I come from a different background than most here, so I will admit that my filters as to when to shut down a thread are always way behind the other moderators (were punches being thrown? Naw, it's not a fight....carry on the "spirited" discussion) I am usually Thor's Hammer when it comes to Trolls -- ahead of the crowd.

I admit that I am taking away a lot of great info (I have looked up many of the $$$ comments & have used the results in further discussions)The queries listed in your post are excellent -- ones that I had not even pondered, yet. Everyone's post reveals yet another layer of the onion (aside from the sniping, which I find distracting)

In the past, I have participated with mass inundations of letters to congress, marches on the state buildings, & I vote, vote, vote. Perhaps I am paranoid....correct: I AM paranoid that someday the population will become disinterested and complascent, and things will get a whole lot worse. I don't want to be the one who shuts down a conversation about the future of the country.

The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.