Misogyny unchecked in AH 'Try to rape' thread

onewoman

Why are misogynistic jokes in the above thread going completely unmoderated?

A vicious racist remark early in the thread led to an instant band, but several misogynistic comments have apparently not led to any bans. Is it boards' policy to tolerate offensive comments about some sections of society but not about others? Why the hypocrisy?

The anti-women comments create an exclusionary and threatening atmosphere in a forum that's meant to be open to everyone to enjoy.

eVeNtInE

This post has been deleted.

Nevyn

Did you report any of the posts ?
I would have but the last time I did it seemed counterproductive.
Seriously I urge everyone who is upset or offended or things any of those posts are out of line to report them and give a clear message to the mods.

Terry

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58266131

cornbb

onewoman wrote: »

The anti-women comments create an exclusionary and threatening atmosphere in a forum that's meant to be open to everyone to enjoy.

After Hours is a very busy place, the potential range of topics available for discussion there is very broad and as such you get people with vastly different world views and different opinions on what sort of discussion is appropriate or not. I find a lot of threads there extremely funny and sometimes very insightful but the flip side of is that other threads would leave a very bad taste in my mouth. A certain amount of trolling goes on too.

If you report a post you find offensive (by clicking the triangular button to the left of any post) then the moderators will take note of it and maybe act on it if they think the poster is trolling or otherwise breaking the rules. However I find the only way not to get offended by anything in After Hours is to simply not read it. Gotta take the bad with the good, the mods there have to make a lot of tough calls. You'll find much worse more offensive stuff on the internet after all, even in certain sekkrit places on boards...

AlmightyCushion

These two comments are not the same. The first one was a mindless, stupid generalisation aimed at all people in a race. It went too far and got a ban. The second wasn't aimed at all women. Therefore it's not mysoginistic at all or a generalisation.

Terry

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=58232163&highlight=rape#post58232163

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=56888983&highlight=rape#post56888983

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=54229313&highlight=rape#post54229313

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=52785590&highlight=rape#post52785590

I just try my best.

Hagar

Terry wrote:

Surprisingly enough, there is a forum for rape jokes.

Where?

MooseJam

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

These two comments are not the same. The first one was a mindless, stupid generalisation aimed at all people in a race. It went too far and got a ban. The second wasn't aimed at all women. Therefore it's not mysoginistic at all or a generalisation.

oh he was only suggesting rape victims get beaten twice as hard, well thats ok then

tribulus

Jaysus, "Swallow it, bitch" MkII coming up.

Cuddlesworth

Hagar wrote: »

Where?

Same place as all the rampant Jew jokes. Here.

AlmightyCushion

MooseJam wrote: »

oh he was only suggesting rape victims get beaten twice as hard, well thats ok then

Sorry I also forgot to say that one was out and out hatred whereas the other seemed to be a joke (albeit not a very good one).

Susannahmia

onewoman wrote: »

Why are misogynistic jokes in the above thread going completely unmoderated?

A vicious racist remark early in the thread led to an instant band, but several misogynistic comments have apparently not led to any bans. Is it boards' policy to tolerate offensive comments about some sections of society but not about others? Why the hypocrisy?

The anti-women comments create an exclusionary and threatening atmosphere in a forum that's meant to be open to everyone to enjoy.

+1 I also found this very offensive and distasteful. I also reported the post but no change so far. This is just the kind of stuff that is making me want to visit boards less and less.

Stheno

Susannahmia wrote: »

+1 I also found this very offensive and distasteful. (

+1 AH can be very funny, but this just goes too far imo.

And no I haven't reported any posts as quite frankly a. I'd spend the next half hour doing so, and b. it appears that in AH misogyny is almost a prerequisite for posting there sometimes

Tigger

i think you'll find that the average ah poster isn'y so much a mysoginost as a just past pubescent virgin

i wouldn't take it personally

this is similar to why i don't post in the christianity forum

Overheal

Thaedydal wrote: »

Did you report any of the posts ?
I would have but the last time I did it seemed counterproductive.

Ah yeah, but fun was had by all.

Bob the Builder

Personally it doesn't bother me at all. If you can't laugh at something, or at least put up with it, then I think places like AH aren't the places to hang out.

But yeah, the first one was full of hatred, and that deserved to be dealt with. Maybe a few others deserved a ban or two, but you have to meet AH without the Politically Correct hat on.

