Those who have ears to hear, let them hear (Mark 4:9).

Typically, "semantic" is contractor-ese for "deeply bogus shit dreamed up by Marketing," and the multibillion sale from the black budget is closed by contractors from Shirlington Limo, but with enough budget, smart, conscience-free people, and concern...

... there might be something in it. Certainly the technical challenges of "semantic analysis" are awesome and extremely interesting, and smart people tend to gravitate toward hard problems like that.

NOTE The site at #1 is interesting too, for those who like that sort of thing. Lots of documents.

NOTE Compare the discussion of "few people" here. It's clear that the issue isn't that the data is being captured; that's what the NARUS machine in AT&Ts secret room is for. So, the use that's made of the data depends not on "political will"--since the program exists outside any legal framework other than a lettre de cachet from some lawyer in Cheney's basement--but on the technical capabilities of the "semantic analyzer." I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords...