Talk:Southeast Asia

Peremptory blanking justified?
diff

Dude, that was harsh. I found it understandable, and in need of some copyediting by someone who writes English like a native speaker. So? There is this collaborative wiki thing going on, after all. Since it relates to hominids prior to Homo "sapiens" it may even be defensible as on mission. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 16:57, 5 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Dude, I've seen Human do the same thing several times. I'm a bear of very simple brain, and I could barely make sense of what that was all about. I'll put it back in and try to fix it, though, in the interest of being a good guy. TheoryOfPractice (talk) 17:17, 5 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Human is not a good model for wiki behaviour. 17:39, 5 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Human is energetic and means well. Overall, an asset to the wiki. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 17:46, 5 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm happy enough to do the word-smiting if you don't mind. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 17:19, 5 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I'll follow along to see if there are any stray commas. Oh yeah, "usually" such blanking should be pasted into the talk page, to aid in resurrection (and discussion?) if other edits follow.  Of course, undoing the blanking is easy enough to do when caught early.  01:18, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Removed from article.
I've removed the following from the article. I spent a bunch of time trying to fix this guy's prose yesterday, and I don't have time to do it right now--but it can't go on a main page until it's written up properly. And that's IF we want this to be an encyclopedic article on a geographic region (remember, we are NOT an encyclopedia) --I fear that this page may be turning into a case of mission creep. TheoryOfPractice (talk) 14:16, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Removed from Precolonial period section
As the last ice age ended and the discovery of agriculture, life for the tribes has never been better. Festivals of food and drinks were formed due to the excess of food from farming. Through the formation of agriculture, villages were formed. And when these villages grew bigger, this signaled the birth of kingdoms. These kingdoms prospered which also meant war since other tribes tend to be jealous generous which these "generous' tribes decided to share their swords by putting it into their guests' heads. Alas, this time of precolonial prosperity only lasted until the crave for colonization started which meant the end of the precolonial period.


 * With the end of the last ice age and the discovery of farming, agricultural surpluses led to lavish festivals. The sedentary agricultural lifestyle led to the formation of villages, followed by the birth of kingdoms. These prosperous kingdoms, being jealous of generous with other tribes, shared their swords with their guests; the survivors generally said something like "Of course you know this means war!" and returned the favor. Alas, this time of precolonial prosperity only lasted until the onset of colonization.
 * There's a start on re-casting that paragraph. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 14:39, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Colonial Period
The colonial period started somewhat in the sixteenth century when Magellan first came in The Philippines. Sadly, he died in the hands of a tribe leader called Lapu-Lapu and so, it was his men who told the known world of their new discovery. This led into the colonization craze. It also started new trade routes for spices and minerals that benefited the European countries that first came to Southeast Asia. Yet, the colonization craze also meant a war of attrition and independence from the locals. This created a thorn to the colonizers but due to their might and technological advances, the rebellions were suppressed.


 * This is still a bit Philippines-centric, but I'm about ready to pop it back int mainspace for further mutilation:


 * Ferdinand Magellan first came to the Philippines in 1521, to be killed within months, being played into a local conflict by a Christian Rajah of Cebu, who had this beef with a Muslim Caliph named Lapu-Lapu. Magellan was not the first European on the scene; Portuguese and Arab traders had known of the Philippines for centuries, bringing imams and priests with them to lead the native people into various lights. In 1565, the Spanish sent a governor to administer the colony which Magellan had claimed for them. Europeans maintained an interest in ruling the area, benefited by new trade routes for spices and minerals. The local people continued a long tradition of obstreperousness by providing a thorn in the side of the occupying powers for centuries, until might and technological advances prevailed. In modern times, Southeast Asia provides not only rice but semiconductors to the rest of the world, as well as a business-friendly environment in its smallest nation, the sovereign city-state of Singapore.


 * Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 00:48, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Does this comma help?
Maybe--what would help would be talking about whether we need a high-school level essay of the history of Southeast Asia. We're not an encyclopedia, and WP does this kind of thing much better. While the hominid stuff from yesterday might have been on-mission, I don't see that here. Sell it to me. TheoryOfPractice (talk) 14:46, 6 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree that it tests the boundaries of the mission, but there's the sociological/historical thing of agricultural surplus leading to an idle class needing a pastime, and choosing war, as well as the European colonial powers rescuing our brown brothers from heathendom by relieving them of gold, spices, and other worldly goods in exchange for eternal life at the feet of the heavenly father. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 15:26, 6 January 2010 (UTC)
 * p.s. in case anyone thinks that "brown brother" is a racist thing to say, it is. It was paternalistically racist in Teddy Roosevelt's time as well, the colonial era, just not always acknowledged as such. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 17:52, 6 January 2010 (UTC)