text:
User talk:Blainster

Re: Talk:Fossil fuel power plant
I have added comments to the Talk Page about fossil fuel power plants. I was wondering why trouble is taken in converting steam into water after the steam turbine, only to be turned right back into steam again later in the furnace. You could just send the steam from the steam turbine straight back into the furnace. I thought you may be able to educate me as to why this is not done. *Just thought* Is it because the vacuum created by the condensing water helps drive the turbines faster?--JB001 14:13, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Do we really need 4 articles on the same subject?
Wikipedia now has these 4 articles, all on the same subject: Do we really need all of these? In my opinion, this sort of thing reflects badly on Wikipedia. What can we do to get these four articles merged?? - mbeychok 18:04, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Fossil fuel power plant
 * Power station
 * Thermal power station
 * Steam-electric power plant

Your edit at Mole

 * You have no idea. From where I come, I was taught the incorrect value(6.023) for 3 years. At such minor doubt, I turned to Wikipedia, nd it was wrong :) That is why the Barnstar! --æn↓þæµß¶-ŧ-¢ (I prefer replying to each other's talk pages.) 11:43, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Artificial Limb Edit
Hi, I saw you changed the history section back to what it had been a couple days ago by taking out a new paragrpah. I'm new to wikipedia and didn't really understand why you made this change. Could you give me a little more detail on my talk page? Thanks Nfk17 03:14, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Comprehensive NT
Thanks for your note. The book is being published by Cornerstone. I have a prepublication copy and got permission to use material from it, but it shouldn't be available on Amazon until the summer. Tim 13:33, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for advice on categorisation
Thank you for your advice on how to categorise correcly in Wikipedia. I am not very computer-savvy, so tips like this are always welcome. ACEOREVIVED 19:59, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Your WP:AIV post
Hi Blainster! I noticed you placed a request for protection for Isaac Newton at AIV. In future, it's best to place requests for protection at WP:RFPP, where they will get attended to. Thanks :) – riana_dzasta 06:28, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Subpage mistake
Thank you so much for checking for my own accuracy! Unfortunately, I don't understand the mistake I made. what's wrong with My POV ?

I'm about to start reading Siddhartha (novel). Have you read it? --Ephilei 03:42, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Pierce
Thanks for letting me know about Slim Margin and the others. :-) I've reverted to a December version, protected the page, and left a note for you on talk. Cheers, SlimVirgin (talk) 09:57, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Sockpuppets
Hmm, the semi-protection didn't appear to be working that time. I'll try re-applying it. Jayjg (talk) 20:29, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Rock Springs Massacreeee
Hello. About six months ago I penned this article, Rock Springs Massacre, which I have been working hard to cleanup and reference and de-POVify, now being, of course, a much more experienced Wikipedian (I think I wrote that about two weeks after registering). I remembered you giving some helpful tips and edits in the past so I thought I would contact you. Anyway, its up for peer review, and as I said I have been working to improve it, any input or edits you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping to one day make this a Featured Article Candidate, it may be up to GA as is, would be my fourth now if I nominate it, what do you think? Is it ready? Thanks in advance. IvoShandor 15:18, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

re: Banned user Jon Awbrey
This banned user continually makes new sockpuppets (the latest is User:Samboner) and continues to edit Charles Peirce. Please see Category:Wikipedia sockpuppets of Jon Awbrey. It seems our defense is to keep the article semi-protected and keep blocking the new usernames as he creates them. I also notified Jayjg who has been dealing with Awbrey for a long time. --Blainster 16:14, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Ok. I feel more comfortable letting Jayig handle this, if he has experience with this situation. But let me know if there's anything you'd like me to do. --Fang Aili talk 16:30, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for letting me know; I've blocked the latest 5 socks. Jayjg (talk) 22:05, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Re: Paul Tillich and Calvinism
Was Tillich so much a 'Lutheran', or in actuallity from the German Evangelical tradition (the union of German Lutheran and German Reformed churches in Germany)? My understanding was that he was brought to America connected with the Evangelical Synod of North America (the same denomination of the Niebuhr brothers), which subsequently became part of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, and then finally part of the United Church of Christ. Also, I suspect one could probably make the case that Tillich's influence was probably greater on moderate-to-liberal Reformed type folks (the United Church of Christ, moderate-to-liberal Presbyterians, etc.) than it has been on Lutherans. I will confess that I don't have much at hand in the way of sources/citations for any of this at the moment. Emerymat 15:45, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

re: Harvey Cox
Regarding your concerns about the Category:American sailors and inclusion in WikiProject Maritime Trades, the second paragraph begins "After a stint in the U.S. Merchant Marine..." which seems to cover both items. I've copied this on your talk page for your convenience, and will happily continue the conversation, if you desire, on my talk page. Cheers. H aus  Talk  16:54, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

ACM founder
Hey Blainster, do you happen to know of any way to source the founder(s) of the ACM? I saw that you added Berkeley as the founder, but it was my impression that the ACM was not founded by any one person, but actually a group. I also have it in my mind that the group consisted of seven individuals, each of whose signatures appear on the founding document of the organization. I don't know what this document was, or where it is, or who signed it, or how any of this might be sourced, which is why I'm hoping you can help fill in the gaps. Cheers, Robert K S 20:49, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Integral talk
I originally moved integral theory to integral thought (renamed it, essentially) to include writers who are not technically theorists, like William Irwin Thompson, who is a poet/literary figure/cultural critic. Later, M. Alan Kazlev split the article intto Integral Thought, a broader broup, and Integral theory, about Ken Wilber and the group of authors and artists around his theory. — goethean ॐ 19:21, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I just removed the redirect code from Talk:Integral theory. — goethean ॐ 19:22, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Rock Springs Massacre
Hello there. Since you have commented on or assisted with editing Rock Springs Massacre in the past, I thought I would notify you that the article reached Good article status recently, (if you didn't already know that). Since then I have undertaken a significant expansion/overhaul/source verification mission which has resulted in a new version of the article. Soon, I hope to take it to Featured Article candidates. What it needs now is some outside input and copy editing. Anything you can offer in the area would be helpful. You may want to start by taking a look at the talk page first, I have been updating my progress on the article there regularly. Thanks ahead of time for your help. IvoShandor 09:31, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Glider
Yes, admins serve as bookkeepers in this matter. However, CFDs are not decided by headcount. What is relevant is that there's already a list article that covers the subject better (so no information is lost here), that we in general don't categorize people by hobby, and that the debate centered around whether piloting a glider was or was not a defining characteristic. It has been shown that the cat contained mostly people who are famous in other fields, and also happen to like gliding; as such, it is not defining (unlike, say, Category:Aviators, which in general contains people famous for being an aviator). HTH!  > R a d i a n t <  08:16, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Article on Matrixism: a Religion Based on the Writings of Aldous Huxley
There is an article on a entheogenic new religious movement called Matrixism being created at User:Xoloz/Matrixism. There are numerous sources for this article yet it has because contentious because it deals with the subject of entheogens. Thought you might like to look at it and perhaps contribute. 206.124.144.3 05:25, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Mainline
You wrote: Please don't change an article title (Mainline) by using redirect. That is what the move tab is for. Read Help:Merging and moving pages for the correct procedure. What you did hides access to the article's history. --Blainster 07:57, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry about that. I got into a tangle trying to sort out a chain of items and ran out of time to check it thoroughly, didn't realise all the ramifications. Regards, Rexparry sydney 06:28, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Redirect of Swamini Dayananda Saraswati
Hello, this is a message from an automated bot. A tag has been placed on Swamini Dayananda Saraswati, by another Wikipedia user, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. The tag claims that it should be speedily deleted because Swamini Dayananda Saraswati is a redirect to a non-existent page (CSD R1). To contest the tagging and request that administrators wait before possibly deleting Swamini Dayananda Saraswati, please affix the template to the page, and put a note on its talk page. If the article has already been deleted, see the advice and instructions at WP:WMD. Feel free to contact the bot operator if you have any questions about this or any problems with this bot, bearing in mind that this bot is only informing you of the nomination for speedy deletion; it does not perform any nominations or deletions itself. --Android Mouse Bot 2 07:40, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

