# Since when do deliberate insults merit just a note? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 15, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108 "2021-12-15T15:32:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/41 "2021-12-16T22:01:53Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > We took the view that if we were required to quarantine in Newark for 10 days, it would be the same as any other stay in Newark - under no circumstances do you leave your hotel rooom. Wise decision. The service people will be happy to bring booze to your room. Blind drunk is possibly the best way to pass a week in Newark. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > At least it isn’t Camden. It’s always nice to have _someone_ to look down on. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/42 "2021-12-16T22:11:36Z")
Well Camden is the worst city in NJ and for a few years the worst in the nation. I think nearby Asbury Park is currently 2nd worst. But Newark is hard to get out of to if you’re on the local streets. The streets are pretty crappy themselves. Asbury is small and easy to navigate. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/43 "2021-12-18T02:27:07Z")
Having just read the exchange in question, I don’t think it deserves a warning for “being an insult”; on the other hand it was a clear threadshit/trolling and could certainly merit a warning on those grounds. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2021, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/44 "2021-12-18T05:58:25Z")
Sure, a Mod Note isn’t nothing. But the note specifically says “This is just a guidance, not a warning. Nothing goes on your permanent record.” It flat out tells the poster that it’s not a big deal, and it will be soon forgotten. There’s no indication whatsoever that ignoring the note will result in a Warning, and the implication is exactly the opposite. I also do not see any way in which the post is a “joke.” The post contains nothing but what MrDibble quoted. No effort is made to say that they were joking. It very much seems like their goal was to offend in order to make a point. I would argue that such should put the poster in thin ground already. It’s also telling who he says the terms against. He calls @MrDibble—a black man from South Africa who lived through Apartheid—a racist. He calls @puzzlegal—clearly a woman—sexist. It doesn’t seem to be random, but by intent. So, he deliberately insulted people to try and make a point, targeting his insults based on the race or gender of the person he’s talking to. And the punishment is explicitly a temporary guidance, with no permanent record of the incident. That seems like a bad choice. If you don’t keep track of what happened, how can you later punish him for doing it again? Heck, isn’t one of the accusations that the poster has been given Notes for similar behavior before? Assuming the latter is true, then no wonder he did it again. If you only ever get a Note for it, then you start to think it’s not that big a deal. If you must give a Note, it should not have that disclaimer. It should say “Do this again, and you’ll get a Warning.” ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/45 "2021-12-18T06:57:16Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > If you don’t keep track of what happened, how can you later punish him for doing it again? Mods can’t see old mod notes? > [@BigT](#): > > Heck, isn’t one of the accusations that the poster has been given Notes for similar behavior before? Can you point the accusation out? Did it link to some notes? I didn’t read the entire thread, only about 30 or 40 posts to get some context. My memory of **Isamu** , such as it is, is that he is a pretty mainstream poster, not prone to drawing notes/warnings. I’m not sure the mods would really tell us how many notes a poster has, especially in a case like this that seems to be already settled. > [@BigT](#): > > If you must give a Note, it should not have that disclaimer. It should say “Do this again, and you’ll get a Warning.” I think the reason behind that was that posters were freaking out about notes before (some still do) because they equated them with warnings. So it’s lose/lose for the mods either way. > [@BigT](#): > > @MrDibble—a black man from South Africa I think **MrDibble** identifies as coloured rather than black, although he may cut some slack for people outside South Africa. > [@Babale](#): > > threadshit/trolling and could certainly merit a warning on those grounds. Truthfully, I don’t understand his posts at all in that thread. They seem totally out of place. If they weren’t direct replies, I would have thought he posted them in the wrong thread. I wouldn’t call them trolling but it could be thread shitting. But thread shitting likely wouldn’t have drawn a warning either, so we’re back to a mod note. Same/same. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/46 "2021-12-18T10:21:31Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I don’t recall **Isamu** being problematic about racism. …I do. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/47 "2021-12-18T13:26:26Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Truthfully, I don’t understand his posts at all in that thread. They seem totally out of place. If they weren’t direct replies, I would have thought he posted them in the wrong thread To those who didn’t read the whole thread: they were certainly relevant. The thread was about how to respond if you were accused of racism and you believed the accusation was false. Some posters believed that others didn’t understand that fake accusations might be made maliciously. Isamu decided to prove that completely meritless accusations are a real thing by making some. This was slightly ironic, as his first was aimed at me, and I’d already explicitly acknowledged the potential for completely fake, malicious accusations. The comments were relevant. They weren’t thread shitting. But they were malicious, and they were insults. * * * There’s not a repository of moderator notes, and no easy way for moderators to search for them. If you got one ten years ago, the odds are the mods won’t remember it when they are considering how to handle your behavior today. In that sense, they aren’t on your permanent record. On the other hand, mods obviously remember what they’ve done recently. And there have certainly been discussions among the mods along the lines of “so and so hasn’t gotten a warning, yet, but look at how many notes they have racked up recently. That’s not doing the trick. It’s time to start issuing warnings.” ---
