Crap articles

[Kingsindian]

Sure, but it's not good practice to cherry-pick sources when they conflict. This is also a sign of nationalist editing.

[Poetlister]

Sure, but it's not good practice to cherry-pick sources when they conflict. This is also a sign of nationalist editing.

It happens all the time, and not just in nationalist editing. Let's just call it a sign of NPOV editing!

[Carcharoth]

Strictly speaking, not a crap article, but incredibly annoying when the animal articles on Wikipedia fail to give basic information like what the animal eats.

Have a look at Eurasian beaver (T-H-L) and try and work out what this beaver eats.

The version as of 2 March 2018 is here. I wonder if the information was in the article previously (created 23 December 2004)?

Sure, the trick is to go up a level and look in the main beaver article, but it is still incredible how basic information gets left out of articles and no-one notices, literally for years.

(EDIT: Actually, someone did notice in 2011, and asked on the talk page: "what do the beaver eat and why do they chop down trees and make dams?". The answer (and you really couldn't make this up) was: "Please try Wikipedia:Reference desk"... )

[Poetlister]

Pauli exclusion principle (T-H-L): "The Pauli exclusion principle is the quantum mechanical principle which states that two or more identical fermions (particles with half-integer spin) cannot occupy the same quantum state within a quantum system simultaneously."

Check Pauli's Nobel prize lecture. He only refers to electrons, not fermions. Yes, there is a similar exclusion rule for other fermions, indeed a fermion may be defined as a particle that obeys such a rule. Yes, other reference sources make the same mistake. But shouldn't Wikipedia avoid copying mistakes from other secondary and tertiary sources? No, of course not. That would involve checking primary sources.

[lonza leggiera]

Pauli exclusion principle (T-H-L): "The Pauli exclusion principle is the quantum mechanical principle which states that two or more identical fermions (particles with half-integer spin) cannot occupy the same quantum state within a quantum system simultaneously."

Check Pauli's Nobel prize lecture. He only refers to electrons, not fermions. Yes, there is a similar exclusion rule for other fermions, indeed a fermion may be defined as a particle that obeys such a rule. Yes, other reference sources make the same mistake. But shouldn't Wikipedia avoid copying mistakes from other secondary and tertiary sources? No, of course not. That would involve checking primary sources.

Ok, I did. On p.34 I found:

At this stage of the theory three different hypotheses turned out to be logically possible concerning the actual ensemble of several like particles in Nature.

I. This ensemble is a mixture of all symmetry classes.

II. Only the symmetrical class occurs.

III. Only the antisymmetrical class occurs.

As we shall see, the first assumption is never realized in Nature. Moreover, it is only the third assumption that is in accordance with the exclusion principle, since an antisymmetrical function containing two particles in the same state is identically zero. The assumption III can therefore be considered as the correct and general wave mechanical formulation of the exclusion principle. It is this possibility which actually holds for electrons.

……

And then, on p.34:

The first application of this method was the result that the protons have the spin 1⁄2 and fulfill the exclusion principle just as the electrons.

Thus, although Herr Pauli does not use the word "fermion" anywhere in his lecture, it looks very much to me as if he recognised that his exclusion principle applies to all particles whose multiparticle wave functions are antisymmetric under permutations of its constituents—which is, if I remember correctly, the very definition of what would later come to be called "fermions".

[Poetlister]

OK, this is my translation of the abstract of his original paper. It only refers to electrons.

It is proposed, in particular with regard to the Millikan-Landésch finding the representability of alkali doublets by relativistic formulae and on the basis of results obtained in a previous work, the view, in that in these doublets and their anomalous Zeeman effect, a classically undescribable ambiguity of the quantum-theoretical properties of the light electron is expressed, without the completed noble gas configuration of the atomic residue being involved here in the form of a fuselage pulse or as the seat of the magneto-mechanical anomaly of the atom. Thereafter, the attempt is made to pursue this provisional working hypothesis as far as possible, in spite of the conflicting fundamental difficulties with atoms other than alkalis, in its consequences. First of all, it shows that, contrary to the usual view, in the case of a strong external magnetic field, where the coupling forces between the atomic residue and the luminous electron can be disregarded, it allows these two subsystems to be attributed no properties other than those of the free atomic residue or the free atomic residue, respectively, with regard to the number of their stationary states as well as the values of their quantum numbers and their magnetic energy.

linkhttps://link.springer.com/chapter/10.10 ... 90270-2_23[/link]

The article ought to reference this paper.

