TGIF
Good riddance to a long and miserable week. First swim in over a week today now that the stomach thing seems to have passed. Short but nice at one of the outdoor pools. 
Nice walk on the beach at lunch, reminding myself that winter is just a myth. Thought I’d seen it a few times in DC and Idaho, but now that I’ve been back in California six years, I’ve convinced myself those were just dreams or fairy tales. Like snipes and compassionate conservatives.
Been getting a little distressed about the Bush administration’s subpoena of the Google records. Does anyone else remember when the conservatives believed in personal privacy? Regardless, I don’t know what data Google actually retains, but to help put it in context for the visitors who don’t regularly scan referral logs, we’re going to share data on a recent Bush administration visitor to the Howling Point. At 1:44 p.m. today, someone at an I.P. address of the Bureau of Land Management in Denver, Colorado, on a PC running Windows XP and with their monitor set to 1024 x 768, used Internet Explorer 6.0 to access Google and search for images corresponding to the phrase “middle of no.” We don’t know whether that unique phrase was a typo or not, but somehow I think that defense will become pointless in the administration’s quest to root out child pornography. His or her search results eventually brought him here.
I don’t know what other images or sites were viewed: Google might, his own system admin or ISP might, the NSA probably does. I have to assume Google has at least as much data on its referrals as I receive when they get here, and looking at an entire month’s worth of searches in their entirety is going to give someone an incredible invasive view into the internet habits of the American people. With a bit of simple cross-referencing, the Justice Department wants to make a public record (they are seeking evidence for use in a trial – does anyone really expect it to remain private) of what else the BLM escapist looks for, and how much government time he spends doing it? Glad Google seems to have both the will and the bankroll to do what’s right and fight this nonsense. I know very little I do online is truly private. SBC has access to every unencrypted character, but if ever I hear of them exploiting that knowledge, I have the right to take my business elsewhere (in addition to some possible breach of contract considerations). I just don’t see where the federal government has any business monitoring the internet at this level.