Bot in categories
I am not clear why the bot (or you) is placing itself into categories which are meant for articles, not users or Wikiprojects. What is the reason for it? --Blainster 10:23, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

 * Hi, Blainster! The bot is using the page User:SatyrBot/Current project to work from - that's where it finds the current WikiProject banner it's working with, as well as the categories it needs to traverse. In general, the categories only stay on that page for a day or so until the bot has run through them, then I replace them with the next batch of categories.  Sorry if that's annoying, but it's the best way I've found to work.  It lets the project review the categories before the bot runs them to make sure they're correct - and remove any that aren't right.  Thanks for the note! -- SatyrTN (talk | contribs)  13:37, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Would appreciate your comments on Afd
Blainster, I would appreciate it if you took the time to comment on the proposed deletion of the Air pollution dispersion modeling books article. The discussion on the proposed deletion is located at: Articles for deletion/Air pollution dispersion modeling books. I oppose the deletion. Regards, - mbeychok (talk) 19:16, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Vietnam Vets
please take a look at above page and see if you think reference to k. adams 1950 is probable vandalism. thanks. Toyokuni3 (talk) 16:12, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

very good catch
on the spam at Bruce Chilton - I missed the way those ISBNs had been linked. I've cleanup tup the content there also. The ip doing it has been warned many times previously, so I have blocked it and will be alert to further abuse of  the sort. It is extensive enough that I will probably also contact the employer's head of PR from my university address. DGG (talk) 04:16, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Ken Wilber
Hi there. Would you like to step over the Ken Wilber and give your opinion on an issue? — goethean ॐ 14:49, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Recent cat deletion: electronic music pioneers
I did not see this discussion until it was closed. The cat was removed on what looks to be a 2/3 vote. I agree with your assessment, this is no different from the cats of other pioneers in technology progress. The cat should have been kept and narrowed to the inventors and developers of the technology. With my vote it would have been 2/4 and would not have had "consensus". Would you support me if I restored the category? Also, I only know of perhaps 4 or 5 who qualify for the category (Moog, Carlos, Mauzey, Theremin). Can you help with any others? --Blainster (talk) 22:05, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

 * Restoring a deleted category is not a good idea, as it mostly perpetuates the conflict. The next place to take this would be Deletion review, where it can be considered by more seasoned Admins. If you need help with this, I will be back online tomorrow, but all you need for now is to request that the deletion be overturned.
 * Off the top of my head, I would add Raymond Scott, Louis and Bebe Barron and Pierre Schaeffer to that list, but I am no expert. Many notables are listed linked from Electronic art music and other Main article articles linked from Electronic music. / edg ☺ ☭ 03:17, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll be tied up for the next day or two, but appreciate your suggestions. --Blainster (talk) 07:38, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

 * Since there was nothing wrong process-wise with this deletion, I don't wish to appeal to WP:DRV on my own. Let me know when you're available. / edg ☺ ☭ 13:26, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Recent edits
Hi, I apologize that my edits were not very clear. I had provided justification on Rbreen's talk page. Thanks, Mineminemine (talk) 21:10, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Quantum Metaphysics
Thank you for your post re QM & Mysticism. You put the problem very brilliantly.

As I think I may have said on the page, the problem lies in peoples' misunderstanding of what Mysticism is. Mysticism is not the same thing as religion, although the two can overlap. Mysticism is much closer to Einstein's definition of 'Cosmic Religion'. It is beyond morality, hierarchies, Popes, Rabbis, Lamas etc, is non-dualistic and not about power structures. It is also, as you say, very invested in the exploration of Consciousness, specifically Consciousness of realms beyond the physical or three dimensional. So to draw parallels between Mysticism and QM is not to confirm the existence of the personal God of the Koran, the Bible or the Bagavad Gita but to reach out into the realms beyond these texts which are, nevertheless, hinted at in these texts. People are very afraid that if QM allows Mysticism legitimacy then it will allow all the fundamentalists back in and send us back to the Middle Ages. Everett, for instance, was very wary of telling Bohr his theory of Multiple Universes because he was afraid that 'it could be interpreted mystically in some quarters'. Ironically, Bohr dismissed Everett's ideas as ridiculous. Even more ironically, Everett was a committed atheist who nevertheless believed in Quantum Immortality! In this theory each individual Consciousness exists simultaneously in all the Multiple Universes, thus that Consciousness can never die, even if it does die in any number of the Mutiple Universes... A mind-blower!

In fact most of the Mystics of the Middle Ages whose insights parallel QM were denounced as heretics by the religious authorities. Mysticism was effectively a heresy at that time, which is why since the Middle Ages study of Western Mysticism has been so rare and suppressed. And yet Western Mysticism comes to the same conclusions as Eastern but uses different terms.

There is also the question being begged here: if the Mystics really WERE onto something, then how did they come to the conclusions that our modern Scientists are coming to without the benefit of advanced mathematics? It would mean that higher levels of Consciousness ARE available to us, which is exactly what the Mystics were interested in...

I have heard of Ken Wilber. I have a Kabbalistic Rabbi friend who is a great champion of his work. I will have a look. Thank you.

Something that is fascinating about QM is that, over a century after its foundational theories were coined by Einstein and the first generation of QMers, it has yet to change our paradigm on a mass level. Newtonian/Descartian Physics didn't take long to change Western Consciousness. Indeed, it could be argued that their scientific vision influenced everything in the West from politics to economics and medicine. So far, QM hasn't shifted anything. This is largely, of course, because it is felt a) we can't sense any of it and b) it doesn't effect us on a macrocosmic level. But we don't know that either of these things are true. What we don't know is HOW it effects us on a macrocosmic level - yet. But it is gradually changing various perceptions. If we could let go of the Newtonian Mind Set for a moment we could radically rethink all our systems on this planet from how we provide power for ourselves to how we interact with the natural world. We don't have to float around in parallel universes, but we could discover a more holistic, reciprocal way of interacting with each other.

