THINKING OF THE NEED FOR SOCIAL CHANGE THESE FOUR ARTICLES WERE PRINTED IN The San Francisco Chronicle, January 6, 2000 Book Links Campaign Gifts To Favors WASHINGTON - Six of the Democratic Party's top 10 donors in the last decade were labor unions, and in return the party has promoted labor's agenda while failing to attack union corruption, according to a report released yesterday by a nonprofit investigative group. On the Republican side, the group said, three of the party's leading financial backers in the 1990s were tobacco companies, which were rewarded in 1998 when the congressional GOP leadership squelched legislation cracking down on cigarette-makers. These are among the conclusions of a new book – "The Buying of the President 2000" – on campaign finance by the Center for Public Integrity. The organization, which published similar books in 1992 and 1996, said all the leading presidential candidates this year are beholden to some degree to the special interests that fund their campaigns. Buchanan Takes Stand Against Global Forces DURHAM, N.H. - Reform Party presidential candidate Pat Buchanan is promising to lead a "millennial struggle" against the steady emergence of a world government "where all nations yield up their sovereignty and fade away." In a draft of a speech he plans to deliver today in Boston and provided in advance to the Associated Press, the twice-failed Republican presidential candidate said the Clinton administration is allowing the United Nations to intrude on America's sovereignty. Buchanan's examples included President Clinton calling himself a "citizen of the world" and Vice President A1 Gore agreeing to a global environmental pact. The United Nations is quietly seeking authority over U.S. troops and control of the nation's borders, Buchanan said. He also said the United States is "trampling on the sovereignty" of other nations by injecting troops in internal conflicts, such as Kosovo. Ex-Police Chief Gets 4 Years for Corruption CAMDEN, N.J. - A former police chief was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday for leading a band of rogue officers in what prosecutors say was the most corrupt department in New Jersey history. Prosecutors say retired West New York Police Chief Alexander V. Oriente and members of his 140-officer department took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from 1989 to 1997 to shield prostitutes, illicit liquor sales and illegal gambling operations in the town of 50,000 just across the Hudson River from New York City. Oriente, 67, said the corruption began almost as soon as he joined the force. He struck a deal with federal prosecutors after a 69-count racketeering indictment returned in January 1998 named him and nine current or former West New York police officers. He received a reduced sentence. Militant Freed by Hijacking Urges Violence KARACHI, Pakistan - One of three Kashmiri militants freed as part of a deal to end the Indian Airlines hijacking called on his followers yesterday to liberate Kashmir and to destroy India and the United States. Encircled by men dressed in camouflage colored clothes and brandishing automatic rifles, Masood Azhar gave a fiery speech to 10,000 supporters who gathered in front of a central Karachi mosque. ADDED TO THE ABOVE FOUR ARTICLES THE ACTIVIST LIFE: ANTIDOTE TO DESPAIR Stephanie Salter article, San .Francisco Examiner, November 28, 1999 We simply need to acknowledge that the world is inherently corrupt, bought and paid for, and that all talk of changing is naive. E-CASH CUTTING THROUGH CONGRESSIONAL GRIDLOCK The San Francisco Chronicle, December 26, 1999 Washington lines up to pass high-tech bills, rake in campaign donations. CLINTON MOVES TO PREVENT COMPUTER-BASED TERRORISM The San Francisco Chronicle, January 8, 2000 [Clinton states] “We live in an age when one person sitting at one computer can come up with an idea, travel through cyberspace and take humanity to new heights, yet someone can sit at the same computer, hack into a computer system, and potentially paralyze a company, a city or a government.” COMMENTS 1.The above is offered for consideration and comments reflect a background in Technocracy Inc., a scientific, educational-research organization. 2.The laws of our land – which interact with our socioeconomic structure, our “Price System,” date back to colonial past. At that time society was such that it more resembled the Athenian democratic time of 2000 years ago than what composes society today. That age was primitive where most individuals grew their own food, the energy they used mostly came for the wood they chopped and their water was fetched from individual wells. 3. In all its history humankind has never seen the huge change in lifestyle that has happened in the last 100 years in North America. We don’t grow our food; we don’t get our energy by chopping wood, we don’t get our water from our wells. For these three items, which comprise an essential part of the requirements of life, we have life-support systems that traverse North America. These life-support systems are unique and critical to our scientific-technological age. 4.Technocracy contends that unless one has a clear understanding of the two above paragraphs, one lacks an understanding that the way we conduct society is inappropriate for modern times and that we are on a suicidal course. This need not be so. We can insure the maintenance of our scientific-technological age and even advance with it by initiating a social structure that is laid out to be in sync with modern times. With this in mind, Technocracy proposes that we adopt its Technological Social Design. 5. A good place to start a study of Technocracy’s concepts is by logging onto www.technocracysf.org and clicking on MENU and reading “A Commentary to Jim Lehrer.” On MENU, there are also other interesting and informative articles. After spending time on this web site, one is advised to log onto www.technocracy.org and browse the material on it. Your comments are most welcomed
