Safe Speed Forums

I'll give you that one, Basingwerk. You're one of a kind when it comes to obfuscation.

“Basingwerk” is becoming a bit of a millstone now, but it is not just
about obfuscation. I departed from basingwerk quite while back,
when his purpose became to show what it is like to deal with a
willful, chaotic person who does not “play ball”, “get with the
programme” or “obey rules”. Basingwerk is supposed to be a bit
like the motorists who see no need to make the slightest effort to
obey the limit. Like them, Basingwerk also sees no need to make
the slightest effort to obey. In that way, I hoped he could show what
it is like to be on the receiving end of inconsiderate activity.

In a sense, basingwerk's tricks are an analogy to people who make
up their own rules on the fly, such as their own maximum speed
limit, or whether they need insurance or not. “Basingwerk” obeys
his own rules for communicating, and he can be bloody annoying to
other users, much like a gross speeder is annoying to village
residents. But the barbs he gets in reply sometimes penetrate me
behind him, which is getting to be a pest! Although I don't share all
of his views, or even most of them, I have tried to keep him on an
even keel logically, and I have allowed him to appear to generate
novel ideas that challenge the status quo – in that sense, I hope he
has been an amusement and a distraction from the grind of daily
life.

I have provided him with a central message that I do believe, i.e.
that speed limits are generally a good thing and generally should
be obeyed. I suppose his saving grace is that his handiwork
consists merely of words, rather than the dangerous,
physical delinquencies that he condemns.

Perhaps I'll retire him soon, because he is doing more harm than
good. But then I'll have no mouthpiece for preaching my message
to drivers old and young – that gross and habitual speeding is a
chump's game.

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I stole this .sig

That's quite a "legend", though it does rather smack of being constructed after the fact, so to speak, my twisty, turny friend...


See, when you wrap the concept in generalities it suddenly becomes a lot more reasonable, doesn't it? I'm sure that most people on here wouldn't have a major problem with that, in fact I would go as far as to say that a core belief of the SafeSpeed philosophy is that speed limits are generally a good thing, and generally should be obeyed, if we interpret "generally" to mean something along the lines of "within reason".

No, it's only when you take this idea to an extreme of strict observance, as Basingwerk has done, and as the scamerati do, that it becomes unreasonable. In this sense Basingwerk is perhaps a good analogy for what happens when you take a logical concept to it's wholly unworkable extremes.


You could always come out from behind the facade, in a sort of Wizard of Oz style denouement...

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

Haven't you noticed that we're involved in something serious and important here? It isn't a game. It's life and death.



And do you purport to suggest that that's fundamentally or significantly different from 'our' message?



You could post honestly. If you don't wish to do that then we will have to part company because you are in conflict with forum rule 6 which states:

6. "Trolling" is strongly discouraged. (Trolling is defined as making a post with the intention of provoking conflict, or making a post founded on false opinions intended to provoke pointless discussion.) Posters who "troll" consistently will be placed on "Troll Alert" status. If they continue to troll consistently they will be banned.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

The few times i have chipped in on basingwerk it is to say that he is a timewaster and as such does a better job than anyone outside Govt in perpetuating the scameraships.

To him it was a game, for the folk who lost nearest and dearest because of the miss-applied road safety policies it is more serious.

How anyone can treat it as a game is beyond my understanding, but then I dont understand people who kill either.

The Gross speeder may be a menace, what about the net speeder?

It's hard to know how to respond to your confession, basingwerk (or whatever/whoever the real 'you' is).

As I have said before, it's alway been clear that you/basingwerk have the intellectual horsepower to make a significant contribution to the matters we have debated but, from what you say, it also becomes clear that you/your creation has chosen to pursue style(s) and line(s) of argument as much for your own amusement as with the intention of persuading others or to enhance the debate.

I don't know whether you're satisfied with your "handiwork"; I can't help thinking that your ability, and the resources you have put into creating and sustaining basingwerk (like the resources that have been put into creating and sustaining the system of indiscriminate speed enforcement), could have been used to far better effect.

BW, does that mean you're going to stop hijacking threads and instead use your obvious intelligence to contribute constructively to the debate?

Or is this your way of saying, "goodbye, I'm now bored with you lot so I'm off to fresh pastures"?

Cheers
Peter

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Only when ideology, prejudice and dogma are set aside does the truth emerge - Kepler