# Complaint about a warning **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 24, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776 "2012-10-24T23:40:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/1 "2012-10-24T23:40:12Z")
This is what started it. > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Ludovic > It’s impossible for him to have grown anything. Do this thought experiment. Take a paper towel roll tube and… > > Moderator Note > > Ludovic, let’s refrain from jabs at other posters from unrelated threads. No warning issued. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator Ludovic did not complain and it’s not my place to complain for him but it does have some bearing on my warning. Question: how exactly is this a jab at another poster? I think the person that thought up the paper towel tube/Sandusky thing was Starving Artist but I’m not 100% sure of that. Either way, that person from that mesmerizing thread is never mentioned or alluded to. If I had read this before my post I would have thought it was an allusion to a recent Straight Dope meme and not the original poster of said meme. So here was mine: > [@](#): > > Since this case involves someone named Sandusky, should we be discussing if a lid of pot fits in a paper towel tube? > > ETA: Damn Ludovic! I missed that the first time I read the thread. and the warning > [@](#): > > Moderator Warning > > Since I’ve already given instructions about remarks about the “paper towel” issue, I’m going to make this an official warning for failure to follow moderator instructions. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator So besides the fact the I admit I missed the whole paper towel quote the first time I also missed the moderator note that came after it. When I scanned through the rest of the thread and saw ludovic’s post I thought "Holy crap, I only have 5 minutes to mention his post and skipped the rest of the posts including his warning. Now Colibri could say that it is my responsibility to read all posts before posting to avoid this situation of missing moderator instructions but that misses the bigger question which is: Is talking about “paper towel tubes” now not allowed since according to a moderator that knows our intentions it indirectly and unintentionally jabs at another poster? Has anyone else besides us ever been warned for discussing the “paper towel tube”? I’ll also note that neither ludovic nor I even talk about a “paper towel tube” in a negative light that could give a penumbra of ridiculing the “PTT poster”. I once saw a post from a liberal member of the Dope that used “Regards,” and then their name. Was that poster warned for making a jab against Shodan? If Colibri wants to be pedantic and keep the warning since technically I did violate the (IMO ridiculous) instruction then so be it. Just be warned all dopers that using the words “paper towel tube” is now verboten on SD. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/2 "2012-10-25T00:03:31Z")
For the benefit of newer board members who’d like to stay out of trouble with moderators, what’s the deal with that phrase? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/3 "2012-10-25T00:04:13Z")
Yes, it’s a joke at **Starving Artist** ’s expense. That might not be clear to posters who haven’t participated in the protracted Penn State discussion (especially the endless Pit thread), but if you have, it’s obvious. It’s turned into a running joke in other threads. So **Colibri** is on solid ground there. Sorry you missed his instructions, but that is your responsibility. There are only so many ways we can enforce our rulings, so making exceptions for people who didn’t read or weren’t paying attention is problematic. And I don’t think I really need to explain this, but there is no prohibition on saying anything the words “paper towel tubes.” But if you drop jokes about those tubes into threads as a way of making fun of **Starving Artist** , there’s a good chance you’re going to get mod-noted or warned. And if you make that kind of joke after a moderator has already told people to quit, you’re very likely to get warned. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/4 "2012-10-25T00:07:15Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > For the benefit of newer board members who’d like to stay out of trouble with moderators, what’s the deal with that phrase? It comes from the Penn State/Joe Paterno Pit thread. I think it started with this post. Since then, it’s been brought up in a lot of threads unnecessarily as a joke on **Starving Artist**. