Quick question...

So, who actually has the authority to greenlight new moderators? Is it just the mods or the senior staff, or is this strictly an admin thing?

So, you want to be a moderator too? 🙂

If you're talking about the actual technical side of approving things—you know, like when a name changes from blue to black—that's strictly in the hands of the admins.

As for how one actually becomes a mod... link

Who actually holds the moderators accountable here? Seriously. This is the second time I’ve had to walk away from a discussion because of one specific moderator who seems to think they can say whatever random nonsense pops into their head, all while turning around and banning me for doing the exact same thing. They’re tossing out these "subtle" insults regarding someone's background and education left and right—it's blatant disrespect toward other users, if you ask me. I'm not suggesting there's some massive conspiracy going on, but I really thought the moderation team here would be more open-minded. Well, I guess you live and learn!