# Why Was This Thread Closed? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 8, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002 "2009-10-08T01:12:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/21 "2009-10-08T13:21:19Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Is a straight answer to a direct question too much to ask for? Again, how is it that asking for advice _is_ encouragement, while extolling the virtues of something _isn’t_? From a neutral perspective… You are trying to make a point, but your reasoning is flawed, so all you are making is a fool of yourself. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/22 "2009-10-08T13:48:15Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > From a neutral perspective… > > You are trying to make a point, but your reasoning is flawed, so all you are making is a fool of yourself. Please, no personal insults in this forum. You can say what you want about his reasoning, but not about him. Please don’t do this again. > [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Is a straight answer to a direct question too much to ask for? Again, how is it that asking for advice is encouragement, while extolling the virtues of something isn’t? You asked a question, you got a straight answer. You also asked a specific question about how to engage in an illegal activity; and you got a straight answer to that, too: the thread was closed. Asking for advice on how to do something illegal is against our rules; talking about your past experiences isn’t. Please see my last post, and the rule on drug use, which is the way we’ve taken the Registration Agreement in the past. We’ve applied that to other areas as well. We have discussions about the laws on DVD/CD piracy, but we don’t allow people to describe “how to” illegal copy a DVD. We have discussions about the laws on same-sex marriage, but we don’t allow people to discuss breaking the law. We discuss the drug laws or past experiences, but not how to obtain illegal drugs. Our policy is very consistent. Asking “how to” do something illegal is against our rules. Talking about past experiences having done something illegal is not. And that’s the way we (the mods and the Boards) have always defined it. Please, **Contrapuntal** , stop and pull back. Are you really saying that we shouldn’t discuss drugs, CD piracy, same-sex marriages, etc because they’re currently illegal in some locations? You don’t want us to go down that slippery slope. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/23 "2009-10-08T14:06:34Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > You asked a question, you got a straight answer. You also asked a specific question about how to engage in an illegal activity; and you got a straight answer to that, too: the thread was closed. And were someone to tell you how to engage in an illegal activity, they’d be encouraging you. Which is against the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/24 "2009-10-08T14:10:32Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Is a straight answer to a direct question too much to ask for? Again, how is it that asking for advice _is_ encouragement, while extolling the virtues of something _isn’t_? The problem is that you asked how to manufacture an illegal substance. Manufacturing crack cocaine, in and of itself, is an illegal act. I suspect the mods would also frown on a request for recipes for mushroom tea or crystal meth. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/25 "2009-10-08T14:12:46Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Please, no personal insults in this forum. You can say what you want about his reasoning, but not about him. Please don’t do this again. I have never insulted anyone on this board, and have no inclination to do so, so I’m not going to argue this with conviction; this is more of a semantic nitpick. Isn’t saying ‘making a fool of yourself’ more a description of the consequences of saying or doing something than an insult? I see saying ‘this won’t work out well for you’ as being similar. I really can’t see the insult here, and I welcome enlightenment. ---
**Author:** ![Erasmus\_Darwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@Erasmus\_Darwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erasmus_Darwin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/26 "2009-10-08T15:36:54Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Look, the mods feel pretty much like most of you about pedophilia. This would be a lot more believable if it didn’t seem to be at odds with the moderating behavior we’ve seen lately. If something seems to really bother the mods, there’s been action, regardless of consequences: Someone calls TubaDiva a nasty word in the Pit? Drastic rule changes were ushered in, and the resulting kerfuffle led to multiple moderator resignations and two SDMB spin-off boards. Seven is critical of the SDMB with on-topic posts in ATMB? Banned (with a reduction to a month-long suspension on appeal) in a move so surprising that it left one moderator attempting to rationalize it to the rest of the forum with the claim that private messages are supposed to remain private. Also of note was that someone who defended the banning and repeatedly insulted Seven in the ATMB about that banning was given a mere slap on the wrist rather than a real warning. Cesario talks about how he wishes he could have sex with children? Nothing. Or rather just a warning for Scissorjack for insulting Cesario by saying “fuck him”. I just don’t get it. The moderators have taken more drastic action in much smaller cases. Now we run into a rare case where subjective moderation would actually be for the betterment of the boards as a whole, and this is where your hands are suddenly tied by the letter of the law? It just doesn’t add up. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/27 "2009-10-08T16:07:09Z")
Surreal thread. I think there is some confusion as to the definition of encouraging. Providing all of the readership of SDMB (including Google search hits) with a recipe for crack, could certainly meet the definition “encouraging”. Ceasario’s thread is disgusting to me as well, but showing your displeasure of it this way isn’t helping. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/28 "2009-10-08T16:41:35Z")
What about if the thread was: “How do crack addicts make crack from cocaine?” ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/29 "2009-10-08T17:00:25Z")
I think that would be fine, up until someone posts a recipe on how to make crack. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/30 "2009-10-08T17:04:32Z")
Do you really think that is materially different? :rolleyes: Bunch of wannabe lawyers, and y’all ain’t even good at it. “Do Not Talk About How to Do Illegal Things.” That’s the rule, or at least a component of it. It’s not hard to comprehend. And it’s not what the objectionable pedophiliphile is doing. (This is directed at Angry Lurker) ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/31 "2009-10-08T17:15:26Z")