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/5 "2012-10-25T00:19:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes, it’s a joke at **Starving Artist** ’s expense. That might not be clear to posters who haven’t participated in the protracted Penn State discussion (especially the endless Pit thread), but if you have, it’s obvious. It’s turned into a running joke in other threads. So **Colibri** is on solid ground there. Sorry you missed his instructions, but that is your responsibility. There are only so many ways we can enforce our rulings, so making exceptions for people who didn’t read or weren’t paying attention is problematic. And I don’t think I really need to explain this, but there is no prohibition on saying anything the words “paper towel tubes.” But if you drop jokes about those tubes into threads as a way of making fun of **Starving Artist** , there’s a good chance you’re going to get mod-noted or warned. And if you make that kind of joke after a moderator has already told people to quit, you’re very likely to get warned. And that’s the problem I have with the instruction/warning is that I didn’t mean it as a jab on Starving Artist (I can’t speak for ludovic) but using it as a Straight Dope meme. Like I said, I’ll take the warning since it is on me that I missed Colibri’s warning but it seems that there are arbitrary standards of what constitutes using “paper towel tube” as a jab on Starving Artist. So again I ask by what standards (if any) can someone talk about a “paper towel tube” as an allusion to the Penn State thread. Will it ALWAYS be considered a jab against Starving Artist? ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/6 "2012-10-25T00:29:39Z")
Thanks for the info, **Marley**. Since playing moderator minefield isn’t a preferred pastime of mine, always nice to know where the landmines are :). (I couldn’t care less about sports, and generally stay out of Great Debates in the interests of my blood pressure, so hadn’t been reading any of the Penn State threads.) ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/7 "2012-10-25T00:33:04Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes, it’s a joke at **Starving Artist** ’s expense. I assume then that you’ll be handing out warnings for penis ensued, once for 60 minutes, rio by duran duran and sheep fucking? Those are all at another poster or posters’ expense. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/8 "2012-10-25T00:39:34Z")
I think those are different. **SA** was evicerated in that thread for that theory of his. It’s not simply a silly mistake, or funny typos. It is directly connected with all the negative commentary and the breakdown of his reputation, in many people’s eyes, on this board. It’s not just a tease, it’s a reference to how low an opinion many of the people on the board now has of him. As much as I find his position in the Penn St thread distasteful, he should have the chance to live it down. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/9 "2012-10-25T00:44:24Z")
Oh come on. It was in a thread about someone named Sandusky. It practically begged for the comment. I think it’s obvious from the way the second comment was written he didn’t see the previous comment. Just strike it up as a miscommunication and turn the warning into a note and move on. Unless there is some history with the poster I don’t know about. And besides SA made his bed and he has to lie in it. He was told over and over that if he continued with his ridiculous posts would turn into a running joke. It has. The genie is out of the bottle. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/10 "2012-10-25T01:03:28Z")
I spent 20 minutes in a quarry once way back in the 60’s. Did not find any paper towel tubes but did pick up a few nice buckeyes. And I did find a nice used treadmill. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/11 "2012-10-25T01:59:39Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I spent 20 minutes in a quarry once way back in the 60’s. Did not find any paper towel tubes but did pick up a few nice buckeyes. And I did find a nice used treadmill. I hope you threw it in a quarry! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/12 "2012-10-25T02:06:06Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > So besides the fact the I admit I missed the whole paper towel quote the first time I also missed the moderator note that came after it. When I scanned through the rest of the thread and saw ludovic’s post I thought "Holy crap, I only have 5 minutes to mention his post and skipped the rest of the posts including his warning. > > Now Colibri could say that it is my responsibility to read all posts before posting to avoid this situation of missing moderator instructions … Yeah, that’s exactly what I say. That should be a lesson to read the thread before posting. And it wasn’t exactly a long thread - yours was only the 11th post. Ludovic’s first post was #4, my note to him was #6, and he apologized for his post in #9, two posts before yours. It wasn’t like it was absolutely urgent to post a lame joke. You don’t have anyone to blame for that but yourself. > [@](#): > > Is talking about “paper towel tubes” now not allowed since according to a moderator that knows our intentions it indirectly and unintentionally jabs at another poster? Depends on the context. **Ludovic** said using a paper towel was a “thought experiment,” so he was clearly referring to the Pit thread. **Starving Artist** has been ridiculed for months for using that example, so it’s reasonable to consider it a jab against him. In any case, I just gave **Ludovic** a note for it, not a warning, and he apologized for not thinking things through (which implies to me that he had used it the way I believed he did). > [@](#): > > If Colibri wants to be pedantic and keep the warning since technically I did violate the (IMO ridiculous) instruction then so be it. Hey, I’m a professional pedant IRL.