Fact is, the alt.suicide.holiday newsgroup *is* monitored, which is why anyone planning to kill him/herself would do well to *not* be specific about the time and place of intended departure. Some folks see such information as an open invitation to send the whitecoats to pay a visit to you. Shiny-happy posters could be part of a similar, um, network, but from what I've seen I'm more inclined to the theory of psycho-social osmosis. The theory is similar to that of chemiosmosis, except instead of dealing with various ions in solution we're dealing with various personality types who suppose they are dealing in solutions. Until the perfect, semipermeable membrane (read that newsfilter) can be created, they're always going to be popping in here. That they do seem to follow in close succession is interesting, though...

-euclid k.

Last update: Wednesday, April 14, 1999 22:42