If you are as outraged as I am over the state of our country (and a U.S. Citizen), I urge you to go check out saazsea right now.

She is well informed and just as concerned about the direction our country is heading, and is doing something about it. You can too. Just take a couple minutes out of your time each week to read her journal and email congress to let them know what you want. You can make a difference.

Don't let the Bush Administration continue to destroy our constitution in the name of Big Oil and Profit. Don't let corporations take away our freedoms so they can line their pockets with more of your hard earned money. It's time to take a stand.

1 question...
1 chance...
1 honest answer...
That's all you get...

Ask me 1 question.
Any 1 question, anything,
no matter how crazy it is.

But I warn you, don't ask a question
that you don't want an HONEST answer to.

No catch.
Except one: All comments will be screened
so your question stays private between you and me,
and only you will get to see my answer to your question.

But I dare you to repost this
and see what people ask you.

Former AT&T technician Mark Klein has come forward to support the EFF's lawsuit against AT&T for its alleged complicity in the NSA's electronic surveillance. Here, Wired News publishes Klein's public statement in its entirety. (Reprinted from Wired News.)

Full story: Ex-AT&T Worker Tells Of NSA Op


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Statement: Mark Klein, April 6, 2006

My background:
For 22 and 1/2 years I worked as an AT&T technician, first in New York and then in California.

What I observed first-hand:
In 2002, when I was working in an AT&T office in San Francisco, the site manager told me to expect a visit from a National Security Agency agent, who was to interview a management-level technician for a special job. The agent came, and by chance I met him and directed him to the appropriate people.

In January 2003, I, along with others, toured the AT&T central office on Folsom Street in San Francisco -- actually three floors of an SBC building. There I saw a new room being built adjacent to the 4ESS switch room where the public's phone calls are routed. I learned that the person whom the NSA interviewed for the secret job was the person working to install equipment in this room. The regular technician work force was not allowed in the room.

In October 2003, the company transferred me to the San Francisco building to oversee the Worldnet Internet room, which included large routers, racks of modems for customers' dial-in services, and other equipment. I was responsible for troubleshooting problems on the fiber optic circuits and installing new circuits.

While doing my job, I learned that fiber optic cables from the secret room were tapping into the Worldnet circuits by splitting off a portion of the light signal. I saw this in a design document available to me, entitled "Study Group 3, LGX/Splitter Wiring, San Francisco" dated Dec. 10, 2002. I also saw design documents dated Jan. 13, 2004 and Jan. 24, 2003, which instructed technicians on connecting some of the already in-service circuits to the "splitter" cabinet, which diverts some of the light signal to the secret room. The circuits listed were the Peering Links, which connect Worldnet with other networks and hence the whole country, as well as the rest of the world.

One of the documents listed the equipment installed in the secret room, and this list included a Narus STA 6400, which is a "Semantic Traffic Analyzer". The Narus STA technology is known to be used particularly by government intelligence agencies because of its ability to sift through large amounts of data looking for preprogrammed targets. The company's advertising boasts that its technology "captures comprehensive customer usage data ... and transforms it into actionable information.... (It) provides complete visibility for all internet applications."

My job required me to connect new circuits to the "splitter" cabinet and get them up and running. While working on a particularly difficult one with a technician back East, I learned that other such "splitter" cabinets were being installed in other cities, including Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego.

What is the significance and why is it important to bring these facts to light?
Based on my understanding of the connections and equipment at issue, it appears the NSA is capable of conducting what amounts to vacuum-cleaner surveillance of all the data crossing the internet -- whether that be peoples' e-mail, web surfing or any other data.

Given the public debate about the constitutionality of the Bush administration's spying on U.S. citizens without obtaining a FISA warrant, I think it is critical that this information be brought out into the open, and that the American people be told the truth about the extent of the administration's warrantless surveillance practices, particularly as it relates to the internet.

Despite what we are hearing, and considering the public track record of this administration, I simply do not believe their claims that the NSA's spying program is really limited to foreign communications or is otherwise consistent with the NSA's charter or with FISA. And unlike the controversy over targeted wiretaps of individuals' phone calls, this potential spying appears to be applied wholesale to all sorts of internet communications of countless citizens.

------------------------------------------------------

In other news, Apple now officially supports Microsoft Windows on their Macintosh computers. What is this world coming to? ;)

I've found that I have a rare gift, but that this gift is both a blessing and a curse. This gift is the ability to experience unconditional love. Before I continue, I'd like to define what this means.

taken from Dictionary.com

un·con·di·tion·al (nkn-dsh-nl) adj.
Without conditions or limitations; absolute.

love (lv) n.
A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.

To summate, unconditional love is an absolutely deep, ineffable feeling of affection toward a person without conditions or limitations.

That sounds pretty serious, doesn't it? How is it that I am able to experience this incredible feeling over and over again even though I know it won't be reciprocated? The answer is fairly simple. I do it because I feel that the recipient of this unconditional love deserves it, on the chance that that person might be the one I will spend my life with.

However, one might argue that I should gradually build up to that level. The question is, how long am I supposed to wait? When am I supposed to tell myself, "ok, NOW I can give her everything I've got."? The problem is, once I let the initial feelings out, they rip through me like a flood. Once I come to realize that I love this person, that love no longer has any condition to it.

Even when they leave me.

( Read more... )

"So this is my new freedom
It's funny
I don't remember being chained" - Savage Garden - "The Lover After Me"

I regret to say that The Fated Muse is now closed to the public.

Membership is exclusive, as I generally don't add strangers anymore, but if you would like to be considered, please leave a comment.

( Pictures )