# bernse: Your kidding right? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 11, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419 "2003-02-11T20:22:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/35a633/32.png) [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/1 "2003-02-11T20:22:10Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=161233&pagenumber=2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=161233&pagenumber=2) In this thread, I asked a question on how to get a prostitute. But you stated something along the lines of “I shouldn’t ask about things that are illegal”. It’s not Illegal everywhere ya know. What if I were in the friendly confines of Nevada? Or maybe I’m vacationing in Amsterdam. But I guess it’s ok to actually talk about the many, many times that **isthatsowrong?** went out with prostitutes. BTW: What does the Straight Dope consider Illegal? By where the Admins live? Where the Server resides? Whatever’s popular? ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/2 "2003-02-11T20:27:54Z")
It’s obeying the laws for where YOU live. And as far as I know, Chicago ain’t a hooker’s paradise. ---
**Author:** ![yme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/35a633/32.png) [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/3 "2003-02-11T20:31:05Z")
Right, but do I have to obey the laws if I visit somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![yme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/35a633/32.png) [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/4 "2003-02-11T20:32:12Z")
Gambling is Illegal in Chicago, not in Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/5 "2003-02-11T20:32:38Z")
If you can’t understand the difference between “I have smoked pot” and “Where can I get some pot?,” then we can’t help you. ---
**Author:** ![yme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/35a633/32.png) [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/6 "2003-02-11T20:37:35Z")
I do, their both Illegal. (Depending on where you live). ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/7 "2003-02-11T20:43:40Z")
Let me explain this to you simply, **yme**. You live in Chicago. Prostitution is illegal in Chicago. More importantly, _The Chicago Reader_, who runs this board, is also in Chicago. If this site were to provide information on how to perform illegal acts, _The Chicago Reader_ could possibly find itself in an undesirable legal position. To protect itself from lawsuits and criminal charges, _The Chicago Reader_ does not allow those types of questions on this site. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/8 "2003-02-11T20:46:12Z")
C’mon, dude, get with the fucking program. You’re a guest here. So am I. Good guests follow the rules or they find somewhere else to play. Reread the registration agreement. You know, the one you agreed to follow when you were granted membership. It is against the rules to inquire about how to do illegal things. Haj ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/9 "2003-02-11T20:48:48Z")
**Moderator’s Notes:** Bernse is correct. You should not be soliciting information on the SDMB that will be used to break the law. So, the answer to your question is, Vegas, or some other place where prostitution is legal. I very strongly suggest you leave it at that. Attempts to get more information about where to pick up hookers in Chicago will result in an official warning to you. Quite possibly the **only** one you will receive. Is this clear? It better be. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/10 "2003-02-11T20:49:14Z")
…and while you’re at it, learn the difference between “your” and “you’re”, “their” and “they’re” too. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/11 "2003-02-11T20:51:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yme \* > \*\*I do, their both Illegal. (Depending on where you live). \*\* BZZZZZZT! Wrong. (Hint: A statement that begins with **"They’re** both . . ." does not describe a difference.) The difference is this: One is a statement of past illegal activity. The other is a question asking for assistance with future illegal activity. Get me? The people who run this board choose not to provide a vehicle to help you score weed. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/12 "2003-02-11T20:53:04Z")
Or a hooker, even. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/13 "2003-02-11T20:53:13Z")
> [@](#): > > The people who run this board choose not to provide a vehicle to help you score weed. Or hookers. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/14 "2003-02-11T20:54:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\*…and while you’re at it, learn the difference between “your” and “you’re”, “their” and “they’re” too. > > Haj \*\* What about the ever elusive “there”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/35a633/32.png) [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/15 "2003-02-11T21:02:07Z")
Ok, geesh! I get it now. But what about the difference between doing an illegal act and attempting to commit one? Where is the line drawn? Let’s face it **isthatsobad?** committed an illegal act, didn’t he? And he is talking about it freely. He is telling us what he did to it, how he prepared for it and so on, right? What if I started this thread: “Ask the child molester.” Would that be ok? It is illegal. But would it be ok to talk about it? What I did to seduce kids? “…Hmm this thread is interesting, how did you prepare for it?” “We’re you nervous?” Hypocrites. Haj? worry about something else other than grammer, punctuation, ahnd sphelleeng? did you not under’stand what I said’ and or ask-ed! ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/16 "2003-02-11T21:02:52Z")
There is no there there. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/17 "2003-02-11T21:04:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Beeblebrox \* > \*\*Let me explain this to you simply, **yme**. You live in Chicago. Prostitution is illegal in Chicago. More importantly, _The Chicago Reader_, who runs this board, is also in Chicago. If this site were to provide information on how to perform illegal acts, _The Chicago Reader_ could possibly find itself in an undesirable legal position. To protect itself from lawsuits and criminal charges, _The Chicago Reader_ does not allow those types of questions on this site. \*\* If the _Chicago Reader_ is anything like the _New York Press_ (and I’ve no reason to believe otherwise), then they are already in that ‘undesirable legal position’, as there are ads aplenty for such services. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/18 "2003-02-11T21:06:24Z")
At one point, **yme** , I believe we did have a thread entitled _Ask the pedophile_. It was promptly closed and deleted, I think. Every thread on these fora exists by the graces of the moderators and administrators. They provide us with general guidelines, but reserve the right to close or delete any threads that they feel goes beyond the boundaries of what is accepted here. The general guideline that people have been trying to explain to you is “Do not solicit information on how to break the law”. If you are in doubt about whether a post or thread of yours may be in violation of this, feel free to discuss it with the staff, and they’ll give you an official reply. … my god, I feel like a junior moderator. I’ll go take a shower now. ---
**Author:** ![yme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/35a633/32.png) [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/19 "2003-02-11T21:07:00Z")
Obviously you all knew that I made a mistake in my words. So correct for it while reading and keep going. If someone wrote: “The kat is black.” I wouldn’t point it out and waste thread space by saying: You idiot! You spelled kat with a K! But you knew it was a cat right? ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419/20 "2003-02-11T21:12:25Z")
It would be nearly impossible for an “Ask the child molester” thread to stay civil, so it would likely be closed for that reason alone. Whether they would allow a thread like that, even assuming it could remain civil, would probably depend on how the thread was started. Honestly, if you think it’s hypocritical that “Ask the…” threads on past illegal acts are allowed while asking _how_ to commit an illegal act are not, there’s simply no help for you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernse-your-kidding-right/154419.md?page=2)