That's how a few of us find threads for and from our ping lists - ex: MALKIN, PROLIFE, etc. :) It's VERY valuable IMHO!
Perhaps a list of common and accepted key words would be helpful. I wish that abortion and/or pro-life were in the "topic" section to be checked off (although they probably belong under keywords); however, I definitely think that Iraq, Afghanistan and China should be added to the topic section, they seem to be used far more than Japan or Germany. Also, why is "anthrax" still in the topic section (it really hasn't been an issue in almost five years)?