[lonza leggiera]

OK, this is my translation of the abstract of his original paper. It only refers to electrons.

It is proposed, in particular with regard to the Millikan-Landésch finding the representability of alkali doublets by relativistic formulae and on the basis of results obtained in a previous work, the view, in that in these doublets and their anomalous Zeeman effect, a classically undescribable ambiguity of the quantum-theoretical properties of the light electron is expressed, without the completed noble gas configuration of the atomic residue being involved here in the form of a fuselage pulse or as the seat of the magneto-mechanical anomaly of the atom. Thereafter, the attempt is made to pursue this provisional working hypothesis as far as possible, in spite of the conflicting fundamental difficulties with atoms other than alkalis, in its consequences. First of all, it shows that, contrary to the usual view, in the case of a strong external magnetic field, where the coupling forces between the atomic residue and the luminous electron can be disregarded, it allows these two subsystems to be attributed no properties other than those of the free atomic residue or the free atomic residue, respectively, with regard to the number of their stationary states as well as the values of their quantum numbers and their magnetic energy.

linkhttps://link.springer.com/chapter/10.10 ... 90270-2_23[/link]

The article ought to reference this paper.

It already does. The citation was added in May 2016, apparently as a consequential of a talk page discussion on precisely this issue, begun in June 2014. While there might well be many reasons why this article could be regarded as crap, this certainly doesn't seem to me to be one of them.

[Johnny Au]

Censorship in Malaysia (T-H-L) and List of films banned in Malaysia (T-H-L)

Both of these articles, especially those pertaining to banned television shows, primarily consist of original research.

[mynameisnotdave]

Ben Franklin effect (T-H-L). Quote from the lede:

a person who has already performed a favor for another is more likely to do another favor for the other than if they had received a favor from that person

Welp. 'Favor' appears three times, causing some level of interference in my head, leading me unable to understand from the lede what the phenomenon is.

I'd do some wordsmith-ing to sort the repetition out, but I am at a loss.

[Johnny Au]

Ben Franklin effect (T-H-L). Quote from the lede:

a person who has already performed a favor for another is more likely to do another favor for the other than if they had received a favor from that person

Welp. 'Favor' appears three times, causing some level of interference in my head, leading me unable to understand from the lede what the phenomenon is.

I'd do some wordsmith-ing to sort the repetition out, but I am at a loss.

When I first saw the title of the article, I thought it had to do with people putting keys at the end of kite strings in the middle of lightning storms.

At least I got the person correct.

[Kumioko]

How in the world does Rachel Dolezal (T-H-L) meet Wikipedia's notability criteria?

[Poetlister]

How in the world does Rachel Dolezal (T-H-L) meet Wikipedia's notability criteria?

I haven't checked the references in detail, but there seem to be multiple substantial references to her in reputable sources.

[Kumioko]

How in the world does Rachel Dolezal (T-H-L) meet Wikipedia's notability criteria?

I haven't checked the references in detail, but there seem to be multiple substantial references to her in reputable sources.

Just because it has good references doesn't mean they are notable in Wikipedia's policy.

[Poetlister]

How in the world does Rachel Dolezal (T-H-L) meet Wikipedia's notability criteria?

I haven't checked the references in detail, but there seem to be multiple substantial references to her in reputable sources.

Just because it has good references doesn't mean they are notable in Wikipedia's policy.

Is there a policy on notability? The guideline (the clue is in the name, "General Notability Guideline") is "If a topic has received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject, it is presumed to be suitable for a stand-alone article or list." Is it your contention that the copious list of references does not contain significant coverage in reliable sources?

