# Can someone please explain the rules for Great Debates? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 16, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-the-rules-for-great-debates/853903 "2020-05-16T03:08:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-the-rules-for-great-debates/853903/21 "2020-05-18T23:11:08Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The Law is a very big subject. You wouldn’t ask a tax attorney for advice on a divorce. You wouldn’t ask a constitutional lawyer to help you draft a will. I don’t know what branch of law \*\*UltraVires \*\*practises, but there’s no reason why he shouldn’t ask for information on a legal question. True. But having gone to law school any lawyer is better placed to read the law than the rest of us. Same as the doctor in your family can give some basic medical advice on many subjects not in their specialty. They are free to note (and should note) if that area is not in their expertise. But they will likely have some basic notion of what is going on that is (probably) better than your average person on the internet with no such education. Also, if they are still a lawyer, they most likely have access to LexisNexis which the rest of us do not have access to, so they could see if there is any relevant case law. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-the-rules-for-great-debates/853903/22 "2020-05-19T15:59:24Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > Perhaps you don’t mind it when a post gets reported, but it can easily get ignored. I have reported several posts over the years, one was responded with a “CUT IT OUT” post, two days later, the others were totally ignored. No response to me why no action was taken, nothing. As a reference, it was less than 12 hours that **Shodan** posted his “Harvard Harpy” post that you issued a Warning and within minutes of that, he was banned. > > Jonathan, you are a moderator of GD, no? You are clearly aware of **Stranger** ’s threadshit, as well as others. You admit, above, that you, as moderator of GD, prefer not to see such posts. Whether or not they have been reported (although **UltraVires** claims he reported posts in that thread), you are certainly aware of the situation, yet you chose not to take any action? Do you consider **tomndebb** ’s [del]slap on the wrist[/del] stern glare 😉 to be adequate? What about the other offenders in that thread? I - and I believe everyone on the moderation staff - do consider every report a good one. It never hurts to do so and allows us a valuable multiplier in our ability to cover our fora. But just because we welcome reports does not require us to act upon them. If I acted on all reports in GD and PE that would be dozens of warnings per month. Back when traffic was high hundreds, maybe? No one wants that. Nor do we owe anyone who reports the post any explanation for our decision. The report gives us a head’s up that something needs to be reviewed and possibly acted upon but it doesn’t require any explanation of our actions. If you feel strongly that something needed to be acted upon but wasn’t you may PM a mod - happens reasonably often - or start a thread here in ATMB. But note, again, that a person making a report is NOT the authority on whether something is rule-breaking nor a decision-making on what rule nor how it is enforced. Very VERY often - perhaps a simple majority of reports I see from GD and PE can be boiled down to ‘I hate this guy and what he says! Punish him!’ sometimes in inflammatory language and sometimes in well-reasoned argument. Neither really effects my decision. What you CAN expect - and I assure you it’s the case - is that all reports are read and reviewed. They’re not ignored - as you put it - but rather the situation has been looked at and determined not to need intervention. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-the-rules-for-great-debates/853903/23 "2020-05-19T16:20:45Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > How is the word itself not a personal insult, per se? > > Just in case anyone doesn’t understand, “you’re JAQing off” sounds a lot like “you’re jacking off”, meaning “you are masturbating”, “you are a wanker.” Did anyone not get that? > > There have been occasions where I have been tempted to call someone a ‘master debater.’ I have refrained from it because I thought I would get a Warning for it. But if you permit JAQing off, perhaps you would allow that too? Any answers, mister moderato? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-the-rules-for-great-debates/853903.md?page=1)