Ponster

Bob the Builder wrote: »

Personally it doesn't bother me at all. If you can't laugh at something, or at least put up with it, then I think places like AH aren't the places to hang out.

But yeah, the first one was full of hatred, and that deserved to be dealt with. Maybe a few others deserved a ban or two, but you have to meet AH without the Politically Correct hat on.

Bob you can't honestly believe that reacting against rape jokes is being politically correct ??

I for one didn't bother to report the thread as I didn't bother to read it. The "Swallow it, bitch" pool in feedback went to prove that I was in the minority in not liking these type of posts.

Sam Vimes

Ponster wrote: »

Bob you can't honestly believe that reacting against rape jokes is being politically correct ??

i've highlighted the important word there. imo anything is ok to joke about. everyone has their own personal sacred cows that they don't like being joked about, be it rape, religion, political party, sexual preference etc etc etc and we can't go starting a thread every time we see a joke that isn't to our personal taste. if you don't like the joke, put the poster on ignore or close the thread. now actual misogyny, that's a different story altogether and should rightly be fought against

to quote stan marsh (of south park fame): "Either everything's ok to joke about or nothing is".

Overheal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3RijKgfqpM

That really ought to throw some context into it - lighten up a bit.

Dudess

Sam Vimes wrote: »

to quote stan marsh (of south park fame): "Either everything's ok to joke about or nothing is".

That gem's always coming up. What exactly is it based on? Is it some sort of mathematical, logical conclusion or something? "You joked about football fans, therefore it's not out of bounds for you to joke about children being gang-raped"?
If I find a joke about how many Manchester United fans it takes to change a lightbulb funny, I'm a hypocrite if I don't find a joke about children being gang-raped funny? I don't know... do I force myself to laugh or something in order to avoid being a hypocrite?

That "Either everything can be laughed at or nothing can be laughed at" line is a load of bollocks and I'm sick of people on Boards saying it's unreasonable for people to find some stuff funny and other stuff not funny. It's not "fascist" or humourless for people to not find really sick jokes funny... they simply... eh... don't find them funny.

Ponster

Dudess wrote: »

That gem's always coming up. What exactly is it based on?

The American notion of freedom of speech.

Dudess

What has free speech got to do with finding stuff funny or finding stuff unfunny?

Ludo

In that case racism is fine also and should not be bannable. Hey freedom of speech and all that.

seamus

Dudess wrote: »

That "Either everything can be laughed at or nothing can be laughed at" line is a load of bollocks and I'm sick of people on Boards saying it's unreasonable for people to find some stuff funny and other stuff not funny. It's not "fascist" or humourless for people to not find really sick jokes funny... they simply... eh... don't find them funny.

Actually, it's perfectly valid, but it doesn't mean that it's OK to make jokes about anything at any time.
You wouldn't make jokes about cancer patients at a cancer patient's funeral any more than you'd make dead baby jokes in an aborition clinic.

Whether an individual finds it funny or not is irrelevant IMO. It *is* perfectly OK to make light of anything whatsoever, but there's a time and a place.

Now, if somebody could reword that so it worked in the AH charter, that would be superb.

How do you say that "Joking about X is not OK, whereas joking about Y is", where X is, for example, rape and Y is murder?

Maybe something along the lines of, "This is not the pub with your mates. Be aware that you could be making light of issues which other posters have actually had to deal with in real life. We're not going to be PC-police about it, but have a little bit of cop on. Don't make jokes here that you wouldn't make at a party with strangers".

How does that sound?

Ponster

Dudess wrote: »

What has free speech got to do with finding stuff funny or finding stuff unfunny?

You asked...I answered.

The quote from SouthPark 'Either everything's ok to joke about or nothing is" refers to an episode about Freedom of Speech, First Amendment-style, referring to the Danish newspaper printing the Muhammad jokes.

Dudess

seamus wrote: »

Whether an individual finds it funny or not is irrelevant IMO.

Well there seem to be members here who find it unreasonable if a person finds some stuff funny and other stuff not funny - literally interpreting the South Park line as "either everything's funny or nothing's funny".

It *is* perfectly OK to make light of anything whatsoever, but there's a time and a place.

In your opinion though. And if someone made a joke about someone having sex with a murdered child's corpse, I and others simply wouldn't find it funny - not because "oh it's so offensive" but because I literally don't see any humour value in it. And I think the two get confused. To not find that funny is not being all sanctimonious and preachy.

