# What do Cajun Man and the space shuttle have in common? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605 "2005-08-11T16:48:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/41 "2005-08-11T23:16:34Z")
Bad call on closing the thread. The jokes may be tasteless, but they weren’t harming anyone. Just because you personally don’t like the jokes isn’t a good enough reason to close a thread. Complete bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/42 "2005-08-11T23:19:00Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > You betcha. That’s how moderating sometimes works. When jokes cross the line into being distasteful it’s our choice as to whether we want to close the thread. It’s not the first time it’s happened on the SDMB and it won’t be the last. So, it’s still a bad decision, but at least it has precedent! ---
**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, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/43 "2005-08-11T23:38:18Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > And you can’t seriously suggest that the people who were complaining about it, unless they are in fact related to a member of the Challenger crew, are having so much difficulty coming to grips with it that they can’t bear a few tasteless jokes. I never said anything of the sort actually. I was just commenting that (1) those jokes were of a different nature than the ones **The Gaspode** was comparing them two, (2) they weren’t being made as a coping mechanism (at least not any more), and (3) the closure of the thread was (in my opinion) not much of a loss. I then posted an additional comment saying that there are clearly _some_ joke threads that are offensive enough to warrant closure, whether that was one or not. I never said anything to remotely suggest that people “couldn’t bear a few tasteless jokes.” ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/44 "2005-08-11T23:53:35Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > I never said anything to remotely suggest that people “couldn’t bear a few tasteless jokes.” I was simply offering up an opposite to your suggestion about people needing to be enough over the Challenger disaster to stop making defense mechanism jokes about it. On a completely-unrelated-to-your-post point, what about the Celebrity Death Pool threads? Here we have a thread dedicated to the celebration of recent deaths for sport, that routinely gets thousands of views and hudreds of posts in the course of a year, and no one says dickie bird about it. If tasteless jokes about something that happened two decades ago are so horrible, one would think a thread about people competing to see who dies next would be beyond the pale. What I always find most amusing about these sorts of threads that get closed not because they break a rule but because a mod doesn’t like ‘em is that had the thread been left open in many cases the thread would’ve died on its own in a day or two. Instead, closing them generally inspires someone to open a thread like this one questioning the decision, thus insuring the topic stays on peoples’ minds for a lot longer. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/45 "2005-08-11T23:55:53Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > So, it’s still a bad decision, but at least it has precedent! Precedent, yes, in that we made a decision with which you don’t agree. Disagreement on this board isn’t surprising, so there’s also precedent for successfully arguing why a thread should re-open. Simply labeling something as “lame” and throwing out a few quips doesn’t carry much weight, however. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/46 "2005-08-12T00:31:53Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > Precedent, yes, in that we made a decision with which you don’t agree. Actually, there’s not much precedent for that at all, if you care to look. > [@](#): > > Disagreement on this board isn’t surprising, so there’s also precedent for successfully arguing why a thread should re-open. Simply labeling something as “lame” and throwing out a few quips doesn’t carry much weight, however. Neither does labeling something as “distasteful” and locking it away, apparently. What purpose is solved by closing that thread? While open, was it a cause for controversy? Had you received complaints? No? Then why close it? _You_ didn’t like it, but I was not aware that the purpose of the board was to amuse the moderators. The rest of the 'Dope, it seemed, was content to ignore the thread, save for the small handful that was enjoying participation in it. Why was any sort of mod intervention necessary in the first place? Instead of a small, probably short-lived, mostly unremarkable MPSIMS thread, we’ve now got yet another tedious debate about board moderation, which is likely to draw out to several frustrating pages without any sort of meaningful conclusion. Smooth move there, guys. Way to earn those coffee cups. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/47 "2005-08-12T01:41:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What purpose is solved by closing that thread? None, that I can see. But then, there is considerable precedent for purposeless moderation around here. I suppose the price of eternal vigilance against trollery and other undesirables is to put up with fair amount of anal moderation. [This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=329183) recent example, for instance, which was moved from IMHO to MPSIMS for no obvious reason. The IMHO forum description reads, in part, “For frank exchanges of views on less-than-cosmic topics. This is also the place for polling.” Why couldn’t it have stayed there? Beats hell outta me. It was certainly a frank echange of views on a less-than cosmic toipic, and it might even be loosely considered a poll. But it was moved. Go figger. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/48 "2005-08-12T02:49:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Actually, there’s not much precedent for that at all, if you care to look. That was a general “you” and not a specific one. As for the rest: yes, we received several complaints about the thread. We don’t always agree about thread complaints, but this time we did; so we closed down the thread. We weren’t going to leave it open because it had been overrun with tasteless jokes, anyway, and we didn’t want to encourage similar tasteless joke collections in the future. And again: nothing is stopping **HubZilla** (or anyone else who’s interested) in starting another thread focused on the underlying question of the first OP. The search for knowledge can live on. If it’s just Challenger jokes you’re pining for, however, there’s a whole Internet out there where you can find your fix. It just won’t happen here. