That would make him a Brat then. 
I’d be interesting in knowing what types of discussions you were interested in pursuing that couldn’t take place within the current board parameters. Unless you’re specifically interested in discussing illegal activities (which the board won’t allow because lawyers are expensive), or activities more germane to the Penthouse Forum, then you’re pretty free to start discussions on any topic you can imagine.
Without the moderation that we have here, the boards would devolve to the same level of festering swamp that exists almost everywhere else on the internet. The sad thing about the anonymous nature of message boards is that it brings out the very worst in some people..This thread needs some Cologne. These puns stink.
I sort of agree with the opinion that there is too much moderation here, and I opened this thread expecting to agree with the OP. But I disagree on every point.
The thread moves nearly always seem appropriate. There have been several threads about extracting music that I’ve participated in and I’m obviously still here. The ATMB threads about bannings are useful so we know exactly why a person was banned.
As a guiding principle, I object to every act of moderation until I can find a very good motivation for it. Most acts of moderation on the SDMB fall into two categories: moving threads to the appropriate forum (good) and closing threads that might cause legal problems for the Chicago Reader (well, okay.)
Aside from these two points, I don’t exactly understand the point of closing threads because of their content. Think about train wreck threads: does the issue magically disappear when the thread is closed? No, people go hack it out elsewhere. Why not let them hack it out on the board? If someone is being particularly obnoxious, then ban that person. Don’t close the thread…
But then, I am not a moderator and never have been. And this is not a particularly heavily moderated board… as was said earlier, I can point you to boards where threads are closed and members warned literally because someone points out an obvious truth, and makes the OP “feel bad.”
I don’t think I’d have joined the board if it wasn’t run the way it is. Sure, I disagree with some of the decisions made by the Mods, but what I like is that I’m free to say so. On other boards, Moderators randomly edit and delete posts that they don’t like. I’ll take the warnings and the occasional locked thread over mysteriously disappearing threads any day.
This statement is so patently false that it’s absurd. One of the things we like to do at this message board is encourage people to prove their assertions. At around 7:05 (California time) on the morning of Monday 28 February 2005 I gathered the threads on the front page of three of our most popular fora (excluding sticky threads). You claim that almost all of these threads show moderator action. I take “almost all” to mean more than 90%. From the list below, please tell us which threads show moderator intervention. (This of course would not include a moderator posting as a member - e.g. answering a question or giving an opinion on the existence of god.) Simple arithmetic will show us if your statement is correct.
General Questions
Why petrol and not diesel-electric hybrid cars?
One of our neighbors shot our dog
Cutlery Etiquette: America vs. Europe
How do I explain electric fields?
How much acreage is a house on?
Importance of Rosary in Catholic Church: old or new?
Are there historical precursors to Internet message boards?
Is Your Personal Identity Info Safe?
24 hour time conversion
Latin. Qvo Vadis
Google search on massive database?
ribbed condoms (TMI warning)
Are wrapped coins “legal tender”?
My “BONES” crack…
Texas Hold 'em in casinos.
Observant Jews/Muslims and contraceptive methods.
Schengen countries
How is “Deep England” pseudohistory and not nostalgia?
Is there proof that HP actually time bombs it’s printer cartridges?
Informing the dying. (Depressing.)
are there any areas of the US that are actually unsafe in the middle of the day?
sex-specific names
My new super-powerful wireless router and radiation
How does one become a priest or a cardinal?
Why does my browser have a hard time “looking up” web pages?
Dark matter questions
Why does kerosene go bad after sitting in the sun?
How do figure skaters deal with being dizzy?
Best way to dispose of used cooking oil?
Looking for a good, cheap webhost–any suggestions?
Most complicated drink possible at Starbucks
Are you considered to be a lawyer after finishing law school, or after passing the ba
Why do shoes fly off in accidents?
Why do intense flavors make my head itch?
Can “ironical” and “ironic” be used interchangably in modern usage?
log2 = How to aproximate…
HTML: Indenting a paragraph
How useful were smoke signals?
What are the odds… (Video Poker)
Origins of “rag-top”
Cross-browser support
Questions about US presidents
Tax bracket over 100% in Sweden?
Coroners In The USA
Computer networking question… part wireless, part wired
What’s Up With the Uvula?
Listening to a song over and over again: why do we do it?
Do people consider Fahreheit 9/11 (and responses thereto) as factual?
Worst upset in sports history? Vegas odds
Transferring songs from cassette to computer
Great Debates
Science v. Religion
Is classic American liberalism dead?
What would the US have to do to join the Commonwealth?
Why is the Catholic Church against Freemasonry? Can there be peace?
3 Qs on the British Tory Party
Social Security and the Generation Gap
What percentage of religious leaders don’t believe their own stuff anymore
Rebutting a trashing of the MBA concept.
Is the universe real?
Who captured Sab’awi al-Tikriti?
Evolution and science…
If characters in the Sims become self-aware, what can they discover?
Are there any notable exceptions to ‘the victors write the history books’?
[Canadopers] Martin to U.S. on missile defence: Yeah, okay, su–wait! No, stfu!
Should Americans boycott the military?
Five Milton Academy Students Sacked For “Sex” With 15-Year Old
Eminent Domain in New London: Capitalism vs Personal Protections
Is suicide a “cowardly” act?