> [@Erasmus\_Darwin](#): > > Now we run into a rare case where subjective moderation would actually be for the betterment of the boards as a whole, and this is where your hands are suddenly tied by the letter of the law? It just doesn’t add up. I am not a peadophile, and have little interest in anything Cesario related, but who the hell gets to say what is for the “betterment” of the boards? This is such a loaded topic that people feel completely safe shouting from the rooftops that they are disgusted, horrified, BAN HIM NOW!!!. How can anybody argue against that without apparently advocating pedophilia? But to be quite honest, most of what I have read so far on the whole Cesario has been dominated by a lot of blowhards all striving to be the most horrified that Cesario and his ilk exist. Subjective moderation for the betterment of the board? Why not be honest and say it in plain English, “Please find a way to ban this person because he offends me”. Want to know what offends me? In the relevant pit thread, there are people actually having to justify why they are discoursing with Cesario. How dare they!!! I am offended that on a board that claims to fight ignorance, people prefer to give rise to emotional rejections rather than dispassionate investigation I have a suggestion. I think some people should hold onto their mummies hands while a nice man explains that yes, there are some bad bastards in the world, and that perhaps it would be better to face them down instead of asking teacher to send the bad man away. I am still not a peado, and still have no interest in Cesarios sick world. It offends me that I even have to write that. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/32 "2009-10-08T17:41:09Z")
I’m still waiting for a definition of “encouragement” that \*includes \*“asking for advice” and \*excludes \*“extolling the virtues of.” ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/33 "2009-10-08T17:46:49Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I’m still waiting for a definition of “encouragement” that \*includes \*“asking for advice” and \*excludes \*“extolling the virtues of.” Dude, you’re nitpicking here. You asked how to make crack. It is not legal to make crack. The mods therefore locked the thread. Game over. I’m not busting your chops here, I got nothing against you personally or anything. It really is that simple. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/34 "2009-10-08T18:13:54Z")
On a slightl tangent. Haven’t some threads been closed simply because they were either terribly stupid or disgusting? If that can be a reason to shut down a thread, wouldnt that be a good enough reason for the pedophile parade to be shut down after have run a “reasonable” course? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/35 "2009-10-08T18:15:41Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Dude, you’re nitpicking here. You asked how to make crack. It is not legal to make crack. The mods therefore locked the thread. Game over. Agreed. The equivalent for the pedo guy would be to say, “I don’t intend to molest children but how to people who do molest children find and groom their victims?” Such a thread would also be closed. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/36 "2009-10-08T18:26:18Z")
Double post. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/37 "2009-10-08T18:28:01Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Dude, you’re nitpicking here. You asked how to make crack. It is not legal to make crack. The mods therefore locked the thread. Game over. > > I’m not busting your chops here, I got nothing against you personally or anything. It really is that simple. The justification given was that I agreed not to encourage an illegal act. I am simply asking for an explanation of why asking for advice is encouragement. Do you think it is? If I asked you how to build a doghouse would you think that I was encouraging you to build one? Conversely, if I told you how wonderful a book is would you think I was encouraging you to read it? Which of these two acts is more encouragement? Simple question. So far, no one has answered it. Why don’t you give it a shot? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/38 "2009-10-08T18:31:35Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > The justification given was that I agreed not to encourage an illegal act. I am simply asking for an explanation of why asking for advice is encouragement. Do you think it is? If I asked you how to build a doghouse would you think that I was encouraging you to build one? > > Conversely, if I told you how wonderful a book is would you think I was encouraging you to read it? > > Which of these two acts is more encouragement? Simple question. You’re building a semantic mountain out of a mole hill. You know what the rule means. In the alternative, if you ask me how to build a doghouse, and I provide information about how that can be done, I might be said to be encouraging you to complete the project by offering that advice. Applied to your thread, if I told you how to make crack, I might be said to be encouraging you to make it. Doesn’t matter who did what to whom, thread still gets locked. We do not talk about how to commit crimes here. Making crack is a crime no matter how you spin it. If you’re really trying to make a point about the pedo-guy, just start a thread about that. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/39 "2009-10-08T18:41:42Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > You’re building a semantic mountain out of a mole hill. You know what the rule means. > > In the alternative, if you ask me how to build a doghouse, and I provide information about how that can be done, I might be said to be encouraging you to complete the project by offering that advice. Applied to your thread, if I told you how to make crack, I might be said to be encouraging you to make it. Might? By whom? Can you link to any definition anywhere that includes such, but excludes praising a particular activity? > [@](#): > > If you’re really trying to make a point about the pedo-guy, just start a thread about that. Several posters in that thread constructed convincing arguments, only to have the mods hand wave them away. This is simply a different tack. Although why I expected any different I don’t know. Asking for advice is encouragement? Please. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002/40 "2009-10-08T18:46:20Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Asking for advice is encouragement? Please. That is not the point. The point is you asked how to make crack. Making crack is illegal, and threads about how to make crack will be locked here. It doesn’t matter whether a mod calls it “encouragement” and I call it “ice cream”. Thread still gets locked. Doesn’t look to me like there’s much meat left on that dead horse. You can probably ease up on the beatings now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-closed/513002.md?page=3)