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/49 "2005-08-12T03:07:43Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > That was a general “you” and not a specific one. > > As for the rest: yes, we received several complaints about the thread. We don’t always agree about thread complaints, but this time we did; so we closed down the thread. We weren’t going to leave it open because it had been overrun with tasteless jokes, anyway, and we didn’t want to encourage similar tasteless joke collections in the future. And again: nothing is stopping **HubZilla** (or anyone else who’s interested) in starting another thread focused on the underlying question of the first OP. The search for knowledge can live on. > > If it’s just Challenger jokes you’re pining for, however, there’s a whole Internet out there where you can find your fix. It just won’t happen here. I’d ask what your definition of “tasteless” is, but it would probably be more things than not under the sun. Especially since you seemed to have glossed over Otto’s post re: death pool threads. I’m also curious as to who the mental giants whose sensibilities are so offended about a joke thread that instead of closing it on their screen, they ask the board to close it so no one can see it. Come on out of the shadows. Let’s give you the proper pitting too. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/50 "2005-08-12T03:25:21Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Especially since you seemed to have glossed over Otto’s post re: death pool threads … or I missed it since it was posted right before a comment of mine. At any rate, there’s a difference between threads devoted to guessing the death dates of the famous and infamous, and a thread devoted to exploiting the deaths of seven people–killed in a horrible accident–for cheap laughs. If you don’t see the tastelessness of the latter, I guess we’re just not going to agree. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/51 "2005-08-12T03:35:36Z")
I thought I unsubscribed to this thread, but I guess I didn’t, since I keep getting e-mail notices. Every time I get one, I read the thread title and I think to myself “They’re both looking for a tight seal?” Sorry, **Cajun Man**. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/52 "2005-08-12T03:46:10Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > … or I missed it since it was posted right before a comment of mine. > > At any rate, there’s a difference between threads devoted to guessing the death dates of the famous and infamous, and a thread devoted to exploiting the deaths of seven people–killed in a horrible accident–for cheap laughs. If you don’t see the tastelessness of the latter, I guess we’re just not going to agree. I am not sure what I love more: the implied morally superior attitude or the fact that you somehow feel honor bound to defend a call made by another moderator. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/53 "2005-08-12T03:51:52Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > … or I missed it since it was posted right before a comment of mine. > > At any rate, there’s a difference between threads devoted to guessing the death dates of the famous and infamous, and a thread devoted to exploiting the deaths of seven people–killed in a horrible accident–for cheap laughs. If you don’t see the tastelessness of the latter, I guess we’re just not going to agree. It’s the part that you find tastelessness in the latter but are ok with the greenlight for the former that makes your decision stink to high heaven. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/54 "2005-08-12T03:56:52Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > It’s the part that you find tastelessness in the latter but are ok with the greenlight for the former that makes your decision stink to high heaven. And there’s that disagreement. I’m sure you’ll live. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/55 "2005-08-12T03:58:37Z")
Whoa, whoa. Hold on a second. Are we forgetting this thread? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=87707&page=1&pp=50](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=87707&page=1&pp=50) This was made on September 17th, and it contained distasteful humor as well. It probably was more distasteful than the Challenger thread, and yet, it was funny as hell. It went to a full EIGHT pages before it was closed, and the thread title contained the words “WTC humor”, so it wasn’t like a mod missed it. And yet, the Challenger thread (based on an event that occurred in _1986_ was closed? Please. Not to say that I disliked either thread, I’m a big fan of dark humor, but it was _ridiculous_ to close that thread. ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/56 "2005-08-12T04:10:51Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > And there’s that disagreement. I’m sure you’ll live. I had no problem with you closing the thread, hell I have no problem if you all wanted to close every other thread you deemed offensive after all it is _your_ board. ``` But is there really a reason to get smartass about it? If someone put in a suggestion box in their American wooden balls store and someone said "You should carry Chinese glass balls" you would reply in a civil way as to not lose a potential customer not a smartass way that would lose that customer as well as possible word of mouth customers. Of course I could be missing the whole point, it just sounds like almost every reply in here was defensive not an explaination. The other thing I have noticed is in the threads where a Mod or Admin is asked a question, they seem to not appear, or if they do its a one post and gone. Then other mods seem to come to answer it for them. Seems to be a bit like a game. But bottom line is its your board, run it how you like, but you should respect your customers to the best of your ability. ``` If its rule, say it and ignore the rest, if its a personal decision call, say so and explain it nicely and ignore the rest, if its a mistake, accept it and move on. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/57 "2005-08-12T04:14:14Z")
Ah, shit, didn’t see **Troy McClure SF** ’s post. Well, my opinion still stands. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/58 "2005-08-12T04:27:17Z")
> [@LostGoals](#): > > Of course I could be missing the whole point, it just sounds like almost every reply in here was defensive not an explaination. I 100% agree with this sentence. “The thread was tasteless” is pretty much a bullshit explanation here. May we expect you to start closing all TMI threads (especially those concerning female issues, which, being a guy, I find especially tasteless due to, well, I’m a guy), and to start closing all “horror du jour” threads (especially those concerning the various tortures some would inflict on the perpatrator of the horror, which I find especially tasteless due to the desire to inflict torture), and to start closing all baseball threads (especially those which don’t acknowledge the 1969-71 Orioles as the greatest team ever, which I find especially tasteless because they were)? I repeat: “The thread was tasteless” is pretty much a bullshit explanation here. This is not what I expect from the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/59 "2005-08-12T04:30:35Z")
Flying lumps of foam? ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605/60 "2005-08-12T04:38:34Z")
> [@DarkPrince](#): > > …Ah, **Tubadiva** worried that it’ll look bad on her job app. again?? It could be that we are just trying to raise the tone around here a bit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-cajun-man-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/316605.md?page=4)