stop and rewrite Wikipedia articles -

Fred Rwigema. I'm clearly going to have to rewrite Great Lakes refugee crisis and I shudder to think what the book will do to First Congo War and Second Congo War once I get that far. Cheers, BanyanTree 13:42, 25 February 2009 (UTC)[reply

]

I'm really not an expert on the Rwanda genocide - I've been using the book to double-check my details for the reform of the FARDC article I've just submitted to a journal. A quick check of the Kibeho massacre article and the burden of info on the Gersony report suggests though to me as a neophite in this area that the RPA did engage in some ethnic cleansing of their own; 'limited retailiation' you might call it. Is that correct? Cheers Buckshot06(prof) 20:57, 25 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The characterization of the killings carried out by the RPA is the key point in dispute. Most sources I've read that touch this topic, and most seem to avoid it, seem to characterize it as "revenge killings", e.g. individuals filled with rage and sorrow losing discipline and lashing out at civilians they collectively blamed for the genocide. This was my understanding for a long time. There is a body of thought that holds that this was an attempted second genocide, but I don't think this was the case. It simply doesn't seem to have the scale of intention that the label 'genocide' requires. Prunier's conclusion is that it was neither of these but rather "a policy of political control through terror" (p. 20) and quotes an ex-FAR officer who joined the RPA before fleeing in 1995: "The plan of the elite in Kigali is to decapitate through any available means the Hutu elite, and to let live a voiceless mass of peasants only good enough to toil the earth for their masters." (21)

This actually fits better with my sense of the RPA, which is consistently described as being among the most disciplined warfighting organizations on the continent, so widespread indiscipline seems 'off' and it seems unlikely that the genocidaire propaganda machine could manufacture thousands of reports of deaths if none actually occurred. This is still heady stuff, and if it was anyone else but Prunier I would dismiss it as conspiracy-mongering. The fact that it is Prunier means that I'm probably shifted my personal opinion of the situation farther away from the common "revenge killings" framework towards Prunier's "murder as political tool" framework, but I'm still skeptical and would like to see some substantive scholarly work testing Prunier's thesis. The problem with this of course is that there are very few prominent academics who can speak with authority about Rwanda, and now one less after the untimely death of Alison Des Forges earlier this month (a great blow to Rwanda scholarship). Hope that helps. - BanyanTree 01:27, 26 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(Thanks for my welcome btw). On your discussion above about the RPA killings of Hutus. There are quite a lot of awful things being said in various places about the scale of this, up to the madman stage of denying the genocide of Tutsis altogether, and quite serious suggestions that killings of Hutus by the RPA and associates numbered in the hundreds of thousands - a second genocide, and conspiracy-mongering indeed. As you imply, no smoke without fire. Whatever the scale it seems likely that Hutus were killed by the RPA / associates in significant numbers more than "just" in Kibeho. (Have you read Pres. Kagame's comments on Kibeho in "We wish to inform you ..."?). I'm not sure I would rule out discipline breaking down in the RPA as being partly behind it though. As the recruitment increased it is quite possible that new recruits absorbed were not made of the same stuff as the "originals", and quite likely received less than thorough politicisation (cf the situation in Uganda after the NRA take over where the army was so diluted by the time it reached parts of the north and east of the country as to be unrecognisable compared to the original NRA). On the other hand Prunier's ideas do go some way to explaining distinct unease amongst Tutsis refugees and the like in Uganda about Kagame's government and methods. Conversely I was recently chatting to a 26 year old Hutu (who rejects all such labels), who is totally into the Kagame stated doctrines. - Apalomita (talk) 18:48, 1 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ooh, I have We wish to inform you... on my shelf but haven't opened it in years. I just found the relevant chapter you mention and added it as further reading at

Kibeho Massacre

. There seems to be pretty consistent reports of killing in all manner of places in Rwanda, including of RPF killing local Tutsi.

I've been thinking about starting an article,

Rwandan Genocide and War in Darfur. Even so, maybe it'd be worth it just so we have this discussion somewhere useful. - BanyanTree 23:49, 1 March 2009 (UTC)[reply

]

DYK for Seth Sendashonga

On February 23, 2009, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Seth Sendashonga, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

--Dravecky (talk) 08:09, 23 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks muchly! - BanyanTree 08:37, 23 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

On In the news candidates page .

