Although this isn’t news that the FBI was spying on John Lennon, his file got released just a few days after Tommy Douglas’s RCMP File. It’s interesting to see the paranoia of the western countries back then… and how it’s coming back in regards to islamic fundamentalists. (Have you watched Glen Beck lately?)

Anyways, here is the story:

——————————

LOS ANGELES - The FBI has released its final surveillance documents on John Lennon to a university historian who has waged a 25-year legal battle to obtain the secret files.

The 10 pages contain new details about Lennon’s ties to leftist and anti-war groups in London in the early 1970s, but nothing indicating government officials considered the former Beatle a serious threat, historian Jon Wiener told the Los Angeles Times in Wednesday’s editions.

The FBI had unsuccessfully argued that an unnamed foreign government secretly provided the information, and releasing the documents could lead to diplomatic, political or economic retaliation against the United States.

The newly released documents include a surveillance report stating that two prominent British leftists had courted Lennon in hopes that he would finance “a left-wing bookshop and reading room in London” but that Lennon gave them no money. Another page states that there was “no certain proof” that Lennon had provided money “for subversive purposes.”

“I doubt that Tony Blair’s government will launch a military strike on the U.S. in retaliation for the release of these documents,” Wiener told the newspaper. “Today, we can see that the national security claims that the FBI has been making for 25 years were absurd from the beginning.”

Wiener first requested the documents in 1981, several months after he decided to write a book about Lennon following the singer’s murder. He initially obtained some documents, but the FBI withheld numerous files, saying they contained national security information and were exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

Wiener sued the government and received a number of files in 1997 as part of a settlement with the FBI. Justice Department lawyers continued to withhold the final 10 pages until a federal judge in 2004 ordered their release.

The previously released files showed that the FBI closely monitored Lennon from 1971 to 1972

I will be recording question period, if I can’t find any.  However it would be great if I could find some online specifically with the President of the Treasury Board (the loud guy… I don’t remember his name) and Jason Kenney. And actually some with David Emerson as well. I’m putting together a political music video to a song called “Angry People”, and I got a great idea in my head.

If you know where, add a comment to this thread. It will be greatly appreciated and I will add your name or alias to the credits.

I just found out Amazon offers different types of food for sale, including milk!

Just make sure you don’t get it ground shipped. And read the reviews for a good laugh!

Edited to add: Check out these other gourmet foods. Dole iceberg lettuce and romaine lettuce!

Well it looks like Universal will be offering its entire catalog for free at a website called Spiral Frog by the end of the year. One catch though, you have to watch advertisements before downloading.

I like the concept. I think people will use this as it is legal (no guilty feeling) and safer (No viruses, etc.)

It does have DRM though, and won’t be compatible with the iPod. Quite pointless in my opinion, as it seems like almost everyone and their dog has one these days. Those people will just continue with iTunes Music Store or they will just download them illegally.

At least they are sort of embracing the internet.

Edited to add:

It looks like this is even worse than it sounds. The service is not just ad supported but ad enforced:

Spiral Frog will offer a desktop downloader for Windows Media Files (no iPods!) that can be listened to on one PC and two portable devices. Here’s the kicker - you must log in to the Spiral Frog service at least once per month, and see their ads, or your files will stop playing! The details aren’t fully set in stone, but it will be something like that. There will be links to third party sites of the record labels’ choosing if you’d like to buy your freedom to at least skip the ads.

Looks like they still can’t get anything right. Just ruining good ideas with more restrictions and less freedom.

Just some lyrics that I thought I would share from one of my favorite, and coincidently NDP supporting, band:

———-

Fun and Games
Barenaked Ladies
we sent in the army
they sounded alarms we
saw it coming from a mile away
we kept it off radar
because we had to say our
intentions were to save the day

why did you fail
to see

it was a gag
it was all for a laugh
and they were shocked and they were awed
and they were blown in half

fun and games
we’re just pulling legs
we knew this barrel of fun
would be a powderkeg

we kept it all long-range
and made a regime change
you’d have thought it would have been a gas
but when it got ugly
we sat around smugly
because you bought our little joke en masse
don’t look at me that way

it was a gag
it was all for a laugh
we knew your sons and daughters
would be blown in half

fun and games
we’re just pulling legs
we knew this barrel of fun
would be a powderkeg

put a smile on
we’re the ones that you selected
leave that dial son
because we just got re-elected
in a while our
bill of rights will be rejected

and all the blame will be deflected [this bit is vaudville style]
the forests will be unprotected
the nation’s poor will be neglected
creation myth is resurrected
a new salute is genuflected
a gallup poll will be respected
gallows pole will be erected
all this will go undetected

while you all slumbered
we sat and crunched numbers
of all the causalities we could afford
there’s no need to draft them
you could hear us laugh then
the poor and black all need the room and board
did I say that
out loud

it was a gag
it was all for a laugh
and now our very nation has been blown in half

fun and games
we’re just pulling legs
we knew this barrel of fun
would be a powderkeg

we knew this barrel of fun
would be a powderkeg

it’s a powderkeg

———-
The album, entitled Barenaked Ladies Are Men, with this song on it will be released early next year after they release Barenaked Ladies Are Me in the fall. You can download a live version here for only ninety-nine cents.

Edited to add: I am keeping an online database of the lyrics for the BNL album for myself as I can not find them anywhere else on the internet. If you are interested, they can be found here.