# Argent Towers, a moment of your time. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 16, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227 "2010-02-16T18:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/281 "2010-02-17T01:47:27Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > Delaney can call his book the king of Spain for all I care. > > It isn’t illegal. What does that have to do with anything? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/282 "2010-02-17T01:49:10Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > Delaney can call his book the king of Spain for all I care. > > It isn’t illegal. It isn’t child porn (which he did not call it). And it does have support from a respected author. > > Nick Cave might well call “Stagger Lee” pornography, but that didn’t stop MTV and Rolling Stone from recommending the album. AGAIN with the appeal to authority–does no one learn basic debate any more? If MTV and Rolling Stone recommend Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” and assert that it’s the greatest song ever made, does that change the fact that it’s shit? If I put a chunk of dogshit in a tootsie roll wrapper and hand it to you to eat in good faith, can I get all butthurt when you call me on it, on account of “No, it’s not shit, it’s a tootsie roll, says so right there on the wrapper”? FFS, to quote Gallagher “If your cat has kittens in the oven you don’t call 'em biscuits.” ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/283 "2010-02-17T01:49:18Z")
I don’t know if \*\*AT \*\*saying he’s leaving is all dramatics or not, but in case it’s worth anything, I don’t think people here were shrieking PEDOPHILE!!! at him. Well \*\*elbows \*\*was going off the deep end a little bit, but in case y’all haven’t noticed, elbows is crazy. As for everyone else, their outrage still _far_ exceeded mine, but I think the overall point can be summed up as “Dude, you did a stupid thing, so please stop trying to justify it.” Welp, whether or not\*\* Mr. Towers\*\* stays, I’m having another drink. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/284 "2010-02-17T01:51:55Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > If I put a chunk of dogshit in a tootsie roll wrapper and hand it to you to eat in good faith, can I get all butthurt Wow. You’re lucky I’m not 13, or this would be all kinds of creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/285 "2010-02-17T01:53:09Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > Delaney can call his book the king of Spain for all I care. > > It isn’t illegal. It isn’t child porn (which he did not call it). And it does have support from a respected author. > > Nick Cave might well call “Stagger Lee” pornography, but that didn’t stop MTV and Rolling Stone from recommending the album. And I don’t care if the ‘respected author’ let his 13 year old read it because he supported it. Your appeal to authority doesn’t mean it’s okay to share with children. You’re really not getting it, are you? Tell you what. Actually read the thread with some attempt at objectivity. _Try_ to see the issue from an angle other than yours. Come back with something other than song lyrics and whether it’s legal or not. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/286 "2010-02-17T01:55:36Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > Look, I hate to have to defend myself, because it seems like twisting the knife in AT when he’s already apologized and such, but yeah, I did imply that. And I did so because I think that there’s really no functional difference between “exposing” a kid to porn by handing it to him and “exposing” a kid to porn by telling him where to get it and highly recommending that he do so. I understand your viewpoint. I was only quoting you to make a case that yes indeed, one could read this thread as mobby. That was not my original post though! I originally was not pointing at you, but more so to the OP, which I feel was inviting a pile on towards AT. I was not meaning to attack you for your own viewpoint, Sarahfeena. ETA: Regarding elbows being crazy…really? Some of her posts have been so well put that I had to resist dick riding posts like “Well done, elbows!” ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/287 "2010-02-17T01:57:19Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I understand your viewpoint. I was only quoting you to make a case that yes indeed, one could read this thread as mobby. That was not my original post though! I originally was not pointing at you, but more so to the OP, which I feel was inviting a pile on towards AT. > > I was not meaning to attack you for your own viewpoint, Sarahfeena. I appreciate that, Nzinga. The problem is, the “mob” as you call us, is all made up of people with their own viewpoints, all of whom in this case seem to agree. I think it’s more a case of each of us trying to express it in a way that we were hoping would make sense to AT. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/288 "2010-02-17T02:01:38Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > I appreciate that, Nzinga. The problem is, the “mob” as you call us, is all made up of people with their own viewpoints, all of whom in this case seem to agree. I think it’s more a case of each of us trying to express it in a way that we were hoping would make sense to AT. Ok. I’m jaded then. I guess in my heart of hearts, I don’t believe everyone that piled on did it to ‘make sense’ to AT. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/289 "2010-02-17T02:05:08Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Thats my issue, not the rights or obvious wrongs regarding men advising kids to read pornographic material, so I will shut up for a while Well fuck, we might as well start singing “Kumbayah.” 😉 FTR, my kids picked up their filthy language from their mother. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/290 "2010-02-17T02:05:37Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Ok. I’m jaded then. I guess in my heart of hearts, I don’t believe everyone that piled on did it to ‘make sense’ to AT. So it’s okay for you to make assumptions about the motives of posters in this thread, but not okay for said posters to possibly have made assumptions about the motives of AT. Okay then, good to know where you stand. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/291 "2010-02-17T02:09:42Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > So it’s okay for you to make assumptions about the motives of posters in this thread, but not okay for said posters to possibly have made assumptions about the motives of AT. Okay then, good to know where you stand. Here we go on this endless wheel. Let’s ride: Yes, SmartAleq. It is ok for me to make assumptions about the motives of posters, it is ok for said poster to make assumptions about the motives of AT, it is ok for me to express distaste at pile ons, it is ok for you to take me to task for expressing that when I haven’t read the thread…it is all ok. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/292 "2010-02-17T02:10:33Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > Wow. You’re lucky I’m not 13, or this would be all kinds of creepy. Are you competing with Buckety for being the biggest ass in the thread? If so you need to try a little harder, but damn fine effort. You’re a clear second. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/293 "2010-02-17T02:13:10Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Well fuck, we might as well start singing “Kumbayah.” 😉 Fuck. Is Veb lurking in this thread? I bet she is. Veb! You stop reading _right now!_ ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/294 "2010-02-17T02:39:53Z")