--BorgQueen (talk) 14:39, 26 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ooh, these new templates are neat. Thanks, BanyanTree 21:45, 26 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I really don't understand what you are referring to. That photo you removed was placed there sometime in June 2006. It is copyrighted (on our alumni website, where it came from). Don't understand the problem. If there was something wrong with it, why didn't it get removed in the past? Enough wiki editors have watched over the page and removed vandalism, suggested fixes. One editor added the current photo and left ours in. I have no idea where he got HIS photo and who is the copyright owner of that one. I am not a techie. I am 66 years old and the recently retired alumni president. I still add notable alumni to the page and edit it, remove things that shouldn't be there (i.e., negative comments about the school). I would prefer you talk to me on MY talk page because I cannot follow yours at all.

I found some very bizarre message staring me in the face when I went onto the wikipedia site tonight, to read about another one of our notable alumni whose name I just came across: Al Scaduto. There was some mention of a "bot" -- what is that? And some man's strange name, and when I went to his page what he wrote on it sounded very disrespectful and nasty. Why do people have such attitudes? Yvonnefitz (talk) 04:41, 4 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Responded at User talk:Yvonnefitz#Speedy deletion of File:ADbldg60.jpg. - BanyanTree 05:04, 4 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your reply. I left some comments in response on my "talk" page. Yvonnefitz (talk) 21:19, 4 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

On March 5, 2009, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Gersony Report, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Gatoclass (talk) 10:42, 5 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yea! - BanyanTree 10:51, 5 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As of now, I'm trying to deactivate my account, so can you remove all or your comments on my talk page. Thanks. I don't want anything appearing on my talk page anymore. Thanks.Cobenobo (talk) 22:11, 6 March 2009 (UTC)—Preceding unsigned comment added by Cobenobo (talk • contribs) 22:02, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like you have already done so. Note that there is no means to 'deactivate' an account to make it disappear, as all contributions to an article must remain in the page history with attribution to comply with the

GFDL license that the site runs under. You can certainly blank your user pages and never return. Good luck, BanyanTree 23:58, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply

]

Nominations for the Military history WikiProject coordinator election

The

]

Boganda

Sure, and thanks for all your efforts in getting this to the main page. By the way, this is how I came to write the article: I read this piece, which mentions Boganda briefly. When I came in, the article was indeed a stub, but inspired to find out more, I came up with the core of the present article. - Biruitorul ^Talk 22:53, 8 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for all of your work on the article. There seems to be something inherently gripping about the story, as I had a similar reaction of going straight to the wiki after reading about Boganda in Prunier's book. - BanyanTree 23:06, 8 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi... Sorry to bother you with this, but I have NO CLUE how to edit pages. I noticed you contributed to the Rosa Parks page, and was hoping you could make an edit for me. That page also seems to be locked so even if I did know how to I don't think I could.

Anyway, I represent the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation. I noticed a reference to the only other foundation she helped to start and a link to their website. Would you be willing to add something similar for us?

If you like, please take a moment to visit our site and if you are willing please contact me. www.rosaparksscholarshipfoundation.org <email deleted for privacy>

THANK YOU! 74.204.25.20 (talk) 13:26, 9 March 2009 (UTC)Jon[reply]

I have looked into your website, done a web search to see what sort of coverage your foundation has received, and added mention of it to the article

notability to be tenuous. A article for Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation

that is not created by an experienced editor who knows what hoops needs to be jumped through is more likely be deleted. Once notability is 'disproven' in this way, mention of the foundation in other articles may be put at risk.

Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions. - BanyanTree 13:51, 9 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A9: Non-notable music by artist with no Wikipedia article. Hi, I just wanted to point out that the band has an article. In fact, Bottlesmoker has been re-created twice already. Would that warrant a salting? decltype (talk) 13:23, 12 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm, that may be the first time I've ever done that, but I don't think I've been on speedy patrol since the devs allowed protection of deleted pages. In any case, I protected it for a week, which will hopefully allow the creator time to figure out what he did wrong. - BanyanTree 13:30, 12 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Really funny - I was about to unblock you but you beat me to it.

]

I started trying out Norton's IdentitySafe today, which remembers logins, and it replaced the IP's username with my own on the block page. I'd seen that screen so many times I didn't even notice. I couldn't believe it when the verification page came up saying I had blocked myself for a year. I still can't believe I just did that. Well, I won't be using that Norton program anymore... - BanyanTree 14:17, 12 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Try Roboform, I've had no problems with it.

talk) 14:24, 12 March 2009 (UTC)[reply

]

Thanks. I'll check it out. - BanyanTree 22:56, 12 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi BanyanTree

I have noticed taht you have marked for deletion the content I uploaded to the Next Generation Mobile Alliance article. I guess I have uploaded incorrectly. I thought i had followed the guidelines and also looked at other organisations similar to the NGMN for guidance.

