I have subscribed to this website and I paid the required fees. I did it because I wanted to get answers to some questions. I posted the question on the message board, it generated some discussion, but the question remained unanswered. I have written twice to Cecil’s mailbag, but there has been no reply, or perhaps I don’t know where to look for his reply if there has been one. Can anyof those who have been around here for some time and know there way about enlighten me about how to get to “da man”?
Not a chance. this whole thing is pretty much run and maintained by those that enjoy Cecil, and he’s only posted a handful of times, ever.
The deal with the General Questions thread is that, with the immense amount of people, with the broad spectrum of knowledge, that any question that has a true answer can be answered.
What was your question, again?
Did you send him the $100 check? 
I don’t know what your questions are, but there is a good chance that they have been answered in the past either by Cecil or by one of the staff. If so, you won’t get an answer.
I’m sure they receive hundreds of questions per day and it takes time to sort through them all. There must be a fairly large backlog of interesting questions to answer, so if yours merits response, it could take months to see an answer.
Cecil only answers questions if he’s interested in the subject and/or thinks he can make a joke out of it. One surefire way to get him interested in the subject is to write to him c/o the Chicago Reader by snailmail and enclose an attention getter. Some years ago the attention getting device was a twenty dollar bill. Inflation being what it is, I suspect that today a fifty would be more appropriate.
Cecil gets TONS of questions and only answers one or two a week. The Straight Dope Science Advisory Board (SDSAB) members will answer another two or three a week, four if they’re feeling feisty. In any cases, getting an answer from either of these sources will take a couple of weeks, minimum, and is far more likely to take months.
If you have a question that you sincerely want answered, your best bet is to either bribe…er, MOTIVATE Cecil, or make it THE most interesting question he’s come across this week, or hope that it’s in the area of expertise of one or more SDSAB members, or ask it on the message board. I’ve looked up your posts, and your question did indeed get answers from a variety of people, with even more information than you originally asked for.
Buying a controlling interest or the entirety of The Chicago Reader would probably suffice to get your question answered.
FWIW, I actually have more time to answer potential questions, but a very large number of the questions that Cecil throws to us on the Staff are ones that I don’t feel comfortable answering. I really don’t like researching and answering a query that lies outside of some special knowledge or interest I already have, and thus I’ve only done…8 I think, maybe 9, of which 3 have been published, one was a repeat (d’oh), and 1 needs re-writing to shorten it down some. And in some cases, since I’ve tried to much more carefully research articles, if I can’t find enough good sources I have to let the question drop. Sometimes I ask Members of my own Board for pointers too, but often the subject is obscure enough that no one really knows a lot about it.
Ask a technical question about coal and I guarantee it will be answered by someone on the Staff, however. Cecil willing. 
Questions about hummingbirds are also particularly likely to be answered.
See your original thread. I believe I have answered your question. If your question has not been answered correctly please contact one of the admins for a refund of your membership fees, and they will refund the unspent portion of your money.
Hummingbirds in a coal mine?
Oh, wait.
That’s canaries.
[ol]
[li]Purge your mind & spirit by meditating under a freezing cold waterfall.[/li][li]Scourge your body with braided thorn tree branches to purge your soul of pride.[/li][li]Look at a picture of The Golden Girls to purge yourself of lustful thoughts.[/li][li]Purge your wallet by slipping him a $50.[/li][/ol]
I have got “responses” to my questions but not “answers”, and there’s a big difference in that! My initial question was to find out the period in time since entry into Mecca has been prohibited for non Muslims. The responses that were posted dealt with several other related issues like Hajj, Burton etc, but none answered the core question.
Nope. **Astro’**s answer was just what you asked. Read it again. ;j
The question was - “Since when has entry into Mecca and Medina, been prohibited for non Muslims”.
There is no directive justifying this in either the Koran or the Hadiths/Sunnas of Muhammed, the two most important foundations of the religion of Islam. Although it is said that no religion other than Islam shall exist in the Arabian peninsula, which is why the practice of any other religion in Saudi Arabia is not permitted, my question is more concerned with the prohibition applied to non Muslims from visiting Mecca. I know about Hajj, and I know about the book by Burton and I am aware of all the information contained in the responses my earlier thread evoked. I just want to know how long has this prohibition to visit Mecca/Medina been in effect? Who promulgated it, on what grounds and more importantly when?
I did read it, and again. Astro’s reply talks about the idolaters being prohibited from performing “pilgrimage”. My question was about the prohibition from even visiting Mecca. Nobody other than a Muslim can even enter Mecca or even Medina, at any time of the year( times of the year other than the Hajj), even he were not on a pilgrimage and the latter city (Medina) is not a part of the “Proclamation” that Astro has quoted either.
Ah. My bad. You are correct. (Big surprise there, as it was your question!)
This answer is related to my earlier answer and I think should answer our question.
Thank you very much Astro for the link but I am still not fully clear on the issue. On the link, in answering the question, Justice Maulana Muhammad Taqi Usmani has only put forward the three interpretations of the Sura. Anyways, for the purpose of my understanding I will assume that entry to Mecca got prohibited in the 9th year of the Hijr. I think this is as close as we can get to a definitive estimate.
Thanks again.