# Problematic Moderation: Rico and Curtis LeMay **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 1, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323 "2010-01-01T19:50:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/61 "2010-01-02T09:57:08Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > I would like to encourage KG to take this advice. > [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > As would I. Please leave pile ons of this nature for the Pit. Thanks. - **xash** Administrator ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/62 "2010-01-02T11:55:12Z")
To pick up on the “Mods=SCOTUS” analogy, what we are seeing here and now is, I believe, the packing of the “court” with right-wing lunatics. I don’t dispute that they are legitimate Justices, nor that they’ve reached some of the same strange and harshly insensitive conclusions that they have, but am just contrasting such opinions with the policies formulated by earlier, more light-hearted, more tough-skinned former Justices who have resigned and been replaced by the current bunch. Frankly, some of the recent calls by newer Mods, finding jerkishness and hijacking and threadshitting and other judgment calls in almost any thread strike me as a desperate attempt to justify their own existences. The thread-closings in particular have struck me as practically insane. It’s like Mommy giving 35 time-outs on a day when her PMS is really acting up. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/63 "2010-01-02T12:39:51Z")
> [@Fiveroptic](#): > > Can I still play in the 2010 Death Pool? Hmm, selecting Batman in your list was a pretty jerkish thing to do. Your continued participation is under review. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/64 "2010-01-02T13:18:15Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > To pick up on the “Mods=SCOTUS” analogy, what we are seeing here and now is, I believe, the packing of the “court” with right-wing lunatics. I don’t dispute that they are legitimate Justices, nor that they’ve reached some of the same strange and harshly insensitive conclusions that they have, but am just contrasting such opinions with the policies formulated by earlier, more light-hearted, more tough-skinned former Justices who have resigned and been replaced by the current bunch. Frankly, some of the recent calls by newer Mods, finding jerkishness and hijacking and threadshitting and other judgment calls in almost any thread strike me as a desperate attempt to justify their own existences. The thread-closings in particular have struck me as practically insane. It’s like Mommy giving 35 time-outs on a day when her PMS is really acting up. 0/10. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/65 "2010-01-02T13:55:24Z")
MODERATOR INTERVENTION: Let’s please stay on topic. This thread is about the suspension of **Curtis LeMay**. It is NOT about the personality of any mod, it is NOT about former mods who did a different job in a different time frame. > [@Kimmy](#): > > That completely irrelevant; none of these violate our rules. The examples of what this poster did on other boards were contributory indications. When we are trying to decide whether a poster is spamming or trolling, for instance, information about what they have done elsewhere can be a helpful indicator. > [@Kimmy](#): > > Well, I guess that depends on how comprehensive the moderator discussion was. Candidly, I’d assume the discussion was substantially something like “Was he admonished a few times in the past? Yes. OK, suspend him them. Straw, camel’s back [to coin a phrase].” Your assumption would be grotesquely incorrect. Not even the right ballpark. The discussions were deep and thorough and have been going on for a lonnnnng time behind the scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/66 "2010-01-02T14:35:54Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Straw, camel’s back [to coin a phrase]. A-_hem_. You mean “to steal a phrase”. My imaginary lawyers will be contacting you. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/67 "2010-01-02T14:57:36Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > By the way, where _is_ the “email a mod” button? You are, of course, welcome to contact us by email at any time, but you’ll generally get better (more timely) results using the “report this post” button. That generates an email to all moderators that work in that forum. Since we’re volunteers spread across ten time zones, any given mod might not be online and checking email when you have a question or concern, but it’s likely one of us will come along soon. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/68 "2010-01-02T16:05:49Z")
My main concern right now is that Curtis is being punished for his disorder. Aspies are very much misunderstood people. Their brains don’t work the same as the rest of us. The idea of behaviors other than what’s specifically in a post is foreign to them. Any chance of predicting what posts will be perceived as bad behavior is practically non-existent, especially at his age. I’m very concerned that Colibri sent him a PM telling him not to post certain types of topics, as I’m not sure Curtis would have understood what he was being told. The one time I’ve interacted with Colibri on this, he’s indicated a large level of ignorance on what Aspergers is, and I question his ability to speak 100% logically to him, and not to rely on Curtis understanding any level of nuance whatsoever. I think your best bet would to have been to tell him not to start any threads at all for a while. I’m currently tying to do a search to find all of Curtis’s past warnings that everyone keeps bringing up, since I’ve never even noticed the guy being warned. I’m having trouble with this. I’ve tried various permutations “Curtis LeMay” and “warning”, but all I’ve gotten is 6 threads, and he was warned in none of them. The reason I am doing so is that I’ve never actually seen him show any actual malice outside the Pit. So I can’t agree that he’s been acting like a jerk. Pretty much everything I’ve seen him talk about is littered with typical Asperger’s misunderstanding of social mores. I honestly don’t understand the disgust people seem to express towards him. Plain annoyance should not be enough for the visceral reaction I’ve seen in other threads. I leave with this: it seems that Curtis is being punished for talking about doing trollish behavior on other sites. The only reason this could be a problem is if he was also trolling here. But how stupid of a troll would you have to be to willingly reveal your own trolling? Furthermore, I’m not even sure an Aspie could be a troll, as they’d lack the ability to know what would infuriate people. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/69 "2010-01-02T16:08:01Z")