Can you help me start a page for the organisation?

Thanks Sarah--SBedwell0906 (talk) 14:56, 12 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Sarah, if you wish someone else to start an article you may list it at

references

for each sentence. Massive unformatted and unlinked submissions just make reviewers, who have to skim all that text to see if there is a claim to notability, grumpy. If you can't find significant media coverage that is independent of your own publications and press releases, the organization probably isn't notable enough for a Wikipedia article.

Also, if you saw articles for organizations like NGMN that were similarly written without a claim to notability, you are welcome to put them in a deletion process. - BanyanTree 22:47, 12 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for determining the connection between Robert Gersony and that U.S. Embassy article. I somehow managed to completely overlook it.   — C M B J   03:53, 18 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No worries. I had just started Robert Gersony so am still trying to get it linked into other articles. - BanyanTree 04:59, 18 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi BT, long time no see! Well, I've been working recently on the article and would like you to have a look at it if you got some time. Any comment or copy editing would be much appreciated since I am planning to make that article reach a GA status at least. -- FayssalF - ^{Wiki me up®} 17:32, 19 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hey Fayssal! It has been quite a while. Wow, that article is much larger than the last time I saw it. Give me a day or two to burrow out from under my real world workload and I'll give it a good read-through. I'm surprised ArbCom allows you any free time. I thought they chained you to the evidence pages or something.  ;) Cheers, BanyanTree 03:46, 20 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

haha! Well, it seems that I've got a week-off after they decided that I deserve one. They also ruled that I should help bring a large topic to a GA status otherwise 'no vacation'! I've started working on

Africa-India relations as well. See you later on. -- FayssalF - ^{Wiki me up®} 17:59, 20 March 2009 (UTC)[reply

]

See article edit and talk page comments. - BanyanTree 11:11, 25 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please see User talk:Tabletop#edit summary?.

Tabletop talk) 02:27, 21 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am currently a graduate student, working on a semester project regarding Wikipedia. I was hoping you would be able to privately answer a few questions in reference to your personal experience with Wikipedia in order for me to get your view on the website. The questions are on my user page, and if you could answer in them in word and e-mail them to the address shown that would be really helpful. Your anonymity is assured, and any personal information you give will never be used outside of this questionnaire. Thank you for your time.Curesearcher (talk) 02:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry but I've done far too many of these and then had the person giving the survey 'forget' to tell the community the results at the end. - BanyanTree 13:45, 29 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Banyan

A search of WikiMedia Commons shows that you used the following image

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nwhi_-_French_Frigate_Shoals_reef_-_many_fish.jpg

Please note that this image is the copyright of James D. Watt, a professional photographer. It is not, as stated in WikiMedia, in the public domain. We realize that you were mis-led in this, but would appreciate it if you would confirm that you will discontinue any usage of this image.

We have requested of WikiMedia Commons that they take down the image.

Aloha Christine Sheppard

for Ocean Stock 77-6425 Kuakini Highway, Suites D-201 Kailua Kona HI 96740 www.wattstock.com [email protected] 808-329-4253

Cxsheppard (talk) 22:43, 2 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

What disconcerting legalese-esque language you've put on my page. Here's the deal: I follow the Wikipedia:Image use policy. If I recall correctly, NOAA had that image here without attributing to an external body, which tends to be a pretty clear indicator that it's an organization image, so I uploaded and licensed it as such. You have apparently convinced someone on Commons that your copyright claim is valid. That's the end of the story as far as I'm concerned. I'm sorry it took you nearly three years to find out.

You should ask NOAA to attribute images of yours they use, but the implication of "confirm that you will discontinue any usage of this image" is that this wasn't something not entirely aboveboard from start to finish. I don't know what legal boxes you have to check in these cases, but you should see if there's some way to check them off without asserting that my intention was to steal. Such pretty pictures and such ugly thoughts from your organization... Good day, BanyanTree 23:41, 2 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

]

Apologies, I meant to come here and repair this note, or actually remove it since it's the templates within the category and not the category itself I'm nominting, but I got distracted. –xeno (talk) 14:59, 13 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

BT,

You probably thought I was dead, but I've merely been focusing my energies elsewhere (specifically, grad school)! Good to see that you are continuing to hold down the fort here on Wikipedia. I'm doing my M.S. degree in Sustainable Agriculture at

, an underutilized crop that was introduced into Kamuli in 2006 (let me know if you want to see the full proposal!) Though I now have some Ugandan friends and know a number of people who've been to Uganda, I'd still like to bounce some questions off you!

