i've written about this before

and i'll continue to write about it.

i have been fingerprinted for work. they're on file somewhere (as a matter of fact, i was fingerprinted in kindergarten. i don't know why. we're talking WAYYYYYYYYYYYY back in the day. there were NO amber alerts. it wasn't for that reason. odd, no?). there was a reason i was fingerprinted for work (i used to sign checks. BIG checks. that was my OLD department. i don't sign checks now). i consented. i KNOW about it.

i'm a law abiding citizen. i pay my taxes (and i really don't cheat). i don't steal. i don't own a gun nor do i want to. i don't beat any one up (although i must admit the thought has crossed my mind from time to time). i don't play loud music in my house OR my car (sometimes i do crank it up but never where anyone can be annoyed by it). i come to a full stop at stop signs (yes, even at 3 am when i am usually leaving for work). i drive the speed limit (well, ok, i TRY to drive the speed limit). i am polite and i MEAN it. i say excuse me (which, i think is something LACKING in our country. not enough say EXCUSE ME. that is a whole other story) and please and thank you. i hold the door for the person in back of me (ah, we relocated to our new building for work. we have wickedly high tech revolving doors at a couple of the entrances. i'll talk about them sometime too). i apologize if i accidentally let a door close on someone or cut across their path or whatever.

i am NOT a criminal. i am NOT a terrorist. i do NOT want secret organizations in the united states having a pattern of how i walk or knowing who i email or talk to on the phone (that's easy - not too many people i HATE HATE HATE the phone). i don't want to be spied on by my OWN country.

FBI Prepares Vast Database Of Biometrics
$1 Billion Project to Include Images of Irises and Faces

By Ellen Nakashima Washington Post Staff Writer
CLARKSBURG, W. Va. -- The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.
Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law. ........