[dang]

> anything related to these kinds of issues is highly likely to rouse emotions.

You can say that again! And yet the seemingly innocuous mandate of this site—gratification of intellectual curiosity—actually requires us all to work hard at not succumbing to that dynamic. If you think about it (well, when I think about it), two odd things follow from that: (1) this is a rather larger project than it seems; (2) it's actually doable.

[CryptoPunk]

Yes it is doable. I made a mistake in how I dealt with inflammatory comments, in responding in kind instead of reporting it. I wrongly assumed moderation was more lax, and the forum was more of a free-for-all, than they are.