So far only the New Agers have leapt on QM but their Mysticism is Mysticism-lite too. Fuzzy Science and Fuzzy Spirituality are two sides of the same coin. What would be useful, it seems to me, would be to invest some energy into exploring Consciousness more. In the past, only select people (Mystics) had the ability to enhance their Consciousness in a way which took us 'beyond' the physical into other Realities. If we invested in developing our Consciousness more in that way we could uncover interesting things. Its interesting - imagine a population with a 'Mystical Sense' rather than a minority? It would be very interesting! Lol! ThePeg (talk) 00:48, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Why am I leaving Wikipedia?
Blainster, take a good look at my user page. I believe it documents that fact that I have been a long time contributor of good articles related to my many years of engineering experience.

So why have I decided to leave Wikipedia? Because I have grown weary of the revisions made by unexperienced people who think they know a subject when they really don't know it. I am also weary of people who make revisions because they "know better than anyone else". In particular, the actions of one young postgrad student who calls himself Headbomb with whom it is impossible to reason because of his firm belief that he is infallible ... and that he and only he "knows better than anyone else". His attitude has finally been the last straw in making my decision to leave Wikipedia. I am simply tired of trying to reason with the likes of Headbomb.

Goodbye to all the friends I did make here in the past two and a half years or so. mbeychok (talk) 16:32, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Blues at WP:FAR
You are one of the leading editors of Blue, which has been listed at WP:FAR. Please follow the discussiona at Featured article review/Blues and consider helping out.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 05:18, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Compact Cassette
nominated Compact Cassette for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. --Stephen 05:21, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Origen Church Father?
Its not as definitive as the other person thinks, see my addition to the discussion on Origen--76.31.242.174 (talk) 08:21, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

A study on how to cover scientific uncertainties/controversies
Hi. I would like to ask whether you would agree to participate in a short survey on how to cover scientific uncertainties/controversies in articles pertaining to global warming and climate change (survey described here). If interested, please get in touch via my talkpage or email me Encyclopaedia21 (talk) 16:19, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

Oskar Heil transistor patent
I reverted back to the starting point with the correct quote. It might be a good idea to change it to mention the filing date differently, but don't change the quote if you try again at that. Dicklyon (talk) 01:50, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

ENIAC
Blainster - I see you moved my recent addition to the UNIAC article from the lead paragraph to the programming section. After I composed this addition I debated where to put it in the article. I finally decided it was important enough to be in the lead. What I was attempting to say was that Los Alamos usurped the BRL's role as the user of the computer. This has nothing to do with programming. GroveGuy (talk) 22:28, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for the edits to the article on transpersonal psychology
Thank you to the edits which you quickly made to the article on transpersonal psychology. Although I am sympathetic to Transpersonal Psychology myself (I teach it as part of my job, and have published articles/ presented conference papers on the topic), I did see the earlier version was rather clearly a violation of NPOV. Worse, it was inaccurate - to call transpersonal psychology "the positive psychology par excellence" would ignore how a definition of transpersonal psychology by Walsh and Vaughan (1993) aimed to be a comprehensive definition, looking at transpersonal psychology dealing with the negative as well as the positive side of life (that comment, by the way, was also ignoring differences between humanistic psychology and transpersonal psychology). So thank you for keeping an eye on what are clearly POV edits. ACEOREVIVED (talk) 20:24, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

Carl Gustav Jung
There is a very good article page on Carl Gustav Jung and a sister page Answer to Job, if this is of your interests?

MacOfJesus (talk) 13:54, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

userpage
Thanks. You can contribute to my user pages if you want. — goethean ॐ 03:26, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

Unreferenced BLPs
Hello Blainster! Thank you for your contributions. I am a bot alerting you that 1 of the articles that you created  is tagged as an Unreferenced Biography of a Living Person. The biographies of living persons policy requires that all personal or potentially controversial information be sourced. In addition, to ensure verifiability, all biographies should be based on reliable sources. If you were to bring this article up to standards, it would greatly help us with the current Category:All_unreferenced_BLPs article backlog. Once the article is adequately referenced, please remove the unreferencedBLP tag. Here is the article:

Thanks!--DASHBot (talk) 06:23, 25 January 2010 (UTC)
 * 1) Peter Mauzey -

Proposed deletion of Peter Mauzey

The article Peter Mauzey has been proposed for deletion  because of the following concern:
 * Seems to be a fairly minor contributor the the development of the cited synthesizer. All standard searches fail to find any bt passing mentions in connection with other people.  Fails WP:PROF, WP:BIO and WP:N (WP:MUSIC not being relevent) since no RSs to find

While all contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the  notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing  will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. The speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Jubilee♫ clipman 01:33, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

SR-52
A tag has been placed on SR-52, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under the criteria for speedy deletion, because it is a redirect to a nonexistent page, or a redirect loop.

If you can fix this redirect to point to an existing Wikipedia page, please do so and remove the speedy deletion tag. However, please do not remove the speedy deletion tag unless you also fix the redirect. Feel free to leave a note on my talk page if you have any questions about this. - Camyoung54   talk  15:43, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

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 * No article for English chemist Charles Bury.--Blainster (talk) 03:29, 28 August 2018 (UTC)

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SLS launch cost
Hi, I would like to solicit your input on a debate around the launch cost of the SLS rocket.

Jadebenn made an edit here : https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Space_Launch_System&diff=929316586&oldid=929241314

And since no one challenged his edit at the time he now considers it a consensus and refuses to revert back to old (and most importantely real) figures.

He refuses to debate my argument therefore I solicit your input into this.

Thanks - Moamem (talk) 04:56, 29 May 2020 (UTC)

David Ray Griffin
You are invited to join the discussion at Talk:David Ray Griffin § Description and interests. Thank you. Roy McCoy (talk) 01:16, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

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Short descriptions
Just a friendly heads up that you may want to review WP:SDFORMAT and WP:SDNONE. Short descriptions should be 40 characters or less in most cases, and they are mainly used to differentiate an article title from other similar article titles. Occasionally, short descriptions aren't needed when the article title is self-explanatory (like suspended roller coaster). In those cases simply use. Hope that helps! --GoneIn60 (talk) 17:17, 24 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the heads up; Blainster (talk) 22:03, 24 August 2021 (UTC)

Railroad consist
G'day Blainster, It was good to see your addition to the Rolling stock article. I'm just contacting you to ask whether you think "sometimes" could be deleted. I live in Australia, and know that term is well embedded, and 4 decades of reading Trains magazine makes me confident it's the standard term in the U.S. So I'd like to suggest a modification:
 * In North America, Australia and other countries, the term consist is used to refer to the rolling stock in a train.

