# Resolved: tomndebb is a poopy-head. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 9, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984 "2012-08-09T17:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/21 "2012-08-10T03:01:47Z")
[Bill Murray] Do I have to use the word “poopy”? [/Bill Murray] ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/22 "2012-08-10T07:23:37Z")
Personally I enjoy that sort of humor. [One time in 1960 some folks made jokes about **even sven** ’s work in Cameroon for 20 minutes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=283407) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/23 "2012-08-10T07:33:56Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > The joke was one of those ‘rio’ jokes that we like here on the dope. (by we, I mean, some of us, for the love of god, don’t send me your hatemail). I kind of like that kind of humor, where at first, a couple posters say something at the same time, or miss that it was mentioned, and then people start adding on…just riffing. The first couple weren’t at the same time but hours apart. Oh and poopy. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/24 "2012-08-10T07:53:24Z")
Oh man, I was all set to put my poopy-head hat on and froth myself up into an anti-mod frenzy, but then I noticed the thread was in GD. I’m sorry, that horse won’t run. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/25 "2012-08-10T12:15:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Time to stop smoking your running socks, dude. Huh. Does that really work? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/26 "2012-08-11T05:57:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You weren’t even participating in the thread. Your opinion on this is hardly relevant. > > . Neither was Marley. Does that make his opinion in this thread “hardly relevant”? ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/27 "2012-08-11T06:06:53Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Guess we don’t have much to learn from _them_. And here I was getting ready to propose a **sven** clause… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/28 "2012-08-11T08:17:09Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > A mod has no right to impose “humor-control” on a thread that hasn’t become onscene or hateful. Those jokes actually _do_ come from a hateful place (you can read any of the threads pitting **even sven** for daring to mention her African experiences too often for context.) And it probably only came to mod attention because people reported it. People like me. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/29 "2012-08-11T08:19:34Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I think he got all hype like that because he misunderstood the joke and thought everyone was picking on even sven. Then he wasn’t the only one. It looked totally mean-spirited to me. (I see on further reading **tom** didn’t see it that way, but I still do) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/30 "2012-08-11T08:24:40Z")
Just as a counter-example - when people occasionally rag on **Hal Briston** for the sheep thing, I don’t think they’re being mean, that is just ordinary Doper humour. But **Hal** hasn’t been pitted for his…proclivities. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/31 "2012-08-11T08:29:23Z")
A knight in shining armour. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/32 "2012-08-11T14:15:03Z")
:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/33 "2012-08-11T14:28:20Z")
Why do you think these attacks look mean-spirited? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/34 "2012-08-11T14:49:44Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Why do you think these attacks look mean-spirited? Context. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/35 "2012-08-11T16:09:43Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Context. That’s assuming other posters in the thread in question were aware of that context, and not just playing the game of “lets see how many ways we can say the same thing”, like in the famous Marianas Trench thread I linked. Personally, this is the first I’ve heard about **even sven** ’s experiences in Africa. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/36 "2012-08-11T17:04:20Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Neither was Marley. Does that make his opinion in this thread “hardly relevant”? You are aware that **Marley** is a moderator of the forum in question, are you not? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/37 "2012-08-11T17:11:52Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You weren’t even participating in the thread. Your opinion on this is hardly relevant. This is illuminating. Can i ask if this is a general belief among the moderators, that those who were not participating in a particular thread have no relevant input to make about moderator decisions in that thread? If a moderator decision is being discussed in ATMB, should the thread be restricted only to people who were participating in the original conversation? Are they the only ones who have a stake in the way the board is moderated, or do you think it might be possible for someone who wasn’t involved to read the thread in question and come to a reasonable conclusion about the issue? ---
**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:** [August 11, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/38 "2012-08-11T17:14:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > In what world is “What’s so bad about Cameroon?” GD territory? At this point, this is so absurd I have to assume you’re no longer serious about your complaint. The thread potentially involved economics, politics, and culture, all of which are appropriately GD topics. It might have gone in GQ maybe, but there was nothing wrong with it in in GD. It certainly wasn’t MPSIMS material. From the OP: > [@](#): > > Is there something about Cameroon that makes it much worse than other impoverished African states? Or is there something about Cameroonian culture that makes defection more likely? Or is this probably just chance and they could as easily have been Angolan or whatever? Doesn’t look to me like the OP was soliciting jokes. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/39 "2012-08-11T17:19:14Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Can i ask if this is a general belief among the moderators, that those who were not participating in a particular thread have no relevant input to make about moderator decisions in that thread? Of course I didn’t say that. I was referring to **Nzinga’s** opinion that the remarks in that specific thread “weren’t intrusive.” Certainly her opinions are of less relevance than those who actually were participating in the thread. I was a participant as a poster, and found the continuing jokes frikkin’ annoying. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984/40 "2012-08-11T17:42:36Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I was referring to **Nzinga’s** opinion that the remarks in that specific thread “weren’t intrusive.” Certainly her opinions are of less relevance than those who actually were participating in the thread. Why? We’re talking here about a general principle of intrusiveness, and we’re talking about a set of rules and moderating decisions that, theoretically at least, are supposed to be applied evenly across the board. This is not an especially complicated issue. Assuming that the person in question has taken the time to actually read the thread, and to come to a conclusion, why is that person’s opinion not relevant if they haven’t actually participated in the thread? It seems to me that one can quite reasonably make an assessment about whether certain comments were “intrusive” without actually having been a participant. There’s not really much ambiguity in your comment: “You weren’t even participating in the thread. Your opinion on this is hardly relevant.” I’m just interested in whether you would apply this principle more broadly, and if not, what it is about this particular case that makes it a special, participants-only ATMB discussion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-tomndebb-is-a-poopy-head/630984.md?page=3)