[Johnny Au]

Toy advertising (T-H-L)

It looks like a giant essay (and isn't marked as such).

[mynameisnotdave]

Battle_of_Odžak (T-H-L). Christ. This article is terrible and is full of 'better source needed' tags. I am a few inches away from moving it into draftspace, but that would be a move which would break a few things. I would really love to do it.

[MadManz]

Stapes. Supposedly a "good article" but looking at it is just depressing, it's extremely short even for a standard article and poorly sourced.

[Kumioko]

Battle_of_Odžak (T-H-L). Christ. This article is terrible and is full of 'better source needed' tags. I am a few inches away from moving it into draftspace, but that would be a move which would break a few things. I would really love to do it.

Good catch, I'll work on trying to clean some of that up over at the Military wiki.

[Poetlister]

Salt-Water Poems and Ballads (T-H-L) is a collection of poems by John Masefield (T-H-L). Firstly, I cannot understand why this is singled out for an article when it is basically a reprint of earlier books that do not have their own articles.

Of possibly Masefield's best-known poem, "Sea-Fever", it says correctly that originally each verse began "I must down to the seas again". However, it adds "In The Collected Poems of John Masefield the opening line was changed to the text now more commonly anthologised: "I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky". The first lines of the second and third stanzas retained the form "I must down to the seas again"" and it references the 1923 Collected Poems. NOT TRUE. The 1923 edition and the 1932 expanded edition both have "I must down ..." The 1946 edition, just called Poems, does have the change in all three verses.

It also says ""Trade Winds" has been set to music by Frederick Keel.[citation needed]" This may be true, though the best-known setting is by Martin Fallas Shaw. However, this poem has not been mentioned before in the article.

[mynameisnotdave]

Alexander Leitch, Baron Leitch (T-H-L) -- a prime example of an article truly forgotten about with grossly incorrect information on it (before I came and removed it). It has only around sixty edits since 2008.

The article said that he was born in near poverty and paralysed from side down due to a lesion in his brain, which is not what The Guardian source given says. I'm livid, that is a BLP violation to-the-max.

What the fuck? That has been there for a long time.

[GlwnDwr]

Makedonia (dance) (T-H-L) "a form of the Greek folk dance Hasapiko that has evolved over the years to the patriotic song "Makedonia Xakousti" (Famous Macedonia), unofficial anthem of the Greek region of Macedonia." That's the text (transcriptions removed). No references.

Anything to do with the dispute about Macedonia and its Greek history is automatically a subject for further scrutiny, and requires careful attention to reliable sources by impartial writers. There appears to be nothing about thus dance in reliable sources, and the fact that books robo-scraped from Wikipedia are the top scorers on Google books is a pretty bad sign. It seems likely that this dance was created recently and this article is a deliberate attempt to create a false history for it to further some nationalist agenda.

Found avideo of this dance. Its also called Macedonian Dance not Makedonia. The source says that it used to part of mandatory education in Greek Macedonian schools for patriotic purposes.

[Bezdomni]

Alexander Leitch, Baron Leitch (T-H-L) -- a prime example of an article truly forgotten about with grossly incorrect information on it (before I came and removed it). It has only around sixty edits since 2008.

The article said that he was born in near poverty and paralysed from side down due to a lesion in his brain, which is not what The Guardian source given says. I'm livid, that is a BLP violation to-the-max.

What the fuck? That has been there for a long time.

It was actually in the Daily Mail article you deleted (responding to OTRS?). Also in The Times.

[mynameisnotdave]

Alexander Leitch, Baron Leitch (T-H-L) -- a prime example of an article truly forgotten about with grossly incorrect information on it (before I came and removed it). It has only around sixty edits since 2008.

The article said that he was born in near poverty and paralysed from side down due to a lesion in his brain, which is not what The Guardian source given says. I'm livid, that is a BLP violation to-the-max.

What the fuck? That has been there for a long time.

It was actually in the Daily Mail article you deleted (responding to OTRS?). Also in The Times.