"This is not the pub with your mates. Be aware that you could be making light of issues which other posters have actually had to deal with in real life. We're not going to be PC-police about it, but have a little bit of cop on. Don't make jokes here that you wouldn't make at a party with strangers".

How does that sound?

Very good. Although I don't see the need for the "we're not being PC" bit - as if it requires justification/apology.

seamus

Dudess wrote: »

Well there seem to be members here who find it unreasonable if a person finds some stuff funny and other stuff not funny - literally interpreting the South Park line as "either everything's funny or nothing's funny".

In your opinion though. And if someone made a joke about someone having sex with a murdered child's corpse, I and others simply wouldn't find it funny - not because "oh it's so offensive" but because I literally don't see any humour value in it. And I think the two get confused. To not find that funny is not being all sanctimonious and preachy.

I'm not sure that's what they're saying. There's a difference between not finding something funny - like a bad knock-knock joke, and finding something offensive. If it was a case that you just didn't find these things funny, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Why would you care if something had no humour value in it, but otherwise didn't bother you?
You yourself might not be personally offended by something, but you can be offended by proxy - that is, you notice that someone is offended by it, so through empathy you feel the need to take umbrage against it.

I use "you" in the third-party form here, this is not specifically aimed at you. We have all done or do this at some point. If you were actually indifferent about the statements in question, you wouldn't bother with this discussion.

Very good. Although I don't see the need for the "we're not being PC" bit - as if it requires justification/apology.

The attempt is to justify a level at which moderation will take place. There's far too much focus these days on trying to avoid offending anyone. I was simply trying to clarify that the mods in AH have no intention of making sure that everyone walks on eggshells.

Dudess

seamus wrote: »

I'm not sure that's what they're saying. There's a difference between not finding something funny - like a bad knock-knock joke, and finding something offensive. If it was a case that you just didn't find these things funny, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Why would you care if something had no humour value in it, but otherwise didn't bother you?
You yourself might not be personally offended by something, but you can be offended by proxy - that is, you notice that someone is offended by it, so through empathy you feel the need to take umbrage against it.

I use "you" in the third-party form here, this is not specifically aimed at you. We have all done or do this at some point. If you were actually indifferent about the statements in question, you wouldn't bother with this discussion.

The attempt is to justify a level at which moderation will take place. There's far too much focus these days on trying to avoid offending anyone. I was simply trying to clarify that the mods in AH have no intention of making sure that everyone walks on eggshells.

Well ok, I don't find these jokes funny and I also find them nasty and malicious. Again, I don't think I'm getting offended on someone's behalf, or getting up on my high horse, for being of that view though.

I take exception to the "you joke about everything or you joke about nothing" line though as if it's set in stone. Surely that's a matter of opinion?

seamus

I take exception to the "you joke about everything or you joke about nothing" line though as if it's set in stone. Surely that's a matter of opinion?

Taken from a policy point of view though, it can't be a matter of opinion. The basis of it is that if you decide that one thing is specifically not OK to joke about, then there's no reason why you can't use the same logic to effectively prevent people from joking about *anything*

So in order to allow people the freedom to make even the least offensive of jokes, you have to allow scope for them to make ridiculously offensive jokes.

In fact, it's because offensiveness is a matter of opinion, that it's not OK to put a blanket bans on jokes about a specific topic. Because what you think is offensive, I may not think is offensive. And just because you're offended, that doesn't somehow provide additional weight to your opinion.

However because we live in a society where we all need to get along, and in some circumstances a joke can end up actually causing emotional distress, you need to apply some standards to the tone of conversation. This however can really only be applied on a case-by-case basis, and the extreme subjectivity of the matter means that a judgement in once instance does not set a precedent for all future instances.

Ludo

It is all about common decency really. People posting in the internet should act/behave with the same manners and have the same respect for others as they do in real life. i.e. think about whether you would pass a comment like this in public in real life. If the answer is no, then why post it online?

People just trot out the old line about "if you can't handle it, then the internet isn't the place for you". Well IMHO that is a cop out for people with no sense of common decency.

Of course this ideal world doesn't exist so on we go with discussions about what is acceptable on boards.ie...

4zn76tysfajdxp

Dudess wrote: »

That "Either everything can be laughed at or nothing can be laughed at" line is a load of bollocks and I'm sick of people on Boards saying it's unreasonable for people to find some stuff funny and other stuff not funny.