**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:** [December 18, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/48 "2021-12-18T13:41:55Z")
My personal experience is that mods tend to find any excuse to allow accusations of racism to stand or be dealt with minimally. I reported a post that effectively said “All Republicans are racist pieces of crap” [N.B. it was not in the Pit] When I reported it, I said I’m a Republican and so isn’t he accusing ME of being a racist along with all of the other Republicans on the board? The mod responded that since he didn’t **personally** call me a racist that it was OK. Now based on this thread, I’m guessing I could go so far and say to someone, “I bet when you sing White Christmas, you’re hoping all the blacks move out of your neighborhood. Ha ha. Lol. J/K” and I’m good because I made a funny. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/49 "2021-12-18T14:10:17Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > On the other hand, mods obviously remember what they’ve done recently. My experience varies. I’ve had mods not recall threads they’ve modded or participated in just a few weeks later. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/50 "2021-12-18T14:43:37Z")
Oh, the mods issued a note for an insult? What made this insult so special? I mean, being called dishonest isn’t considered an insult by the mods. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/51 "2021-12-18T18:21:40Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …I do. Can you point a couple out? Maybe I’m confusing **Isamu** with someone else. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Isamu decided to prove that completely meritless accusations are a real thing by making some. Is that what he was going for? He totally botched it if that was his point. As I said, I only read about 50 posts to get some context and I still didn’t get what he was trying to accomplish. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I reported a post that effectively said “All Republicans are racist pieces of crap” Group insults seem to be hit or miss amongst the mods. I thought the basic rule (outside the Pit) was not to do blanket insults that included posters. Maybe that rule was just in my head, because there are a lot of posts like you describe that aren’t modded. I admit I don’t flag them because the way I read the boards I’m usually a couple of days behind on threads. If they are flagged when they happen, I don’t know. I do know quite a few go unmodded. > [@MrDibble](#): > > My experience varies. I’ve had mods not recall threads they’ve modded or participated in just a few weeks later. Same here, but I’m not surprised. I’m sure I don’t remember most of my posts, brilliant tho they are. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/52 "2021-12-18T20:13:10Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Can you point a couple out? … nope. That goes beyond the scope of this thread. Just letting you know. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/53 "2021-12-19T02:47:35Z")
[![](https://www.tshirtsonscreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/twilightzone1985hellisacitymuchlikenewarkshirt-e1449693382471.jpg) ](https://www.tshirtsonscreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/twilightzone1985hellisacitymuchlikenewarkshirt-e1449693382471.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/54 "2021-12-22T19:11:28Z")
I find it really hard to feel sorry for the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/55 "2021-12-22T19:15:49Z")
I don’t think the OP wanted anyone to feel sorry him, but here are some wet cats. > **[22 Hilarious Pictures Of Wet Cats](https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-wet-cats/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic)** > > Because cats are widely considered to be the cool and cute overlords of the internet, we thought it was about time to bring them down a notch by showing you just how silly cats look when they get wet. The two things almost everyone knows about cats... ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/56 "2021-12-22T21:01:08Z")
Reported for cruelty to animals. (I really like the one that looks like a a white worm with a cat head.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/57 "2021-12-24T18:55:55Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Sure, a Mod Note isn’t nothing. But the note specifically says “This is just a guidance, not a warning. Nothing goes on your permanent record.” It flat out tells the poster that it’s not a big deal, and it will be soon forgotten. There’s no indication whatsoever that ignoring the note will result in a Warning, and the implication is exactly the opposite. That is not actually true, I have seen cases where a Mod note will lead to a warning for similar behavior over a year later by a different Mod. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/58 "2021-12-30T09:09:27Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That is not actually true, I have seen cases where a Mod note will lead to a warning for similar behavior over a year later by a different Mod. Oh, so _this_ is about _that_! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/59 "2021-12-30T19:57:15Z")
---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108/60 "2021-12-30T19:59:04Z")
Let’s not bring issues from other threads into this one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-do-deliberate-insults-merit-just-a-note/956108.md?page=2)