You'll see I've made a couple of other tweaks. I'll leave it to you to decide which, if any, are desirable. Best wishes, Simon. – SCHolar44 (talk) 00:37, 25 August 2021 (UTC)

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Manual of style discretionary sanctions
NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 00:39, 26 February 2022 (UTC)

Ted Hughes
Hi, I gave my reasons for reverting your edits in the edit summary. There are a good deal of details and important nuance that you cut out. Those points were not written randomly, but carefully considered and taken from various Hughes biographes. Hughes changed his degree subject, then held very many jobs in his youth and they informed his experience and writing. He considered himself to be a working class Yorkshire man, so it's important to flag this in his context. Plath had won many awards before she met Hughes. I appreciate the urge for concision, but please don't knock out elements that show time progression or important context, small things thought they may seem. Anna (talk) 19:39, 16 March 2022 (UTC)

 * @Anna Roy Thanks for your detailed response. I will go ahead and put back  the changes not pertaining to your objection. Blainster (talk) 20:36, 16 March 2022 (UTC)

N-dashes for dates, please
The MOS requires n-dashes between dates of birth and death, not hyphens. -- Ssilvers (talk) 16:11, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

 * @Ssilvers Thank you. (but puzzled, because it's pretty hard to tell the difference.) I will have to use Wiki markup, then, because it's not on my keyboard. Blainster (talk) 16:17, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

 * Thanks. I don't know anything about bots.  You can just copy and paste this in:  –

-- Ssilvers (talk) 17:43, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

 * @Ssilvers Much appreciated. Blainster (talk) 17:50, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

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Townes Van Zandt
I learned today from a Boulder Colorado High School classmate of Townes Van Zandt that he wrote the lyrics for Pancho and Lefty at The Sink Bar in Boulder Colorado sitting on top a table in one of the backrooms. Soon thereafter Townes fell off a wall with a back and head injury and he forgot where the song came from. The lyric writer was Larry Nelson BHS class of 1962. KSMOR (talk) 00:40, 6 August 2022 (UTC)

 * @KSMOR Your use of "he" in your first sentence leaves it ambiguous which person wrote the lyrics, so it's a good thing you clarified it in the last sentence. Thanks for the info, but unless it is published, we can't put it in Wikipedia. Didn't your friend talk to Van Zandt after his fall to remind him who wrote the lyrics? Blainster (talk) 14:37, 7 August 2022 (UTC)

Prince edits
We can't say he was one of the greatest musicians as fact. We have to frame it as a claim, per WP:PEACOCK, which I linked in my first reversal of your edit. I explained the rest of the reversal in my second edit. Please use the talk page going forward to discuss any unresolved concerns with my reversal, this content dispute, etc. per WP:3RR and WP:BRD. 𝒮𝒾𝓇 𝒯𝑒𝒻𝓁𝑜𝓃 (talk | contribs) 17:25, 27 August 2022 (UTC)

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Current
I appreciate your attempt to make articles more durable by adjusting references to time. I just wanted to point out that this one was not particularly successful. In context here, in use and in current use have the same meaning. Same with current and latest. I generally revert changes that are not clear improvements to avoid wasting time quibbling over several good solutions. ~Kvng (talk) 15:41, 1 December 2022 (UTC)

Psyche (spacecraft)
Nice edit at Psyche (spacecraft). Totally non-glamorous, utterly routine, but really good. Springnuts (talk) 12:45, 30 December 2022 (UTC)

February 2023
Hello. I wanted to let you know that your recent edit(s) to The Big Bang Theory have been removed because you cited the information you added to IMDb. As discussed at WP:RS/IMDb, IMDb is considered a questionable source, and generally should not be used as a sole reference. You are welcome to re-add the information using a different reliable source, or with an additional source confirming the information from IMDb. If you think I made a mistake, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message on my talk page. Thank you. DonIago (talk) 20:29, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

Advice
While I agree with the substance of this edit (which was added in this edit while I was taking an extended break from Wikipedia), please don't call good-faith additions "trite". It also might raise suspicions of being related to another editor who did the same thing. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont)  17:34, 1 March 2023 (UTC)

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Stop now
Please stop removing "now" indiscriminately. The policy only says "words to watch", not "words to remove everywhere, not caring whether the replacement makes sense". Per MOS:VAMOS "now in Foo museum" is the correct phrase to use, avoiding nonsense like "The Mona Lisa is currently in the Louvre Museum", or works of art "residing" being "held" and so on. . Johnbod (talk) 12:16, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

 * @Johnbod
 * Thanks for your suggestions, pointing out that part of the MOS, and your civility. My removal of those adjectives is general, but not indiscriminate. They generally do not belong in an encyclopedia, as opposed to, for example, a newspaper. However, considering that the art articles are more carefully supervised, I will try to follow VAMOS. Your examples on "currently" and "residing" are clear, but can you tell me why being "held" is poor form? That seems fairly common to me. Blainster (talk) 15:35, 14 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Well, it may be rather a personal view, but typically archives and maybe libraries have "holdings" while

galleries and museums have "collections". You will very rarely find the best RS saying a painting is "held" (& if you do, it will probably be in a recent junior American academic context). VAMOS tries to avoid needless prolixity & Latinate formality, when "now in" does the job perfectly well. Johnbod (talk) 17:25, 14 February 2024 (UTC)
 * @Johnbod Thanks, that helps. Blainster (talk) 18:32, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

COP16
Hello, can you check the wording of the article 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference there are spelling mistakes --57ntaledane90 (talk) 12:53, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

 * @57ntaledane90 It looks OK to me. 1) The spelling of "Türkiye" in the quote appears to be the spelling of Turkey in their native language.  2) I added a word ("of") that had been left out at the start of the quote, to form a complete sentence. 3) Also, there are two references in the article that are in Spanish language. These should be changed to English language alternatives. I don't speak Spanish so I can't help with that. Blainster (talk) 20:46, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

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title: User talk:Blainster


text:
Talk:The Libertines (album)

genre
Garage rock?, I see it as more of a punk album myself.

Perhaps post-punk. Really, I didn't deeply consider the genre, just copied the one from Up the Bracket, so feel free to change.

--CannedLizard 03:36, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)

<^>v!!This album is connected!!v<^>

 * All song titles serve as redirects to this album, have their own pages, or have been placed at the appropriate disambiguation pages.--Hraefen Talk 23:39, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Japanese version
I just found this on ebay but can anyone confirm the tracklisting?--Jimmyjrg 04:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Trivia

 * The song "Arbeit Macht Frei" takes its title from the phrase placed above the entrances to Nazi concentration camps. It means "Work sets you free"
 * The song titled, The Saga was inspired by a letter sent to Pete Doherty by his associate Paul Roundhill, warning him of his growing drug problem. The share with Roundhill of the writing credits marked the first time that Doherty and Barat had not shared the writing credits equally and alone. Roundhill to this day believes and credits himself for co-writing the song, however has never been clarified and been dismissed by Barat in the past.
 * Parts of the song "Last Post on The Bugle" bear a striking resemblance to the 60s song "War or Hands of Time" by The Masters Apprentices.
 * Doherty and Barat apparently came to blows while recording the track "Music When the Lights Go Out", reportedly the only time they did so during the recording process, despite several near misses, and the underlying tension between the two frontmen.
 * Mick Jones played the piano part on "The Man Who Would Be King".

In popular culture

 * The band Half Man Half Biscuit recorded a song called "Shit Arm, Bad Tattoo" about the picture on the cover of this album. It appears on their 2005 album Achtung Bono.
 * The song "Arbeit Macht Frei" was featured in the dystopian 2006 film "Children of Men".

