# I've Had a Thread Closed; I Guess I'd Better Rant **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 4, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632 "2001-09-04T06:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/21 "2001-09-05T03:11:51Z")
But here’s the thing, DJ. The Reader has no desire to push the boundaries of free speech on the internet. Yes, pushing the boundaries of free speech is a beautiful thing, and someone should damn well do it. How about you? Why not start your own board, and you can discuss anything you want? There are a couple of boards run by regular members of the SDMB that are run much more loosely than this one is…simply because they have less traffic and don’t have any corporate assets that are at risk if some idiot decides to sue them over nothing. The trouble is that the owners of this message board don’t really care that much about it. Yes, all of US care about it…but we don’t put up any money for it. And so, what the community of posters would like to have for policy is not what we have. Think of it this way. The mods are protecting the boards from _The Reader_, not from some sue-happy idiot. We are like insects to The Reader. As long as we stay under the cabinets and don’t come out in the daylight we are safe, eating the crumbs that fall from the Reader’s table. If we start raiding the refridgerator we might get exterminated. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/22 "2001-09-05T11:08:06Z")
Before coming to the SDMB I tried two UK based message boards. Both of these are basically run for football supporters but freely allow discussion of many non-football subjects. One of them is tied to a Nationwide League Club and the other is independent. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 denotes _not moderated at all_ and 10 means _don’t bother posting anything because it will be deleted_, I rate the three boards as follows: Independent Board gets 2 SDMB gets 5 Tied Board gets 8 The problem with the Independent Board is that people are free to make highly insulting comments about your mother without redress. I can handle this, but I don’t want to have to handle it. I preferred the Tied Board to the Independent Board but you can’t refer to: Marijuana, drug tests Bands named after the average volume of ejaculate Anal sex Slang terms for masturbation Fellatio Cunnilingus And other subjects too numerous to mention. There is a _swear filter_ which completely disallows _fuck_ and worse. Interestingly, the football club _Scunthorpe United_ on entry becomes _S_**_horpe United_ on display. (The board is not run by S**\*\*horpe United). My conclusion, therefore, is that SDMB is a happy medium, in more ways than one. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/23 "2001-09-05T15:24:43Z")
Well, Rasta, just looking over your thread again, I see two things: 1. In your OP you had a reference to using other kinds of drugs, specifically “whippits”, which you admitted using yourself (_confessed!_ :eek: ) and then you mentioned a “head shop”. This would tend to set off the mods’ “uh-oh, drug thread!” alarms. And even though you can specify, “This is not a thread about how to do illegal drugs”, and “I’m just curious”, still human nature being what it is, when other posters see an OP in which the OP starts right out talking about how _he_ is “doing drugs”, they’re going to be naturally inclined to discuss “doing drugs”, whether they’re “illegal” drugs or not. Threads just seem to work like that. 2. If I personally had wanted to know the same thing you wanted to know, I would have just asked, “Is it possible for Joe Blow to buy nitrous oxide somewhere?” and also specified, “Just a simple yes or no, people”. The way your OP was phrased kind of made it sound like you were inviting discussion. I once posted a GQ asking whether it was true that you could really use cold pills to make methamphetamines, and I phrased it like that, made it clear that I just wanted a simple “yes” or “no” response, and the thread was not locked, even though there was a certain amount of discussion of meth labs in the thread. So it isn’t that the mods have a knee-jerk “no drug threads” reaction–it just depends on how it’s phrased. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/24 "2001-09-05T16:11:13Z")