Ah, so the references were all over the show. Yes, OTRS stuff, so super-secret and can't tell you much, but thanks for pointing that out. WP:DAILYMAIL (T-H-L) still, so I still call it a good shot in removing it.

[Poetlister]

Found avideo of this dance. Its also called Macedonian Dance not Makedonia. The source says that it used to part of mandatory education in Greek Macedonian schools for patriotic purposes.

Maybe it's called Makedonia in Greek?

[GlwnDwr]

Found avideo of this dance. Its also called Macedonian Dance not Makedonia. The source says that it used to part of mandatory education in Greek Macedonian schools for patriotic purposes.

Maybe it's called Makedonia in Greek?

You are right its called both Macedonia and Macedonian Dance in Greek.

[Poetlister]

Phantasmagoria (poem) (T-H-L): The lede starts

"Phantasmagoria" is a poem written by Lewis Carroll and first published in 1869 as the opening poem of a collection of verse by Carroll entitled Phantasmagoria and Other Poems. The collection was also published under the name Rhyme? And Reason?

I have in front of me both of these books. While Rhyme? And Reason? does include the poem Phantasmagoria and several other poems from the earlier book, it omits quite a few and adds others, notably The Hunting of the Snark (which had not been written in 1869). The rest of the article obfuscates the issue even further.

The Amazon entry is very similar. I don't know who copied from the other.

[Johnny Au]

List_of_Canadian_restaurant_chains#Tim_Hortons (T-H-L)

Tim Hortons is currently owned by Burger King.[49] It is the fourth largest publicly traded quick-service restaurant chain in North America based on market capitalization, and the largest in Canada.[50] It has cornered the Canadian market for baked goods (76%) and coffee (62% compared to Starbucks, in the number two position, at 7%).[51] The company has experienced substantial growth in the United States, where it has 613 stores (April 2011, about 220 more than it had in June 2008).[52][53] It has a same-store sales growth rate of 3.9% in Canada and 4.9% in the US.[54] The new partnership with Cold Stone Creamery helped push its US presence to over 600 stores. The partnership has since dissolved.[55] Sales exceeded $2 billion in 2008. It was controlled by Wendy's International Inc. for 11 of the 46 years of operation, from August 8, 1995, until the end of 2006. On April 3, 2011, Tim Hortons oversaw 3,782 locations in North America 3,169 of which were in Canada.[52]

There are many things that are wrong or outdated.

First, Burger King does not fully own Tim Hortons. Both Burger King and Tim Hortons are owned by Restaurant Brands.

Second, 11 out of 46 years can be outdated.

Finally, the number of locations is already outdated.

[greyed.out.fields]

Markfield Institute of Higher Education (T-H-L)
Have a look at the pictures in the article.
"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ilding.jpg" is quite obviously a stock image with "Markfield Institute of Higher Education" amateurish-ly added.
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brad ... titute.jpg" - a woman in a pink chador, some guy maybe on a segway, and teh random images of deer grazing on what might be the Markfield Institute campus lawns, or someplace else, or maybe deer Clone tool (T-H-L)-d like those missiles from... sometime in the 2000s.

Edit: Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, BWV 208 (T-H-L). The third aria from the secular cantata, with flutes instead of recorders, unfortunately. The gifts of Saraswati are better that those of Lakshmi, in the long run.

[AndyTheGrump]

Markfield Institute of Higher Education (T-H-L)
Have a look at the pictures in the article.
"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ilding.jpg" is quite obviously a stock image with "Markfield Institute of Higher Education" amateurish-ly added.
...

If you look at the 'satellite' view on Google Maps, the building at that location seems to be a close match to the one in the article picture.
(https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+M ... 422?hl=en)

[Poetlister]

This is the "Arial View of Our Campus" (sic) from their website.

[lonza leggiera]

Markfield Institute of Higher Education (T-H-L)
Have a look at the pictures in the article.
"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ilding.jpg" is quite obviously a stock image with "Markfield Institute of Higher Education" amateurish-ly added.
...