😉 The warning stands. > [@](#): > > Just be warned all dopers that using the words “paper towel tube” is now verboten on SD. Of course it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/13 "2012-10-25T02:06:50Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I assume then that you’ll be handing out warnings for penis ensued, once for 60 minutes, rio by duran duran and sheep fucking? Those are all at another poster or posters’ expense. Your examples are not remotely comparable (as usual), but thanks for playing. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/14 "2012-10-25T02:07:22Z")
OK - not to pile on but I need clarification. What’s the rule? Are we not allowed to make jokes about former posters because they cannot defend themselves? Is that it? So no jokes about a certain movie involving strippers etc? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/15 "2012-10-25T02:10:55Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > So again I ask by what standards (if any) can someone talk about a “paper towel tube” as an allusion to the Penn State thread. Will it ALWAYS be considered a jab against Starving Artist? If it was in a thread about paper towels, or making a home kaleidoscope, it would be OK. In a thread about someone named Sandusky, and with reference to a “thought experiment,” the reference is clear to anyone who had read the Pit thread. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/16 "2012-10-25T02:14:30Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > OK - not to pile on but I need clarification. > What’s the rule? Are we not allowed to make jokes about former posters because they cannot defend themselves? Is that it? So no jokes about a certain movie involving strippers etc? Who said anything about the warning being because they couldn’t defend themselves? In fact, making the remark could have provided the grounds for a hijack if **Starving Artist** _had_ come in to defend himself. I don’t see how this relates to this case. In any case, the poster you refer to is not banned, he went away on his own. He could defend himself if he were aware of the remark. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/17 "2012-10-25T02:16:26Z")
Seriously guys. This isn’t complicated. If you have a genuine question or comment involving paper towel tubes, no one is going to warn you. But if you say something like, “that’s a stupid as sticking your dick in a paper towel tube!” expect a note or a warning. This isn’t that hard. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/18 "2012-10-25T02:22:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Who said anything about the warning being because they couldn’t defend themselves? In fact, making the remark could have provided the grounds for a hijack if **Starving Artist** _had_ come in to defend himself. > > I don’t see how this relates to this case. In any case, the poster you refer to is not banned, he went away on his own. He could defend himself if he were aware of the remark. I’m not trying to be obtuse. I just don’t understand the warning. So, to be clear, it was NOT because it was a jab against **SA**. So why the warning? drewtwo99 said: **But if you say something like, “that’s a stupid as sticking your dick in a paper towel tube!” expect a note or a warning.** Why? ETA - can I get a link to the thread that started this complaint? I really must be missing something I know I’m missing something here but I obviously need help. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/19 "2012-10-25T02:22:47Z")
It seems like the thread in question hasn’t been linked to yet, so [here it is.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=669628) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776/20 "2012-10-25T02:28:46Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I’m not trying to be obtuse. I just don’t understand the warning. > So, to be clear, it was NOT because it was a jab against **SA**. **Ludovic** made reference to a Pit thread in which **Starving Artist** has been being ridiculed for months. Whether or not the ridicule is justified, that’s still a jab, and doesn’t have a place in a GQ thread. But **Ludovic** did not receive a warning, only a mod note. > [@](#): > > So why the warning? The warning was to **Saint Cad** , for not following moderator instructions. > [@](#): > > I know I’m missing something here but I obviously need help. Try reading the Pit thread. That should keep you busy for a few days.😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-a-warning/638776.md?page=2)