You think that the Secret Service is too dumb to discern context...that they can't read posts like the rest of us? That may tick them off.

You got to remember the way Carnivore and other data retrieval systems work it's not
like some operator suddenly sees this:

Bush die bush Die Tom -----

No, the whole file (in this case a post) in it entire context is available and if they so choose to investigate will observe a thread or even a particular site if they believe that someone represents a credible threat. Your political commentary will only serve to amuse them rather than send out the local SS branch investigative team to your doorstep.

I assure you they have their hands busy with the busier of the anti-Bush sites out there that may generate hundreds of flags per week as well as monitoring international e-mails

The software is even more complicated than that and typically is capable of self-scanning and discarding strings which are non-threatening.

As for preservation of threads, it follows in line with much of what Mary Anne is doing on the Space Board - remind folks that this stuff is read by others and that their interpretation and impression of us is often only through our posts. It is for this reason and others that I avoid profanity in posts as much as possible and keep a level of docorum suited to public discourse.

Robert's efforts at preserving these threads and posts is very important - for someday they will exist in both book form and digitally preserved in the Library of Congress. The debates here are of a general quality to act as valuable insight on both space exploration and perhaps even moreso - global politics.

Police state is always existent to some degree and its intensity rises and declines, but our society is willing to risk life and limb to preserve liberty. In recent years the changes have primarily been aimed at tightening our borders and giving the government tools to expedite the proscution of terrorists and collect information in a more timely manner.

The thoughts of mankind are eternal. HZ is not so much narcisstic as it is aware of the value of the thoughts and how they can serve to speed up human evolution and understanding by the rapid dissemination of understanding on the variety of issues the world faces at this moment in time. We all have learned so much by being here that we understand that others even reading these posts in the future, will also benefit.

Great correspondence in the olden days of paper and letters was preserved. This correspondence may be digital but it deserves no less preservation. And as this community ages with a core group of posters, the depths of its debates and the familiarity a reader will develop with the various posters is increased dramatically.

The HZ Debates on CD-rom - use the search feature to rapidly access debates on a myriad of topics!

Laugh, learn, shed tears and be infuriated right along with the whole Habitable Zone!

;-)

SDAI-Tech1