If you look at the 'satellite' view on Google Maps, the building at that location seems to be a close match to the one in the article picture.
(https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+M ... 422?hl=en)

Yes; although the sign in the low-resolution version of the image included in the article does look suspiciously like it might have been photoshopped in, that impression seems to me to be pretty much dispelled by a higher-resolution version of the image. There are also other images floating around the web which appear to be photographs of the same sign and building taken at different times and from different angles:

_______


The image with the girl in a chador is a copy of one held on the Markfield Institute's own website, so Wikipedia user MIMedia (T-C-L)'s uploading it as "own work" tends to suggest that that user may well have some official connection with the Institute.

[Poetlister]

The image with the girl in a chador is a copy of one held on the Markfield Institute's own website, so Wikipedia user MIMedia (T-C-L)'s uploading it as "own work" tends to suggest that that user may well have some official connection with the Institute.

Does CoI apply to images? Are you allowed to upload images of things you're connected with even if you haven't disclosed your connection?

Of course, it may be that the user is passing off images as "own work" to avoid copyright issues.

[AndyTheGrump]

From Joseph of Cupertino (T-H-L)

Skeptics are not convinced that Saint Joseph possessed magical or paranormal powers. They have suggested that alleged eyewitness reports of his levitations are unreliable as they are subject to gross exaggeration, or written years after his death.

Really? 'Skeptics' are 'not convinced' by tales of levitating saints? Who'd have thought it...

[Poetlister]

From Joseph of Cupertino (T-H-L)

Skeptics are not convinced that Saint Joseph possessed magical or paranormal powers. They have suggested that alleged eyewitness reports of his levitations are unreliable as they are subject to gross exaggeration, or written years after his death.

Really? 'Skeptics' are 'not convinced' by tales of levitating saints? Who'd have thought it...

Cupertino? Is he the patron saint of Apple computers?

[MadManz]

Usenet (T-H-L)

"JANET announced it will discontinue Usenet service, effective July 31, 2010, citing Google Groups as an alternative."

Always remember to update articles, guys...

[Poetlister]

United Synagogue (T-H-L): "The spiritual leader of the union bears the title of Chief Rabbi of Britain and the Empire". No! At one time he had the title of Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, but that has not been true since the Empire was terminated in 1947.

This is "a title that bears some formal recognition by the Crown". That's a funny way of putting it. The holder has certain responsibilities recognised by acts of Parliament. For example, he must authorise marriages conducted in orthodox synagogues.

[Kumioko]

I just saw Ethiopia at the 2010 Winter Olympics (T-H-L) just got promoted to GA and then celebrated by admin Courcelles on his Userpage. I guess standards for GA articles aren't what they used to be! I would be embarrassed, and so should anyone, to claim that as a GA article.

Wow, he has a whole string of lousy GA's: Algeria at the 2010 Winter Olympics (T-H-L); Andorra at the 2014 Winter Paralympics (T-H-L); San Marino at the 2010 Winter Olympics (T-H-L), etc.

[Poetlister]

I just saw Ethiopia at the 2010 Winter Olympics (T-H-L) just got promoted to GA and then celebrated by admin Courcelles on his Userpage. I guess standards for GA articles aren't what they used to be! I would be embarrassed, and so should anyone, to claim that as a GA article.

Wow, he has a whole string of lousy GA's: Algeria at the 2010 Winter Olympics (T-H-L); Andorra at the 2014 Winter Paralympics (T-H-L); San Marino at the 2010 Winter Olympics (T-H-L), etc.

That's a rich field for article creation. Dozens of countries participate in the Winter games, including a few as unimportant as San Marino and Andorra.

[Poetlister]

Mucocele (T-H-L) says very little apart from linking to articles about different types of mucocele, all but one of which are redlinks. There is no link, even a redlink, to mucoceles of the breast. Where's Doc James?

The only bluelink is to Oral mucocele (T-H-L), which seems to be an adequate article. However, it gives the impression that there are no other types of mucocele, and does not link back to the "main" Mucocele article.

