Talk:Deaths in 2005/Archive 3

message: I have reverted two anon. contributors this morning (Oct. 11).  One deleted Chinese activist Lu; no reason was given for the removal, so it may be considered vandalism.
The other was a (probably well-intentioned) soul who switched all the "American"'s to "United States".  I am sympathetic to this edit (American is inexact, and USians are already full of ourselves generally), but the usage of American is more common here, and RDs is not the best place to argue semantics, imo.  On the other hand, If we want to start an informal poll here on that usage, yahoo!  I'm a standardization neurotic, but I couldn't care less what the standard is in this case. Xoloz 12:01, 11 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Straw poll answer: I prefer American.  United Statesian just doesn't flow well. --Syrthiss 12:12, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

text: I prefer American as well. While technically inexact, most people won't think "Oh, he might be Canadian" when reading someone is "American". It's not going to lead to mass confusion. It's quite clear that we associate nationalities with people, and not the continents they come from, and there's no other country that has "America" commonly used as a label. There are other cases of inexact usage that usually doesn't give confusion either: New York vs. New York City, Holland vs. The Netherlands, etc. 193.172.135.148 13:47, 12 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Morning Vandals? and the US

message: The BBC titles the article reporting his death as:
Syrian minister 'commits suicide'
that is, with quotes around the reason he died. This makes me wonder, why does the BBC does that? Does the BBC suspect that although he was reported to have commited suicide he isn't dead? Or that he was murdered? Or does the BBC always do that if someone is reported to have committed suicide? 193.172.135.148 13:10, 12 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: It's because the only basis for his supposed suicide is a single report from the official Syrian news agency. Official news from totalitarian states is not generally considered reliable until independently confirmed, for obvious reasons. It's also being investigated by the Syrian authorities. -- Necrothesp 13:20, 12 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ghazi Kanaan 

message: This is further notice to anyone interested that I have put Wayne Weiler, listed here, up for AfD.  I have no particular disaffection for him, but his article is among the weakest test cases for professional sports notability I've seen.  So, if anybody feels like adding to the consensus in this area, do drop by AfD and vote. Xoloz 19:21, 17 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Wayne Weiler]]

message: Forgive me if this has been debated in the notable deaths section before... I haven't been here that long but are convicted murderers really notable enough to be mentioned here? For one, I only see those executed in the US here and not those in other countries (many a Chinese or Iranian could be notable for being executed as a political prisoner). There is nothing notable about a criminal, in my opinion, having been executed as a result of due process.--Kalsermar 16:24, 24 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: This has been debated before, the general consensus seems to be about a 50/50 split.  If it's a notable crime (eg garnered some media attention), I have no problem with it being included. Zerbey 20:36, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

text: The death penalty has also been the subject of much more public controversy in the US than in Iran, China, or elsewhere, for obvious reasons of relative press freedom.  My position is that as long as significant opposition to the punishment remains, all US executions are notable.  They unfailingly garner nationwide press coverage when they happen.  The consistent vocal institutional opposition of the Roman Catholic Church, the single largest religious denomination in the US, is more reason to hold all executions notable.  Of course, being notable doesn't make one admirable, as goes without saying. Xoloz 03:26, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Convicted murderers 

message: I normally eschew superlatives in brief obit. lines, but Ms. Park wasn't simply a "civil rights pioneer"; she's the symbolic civils rights pioneer for African-Americans.  In a struggle to note her extraordinary role, I have settled on quoting the NYT headline "Founding symbol of the Civil Rights Movement."  Feel free to adapt this, but I strongly urge some indication remain of her widespread fame. Xoloz 06:54, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Rosa Parks

message: Do we need multiple links on the same day to the same country? I've been skipping linking country entries if I see there is one already nearby. However people keep coming back and "wikifying" Williamb 18:02, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: High article linkage is absolutely a good thing. See Link popularity. It is far more likely that a highly linked to article will appear high up in the list on Google, etc. Some web pages have millions of links. To try and reduce the number of links would be extremely counter-productive as we want the country articles particularly but any articles generally to have as high a link popularity as possible, SqueakBox 19:52, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: USA and other country links

message: I'll start this discussion (if its old hat, please say so), since I know that the 2000th soldier killed in Iraq raises notability issues.  From AfD experience, I know that (generally), a soldier's death must have some independent notability to be encyclopedic.  We have not listed another US soldier in Iraq here lately because such deaths, while very sad, are the expected result of war, and to list every casualty in every war being fought today be would be impractical.
So, does Alexander's status as "number 2000" rise to the level of notability needed?  I have no firm opinion, and certainly no great desire to remove him, but I pose the question to seek consensus. Xoloz 02:23, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd say, keep him. Not that Alexander himself is remarkable, and not even his death. But him being the 2000th US soldier to die has generated a lot of media attention. And that in itself is, IMO, enough reason to include him. 193.172.135.148 13:14, 28 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: George T. Alexander, Jr. and soldiers

message: His original line read:
* Michael Piller, 57, American television screenwriter and producer, co-creator of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager and creator of The Dead Zone, head and neck cancer.
which was taking three lines of screen estate. I've reduced it to
* Michael Piller, 57, American television screenwriter and producer, cancer.
so it fits in one line - like most of the other entries do. 193.172.135.148 10:58, 2 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Michael Piller 

message: This anon has now removed Best Mate thrice, and has been warned twice by me.  Please watch any edit of his here. Xoloz 06:07, 11 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: 24.79.168.192

message: Is there a source for Tommy Smith? He is cited as an entrepreneur but the link is to a footballer, and a quick search on Google News produces no results.
Whouk (talk) 11:29, 21 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tommy Smith