Moved from article. -- Soetermans |  is listening  |  what he'd do now?  06:23, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:The Libertines (album)


text: Category:Organization of American States


text:
Template talk:Deaths in century

Any usage instructions? Ian Cairns 19:31, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * particularly for BC centuries? or do we need a new template? Ian Cairns 19:34, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

This template has issues

 * 1) To use this template, you have to put in the century you want, minus 1; instead of just putting in 20 and getting the 20th century, you instead get the 21st century
 * 2) The template lists the years ending with 0 to be in the previous decade (e.g. the year 1620 being in the 1610s decade) while the actual subcategories include 1620 in the 1620s decade. This makes this template misleading to be included in those very category pages.

The same goes for Template:Births in century.

Ithinkicahn (talk) 13:41, 17 October 2013 (UTC)

title: Template talk:Deaths in century


text:
Talk:Nds

Merge proposal
I think that this page should be merged with NDS. Tim Ivorson 19:32, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Agreed. -Armaced 19:40, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Agreed. I synced the content. As i see it, Nds is not needed anymore, but may the more experienced Wikipedians decide. -Amir E. Aharoni 19:40, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Nds


text:
HMS Hardy (F54)

HMS Hardy was an anti-submarine warfare frigate of the Blackwood-class frigate or Type 14. She was named after Thomas Masterman Hardy, Captain of HMS Victory at Trafalgar. Hardy was the first Type 14 frigate built, completed on 8 December 1955, by Yarrow Shipbuilders.

Operational Service
On commissioning Hardy served in the Third Training Squadron at Londonderry Port before transferring to the Second Training Squadron in Portland in 1957. In 1960 she underwent a major modernisation and refit, before joining the Twentieth Frigate Squadron in Londonderry Port. In 1967 Hardy transferred to the Second Frigate Squadron and attended Portsmouth Navy Days. The after 40 mm guns in these ships were removed early in their careers due to hull strengthening problems.

Icelandic Patrol and the First Cod War.

In January 1977, when the United Kingdom enlarged its Exclusive economic zone to 200 nmi, Hardy was deployed on patrols of the EEZ, protecting fishing stocks and oil fields. Serving mainly in the Londonderry Port and Portland areas, Hardy attended the 1977 Silver Jubilee Fleet Review off Spithead when she was part of the 2nd Frigate Squadron.

She paid off to the Standby Squadron in August 1977, then, after another short spell of operational service at Portland, became a stores accommodation ship in Portsmouth in October 1979.

Hardy by name and hardy by nature: she was used as a target for Exocet and Sea Skua missiles and her bow was blown off by a torpedo. Following being shelled by 4.5" rounds and receiving patterns of anti submarine mortar charges set to shallow depth, both the main portion of the ship and the separated bow section were finally sunk, by the use of 20mm cannons fired from HMS Charybdis, in the Western Approaches 3 July 1984.

title: HMS Hardy (F54)


text:
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde

Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde is a judicial arrondissement encompasses the bilingual—French and Dutch—Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the administrative arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the surrounding Dutch-speaking area of Halle-Vilvoorde, which in turn coincides with the administrative arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde. Halle-Vilvoorde contains several municipalities with language facilities, i.e. municipalities where French-speaking people form a considerable part of the population and therefore have special language rights. The arrondissment is the location of a tribunal of first instance, enterprise tribunal and a labour tribunal.

Prior to the sixth Belgian state reform in 2012, the area also formed the electoral arrondissement of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV), which, as part of the same 2012 reform, was completely split into a Brussels electoral district and, together with the electoral district of Leuven, into the electoral district of the province of Flemish Brabant. All Belgian electoral arrondissements now coincide with the Belgian provinces. Before the splitting, BHV was an exception in the province of Flemish Brabant because of its official bilingual. One peculiarity remaining after the reform is that inhabitants of the six municipalities with language facilities around Brussels can still choose to vote for electoral lists of the Brussels-Capital Region. Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde has been the subject of a highly sensitive dispute within Belgium and was one of the main topics of the 2007–2011 Belgian political crisis. A majority of the Flemings wanted to split it into two arrondissements (like the administrative ones), while the Francophones wanted to keep it as it was or, at a minimum, split it with concessions.

The lists for the federal and European elections were composed of both Dutch and French-language parties (in all other electoral areas it is either Dutch or French-language parties), while the area is partly monolingual Halle-Vilvoorde and bilingual Brussels. Consequently, French-speakers living in the officially monolingual Dutch-speaking electoral district of Leuven in Flanders could vote for French-language parties in BHV, and Dutch-speakers living in the officially monolingual French-speaking electoral district Nivelles in Walloon Brabant could vote for Dutch-language parties in BHV. In 2003, the Court of Arbitration ruled the BHV district to be unconstitutional, citing unequal voting rights. It was abolished as part of the 2012 sixth Belgian state reform.

Background history
The Brussels judicial and electoral arrondissement, corresponding to what became later Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, has existed since the Belgian Revolution in 1830, when the country was created as a unitary state. At that time, French was the only language in politics, administration, justice, the army and all education except primary, to the disadvantage of Dutch speakers. Some Dutch speakers therefore decided to raise their children in French. Discrimination of the Dutch language started to lessen from the end of the 19th century onwards and came to a complete end in 1967, the year in which the Belgian Constitution got an official Dutch version.

Belgium, as a unitary state, consisted of nine provinces with several arrondissements. Each arrondissement also served as an electoral district, however some of them were later grouped together. One of the nine provinces was Brabant, which consisted of the arrondissements of Brussels, Leuven and Nivelles. Upon the fixation of the language border in 1963, the arrondissement of Brussels was split into the bilingual arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the unilingual Halle-Vilvoorde, but was retained as grouped arrondissements forming the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. Furthermore, nothing in the judicial structure was reformed, leaving the judicial arrondissement of Brussels unchanged. In the course of history, the administrative and political situation in Belgium has changed considerably and BHV has grown to become a major exception within the contemporary federal state of Belgium.

Dynamic system
In 1921 Belgium was divided into two monolingual entities (French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders). Both languages could be used in Brussels (16 municipalities at that time). A special status was established wherever a large minority used the other language along the linguistic border.

The Belgian law of 28 June 1932 on "the use of languages for administrative matters" reinforced the 1921 law and based the language status of every Belgian municipality on the decennial linguistic census. The criterion to belong to the Dutch-speaking or French-speaking language area was the attainment of a threshold of 50%; whereas, over 30% the municipal authorities had to offer services in the minority language as well. A municipality could ask the government to change its linguistic status by a royal decree only after a census would have shown a passage over the 30% or 50% threshold.

The 1932 law was implemented only once. As the invasion of Belgium by Germany in 1940 prevented the organization of the decennial census, the next (and last) linguistic census took place in 1947. The results suggested that the progression of French language had kept intensifying. These results were disputed by Flemish politicians who questioned the survey methodology. The percentage of Dutch-speakers had fallen under the 30% threshold in nine municipalities while 12 and nine municipalities had respectively passed over the threshold of 50% and 30% French-speakers. Only one municipality (Rekkem) had fallen under the threshold of 30% French-speakers. In order to mitigate their impact, the results of the 1947 census were not made public until 1954; after that an ad hoc law modifying the 1932 law was voted. Around Brussels, the three municipalities where French-speakers had passed the 50% threshold were transferred to the bilingual area of Brussels (Evere, Ganshoren and Berchem-Sainte-Agathe/Sint-Agatha-Berchem), and language facilities were granted to French-speakers in four of the five municipalities where the percentage of French-speakers had passed the 30% threshold (Drogenbos, Kraainem, Wemmel and Linkebeek).