That's not the original sentiment though. It's to do with your rights more so than your sense of humour.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is a serious retard becuase that implies that everyone has to have the same sense of humour when it clearly expresses the opposite. So there.

asdasd

Is it some sort of mathematical, logical conclusion or something? "You joked about football fans, therefore it's not out of bounds for you to joke about children being gang-raped"?

I think the Soutpark dude was engaging in the slippery slope logical fallacy.

As is Seamus.

seamus

Actually, that's not what I'm engaging in at all. Indeed, the "slippery slope" ideal falls down because it attempts to make long-term causal predictions without any qualitative evidence. It is however, not a fallacy to make short-term causal predictions where experience has shown us how things are likely to pan out.

Experience tells us that people who feel offended, feel as though their opinions carry more weight (naturally) and therefore by appeasing them, you justify that feeling and you will encourage more people to try for their particular grievance. Now, people only tend to get uptight about a particular set of issues, but my primary concern is that ringfencing a certain number of topics and saying, "These aren't OK, but everything else is", creates an inconsistent environment and simply causes people to feel like they're actively being censored for no good reason.

The basic fact is that offesiveness is overall a subjective topic, and I don't agree that anything should be outlawed purely on the basis of offensiveness.

Terry

Ok, here's the deal.
In AH there is a line, but the problem is that the line is blurred.

There is no way of unblurring the line without banning all jokes.

It's basically a judgement call on the part of the users who make these jokes, the users who find them offensive and the AH mods who basically have to make the final decision.

What I find funny or offensive is not always the same as the other AH mods. We don't all view things in the same way and we never will.
There is no way of finding a group of people who think the exact same on all things.

The comment which started this thread was viewed as a throw-away comment by me. I have no idea what the other mods thought of it.

If one of them were to delete it, I wouldn't object, but I won't be deleting it myself.

There's no clear-cut right or wrong when it comes to certain things.

I don't want to see AH turn into /b/, but I also don't want to see it turn into some sanitised and watered down thing that wouldn't seem out of place on American TV.

You have to take the good with the bad and sometimes that means biting your tongue and getting on with things.
By all means, if you are offended I/we urge you to report posts. They will be looked into. We do not ignore reported posts and your view will be taken into great consideration when we look at it.

themadchef

Some people find Black, murder, handicapped, suicide, jew, fat, ugly, Yore ma (in the case where people have a ma has actually died) jokes offensive. There's a whole load of things people can take offense to.

I think if someone is advocating or promoting a particular crime then infract/ban them. But i don't think joking about a serious a subject as rape should be off limits. If you make a rule for one you have to make a rule for all.

As a woman, i don't feel AH is anti woman. That is my opinion.
I don't want a Politically correct AH.

AckwelFoley

Ironically, i tend to veer away from commenting on rape threads in AH, i could spit my food up laughing at some comments and others perhaps yes, its clear they are just not funny. A very close friend was raped a few years ago (not by me), will i avoid finding a dark humour in some of the comments? Unlikely. Ive attempted suicide and spent time in the nut house - but will find humour in it, its my way of dealing with the hand i was dealt. I appreciate and i am mindful that i may be somewhat unique on this, but i think the comments by seamus and terry cover my feelings on moderation.

Silverfish

onewoman wrote: »

Why are misogynistic jokes in the above thread going completely unmoderated?

A vicious racist remark early in the thread led to an instant band, but several misogynistic comments have apparently not led to any bans. Is it boards' policy to tolerate offensive comments about some sections of society but not about others? Why the hypocrisy?

The anti-women comments create an exclusionary and threatening atmosphere in a forum that's meant to be open to everyone to enjoy.

Can I just say, fair play to you for starting this.

But you won't be heard. You'll be jeered at, joked about, have eyes rolled at you, and have lectures thrown at you.
You'll spot the difference in the genders of the people doing this too.

Here's my advice.

You might want to just stay out of AH, Motors, PI, and probably some more forums. Its simpler and easier.

You'll be told (and I will be) that this isn't the case, sure its only a joke, can you not take a joke love, ahaha, do you hear her now, ahaha, stupid woman....

... you know, the stuff we've been hearing all our lives from blokes who know they're not quite in the right.

Dudess

+1
It gets my goat the way it appears to be taken as red that you're an awful sanctimonious, holier-than-thou killjoy if you object to rape jokes. But that attitude is hugely prevalent, and... I wouldn't say "fostered" but certainly there's complacency.
Good example: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055296360

Earthhorse

Terry wrote: »

It's basically a judgement call on the part of the users who make these jokes, the users who find them offensive and the AH mods who basically have to make the final decision.

Do you think that when someone is posting a "joke" about a subject such as rape there should be an onus on them to ensure the joke contains some substance? Some degree of wit or insight? Some clue that they have put effort into their post and not just gone for a crude and lazy gag?

Is that too blurred a line to draw?

Nevyn

Terry wrote: »

By all means, if you are offended I/we urge you to report posts. They will be looked into. We do not ignore reported posts and your view will be taken into great consideration when we look at it.

Thank you for stating this Terry cos I was getting pms from people who were
offended and were asking would reporting it make a difference.

Rev Hellfire

Earthhorse wrote: »

Do you think that when someone is posting a "joke" about a subject such as rape there should be an onus on them to ensure the joke contains some substance? Some degree of wit or insight? Some clue that they have put effort into their post and not just gone for a crude and lazy gag?

Is that too blurred a line to draw?

Totally agree, while I'd agree with the premise that nothing should be granted an 'untouchable' status.
There's a world of a difference between satire/jokes on a confrontational topic compared to the same served up at the expense of the victims, common decency you would hope allows people to see that.

cornbb

Earthhorse wrote: »

Do you think that when someone is posting a "joke" about a subject such as rape there should be an onus on them to ensure the joke contains some substance? Some degree of wit or insight? Some clue that they have put effort into their post and not just gone for a crude and lazy gag?

Is that too blurred a line to draw?

In fairness to Terry, he has shown examples of where he has asked people to cut out the rape jokes in the past. After Hours is full of gags, whether they are "crude and lazy" is the opinion of the person reading them. Asking the mods to deny/allow jokes based on their level of insight/funnyness is a bit of a tall order. If they were to clamp down heavily on jokes that are perceived by some to be tasteless there wouldn't be much of a forum left.

FWIW I'm not a fan of the ole rape jokes either, along with many other opinions held in AH, in these cases I just go and read another forum.

Terry

Silverfish wrote: »

Can I just say, fair play to you for starting this.

But you won't be heard. You'll be jeered at, joked about, have eyes rolled at you, and have lectures thrown at you.
You'll spot the difference in the genders of the people doing this too.

Here's my advice.

You might want to just stay out of AH, Motors, PI, and probably some more forums. Its simpler and easier.

You'll be told (and I will be) that this isn't the case, sure its only a joke, can you not take a joke love, ahaha, do you hear her now, ahaha, stupid woman....

... you know, the stuff we've been hearing all our lives from blokes who know they're not quite in the right.

Nobody has been jeered here.
Two AH mods have posted here and given their opinions on the matter.
We have listened to this complaint.

Earthhorse wrote: »

Do you think that when someone is posting a "joke" about a subject such as rape there should be an onus on them to ensure the joke contains some substance? Some degree of wit or insight? Some clue that they have put effort into their post and not just gone for a crude and lazy gag?

Is that too blurred a line to draw?

It's After Hours.
You would have a better chance of someone writing the world's greatest novel and posting it there than reading a rape joke with a tiny degree of insight.

Most rape jokes go unreported. Christ, I'm writing this and the first thing that comes into my head is that someone will then go on a rant about how rapes go unreported and throw this whole thing off on a tangent. That's not what I'm getting at here.

My point is that more and more of late, AH has turned into /b/-lite.
I don't like the direction it has taken and I'm trying to keep that type of crap out of it.
I'm only one man though.
If people repot posts, then we can act on them.
We can't read every post on that forum.
I could sit at the computer all day and still miss one or two posts. There is just far too much traffic for anyone to keep up with.
That's one of hte reasons for the reported posts system. (note to self. Log into msn messenger to get reported posts notifications).

Then you have all the posts that are deleted without anyone saying 'hey, I've deleted a post which had a rape joke in it. I'm just posting here to let you know.'
That would be pointless.

Dudess, you were an AH mod. You know exactly how that forum functions and how difficult it is to draw a line.
Difficult is too soft a word. It's actually impossible to draw a line.
It's a general discussion forum. There are very limited boundaries on what can and cannot be posted there and we cannot go into people houses/ places of work/ schools/ colleges etc. and tell them what not to post. All we can do is look at the posts, try to see them in the context they were posted in and act according to our own definitions of what is acceptable.