[AndyTheGrump]

From Lonnie Swartz, José Rodríguez border incident (T-H-L):

On 23 April 2018, Swartz was acquitted of the charge for second-degree murder; the jury was hung on lesser charges.

While I'd hope that most Wikipedia readers would know what a hung jury was, I can't help thinking that this could have been phrased better.

[Kumioko]

Here is one I found recently:

*Multi-National Division - Baghdad (T-H-L) is an unreferenced stub article while Multi-National Division – Baghdad (T-H-L) is a redirect that links to a section of Iraq War order of battle, 2009 (T-H-L), with a link back to the stubby unreferenced article Multi-National Division - Baghdad (T-H-L).

[Kumioko]

Here's another Gem: Lewis Thompson Woodruff (T-H-L)

[Midsize Jake]

Here's another Gem: Lewis Thompson Woodruff (T-H-L)

Yow, that's horrible. Been there 7 months, and should have been instantly deleted.

And of course they added the "Living people" category for extra travesty value...

[Kumioko]

Here's another Gem: Lewis Thompson Woodruff (T-H-L)

Yow, that's horrible. Been there 7 months, and should have been instantly deleted.

And of course they added the "Living people" category for extra travesty value...

Yeah cause if he's 202 years old then it helps makes sure he meets Wikipedia's notability criteria I guess.

[MadManz]

Nagercoil (T-H-L) is written entirely from the assumption that whoever is reading it is from the town, or is reading a travel guide or something.

"One of the best thing about the climate of Nagercoil is that, it is the only Indian town to receive both the south-west and north-east monsoons. Summers are quite hot here with winters being gentle. It receives more rain than other parts of Tamil Nadu."

[Kumioko]

Nagercoil (T-H-L) is written entirely from the assumption that whoever is reading it is from the town, or is reading a travel guide or something.

"One of the best thing about the climate of Nagercoil is that, it is the only Indian town to receive both the south-west and north-east monsoons. Summers are quite hot here with winters being gentle. It receives more rain than other parts of Tamil Nadu."

Honestly that verbiage sounds like it's copied and is probably a copyright violation.

[MadManz]

Nagercoil (T-H-L) is written entirely from the assumption that whoever is reading it is from the town, or is reading a travel guide or something.

"One of the best thing about the climate of Nagercoil is that, it is the only Indian town to receive both the south-west and north-east monsoons. Summers are quite hot here with winters being gentle. It receives more rain than other parts of Tamil Nadu."

Honestly that verbiage sounds like it's copied and is probably a copyright violation.

Kohs PMed me that it was a sockpuppeteer.

[Poetlister]

Henri-Alexandre Deslandres (T-H-L): Not a very good article. For example, it fails to mention that he was president of the French Academy of Sciences in 1920 and vice-president of the International Astronomical Union for the six years 1922-8. This is despite having plenty of references. (It does however overlook this obituary notice.)

There is also the question of the name of the article. He was generally known as Henri Deslandres, and this is the name of the article on the French Wikipedia where presumably they know about French names. If they are being pedantic, the hyphen in his name should also be in the lede.

[Kumioko]

Nagercoil (T-H-L) is written entirely from the assumption that whoever is reading it is from the town, or is reading a travel guide or something.

"One of the best thing about the climate of Nagercoil is that, it is the only Indian town to receive both the south-west and north-east monsoons. Summers are quite hot here with winters being gentle. It receives more rain than other parts of Tamil Nadu."

Honestly that verbiage sounds like it's copied and is probably a copyright violation.

Kohs PMed me that it was a sockpuppeteer.

Yep, called it. Sphilbrick (T-C-L) reverted it as a copyright violation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... =846409055

[MadManz]

Lubondai (T-H-L) is truly a beautiful mess of an article. No references, no real structure, only one (clunky and non-encyclopedically written) sentence. The article also originally had a bizarre claim that former CIA officer John Stockwell (T-H-L) was born in it. The original creator of the article seems to have created thousands of articles too so obviously some bad ones will come out every once in a while but just... also the article is plainly categorized as "Populated places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo" which should only be done for independent cities like kinshasa