There are no official figures to support claims, on the French-speaking side, that many more families shifted from Dutch to French after 1947. On the Flemish side, as the decennial linguistic census and the dynamic system were seen as a serious threat to their cultural territory; politicians began opposing them and Flemish mayors boycotted the 1960 census.

Static system
In order to offset Flemish fears of uninterrupted progression of the French language into the Dutch-speaking area, a deal was struck in 1961–1962, during the Lefèvre-Spaak government; that the language border would be officially fixed and would not be changed. The linguistic census and dynamic system would be abolished and replaced with a static system: the linguistic status of every municipality would be fixed once and for all.

However, the process of deciding on the geographical position of such a static linguistic border led to bitter resentment, by both communities, including within political parties which had transcended language cleavages until then. Instead of reflecting the usual left/right divide, the laws which fixed the position of the linguistic border were voted (in 1962 and 1963) by the majority formed by Flemish members in Parliament against the minority formed by their French-speaking counterparts.

These laws voted in 1962 and 1963:

Bilingual Brussels was limited to the 19 municipalities it already encompassed since 1954.

In the Flemish Halle and Vilvoorde, out of the seven municipalities where French-speakers had reached between 27% and 48% at the census of 1947, 4 kept the extended linguistic and political facilities they had been granted in 1954 and two more were granted the same (Wezembeek-Oppem and Sint-Genesius-Rode/Rhode-Saint-Genèse). (Arguing that since 1947 many more people had shifted from Dutch to French, French-speaking Members of Parliament demanded that those six municipalities to be detached from the Dutch-speaking area and added to bilingual Brussels, which was fiercely resisted by their Flemish counterparts.)

The same arrangement was made for a number of municipalities on new the border between the Dutch- and French-speaking areas, where local linguistic minorities could enjoy identical facilities: e.g. Flobecq and Enghien in the French-speaking area (where the Dutch-speaking minorities had reached respectively 7.2% and 12.1% in 1947); and Voeren/Fourons in the Dutch-speaking area (where the French-speaking population had reached 56.9% in 1947).

In 1964, the Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones (FDF), a party advocating the extension of Brussels, was founded. By 1970 all Belgian political parties had split into Dutch-speaking and French-speaking parties. The position of the linguistic border was endorsed in the 1970 State Reform (requiring a two-thirds majority) and, in return for contributing to this endorsement, the French-speaking minority was granted new measures which included the requirement of a special majority (a two-thirds majority in total and at least 50% in each linguistic group) to pass such laws as those of 1962 and 1963 in future; and (article 54) the possibility for any linguistic group to block a bill and open negotiations when it considers that such bill seriously jeopardizes its interests.

According to the French-speaking parties, the compromise also included an agreement that in the future the existing voting and judicial opportunities for the large French-speaking minority around Brussels would be maintained and that the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral and judicial arrondissement would remain unimpaired. The Flemish parties deny this, saying that this was never the intention. Importantly, these opportunities are not enshrined in the Constitution, but in law, and can be amended by a simple majority.

Consequently, Bills intended at splitting the BHV arrondissement have been put forward several times and countered as many times by the French-speaking minority on grounds of the article 54 of the Belgian Constitution.

1970s–1990s
The 1970 State reform also created the Dutch, French and German Cultural Communities and laid the foundations for the establishment of three Regions.

Later on, in 1980, the Cultural Communities became known as Communities. Also two regions were established: the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region. Although the creation of a Brussels Region was provided for in 1970, the Brussels-Capital Region was not established until a later reform.

The province of Brabant had been one of the nine provinces of Belgium. But due to the arrangement of the linguistic border, which passes through this province, the province was abolished after several reforms:

In 1989 Brussels-Capital Region was created, but the region was still part of the province of Brabant.

With the reform in 1993 making Belgium into a federal state, Brabant became part of all three regions: the Brussels, Flemish and Walloon Region.

Until 1995, the province of Brabant contained the following electoral arrondissements: In 1995, this province was split into: However, the arrondissements stayed the same.
 * the Dutch-speaking electoral arrondissement of Leuven (coinciding with the administrative arrondissement of Leuven)
 * the French-speaking electoral arrondissement of Nivelles (coinciding with the administrative arrondissement of Nivelles)
 * the electoral arrondissement of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (coinciding with both the administrative arrondissement Brussels-Capital and Halle-Vilvoorde).
 * the province of Flemish Brabant
 * the province of Walloon Brabant (which coincides to the arrondissement of Nivelles)
 * Brussels-Capital Region, an own bilingual region (the other two regions being the unilingual Flanders and Wallonia)

New electoral districts
For the elections in 2003, new electoral districts were created based on the provinces instead of arrondissements, because the electoral areas were too small. With regards to Brussels and the arrondissements of the province of Flemish Brabant the old arrondissements (Leuven and BHV) were retained (Walloon Brabant has only one arrondissement, so this is in fact also retained), since the French-speakers are against splitting BHV.

BHV is declared unconstitutional
In 2003, one week after the election, the Arbitration Court (Arbitragehof, Cour d'Arbitrage), now the Constitutional Court of Belgium, declared the new election law unconstitutional. It judged that, among other things, the definition of the electoral arrondissement Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde for national and European elections is a violation of the non-discrimination principle between Belgians, taken in combination with articles 1 to 5 of the Constitution (especially article 4, defining the language areas).

However, it left open the precise nature of any solution and thus did not demand the splitting of the electoral district but did not allow it to be kept as it is now.

Nevertheless, the Court declared the results of the 2003 elections (already held under the law declared unconstitutional) to be valid to avoid having to redo the elections.

The court however did not rule on all aspects of constitutionality. Among other things, it did not rule on the fact that some French-speakers now enjoy de facto rights that Flemish do not. This applies mainly to the fact that a French-speaker from Brussels who moves into a commune in the Flemish Region can still continue to vote for French-speaking Brussels candidates, but a Fleming who moves into the (equally) monolingual Walloon Region cannot vote any longer for his Flemish candidates of choice from the two regions where Dutch is an official language (Flemish Region and Brussels Region).

An element of discrimination is that French-speaking candidates from Brussels can compete for votes in a part of Flanders without being subject to the entire valid legislation (only the Belgian laws but not to the Flemish laws applicable in Flemish region), but Flemish candidates in the Walloon Region always have to obey both Belgian and regional/community legislation.

Following the ruling of the Constitutional Court, after having remained unsolved after decades, the BHV issue was suddenly a hot topic.

With the elections for the Flemish Parliament in 2004, all Flemish parties added to their programs the demand to split BHV. In the Flemish coalition agreement of 2004, the issue was included as "to be realised immediately", signed by the three large Flemish parties Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) and Different Socialist Party (SP.A), in addition to the Flemish-nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) (the at that time CD&V cartel partner) and the left-liberal Spirit (the at that time SP.A cartel partner).

Although the Flemish government and the Flemish parliament have no legal power concerning the case, the issue was seen as a commitment of the governing parties at a federal level, VLD and SP.A, to settle the case in the federal government.