Firstly, I can't remember where in Uganda you were and what your project dealt with specifically (Ph.D or M.S.?)

Second, I'm having a terrible time trying to find info on the history of agriculture in Uganda. Most of the sources I've found both on the web and in hard copy are of low quality and the information is really spread out between sources. I'm particularly interested in pre-colonial agricultural systems (esp. in the southern areas) and subsequent transformation to a more commodity-based export system during the colonial era. Any ideas on sources for this or any other more general lit recommendations on Ugandan history?

I am also considering doing touristy things. I will be there from mid-May to mid-August, the dry season north of the Equator. My instinct is to go out of the country, but most of the more interesting destinations (to me) are south of the equator. It actually looks like there is a fair amount of things to do in Uganda itself (i.e. Queen Elizabeth Nat Park, Rwenzoris, Murchison, etc). Do you have any thoughts on one or two activities in East Africa that stand out above the rest as recommendations?

It will be good to hear from you again! --gozar (talk) 17:51, 14 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hey Gozar, Uganda is awesome. Set up your email so I can send you a message without censoring it for identifying details. - BanyanTree 23:31, 14 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

BanyanTree has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian, and therefore, I've officially declared today as BanyanTree's day! For your amazing contributions on so many facets of this encyclopedia, enjoy being the Star of the day, BanyanTree! Cheers, bibliomaniac15 00:59, 18 April 2009 (UTC)[reply] If you'd like to show off your awesomeness, you can use this userbox.

Ha! I've always wondered how one goes about getting their own day. I still don't know but I thank you. :D - BanyanTree 03:10, 18 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Abyei article has a disputed neutrality tag displayed. There has been some discussion about ethnic groups, yet I am unsure of where the dispute is at. Any advice you have would be welcome. - AnomanderDrake (talk) 20:07, 21 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Replied there. - BanyanTree 21:36, 21 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Can you please remove the oldest item from ITN, for the MP balance? I'm not logged in so I can't do it myself. --125.252.14.30 (talk) 03:58, 22 April 2009 (UTC) (BorgQueen)[reply]

I'm sorry but I have no proof that you are BorgQueen. On my screen, the "On this day" header box is on the same level as TFA's "Recently featured" line, so the TFA is already significantly longer than ITN. While I've learned to abide by BorgQueen's edits, I won't make edits that worsen the already unbalanced, in my view, Main Page on an IP's say-so. - BanyanTree 05:09, 22 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You've forced me to log in. That's fine, I can understand that. Thanks for adding the entry overlooked by everyone else. --BorgQueen (talk) 07:36, 22 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Not at all. Sorry for the bother and I'm glad I wasn't talking to someone besides you. - BanyanTree 08:34, 22 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I saw that you are the main author of the article on the

, and that you had returned to the page (to undo something else) subsequent to my addition of a small paragraph on the articlein the January 2007 "Le Monde Diplomatique" that basically suggests French collusion with the Presidential Guarde in the attack. Could you help me to make the paragraph more "wikipedia-like" E.g., should the article be cited via a footnote? If so, how to edit it in. Thanks in advance, Stephengeis (talk) 17:57, 6 May 2009 (UTC) Stephen Geis[reply]

Hi Stephen, It's always good to see another productive editor in Africa topics. I have copyedited your submission, integrated it into the body of the article in roughly chronological order and put the citation in ref format. You can look at the diff if you want to see how I created the footnote. If you are feeling adventurous, I have left

redlink and a stub using the content at fr:Colette Braeckman would be appreciated. Cheers, BanyanTree 07:59, 7 May 2009 (UTC)[reply

]

And don't forget to close off the linked text, as I did not. Sigh. - BanyanTree 08:05, 7 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Dear B. Tree Thanks for your improvements. I don't know anything about Ms. Braeckman, so I can't supply bio date for your redlink. I fixed a date error in the 1st sentence (the article is from 2007, not 1997). best regards, Stephen p.s. did you know that the Economist has started a weekly column on Asian affairs under your monniker? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stephengeis (talk • contribs) 13:15, 13 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, sorry for the error. Weird that I got it right in the reference but not in the main body. Obvious mental hiccup.

I was just reading the Economist column a couple days back. Unfortunately, I am not involved in the column but I think it's further proof that I have the coolest username possible. ;) And I'll eat my shirt if their line: "Gujarati merchants conducted business under it, and the Portuguese lent their name, banyan, to the tree" wasn't written by someone looking at our article. Cheers, BanyanTree 05:29, 14 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]