SECURITY CLEARANCE

Jane, over at Gaston Studio, tells a marvelous story of her "relationship" with (i.e., assistance to) the FBI. I have a different story. Hers is a very different experience from mine.

The year is 1967, my junior year in University. I became Vice-President of our University's Student's Council, and will serve the following year, 1968. That's the year Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were killed. It's the year of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the anti-Viet Nam war protests in Chicago, and Marijuana, and LSD, and. . . . Yeah, 1968 was an "interesting" year (as per the Chinese curse).

Fast forward about 20 years. I'm interviewing Canada's Attorney General -- the #1 man on crime in Canada. He's a very funny man as well as a very bright man. In the process, we're comparing university experiences, and I mention my story. His whole demeanor changes; he suddenly becomes very serious. He says that, in my case, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Security Branch would have opened a file on me just because of my student leadership position.

The not-so-ol' Bear -- a potential threat to Canada's peace and security! Who? Me? Say it isn't so!!

I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or pray at that point in the interview.

Fast forward another 20 years or so. Now, I am an ol' bear, and I really don't care. "The Horsemen" (RCMP) don't bother me; I don't bother them.

However, given my security status, and the fact that you're reading this, you never know what your national security people might be thinking, or doing.

Remember:

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man comes and takes you away.

We better stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down.

√√√√-- "For What it's Worth," Buffalo Springfield, 1967.
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