To the family of Michael Brown and Darren Wilson, my wish is that regardless of the situation, in the coming months and years, you are all able to reach some state of peace. My hope is that the members of the community, regardless of your position, can maintain enough discipline to restrain yourselves from introducing more violence and hate. My condolences.

That's a good and reasoned question. I speculate that he knows no other way. He has for so long been in ballistic mode that it has now become natural and provides the path of least resistance. I watched his speech last night and I couldn't help but reach the conclusion that he was out of his depth. Although he fails at speaking extemporaneously, he is normally fairly good at delivering his messages when properly prepared. Last night was as controlled a situation as he is likely to find and his delivery, pacing, tonal quality and lack of any deference spoke to me about a man at the end of his limits.

I've always believed him to be a pretty darn good grifter but he let himself literally get carried away by the overwhelming and indomitable forces of Hollywood and Beltway exuberance.

I think he ran for president for the same reason anyone interested in power and influence would, because he craves power and influence. What he does not seem willing to acknowledge is the responsibility part. He rebounds from adviser to adviser telling him what to think and say and because of his lack of experience and talent he just does what he's told because he believes it keeps him in power and grants him influence.

I would venture that the vast majority of his "policies" and ideas are simple gleanings from overheard conversations at Hollywood cocktail parties. He has the depth of character one would expect from excessive education paired with inadequate intelligence. When people say he is a stuffed suit, that's in part because of what they observe and in part what they hear him say. It doesn't have anything to do with the color of his skin but entirely with the content of his character; a character that is woefully lacking and ill suited to the task.

To dismiss reservations about him with a simple "various nutballs like yourself" is to reduce the weight of your own argument in opposition. When you disregard the opinion of others in such a way, you lower the threshold for your argument and make your job easier. So, make an effort.

I agree. However, the same thing could be accomplished with a simple SQL script to null the fields containing personally identifying information in each record.

Not a conspiracy nut here but I do suspect there are additional motives for purging the data outside of a purely altruistic one.

I'll sacrifice some karma just to ask you to please stop.

And no, I'm not a sock puppet either.

Don't worry, I get your poetry, you just aren't very good at it.

If that has to be explained to you, then your are likely one of the demographics they are interested in for "random selection"

I agree, but I think they may be taking this into account. For one, having a detailed mapping of somewhat technically engaged populace gives them just a little more information in regards to determining what segments of the population to randomly select for enhanced census. I know they are supposed to try to hit everyone but with just the right emphasis on how hard to try in certain areas, the results can be skewed enough to matter.

Take the extreme positions out of the argument and both of you start making sense.

No, not all speed zone decisions are made based entirely or even in part on revenue generation possibilities.

No, not all speed zone decisions are made based entirely or even in part on traffic safety considerations.

The problem then becomes, as a driver, which are which? How do I know? How can I find out?

So, I use a radar detector in my daily drive to and from work. Ordinarily, I drive the same speed as everyone else but if I'm the only one on the road, I drive the speed limit. I believe this type of behavior is both civil and safe. And if you don't like the way I drive, you are free to slow the fuck down or speed the fuck up.