User talk:Matt Deres

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Contents 1 Welcome to the Wikipedia 2 deus ex machina 3 United States article nomination 4 Judy Garland

[edit] Welcome to the Wikipedia

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(Sam Spade | talk | contributions) 09:18, 28 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] deus ex machina

Matt, I offered a short contribution to the deus ex machina Talk page, that more or less reinforces a number of your points from several months ago about the DEM page having evolved into a list rather than a well-written Wikipedia article. If you are still at all interested in the DEM topic, you might want to check it out. N2e 14:30, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] United States article nomination

• The size. Yes, the US is a complicated place, but that's all the more reason to create a good summary article. This article is nearly twice as long as the article on China, which is just as complex, but with a history ten times as long. The US history section could probably stand some pruning, which might help reduce the number of references cited on the page.

• If you want to compare the US article with that of China, you should take a look at People's Republic of China because the article on China is actually on the Chinese civilization or Ancient China(a different article). The article on the PRC is about the same length as that of the US.--Ryz05 _t 01:08, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

• The history section also weighs too heavily on the recent stuff - fully half of it is from the 20th century onwards.

• The United States's history spans more than two hundred years; how can it not be long. Also, a lof have occured in the 20th century, arguably more so and better documented than the 19th century and the 21st century (which has just begun).--Ryz05 _t 01:08, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

• Do we need to have a map and a list of the states? I would remove the list since it's redundant (there's also a list at the bottom), but I realize nation articles typically list their divisions in the article itself.

• The list is important and the Political divisions section will appear incomplete without it.--Ryz05 _t 01:08, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

• The Foreign Relations section might work better if it was reworked into the military and economics sections somehow.

• Foreign relations has nothing to do with Economy, and the section on United States military is best be kept by itself. The PRC article has a similar format.--Ryz05 _t 01:08, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

I urge you to change your vote or offer more explanations for the objection. Thank you.--Ryz05 _t 01:08, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

I would like a response as to what you think. Thank you.--Ryz05 _t 19:00, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Hi, I still would like a response as to what you think. Thank you.--Ryz05 _t 23:08, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Judy Garland

Removed from GA list I have unlisted this article from the GA list. As detailed in the Drug Use section above, it is my contention that any article with unreferenced and potentially libellous statements cannot be a good article. The allegations that MGM introduced her to drugs needs to referenced and presented as just that - allegations. The Biography section at least gives a TV show citation for some of the assertions, which is a start, but there needs to be proper referencing (preferably of resources available online or on paper) throughout the Addictions section. Matt Deres 02:42, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Although I agree with your need for improvement and the de-list from GA until a fix is made, it is impossible to libel a dead person. Davodd 20:16, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Judy is not the one being libelled - MGM is. I don't have any great doubts that studios did provide drugs for their stars to "perform better", but we can't say that without citing the source. Besides being poor writing, we are basically accusing MGM of some pretty shady, perhaps illegal, activity. Matt Deres 23:46, 31 July 2006 (UTC)