We will never allow a specific rape joke thread. They have cropped up in the past and were promptly dealt with. In much the same way, we will never allow a thread with jokes about Jews, Blacks, Asians or anything else like it.

However, we cannot monitor every single post.
We're not machines. We are human and use human judgement to decide on what is and what is not acceptable. It's a system which has flaws and those flaws cannot be fixed.

We could go the road of filtering out the word "rape", but that would only serve to stifle reasoned discussion on the subject.

If anyone has any way of working around the current system, then by all means I urge you to speak up.
If you don't think the current mods are up to the job, then speak up.

This may come across as a bit condescending, but that's not at all how it is meant.
I'm genuinely looking for ways around this.

Silverfish has suggested not reading AH, but I see that as being as bad as the removal of all jokes from there. It's basically self censorship.
Besides, if everyone who finds something offensive in AH was to stop reading it, there would be nobody left to report posts or to even make posts in order for them to be reported.

Bob the Builder

Ponster wrote: »

Bob you can't honestly believe that reacting against rape jokes is being politically correct ??

I for one didn't bother to report the thread as I didn't bother to read it. The "Swallow it, bitch" pool in feedback went to prove that I was in the minority in not liking these type of posts.

No, the jokes referenced to from this thread were just sick. There was no PC hat, just how people interpreted them - and that was for the negative.

But I often see comments about how AH is a bad place and the "Swalllow bítch" thread been one of them, and the mods are often criticised for making certain decisions. When I made that post last night, I was talking about AH in general, and I should have made that clear.

Silverfish

Terry wrote: »

Nobody has been jeered here.
Two AH mods have posted here and given their opinions on the matter.
We have listened to this complaint.


.

I mean in general, by other posters, every time a subject like this comes up.

And don't say it doesn't happen, I can link you several threads off the top of my head.

Bob the Builder

Just putting this out here, but are people trying to be witty, sharp and funny by throwing out one-liners that are stupidly bad, in an attempt to get Thanks?

(in my experience anyway)

Kold

Racism is not the same as misogyny. Like.. at all really.

You say the posts were sick and hateful. I say that they were just poor attempts at humour. If there was a funny rape joke (The first buttrape one made me smirk) then I'd be more for backing this up. This is the internet, welcome. Unfortunately people will have different views to you. Some people are racists, some people are misogynists, some people want drugs to be legalised, some people believe in the death penalty. Now argue your point without the holier than thou "It's wrong!" or gtfo.

Terry

Silverfish wrote: »

I mean in general, by other posters, every time a subject like this comes up.

And don't say it doesn't happen, I can link you several threads off the top of my head.

Sorry, you're right on that one.
Here's hoping for no lolcats in this thread.

Bob the Builder wrote: »

Just putting this out here, but are people trying to be witty, sharp and funny by throwing out one-liners that are stupidly bad, in an attempt to get Thanks?

(in my experience anyway)

I'm finding that to be the case more and more.

Earthhorse

Terry wrote: »

My point is that more and more of late, AH has turned into /b/-lite.

The tipping point has been reached. You can't undo it by applying the same policies of old.

Terry wrote: »

If people repot posts, then we can act on them.
We can't read every post on that forum.

Wasn't the post reported in this case though? OP says it was anyway.

Terry wrote: »

It's actually impossible to draw a line.

It's a general discussion forum. There are very limited boundaries on what can and cannot be posted there and we cannot go into people houses/ places of work/ schools/ colleges etc. and tell them what not to post.

No, but you can change those limits and boundaries. It's not impossible to draw a line (otherwise no one would ever cross it and everything would be okay).

Terry wrote: »

If you don't think the current mods are up to the job, then speak up.

It's not that, but the current mods do appear to be unwilling to try anything other than what they have in the past. I accept there are reasons for that (you don't want to create more work, kill the fun in AH) etc. but it's the unwillingness to try anything different that means these threads will continue to crop up.

Kold

So what? The more complaints they get, it means that they need to change? I think the real problem with AH at the moment is that too many people are trying to be funny when they're not. So let's not have a ban anyone who dare utters a tongue in cheek comment but ban people who continually just try and fail in order to be a cool AH'er. The yorema ban seems like a better place to start.