Complete Sets

So, way back in 2010, the census came around, and I filled out my form and mailed it off, and that was that. My neighbor did not. I know that, because five years later, halfway to the next iteration, the census taker still drops by every so often to tape a request to his door. It's a magnificent display of doggedness, I'll give them that. I'm tempted to fill it out and mail it on his behalf, just to give the census people peace of mind, but on the other hoof, since they're that obviously fanatical about the completeness of their data, I'd feel guilty for compromising their pool.

*****

They're apparently counting the number of dead in the GermanWings crash by how many distinct samples of DNA they have. That really brings home the violence of the impact.