Electoral arrondissement

 * Elections of the Senate and of the European Parliament
 * Electors can choose between the lists competing for seats in the Dutch-speaking electoral college and for those running for seats in the French-speaking electoral college, whereas in other electoral arrondissements, electors can vote only on the list of the language area in which they live.

Elections of the Chamber

 * Because the former arrondissements still exist in Brabant (see the previous section(s) for more information) there is a special arrangement for the provinces of Flemish and Walloon Brabant: for the allocation of seats between the party lists on the level of the former province of Brabant, lists can be combined between Leuven and Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (Dutch-speaking parties do this) or between Nivelles and Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (French-speaking parties do this). This practice is known in French as apparentement and in Dutch as apparentering.

Voters can choose between candidates from both Flemish and Walloon parties (in all other electoral areas it is either Flemish or Walloon parties), although the area is partly monolingual Halle-Vilvoorde (belonging to the Flemish Community) and bilingual Brussels (belonging to both communities), and consequently French-speakers living in monolingual Dutch-speaking Halle-Vilvoorde can vote for French-language parties, whereas Dutch-speakers living in monolingual French-speaking Walloon Brabant (equal to the former electoral arrondissement of Nivelles) cannot vote for Dutch-language parties.

This is discrimination according to the Flemish. The Flemish want to split BHV, while French-speakers are opposed to such a split unless parts of the compromise reached in 1970 on the static system (see above) are revised at the same time. From the francophone point of view, the maintenance of the BHV district was a part of the 1970 compromise. Flemish demands for the area to be split are met with demands by the Francophone community for the six special-facility communes to be officially added to Brussels proper. This Francophone demand would create a previously non-existent "corridor" between the French-speaking region of Wallonia and majority French-speaking Brussels, much to the dismay of Flemish politicians.

 * Belgians who live abroad may choose in which electoral arrondissement they are registered.
 * The majority of the French-speakers abroad do so in BHV, according to N-VA. Whatever the case may be, for the elections of 2007 the governor of the province of Flemish Brabant (instructed by the Flemish Minister of Administrative Affairs) stroke out from the lists of registered voters in BHV, all expatriates who had filled their voter’s registration form in French, including those who had registered in Municipalities with language facilities (where communication with the local and federal administration is normally allowed in either language). Likewise, for the elections of 2010, Belgian expatriates who had filled their voter’s registration form in French were stricken out from the lists, including in the municipality with language facilities of Sint-Genesius-Rode / Rhode-Saint-Genèse.

Judicial arrondissement
Since this is one judicial arrondissement, a legal case can be handled by both Dutch-speaking and French-speaking judges. This causes a problem comparable with the electoral situation: Brussels is bilingual, and Halle-Vilvoorde is monolingual Dutch, so it is possible that a French judge is appointed a legal case from the Dutch-speaking Halle-Vilvoorde region, which is unfair from a Flemish point of view. The fact that Brussels has a more extensive court network, for example the Law Courts of Brussels, adds to this issue.

Municipalities
The arrondissement consists of the following municipalities (in total accounting for around 1,595,000 inhabitants on 1 January 2006):

Halle-Vilvoorde
• Affligem

• Asse

• Beersel

• Bever

• Dilbeek

• Drogenbos

• Galmaarden

• Gooik

• Grimbergen

• Halle

• Herne

• Hoeilaart

• Kampenhout

• Kapelle-op-den-Bos

• Kraainem

• Lennik

• Liedekerke

• Linkebeek

• Londerzeel

• Machelen

• Meise

• Merchtem

• Opwijk

• Overijse

• Pepingen

• Roosdaal

• Sint-Genesius-Rode

• Sint-Pieters-Leeuw

• Steenokkerzeel

• Ternat

• Vilvoorde

• Wemmel

• Wezembeek-Oppem

• Zaventem

• Zemst

Brussels
(names are written in respectively French and Dutch) • Anderlecht

• Brussels (municipality) (French: Bruxelles-ville / Dutch: Brussel-stad)

• Ixelles / Elsene

• Etterbeek

• Evere

• Ganshoren

• Jette

• Koekelberg

• Auderghem / Oudergem

• Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek

• Berchem-Sainte-Agathe / Sint-Agatha-Berchem

• Saint-Gilles / Sint-Gillis

• Molenbeek-Saint-Jean / Sint-Jans-Molenbeek

• Saint-Josse-ten-Noode / Sint-Joost-ten-Node

• Woluwe-Saint-Lambert / Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe

• Woluwe-Saint-Pierre / Sint-Pieters-Woluwe

• Uccle / Ukkel

• Forest / Vorst

• Watermael-Boitsfort / Watermaal-Bosvoorde

Flemish point of view
Many legal experts in Flanders, such as and Matthias Storme, argue that there is no way out, other than splitting BHV, that will respect the entire Belgian constitution.

On the political level, Flemings argue that French-speakers who choose to live in Flanders should respect the Flemish institutions, legislation and official language (Dutch), and should stop requesting an exceptional status (of not having to respect the Flemish institutions that are constitutionally established and internationally recognized). French-speakers are asked to respect the division of Belgium into four linguistic areas, a democratically approved division with the support of a majority of French-speaking members of the Belgian parliament.

Flemings say that they want the same level of respect for their institutions as is the case everywhere else in the European Union.

Francophone point of view
Just as unanimously, at least among the political parties, most French-speaking politicians claim that those French-speakers who live in the Flemish Region should have the right to be treated as a linguistic minority that falls under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. This would then give them a kind of an "extraterritorial" voting right.

This point of view differs sharply from many French-speaking businessman and academics. 'Beci', a Brussels-based employers organisation with 90% membership of French-speaking businessmen, explicitly states it respects all the existing institutions, including the boundaries between the language areas. Similarly, a growing number of French-speaking intellectuals and academics state that French-speakers living in the Flemish region should stop behaving as if they are not in Flanders and thus vote for the Flemish electoral college.

Philippe Van Parijs, a leading French-speaking philosopher and economist from the UCL also defends strict 'territoriality' and for ending both the linguistic facilities and the 'extraterritorial' voting rights for French-speakers living in the Flemish Region. He defended it in an interview in De Standaard and Le Soir on 23 August 2007.

Legal and political considerations
There is a lack of consensus in national legal authorities about this subject as they seem divided between French and Dutch speakers. The French-speaking Community and the Flemish Community have a different interpretation of the language facilities enjoyed by the French-speaking population in some municipalities.

There are binding rulings (as early as from 1968) from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, an institution with direct authority in all EU states, to confirm that the recognition of specific minority rights for the French-speakers is to be limited to a very few number of municipalities and to a limited set of public services.

Regular supra-national recommendations from the Council of Europe, a body without direct authority and therefore a lesser status in the legal order in Belgium, expressed concerns in 2002 that the minority of French speakers in Flanders should be recognized and protected as an official linguistic minority, as defined by advise of the Venice Commission. However, other reports from this institution provide arguments to the contrary (e.g. the fact that the francophones in Flanders cannot be regarded as looking back on longstanding and peaceful relations with the Flemish authorities). Also, they cannot be regarded as being "sufficient in numbers" within the Council's definition so as to constitute a linguistic minority within Flanders.