> [@](#): > > the football club _Scunthorpe United_ on entry becomes _S_\*\*_horpe United_ on display What on earth . . . ? Now _there’s_ a way to draw attention to a presumably offensive word. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/25 "2001-09-05T19:26:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dalovindj \* > It would seem to me, after reading this thread, that the reasons for alot of the enforcement that goes on around here are not neccesarily morals. It’s finance. This I think is a shame (censorship due to monetary concerns). But as someone else around here said, that is the price we pay to live in a free society with litigation. Censorship is not a dirty word. **DJ** , say you owned a house, and somebody came along and planted a yardsign on your lawn urging people to vote for a candidate you opposed. You go out and pull the sign up and throw it in the trash. You have just engaged in censorship. Feel dirty? The SDMB is the Reader’s “lawn”. > [@](#): > > In the name of free speach and free flow of info, I suggest you start a new forum: “Drugs, Weapons, & Pornography” > > After all, these things are a part of life. These seem to be the only subjects without representation on this great bored. Stick a big disclaimer on the front of it and let this place become the place to come for ALL your knowledge. What would that solve? A disclaimer would not stop a lawsuit. I’m pretty sure the Reader would beat a lawsuit alleging that a post in GQ allowed some kid to grow pot, but the cost in attorneys’ fees would be high. [/QUOTE] Sua ---
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/26 "2001-09-05T20:39:02Z")
SuaSponte: Ooops. I forgot to use the [tounge in cheek] [/tounge in cheek] codes. You see when I titled the post “A Modest Proposal” I referenced [A Modest Proposal](http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~benjamin/316kfall/316ktexts/swift.html) written by Jonathan Swift hundreds of years ago. As you can see, this is a proposal that is totally unreasonable, yet very humorous. That was the effect I was going for. DaLovin’Dj ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/27 "2001-09-05T20:50:12Z")
Of course, dj’s suggested forum would be the easiest one to moderate in the world. Rule #1: Any new thread opened in this forum is immediately closed. Rule #2: Do we really need any other rules? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/28 "2001-09-05T21:20:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > **1. In your OP you had a reference to using other kinds of drugs, specifically “whippits”, which you admitted using yourself (_confessed!_ :eek: ) and then you mentioned a “head shop”.** No no no, **DDG**. I merely said “_I can_ buy whippits…”, as if to say “It’s possible to buy whippits…”; I never actually said “I buy whippits…” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/29 "2001-09-06T09:06:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andros \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > the football club _Scunthorpe United_ on entry becomes _S_\*\*_horpe United_ on display > > What on earth . . . ? Now _there’s_ a way to draw attention to a presumably offensive word. Sheesh. \*\* I know **I’ll** never see the name “Scunthorpe” in the same light again… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/30 "2001-09-06T22:03:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dalovindj \* > \*\*SuaSponte: > > Ooops. I forgot to use the [tounge in cheek] [/tounge in cheek] codes. > > You see when I titled the post “A Modest Proposal” I referenced [A Modest Proposal](http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~benjamin/316kfall/316ktexts/swift.html) written by Jonathan Swift hundreds of years ago. As you can see, this is a proposal that is totally unreasonable, yet very humorous. That was the effect I was going for. > > DaLovin’Dj \*\* You are entirely too good, **DJ**. :o I did notice the “modest proposal” header, but the sarcasm was way too subtle for me to catch. In my defense, your proposal has been made by people here in all earnesty. Sua ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632/31 "2001-09-20T09:32:19Z")
I was once in a converse situation on the old AOL “pushpin” board. It wasn’t my question that was censored; it was my answer. Someone posted to ask, “Those of you who’ve had experiences with drugs, would you ever do it again?” Two people posted to say, “Heavens, no; drugs almost ruined my life!” Then I replied, saying that weed had been very beneficial to me, and explained how. My post disappeared, and a mod It occurs to me that this mod may have been **TubaDiva**. If so, I’m not calling you out. e-mailed me to warn me that I’d violated AOHell’s fascist Terms Of Service (TOS. Of course, that acronym found itself applied to other phrases.). She (I remember that it was a she) hadn’t reported me, but reminded me to be wary in case someone else had. I never heard anything about it. Still, I wasn’t crazy about the standard of forbidding “yes” answers to a question. The thread was left to sink to the bottom of the board, but it wasn’t removed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-had-a-thread-closed-i-guess-id-better-rant/79632.md?page=1)