Curious Minds Want To Know

A dozen or so articles have been highly ranked for years by Google's search engine. The Monitor has always appeared near the top of any searches for "COINTELPRO," for example -- we're currently third on the list out of about 88 thousand, and also third among six milion hits on "stress and cancer." These rankings can be wildly misleading, however. A Monitor article comes up as second among 228 thousand results when "how to spy on your neighbors" is entered, and hundreds came to our site in November, discovering a thoughtful 2002 op/ed about the Justice Department. Were they disappointed not to find a do- it- yourself guide to snooping on the Smiths next door? We don't know. And surely there was surprise when someone entered "the day chirst was crucified" (#2 of 1200) and was blessed to read an interview with Michael Moore. Gotta fix that typo. Someday.

Other Google searches intrigue. Someone entered "george bush yes or no" and found a Monitor story that was tenth on a list of about 4,790,000. What in the world was this person hoping to learn about? Another visitor entered the Joycean snippet (with quotes) "if we took the car we" and looked at a murder trial transcript in our archives. And one must respect the stamina of whoever typed "conspiracy theory" into Australian Google and kept plowing onwards until page 28, when they fell upon a Monitor article about the Oklahoma City bombing. Was that really what the person sought, or did the poor soul simply give up in exhaustion?

It's not wise to probe deeply for meaning in these Google entries, which are usually only a very few words -- although that brevity often lends a poetic or zen quality. But following the election, there was a noticeable uptick in visitors worried about the likelihood of a military draft. It was the largest readership surge tied to a single topic that we have witnessed since the terror attacks of 9/11.

SOME SEARCHES RANKED #1 IN GOOGLE bia missing money i don't like dick cheney george w bush cocaine use i resent all of the wild talk comparing bush hitler

SOME SEARCHES RANKED #2 IN GOOGLE dabhol enron rainforest logging indonesia orangutans why george w bush is a good person

ODDS THAT A SEARCH FOR "DEVIL" ALSO INCLUDED "BUSH": 9 in 10

ODDS THAT A SEARCH FOR "DEVIL" ALSO INCLUDED "TUCKER CARLSON": 1 in 10

ODDS THAT AN OCTOBER SEARCH FOR "CANADA" INDICATED A DESIRE TO MOVE THERE : 1 in 8

ODDS THAT A NOVEMBER SEARCH FOR "CANADA" ALSO INCLUDED TERMS SUCH AS FLEE, ASYLUM, OR DRAFT: 4 in 5

INCREASED READERSHIP OF "EXPECT RETURN OF MILITARY DRAFT IF BUSH REELECTED" AFTER THE ELECTION : 1350%

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A sampling of actual text entered into Google that led readers to the Albion Monitor:

coup d'etat en venezuela 2002	why the british failed in iraq
how commercials lie to us	how are oil spills harmful?
why are americans so afraid and angry?	what george w bush has done
the last speech of the presiden bush about terrorism	what does foreign aid mean?
cons of military draft (Google ranking #3 of 110,000)	bush want to go to canada
leave the us canada border	military draft consequences
what happens if you dont want to go to war from the draft	draft bush daughters
bush won fleeing to canada	will you be allowed to go to canada if there's a draft?
are the elves santa's slaves	santa's best disney
whose on the naughty list	not to naughty stores
how save language	highes iq ever recorded
home invasion justifiable homicide	adultery felony idaho
drug deal how to	the basics of shoplifting
open heaven under george w bush	when evil doing comes like falling rain
those who are fit to rule are those who realize there is no morality and that there is only one natural right	once he got started he couldn't didn't shut it off bush's buddy don evans now commerce secretary told the washington post last year he didn't have the discipline
g w bush jr.the dark side	george w bush revelations
president of the no of guyana	big oil leaders
schizophrenia in horses	danger pigs
remove hole on buttocks	sean hannity naked
what important events occurred in the 1920's in canada about a person	ingredients of scandal reporting
do humans exhale water vapor	primatene mist withdrawal symptoms
dinkydonk	okeydokey artichokey
some good news from disney in haiti	cheap chicken coop
george bush when he was a alcoholic	people killed in the fire of a drunk
george bush the 1	george bush too much justice
pictures of people throwing garbage in the park	mcdonald sack
sitting on the sidelines of life	expect return