> [@Syntropy](#): > > Fuck. Is Veb lurking in this thread? I bet she is. Veb! You stop reading _right now!_ The word “fuck” is perfectly okay in the Pit, as long as it is not followed by a singular, second-person, personal pronoun. Yeah, as rules go it’s kinda silly, but it’s also simple and easy to follow. 😃 I’m beginning to wonder who the offenderatti are in this thread: those who object to **AT** ’s IMs or those who see **any** rules as attacking their rights (and **Syntropy** , you aren’t one of them). When I started here we had a few self-styled “anarchists” who felt pretty much everything was an attack on their rights. Things seem to have gotten more specific. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/295 "2010-02-17T02:56:43Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Are you competing with Buckety for being the biggest ass in the thread? If so you need to try a little harder, but damn fine effort. You’re a clear second. Yeah, how dare I reference a Nick Cave album which was implicitly recommended to kids to point out how far overboard people have gone (though it is calming down now). For that matter, we have had threads speaking highly of specific porn sites, which is recommending those porn sites to all the kids on the board. My point with the line you quoted is that we don’t know the age of everyone we post to here, and many things that are said would be inappropriate if the other party was a kid. But we tend to post without even thinking about that, especially if the other person comes across as (and probably is) much older. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/296 "2010-02-17T03:21:10Z")
**Carmady** , you remain [del]clueless[/del] [del]deliberately obtuse[/del] **completely fucking STUPID** as to what people in this thread are objecting to. I have recommended “Murder Ballads” on this forum and was not taken to task for it because I did it in a public forum. HOWEVER, and for Christ’s sake NOTICE the HOW-FUCKING-EVER, I’m not stupid enough to PM a CHILD, or someone who claims to be one (the “Honest, yer honor, he said he was 13 but I could tell he was 43” excuse probably adds YEARS to your jailtime), suggesting he listen to it, despite his parents’ wishes. The former was within the rules of the forum and society and the latter leaves me open to all sorts of shit. Were I to PM a person seen as a child under the laws of the land and suggest he listen to it and to ignore his parents would be to cross the line for all but the most negligent parents, and would open both me and the message board that brought the kid and I together to lawsuits that, even if they failed, would cause the board to be closed down by The Powers That REALLY Be. In the future, kindly figure out what everybody is talking about before shitting all over a thread. We are not asking that the board be censored. We are asking that members like AT get Clue #1 to how the rest of the world would react to their off-board, but associated with the board, actions might be interpreted by people with their heads less far up their self-centered asses. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/297 "2010-02-17T03:26:08Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > Yeah, how dare I reference a Nick Cave album which was implicitly recommended to kids to point out how far overboard people have gone (though it is calming down now). > > For that matter, we have had threads speaking highly of specific porn sites, which is recommending those porn sites to all the kids on the board. > > My point with the line you quoted is that we don’t know the age of everyone we post to here, and many things that are said would be inappropriate if the other party was a kid. But we tend to post without even thinking about that, especially if the other person comes across as (and probably is) much older. AT knew the guy was 13, and specifically singled him out. So you’re point is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/298 "2010-02-17T03:26:26Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > Yeah, how dare I reference a Nick Cave album which was implicitly recommended to kids to point out how far overboard people have gone (though it is calming down now). > > For that matter, we have had threads speaking highly of specific porn sites, which is recommending those porn sites to all the kids on the board. > > My point with the line you quoted is that we don’t know the age of everyone we post to here, and many things that are said would be inappropriate if the other party was a kid. But we tend to post without even thinking about that, especially if the other person comes across as (and probably is) much older. The _Murder Ballads_ album had a Parental Advisory sticker on it in the US. It was, for all intents and purposes, censored in the US. Did you read the thread? It’s not about how **AT** said “hey, OP that I am not familiar with, you should read _Hogg_.” He invited someone he knew was 13 to PM with him about a book depicting graphic child molestation (among other things), then argued with him about going behind his parents backs to read it, because he thought the kid should be schooled. I’m not making assumptions, either. **AT** has said that’s what he did and he said he’s sorry he did it. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/299 "2010-02-17T03:44:58Z")
Argent Towers has been here nearly 5 years and made almost 11,000 posts. He made a mistake which drew special attention due to the current events of pedophiles and their bannings, and from what I’m reading here he owned up to the mistake unreservedly. He doesn’t have an unsavoury history, nor one of trolling, and so I for one vote that folks give him the benefit of the doubt at least this one time, and try not to have it colour future interactions with him. Most of us screwed up online, on the SDMB, or elsewhere at least once. A general note to whom it may concern: don’t give up on him as a Member here; I believe he deserves it. Argent, take a couple days off as a break, don’t post any further no matter how much you want to, and just come back and start over. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227/300 "2010-02-17T03:46:29Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m not stupid enough to PM a CHILD, or someone who claims to be one (the “Honest, yer honor, he said he was 13 but I could tell he was 43” excuse probably adds YEARS to your jailtime), This might have some bearing if the troll in question was here as a LE sting operation to trap pedophiles. It might even be peripherally of interest if Curtis Lemay was here as one of those internet vigilante stings (I disremember the name of the douchebags in question) in order to out and harass pedophiles. Except that it doesn’t appear that either of those are the case. So, I guess you’re just being dramatic because you don’t want the excitement in this thread to die off until you, personally, have had your fill of it. AT’s major malfunction was feeding a troll. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argent-towers-a-moment-of-your-time/529227.md?page=16)