But me in the meh camp. I don’t really know Curtis Lemay, so I can’t make any statements other than it SEEMS like he comes on here just to get a rise out of people, and he’s always careful to stay one notch below actually breaking any rules. I work with some of these people and they are irritating. They commit a thousand petty little irritants that are so silly that there isn’t a policy for them, and once the straw breaks the camels back it does look silly that they are harshly punished for their latest trivial infraction, but it is most definitely fair. I’ve bitched about the mods, too, and I think that they do overall a great job. This is my favorite board to post on precisely because we are allowed to get out of line at times and hurl bombs at each other. It is only when you go waay too far do you get called on it. One question I have. If you are warned by the mods, do you get a separate PM that documents that you have a warning, or is it up to the user to look at every thread he has posted in to see if a mod added a note or warning? ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/70 "2010-01-02T16:11:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > My main concern right now is that Curtis is being punished for his disorder. Aspies are very much misunderstood people. Their brains don’t work the same as the rest of us. The idea of behaviors other than what’s specifically in a post is foreign to them. Any chance of predicting what posts will be perceived as bad behavior is practically non-existent, especially at his age. And here I always thought the rules were the rules. I didn’t know there were exceptions for certain people. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/71 "2010-01-02T16:12:42Z")
I’m in the “If I were a mod, I woulda booted **Curtis** ’ ass outta here ages ago for being annoying and generally useless” camp. I don’t care what he’s admitted to doing on other boards; his behavior here was enough. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/72 "2010-01-02T16:18:16Z")
There’s exceptions all the time. **Handy** wasn’t allowed to post in medical threads because he had a habit of giving medical advice. **Reeder** (RIP) wasn’t allowed to have more than one topic about Bush at any given time in the pit and, IIRC, was eventually banned from starting threads about Bush entirely. **Carol Stream** was banned from posting in the entire pit for about half a month. TPTB have no problem setting specific rules for specific posters if they think or see some sort of constant abuse of rules or a regular pattern of annoying behavior. ETA: this post was in reply to **bucketybuck** ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/73 "2010-01-02T16:22:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m currently tying to do a search to find all of Curtis’s past warnings that everyone keeps bringing up, since I’ve never even noticed the guy being warned. I’m having trouble with this. I’ve tried various permutations “Curtis LeMay” and “warning”, but all I’ve gotten is 6 threads, and he was warned in none of them. Here’s the announcement of his [suspension](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546086). There are links to the threads where I presume he was warned.(I didn’t read them) ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/74 "2010-01-02T16:30:52Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I leave with this: it seems that Curtis is being punished for talking about doing trollish behavior on other sites. The only reason this could be a problem is if he was also trolling here. But how stupid of a troll would you have to be to willingly reveal your own trolling? Furthermore, I’m not even sure an Aspie could be a troll, as they’d lack the ability to know what would infuriate people. How do you know if he really is an aspie? Or that he’s really 13 or whatever age he claims to be? It wouldn’t be hard for a troll to impersonate a thirteen year old aspie and with everyone and their dog claiming the reason they have no friends and no social skills is because of Asperger’s it would likely be a tempting ploy for a troll. It shouldn’t be that big a deal anyway. He’s not banned, he’ll be back in less than thirty days and will have a chance to change his ways or continue on the same path. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/75 "2010-01-02T16:40:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The reason I am doing so is that I’ve never actually seen him show any actual malice outside the Pit. Me either. > [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > I’m in the “If I were a mod, I woulda booted **Curtis** ’ ass outta here ages ago for being annoying and generally useless” camp. I don’t care what he’s admitted to doing on other boards; his behavior here was enough. It’s clear that my definition of “jerk” differs greatly from that of the staff. They say he’s in violation of some nebulous “don’t be a jerk” rule, yet I’ve not seen him act maliciously, or jerkishly, to members of this board outside of the Pit. What he has done is post a things that people find to be silly, “annoying,” and “useless.” Being annoying is against the rules now? Why do I ask? Clearly it is. > [@runner pat](#): > > Here’s the announcement of his [suspension](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546086). > > There are links to the threads where I presume he was warned.(I didn’t read them) That thread doesn’t include any litany of warnings; it contains a series of threads that moderation has (apparently) deemed to be annoying. Some weren’t even that bad (Do you wipe when you pee? Whatever, someone started a thread asking whether or not we piss in the shower.), but were nonetheless too irritating to stay open. Whatever, I don’t even give a shit about **Curtis Le May**. I just want to know if we’re going to start an official “You haven’t really broken the rules, but most of us find you annoying, and we don’t really like you, so you’re banned/suspended/whatever” rule. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/76 "2010-01-02T16:48:55Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m very concerned that Colibri sent him a PM telling him not to post certain types of topics, as I’m not sure Curtis would have understood what he was being told. The one time I’ve interacted with Colibri on this, he’s indicated a large level of ignorance on what Aspergers is, and I question his ability to speak 100% logically to him, and not to rely on Curtis understanding any level of nuance whatsoever. I think your best bet would to have been to tell him not to start any threads at all for a while. Sorry, I don’t recall that we have ever interacted on the subject of Asperger’s. Could you provide a link? We may sometimes give people a bit of slack because we understand they may have mental issues. However, this is a message board, and we can only really go by their behavior here. We have no real way to know whether **Curtis** is a 35-year-old who is trolling us or a 13-year-old with Asperger’s. However, if he actually doesn’t understand what he is being told, then I don’t think this message board is the right place for him. > [@](#): > > I’m currently tying to do a search to find all of Curtis’s past warnings that everyone keeps bringing up, since I’ve never even noticed the guy being warned. I’m having trouble with this. I’ve tried various permutations “Curtis LeMay” and “warning”, but all I’ve gotten is 6 threads, and he was warned in none of them. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11585513](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11585513) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11596225&postcount=145](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11596225&postcount=145) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11632956&postcount=13](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11632956&postcount=13) > **[Do You Ever Vandalize Wikipedia](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546008)** > > Straightforward question. NOTE TO THE MODS: If you decide to lock this thread (for whatever reason) please note since this isn’t illegal (either law or the board’s rules) I personally believe this poll is acceptable. There is an additional warning in a thread that has been removed from view so I cannot link to it. However, it is quoted in **Rico’s** announcement of the suspension. > **[Curtis LeMay has been suspended for 30 days.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546086)** > > Curtis LeMay has been suspended for 30 days for repeated violation of the “Don’t Be A Jerk” guideline and trolling. He has shown time and time again his immaturity in choice of topics, and has been warned several times for starting inappropriate... That’s five warnings in less than four months. That’s excessive. In addition, **Rico’s** announcement thread documents many other occasions in which **Curtis** posted problematic threads. It’s the overall behavior of a poster that we look at when considering a suspension or banning, not individual posts. > [@jtgain](#): > > One question I have. If you are warned by the mods, do you get a separate PM that documents that you have a warning, or is it up to the user to look at every thread he has posted in to see if a mod added a note or warning? Since we instituted a new system in May, any official warning automatically generates a message sent to the poster (in addition to the warning posted in the thread). In addition, any poster can see whether they have infractions by checking their profile. (These are visible only to the poster and the moderators, not to other posters.) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/77 "2010-01-02T16:53:40Z")
I don’t have any issue with his suspension. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/78 "2010-01-02T17:00:01Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > It’s clear that my definition of “jerk” differs greatly from that of the staff. They say he’s in violation of some nebulous “don’t be a jerk” rule, yet I’ve not seen him act maliciously, or jerkishly, to members of this board outside of the Pit. What he has done is post a things that people find to be silly, “annoying,” and “useless.” Being annoying is against the rules now? Why do I ask? Clearly it is. IMO, it’s an issue of scale and signal-to-noise ratio. Think of it in terms of pet ownership–being a dog that barks occasionally isn’t a problem, but being a yappy little ratdog that barks constantly _is_ a problem. Curtis was repeatedly told to turn it down, but chose not to. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/79 "2010-01-02T17:11:03Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Whatever, I don’t even give a shit about **Curtis Le May**. I just want to know if we’re going to start an official “You haven’t really broken the rules, but most of us find you annoying, and we don’t really like you, so you’re banned/suspended/whatever” rule. **Curtis** has received official warnings for breaking a variety of rules, including not following moderator’s instructions; insulting other posters; threadshitting (by insulting all the other posters in a thread); and trolling. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323/80 "2010-01-02T17:11:22Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > One question I have. If you are warned by the mods, do you get a separate PM that documents that you have a warning, or is it up to the user to look at every thread he has posted in to see if a mod added a note or warning? Just to clarify what **Colibri** already said: The automated warning system sends you a PM, and shows the issue on the “Infractions” tab in your profile. Only warnings issued since we instituted the system last May will show up there. The intent of implementing the system is to make it easy for you to tell whether a formal infraction has been issued, or whether you just got a passing “mod note” in the thread. The message posted in the thread is not automatic, BTW. We post that manually. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problematic-moderation-rico-and-curtis-lemay/523323.md?page=5)