This question is directed to the mods and Admins (and, of course, to the Perfect Master himself, should he elect to answer Himself):
Is Cecil ever consulted when it comes time to decide to ban a poster?
I’m fairly sure of the answer but…who knows?
Oh, I’m sure he is. 
I’ll bet he isn’t.
Call me naive. I like to think that Cecil has a hand on the pulse of this board and its inhabitants at all times. In a way, we are his nephews and nieces.
So you think he’s NEVER consulted when a poster is banned? Not even when a very popular poster or a former moderator is banned?
I rather like to think that we are pissants and uncles to the mighty Cecil.
Why would he busy himself with mundane things like who gets banned? He has a life, unlike most of us. 
That’s true… I imagine he sits in his penthouse suite atop the mighty Chicago Reader corporate office building, shooing off all the people who dare approach him for advice on running that pitiful message board downstairs.
What was I thinking. 
If you ever bothered to buy any of Cecil’s books and read them, you’d remember that he is ONE MERCENARY SUMBITCH!
He constantly reminds us that he’s underpaid. He constantly mentions that a bribe won’t be turned down.
So WHY would he bother to work overtime when he ain’t getting paid to fret over who gets booted?
They may reclassify him and say that he’s administration. Then they can work his ass of without extra pay. This wouldn’t be a good idea. He’s mean enough already. Don’t push it.
Hmmmm… Maybe I could pay him to boot someone.
Be careful what you pray for,…
Cecil doesn’t pay lots of attention to these boards or to the website. We’re lucky if Cecil posts every couple of weeks.
Ed Zotti is the one who deals with the boards, and all activities related thereto.
The decision-making process for bannings varies. I mean, we get some jerk making his first ten posts, all identical, trying to sell hair tonic… we don’t need to bother Ed with that one. We don’t even need to consult with each other. Whichever moderator finds it, bans it. No big deal.
As the decision becomes less clear, we often debate and discuss amongst ourselves. Ed does sometimes get involved in some of the more controversial bannings.
Cecil himself answered a simple prayer earlier today. He actually took time out of his vacation to let us know that HE is listening.
“Cecil doesn’t pay lots of attention to these boards or to the website. We’re lucky if Cecil posts every couple of weeks.”
Every couple of weeks?!? The guy registered on March 10th 1999 and has a grand total of 124 posts under his belt. Why, he’s practically a Newbie. Am I missing something here?
“Cecil himself answered a simple prayer earlier today.”
You little @%^)!&. Barely a year old and he/she gets a post from the Perfect Master. How long do you intend to flaunt this to our collective faces, huh? :mad:
I was under the impression that moderators cannot ban; only administrators can. Is this true?
Well, a goodly number of moderators are admins (TubaDiva, Lynn Bodoni, C K Dexter Haven, Noodles, and Gaudere), and they can all ban. And there’s usually one of them online at any given time, so if another mod sees something egregious, it just takes a quick note to an admin to get things taken care of.
AND just who the hell are you calling a he-she?
I’ve been one gender (male) all of my life and I don’t wear womens clothes either.
not that there’s anything wrong with that
Sounds like someone’s a little bit jealous doesn’t it. I doubt if the Master would approve of such ignorance. Beware lest he smite you down as well.
I don’t think spreading Cecil’s word among his followers is flaunting, is it? Besides it’s only been a day!
I was also under that impression too. But a few days ago, MEBuckner seems to have done just that (to me at least…)
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=201894
But there might have been an Admin hanging around nearby.
Um . . . who’s Noodles?
Ah, I see the discrepancy. I always thought of moderators as moderators and administrators as administrators, not administrators as moderator/administrators. If that makes sense.
omni-not, his post there doesn’t state he banned anyone; if I had to guess, I say you’re right on the mark when you suggest that an admin was right around. Most likely the admin was asked by MEB what to do, and the response was to close the thread and advise the OP accordingly.
[Noodles is Arnold.]