Flemish authorities have stated that the recommendations from the Council of Europe are invalid as they did not take into account the Belgian constitution or the European jurisprudence, which confirms a very limited definition of the 'language facilities'. As such, the Council of Europe and especially its 'rapporteurs', appear to be neglecting the special character of Belgium. It should also be noted that, the French language minority around Brussels is of quite recent origin (see Francization of Brussels). There is no 'historic French-speaking minority' in these areas.

Government negotiations 2004–2005
In 2005, cabinet ministers and parties had been locked in debate over the future of this electoral district, and long-overdue decisions had not been reached.

Compromise solutions have been proposed:

 * BHV could be joined to the neighbouring Flemish electoral district of Leuven, allowing greater numbers of Dutch speakers a vote in a combined Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde-Leuven district.
 * In return for leaving BHV in its current state, one might accomplish Flemish demands for specific powers currently under federal jurisdiction to be conferred to the Regions.

A deadline of 11 May 2005, by which time a decision was to be reached, expired without a compromise. A compromise worked out by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was explicitly opposed by only one coalition partner, namely the Flemish party Spirit. It is believed that this compromise would have entitled the French Community with the right to exercise certain, limited powers over inhabitants of the Flemish Community, in return for the splitting of BHV.

After visiting King Albert II to report the failure of the seven negotiation meetings to reach a successful conclusion, the Prime Minister requested a vote of confidence from the parliament. The Parliament supported the government on 13 May 2005 and the issue was put on hold until the next general election in 2007.

Elections in 2007
With the federal elections of 10 June 2007 looming, the problem of the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde reemerged. Because the federal government failed to comply with a ruling of the Court of Arbitration that declared the provincial electoral districts compared to the two remaining arrondisemental ones in the former province of Brabant unconstitutional, several mayors in the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde area have threatened to refuse to compile the lists of electors.

Professor and constitutional expert from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven declared that the elections, held on 10 June were unconstitutional for two reasons:

 * As the previous election was held on 18 May 2003, the final date to hold elections (four years from the previous) was 13 May 2007.
 * The Court of Arbitration gave the government the time to fix the BHV problem until the next elections were scheduled; otherwise, the election results were supposed to be declared void.

As in 2003, several mayors and groupings have called for a boycott of the elections, and 24 communes have refused to cooperate in the organization of the elections. In May 2007, the municipality of Steenokkerzeel launched a court case against the federal government for not complying with the ruling of the Court of Arbitration. The case should have started on 25 May 2007 but the case was mistakenly scheduled in a one-judge court room rather than a three-judge court room and so was delayed.

2007–2008 formation of the government
The problem of BHV became an important issue in the 2007–2008 Belgian government formation. On 7 November 2007, the Flemish parties voted at the Committee on the Interior of the Chamber of Representatives for the disentanglement, while the French-speaking parties refused to vote and left the room. This situation has never previously occurred in Belgian history. All representatives of the Flemish parties voted in favor of the split of the BHV electoral district, with the exception of Tinne van der Straeten, of Groen!, the Flemish green party, who abstained.

This situation shows that the Belgian debate goes far beyond legal quarrels about BHV; as the power of Walloon institutions decrease (and this since its industrial breakdown in the late 1960s) and as the Flemish government clearly consolidates its ideological orientation toward a situation of cultural domination, supported by demographic and financial matters. Every step in the Belgian debate can be interpreted symbolically as a fight between two cultures that might show mutual respect only when they can be protected from each other's domination.

On 23 December, the interim Government officially came into office. The transitional period came to an end on 20 March 2008, when Yves Leterme was sworn in as Prime Minister of the Leterme I Government. Negotiations continued, but again no solution was reached, and Leterme offered the King his resignation on 15 July 2008, but the King refused.

Elections in 2010
The newly appointed Flemish President of the Constitutional Court Marc Bossuyt has stated that federal elections (after 2007) would be deemed "unconstitutional" if a legal arrangement for Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde were not put into place by then.

According to Article 65 of the Belgian Constitution, the Federal Parliament ends after four years, automatically leading to new federal elections within 40 days. This means the next federal elections were scheduled for 2011.

In April 2010, the Flemish liberal VLD withdrew themselves from the government because no solution was found for the problem of BHV at the agreed upon date and so caused the collapse of the Leterme II Government. Consequently, new elections had to be set up, resulting in the general elections of June 2010.

For these elections, several mayors in Halle-Vilvoorde started a legal procedure because BHV was still not solved, and they refused to organise the elections in their municipalities, as with the previous two federal elections. The province of Flemish Brabant organised the elections instead.

After these general elections, the next government will have to find a solution for BHV. N-VA, the winner and now largest party of Flanders and Belgium, want to split BHV without concessions for French speakers. During the 2010 Belgian government formation, a solution for BHV has been part of a larger agreement. Mid-September 2011 a tentative agreement was reached to partially split the district.

Agreement and consequences of splitting BHV
As part of the sixth Belgian state reform, the electoral district has been split and the judicial arrondissement has been reformed. On 13 July 2012 the Belgian Chamber of Representatives voted the laws (106-42) regarding the splitting of BHV. On 19 July 2012, the laws were signed by King Albert II in a public ceremony.

Electoral district
The BHV electoral district is split, and the Halle-Vilvoorde electoral area is merged with the Leuven electoral area, forming a single provincial constituency corresponding to the province of Flemish Brabant; and the Brussels electoral area became a new separate single constituency corresponding to the Brussels Region.

Inhabitants living in Halle-Vilvoorde, whether French-speaking or Dutch speaking, lost the possibility to vote for politicians from Brussels during the federal elections. However, the inhabitants of the six Flemish municipalities around Brussels with French language facilities, being Linkebeek, Wezembeek-Oppem, Kraainem, Drogenbos, Wemmel and Sint-Genesius-Rode, are given the opportunity to choose their vote on a list either from Brussels or from Flemish Brabant, but are not allowed to vote for both.

French-speaking parties of HV would need to form one francophone list to be able to gain a seat in the federal parliament, and French-speaking politicians from Brussels will lose votes that they would otherwise gain in the Flemish periphery around Brussels.

Dutch-speaking parties in Brussels would need to form one Flemish list or form an electoral list alliance to be able to gain one or two seats in the federal parliament, and Dutch-speaking politicians of the whole BHV area will lose votes that they would otherwise gain in Brussels (the number of Dutch-speakers roughly corresponds to two out of the seven seats Brussels would be allocated proportionally by population).

Judicial district
For language use in judicial matters, the Halle-Vilvoorde part will align with the language use in the Flemish Region so that all judicial matters are handled in Dutch, as it is the sole official language of the Flemish Region. The status concerning the Brussels Region will not change, as Brussels is a bilingual region; matters will still be handled in either French or Dutch.

According to, the head of the federal judicial police, splitting BHV could have negative effects for the safety in the area, since criminals based in Brussels (an officially bilingual but mostly French-speaking city) often act in the Dutch-speaking area around it and would have to be judged in Dutch-speaking courts of the Flemish Region.

There has been criticism of the agreement, for example a Brussels lawyer noting that it is startlingly complex, difficult to accomplish and very disadvantageous to Flanders.

title: Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde