In the Public Interest

The other night on Ted Koppel’s Nightline program, the subject was “virtual reality.” The dreamy definition of “virtual reality” (VR) by Jason Lanier, the man who coined the phrase, is that it is a computer generated, multi-media, interactive technology that will provide “a wonderful, inspirational future for the human imagination. I can’t put it any…

With all the reform fervor advanced by the newly elected members of Congress, the faraway observer of the Washington scene might have begun to believe. After all, 110 new members of the House of Representatives, more than a quarter of the entire House, made up one of the largest and most determined new class in…

Collegeville, MN — This pleasant town is not the most likely place to find the most remarkable college football coach in America. Except, don’t call John Gagliardi “coach”; just say John or “Gags.” That advice is only one of many “No’s” that his players learn from the second-winningest active coach (Grambling’s Eddie Robinson is first)…

A reporter for a business publication called the other day about the latest excitement at General Motors headquarters in Michigan. It seems that GM officials are giddy about their “victory” over NBC which apologized for aspects of its televised crashtest regarding the fuel tank placement on certain GM trucks. These officials are telling the press…

Senator Robert Kennedy (D-NY) called him “one of the heroic figures of our time.” He was Cesar Chavez, the founder of the United Farmworkers of America (UFWA) who passed away in his sleep in San Luis, Arizona, doing what he has been doing for over 40 years — organizing and defending the migrant farm workers…

There ought to be a television program about corporations titled “Can You Top This?” Composed of short stories about the infinity of avarice and power, people would get some sense of how necessary a just law and order is to these corporate suites whenever they run amuck. Here are a few samples of routine corporatemania.…

I could scarcely believe that he said it. A retired high automobile company executive referred to the three auto companies -­GM, Ford and Chrysler — as the “Detroit cartel.” He said it matter-of-factly as if it was a given phenomenon, even in purchasing supplies. The collusion of the three Michigan-based companies — they would call…

On Sunday evening, April 4, 1993, Cong. Tony Hall (D-OH) sat down with his family for dinner. That was to be his last meal for “the indefinite future.” Starting the next day, Mr. Hall fasted, taking only water. He was shocked when the House of Representatives let the House Select Committee on Hunger go out…

The American Medical Association (AMA) came to Washington, D.C. the other day with 1000 physicians to lobby the Clintons and the Congress on health care policy. They gathered in the Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Avenue and then fanned out to Capitol Hill to see what response they would receive from all those politicians greased by…

Watch out folks, the strategy of the Clinton task force on health care reform is becoming all too clear. Racing to meet a self-imposed May 1, 1993 deadline for the White House’s proposal to Congress, dozens of White House staff, directed by Hillary Clinton, and hundreds of consultants are weaving a restructuring of one-seventh of…