# Old timers: Tell me about the Great Banning... **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 13, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269 "2013-12-13T20:39:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/21 "2013-12-14T00:23:49Z")
I think the Marleygeddon should be referred to with a certain sense of reverence and mystery. Sort of like “The Noodle Incident”. Hey, maybe we could call it “Marley’s Noodle”? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/22 "2013-12-14T00:37:37Z")
Meanwhile Moderator Hal Briston is saying, “Sure, ban the entire membership and a couple years later nobody remembers you did it. But leave your computer logged on at work just once and you’re marked forever.” ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/23 "2013-12-14T00:43:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Meanwhile Moderator Hal Briston is saying, “Sure, ban the entire membership and a couple years later nobody remembers you did it. But leave your computer logged on at work just once and you’re marked forever.” When I see Hal post, I still hear a baa baaaa baa in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/24 "2013-12-14T02:38:37Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I think the Marleygeddon should be referred to with a certain sense of reverence and mystery. Sort of like “The Noodle Incident”. > > Hey, maybe we could call it “Marley’s Noodle”? As tired as I am of everything using this, it could always be Marleygate. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/25 "2013-12-14T02:55:38Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > As tired as I am of everything using this, it could always be Marleygate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/26 "2013-12-14T03:50:46Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > From the thread cited above, according to Marley, “we” were still “looking into it.” And somebody named Jerry was called out. Who was he? What did he do, supposedly? Aw c’mon you know who Jerry is. Remember all the trouble this board was having several months ago, with pages and pages of complaints in ATMB about board performance? And then how they took the whole board down (piecewise) for several days while the entire body of SDMB posts was laboriously re-typed by hand to re-build the board? That was Jerry doing all that. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/27 "2013-12-14T04:03:31Z")
I remember one day when everyone was banned, but I don’t think I knew Marley was the culprit. When I saw this thread I thought it was going to be about the period when Ed Zotti decided to actively participate on boards, with one finger on the ban button. Ed doesn’t take the same lip the mods do. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/28 "2013-12-14T06:19:15Z")
One time, in banned camp… ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/29 "2013-12-14T14:06:57Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I had a twitchy co-worker like that once: > > Twitchy COW: “What’s the big red button on the side of the panel?” > > **Sane COW** : “That is the emergency shutdown.” > > Twitchy COW: “Does it work?” > > **Sane COW** : “Presumably. I think it gets tested when…” > Twitchy COW: _Pushes Button_ - bells and whistles sound, mass chaos ensues. > > **Sane COW** : “WTF!” > > Twitchy COW: “I was just curious if it worked.” Been there, did that! :smack: I was the foreman on a remodel of a Safeway grocery store in Lake Charles, La. back in the early 80’s. It was a 100% remodel that was done while the store was still in operation. Everything was brand new… including the ginormous switch panel that provided power to the entire store. There was a small button with a little orange light next to it, the button said ‘Test’. The little light wasn’t lit up so I assumed that the button tested the light. It tested the light alright… meaning that when I pushed the button, the main breaker went _ **CLUNK!** _ and the _ **ENTIRE** _ store suddenly went dark! :eek: Well, not the entire store… The little light, lit up. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/30 "2013-12-14T14:54:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Meanwhile Moderator Hal Briston is saying, “Sure, ban the entire membership and a couple years later nobody remembers you did it. But leave your computer logged on at work just once and you’re marked forever.” Close…what I was going to say was: > [@Crotalus](#): > > Much ribbing of **Marley** ensued, and continues to this day. Oh, I don’t think he much about it. The SDMB members are pretty quick to let things go. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/31 "2013-12-14T17:43:35Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > The SDMB members are pretty quick to let things go. Ewe know it! ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/32 "2013-12-14T18:18:58Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > It is spoken of here sometimes in hushed tones, or sometimes ruefully, or sometimes with hearty laughter like with happy veterans telling war stories, bonding from shared hardship and survival. > > I’d like to know where/when/what you or your loved ones were doing when you first realized the event occurred and your immediate reactions. Oral history, as it were, now that time has passed. Your first impressions, concerns, fear, maybe panic. > > I would be happy to look up old ABTM posts immediately after the event, but I don’t even its basic chronology. I’m sure they’re quite interesting. > > Eventually all the Survivors of the Great Banning will be gone, leaving nary a sock behind. I am asking out of personal interest, but more importantly, for future generations. The survivors call it Judgment Day. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/33 "2013-12-14T19:05:18Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Meanwhile Moderator Hal Briston is saying, “Sure, ban the entire membership and a couple years later nobody remembers you did it. But leave your computer logged on at work just once and you’re marked forever.” See, that’s the fine line between deep shit and sheep dip. 😃 ETA: > [@Becky2844](#): > > One time, in banned camp… Well played, **Becky**. Well played. --Golf Clap– ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/34 "2013-12-14T21:11:36Z")
All I remember is \*\*Marley \*\*asking me to look at some weird flashlight thing… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/35 "2013-12-14T21:17:44Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > All I remember is \*\*Marley \*\*asking me to look at some weird flashlight thing… So The Banning was a cover for _something else._ ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/36 "2013-12-14T21:38:32Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > The survivors call it Judgment Day. No, we call it, “I Love it when a Plan Comes Together.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/37 "2013-12-14T23:24:24Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > And of course, it must have a name. > [What should we call the recent super-ban?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=623616&highlight=23skidoo) There’s that, and there’s this, also from the same day: [I’m Banned! Banned I tell you!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=623367), which has more content of the type I’m looking for in OP. FTR, it appears **Musicat** was first with “banned name.” A document that is hard to find and I’d like to read: a sticky that came and went acknowledging that something a little _different_ had occurred recently. Apparently one (two?) posters thought it was not sufficiently grovelacious enough, and **Marley** was impugned. Also, it shows clearly yet again why **TubaDiva** should be sent chocolate and Scotch, or at least worshipped every now and then. And that this “Jerry” person is connected with the CIA, the Illuminati, and dollars-to-donuts is connected with the Rothschilds. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/38 "2013-12-15T00:01:53Z")
I was so much younger when it happened. It was a more innocent time, and we’ve lost a lot of that innocence since. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/39 "2013-12-15T00:22:17Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I was so much younger when it happened. It was a more innocent time, and we’ve lost a lot of that innocence since. Kind of like in that Rob Reiner classic, " Ban By Me " ? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269/40 "2013-12-15T01:56:54Z")
I’m thinking more of a Spinal Tap drummer. You’ve never heard of spontaneous total message board bannation? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timers-tell-me-about-the-great-banning/676269.md?page=3)