Do copyrights violate basic human rights?
The mandatory “Million Dollar Challenge is a fraud” thread
are there any credible examples of standardized tests being “culturally biased”?
Please explain the market forces that would keep Walmart from selling crappy socks
Would you risk your safety to help a stranger?
Hatespeech, CivRights, Evolution & the Reopening of Socially “Decided” Issues
Why are so many Americans in prison, compared to other countries?
What changes should be made in the Black community?
Ok for me…Not okay for you
Qs on crusading for this day and age
What has the US lost since the 50s?
Is there “Evidence” of God?
American Fascism, The Irony of Democracy, and why the Left Should Be Worried
Is Murdering People Inherently ‘Wrong’?
Why does forged art lose admiration once the forgery is discovered?
Why all the fuss over Ward Churchill?
Afghanistan is still a basket case. Can anything be done?
Is it logical to believe the story of King Solomon and the Baby
Why doesn’t christians hate pizza store owners for the fact they killed Jesus?
Savage: AIDS patients must pay for treatments for those they infect
Could Israel take on Syria by itself, without US assistance?
Unauthorized use of sperm
Open until 10PM
What is Karma?
“You liberals are clueless”- funny rant or trenchant analysis?
Any political consequences on the Queen’s snub of Charles’ wedding?
The Department of Justice: 2nd Amendment upholds individual, not collective rights
Ask the Crazy Chick Who Believes in the Mythos
Integration between Canada and the United States
Request for USA/Canadian Anglicans to leave worldwide communion: what’s next?
A U.S. Marine needs our help
Kansas AG demands abortion records
MPSIMS
SDMB Fantasy Baseball Signups
Fun Time Flu Time
Come clean: Who are you really?
One-word-a-post round robin: who’s up for a game?
AMAZING photos of real deep creatures! Trust me - worth a look!
English Words That Nobody Uses
Do you know where you were conceived? I do!
What’s on your desk?
Your favorite gun thread, brought to you by According to Pliny…
McDonald’s Bacon Cheese Bagel is just vile and nasty. God, how I love them.
How far away do you live from the spot where you were born?
Who is up for another anecdote involving cruel adolescent behavior?
A living bra joke
Mad Scientist Curriculum-What courses? Are You On The Faculty Yet?
Flirtrooms:Iceland politely requesteth
RIP: King Size Choco - late
I love nipples
Congratulations Zyada and rjk…
Yet another online dating question…
The 2005 Mullinator Step Project
Dopers 2005! Chess: Royal Rumble! Doper Chess Fest!!!
Are all you NE Dopers ready for the weather?
Sunday Morning Puzzle #94 — The Spies Awaken!
I Traumatized My British Friend
This is why we have a court system, to figure these types of things out.
Jose Canseco
Failaka
Iceland will be in hospital…
People who just can’t quite use the right word
So I guess I’m coming to America (and other places)
Kurzweil Says Immortality 20 Years Away
I’m coming to Sacramento(ish), any Dopers wanna meet me?
Porn for anal-retentives
What a “fatwah” is.
The Celebrity Death Pool 2005
New lead in the Wichita Serial killer “BTK” hunt
We rode a metric century today!
Why do Boobs like Men?
I am a Straight Dope Geek!
The 2005 Canadian-American Candy Exchange
Question for Oz Dopers RE: Surry Hills, Redfern, Sydney
My Friend’s Friend Claims She was Raped
Late February / Early March St. Louis Dopefest?
The Fat Marathon
I’m a movin’ on up/ March is going to kill me/ 700 posts! Yay!
Wanna read my marketing questionnaire and rip it to shreds
Lady Chance loves me (birthday related)
Microcapsules!
Tampa Area Dopers: Get Lubricated With NinetyWt !!
Resurrection of Online Texas hold 'em tournaments for Dopers only (revised thread)
Actually, this bit is almost exactly backwards; the level of intelligence here is largely due to the standards of moderation (i.e. the counter-productive elements get corrected or removed) and this in turn is the main reason why many people think it is worth paying the subscription.
DAMN, Arnold!
Please tell us that you used some artful dodge to code all those links.
wince
Bad. Very bad.
Honestly, I stayed on this board strictly because of the moderation of the…um…mods. I *like * rules.
I *wondered * what that sauer smell was . . .
Damn, Arnold, that’s impressive.
Y’ever meet my dog? He’s got no nose.
Sig line!
(or will I get baned for making a gun reference?)
Wow, Arnold. Unless you have EditPlus or the equivalent, your task was Herculean.
“Goodness! How does he smell?”
Awful!
<*Ba-*dump ** Bump>
Ahh, I used to use EditPlus, but it got too complex.
I’m assuming that that’s one of the features of the “mass prune” function that Mods have access to.
In general, re: Over-Moderation…
Even if it were true, it beats the alternative.
No, really!
STFU n00B!!!~@#~~!!!@1111
Errr, what I mean is: Exactly.
And how 'bout when a board has 20 or so different fora but you can’t find anything because people just post any topic wherever they feel like it and the moderators don’t bother to move it. That stuff drives me nuts, and is one of the main reasons that this is the only messageboard I post on.
Like someone else said, if you want an anarchic community populated by idiots and 13 year olds you can go damn near anywhere else on the 'net. The SMBD fills a niche; why would you want to change it to make it just like everywhere else?