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                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 1147

                            Monday, May 01, 1995

Today's Topics:


                                ******


         Caveat!: L O N G ... P O S TGovernment, Power of Democracy,


                                ******


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------



Subject:  Caveat!: L O N G ... P O S TGovernment, Power of Democracy,
From: ASQK-EI-PAO@emh6.korea.army.mil (Ed. Girard)



Access: ftp meeting.fedworld.gov
WWW/W3 URL:http://meeting.fedworld.gov

 From: info@meeting.fedworld.gov (Info Open Meeting Conference)
| Message-Id: <9504031559.AA00192@meeting.fedworld.gov>

|        PEOPLE AND THEIR GOVERNMENTS IN THE INFORMATION AGE
|
|                  NATIONAL ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING
|                           MAY 1-14, 1995
|
|                        DETAILED INFORMATION
|
|
| SUMMARY:  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) seeks
| comments from all interested parties on the topic of the
| respective roles of the Federal government, State, local, and
| Tribal governments, industry, the public interest and library
| communities, academia, and the general citizenry in creating an
| electronic government.  This notice is in furtherance of the work
| of the Information Policy Committee of the Information
| Infrastructure Task Force.  To facilitate public input, OMB,
| along with the Commerce Department's National Technical
| Information Service (NTIS) and National Telecommunications and
| Information Administration (NTIA), the National Performance
| Review (NPR), and assistance from the US Government Printing
| Office, will host aumber of questions related to this topic.
|
| DATES:  An electronic open meeting will be held from May 1 to 14,
| 1995.  Those who wish to may submit written comments no later
| than May 31, 1995.
|
| ELECTRONIC AVAILABILITY AND ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING:   General:
| This document, along with the other documents referenced  herein,
| are available by any HTML viewer, such as Mosaic or  Netscape,
| at: cURL:http://meeting.fedworld.gov, or via FTP from
| meeting.fedworld.gov
|
| For those with  meeting.fedworld.gov  This will result in delivery of a more
| detailed description of the electronic open meeting.
|
| Public Access Sites: A primary goal of the meeting is to enable
| as many Americans as possible to participate.  This includes
| people who do not have a computer with a modem, or access to the
| Internet.  In order to permit their participation, a number of
| "Public Access Sites" have been established.  To either locate
| the nearest Public Access Site, or to order a list of all Public
| Access Sites, call the GPO Access Support Team at (202) 512-1530.
|
| In addition, through May 1, 1995 we will continue to solicit
| institutions interested in serving as Public Access Sites.  The
| following criteria will apply to an institution interested in
| serving as a Public Access Site:
|
|      * Willingness and ability to make computer facilities
|      available, free-of-charge, to the general public on a
|      full-or part-time basis throughout the two-week meeting, and
|     to provide logistical and technical support to the public.
|
|      * Ability to access Internet e-mail, newsgroups, or the
|      World Wide Web.  Public Access Sites should not use Telnet
|      to access the FedWorld bulletin board.  Because the number
|      of access ports at FedWorld is finite, FedWorld prefers to
|      reserve dial-in and Telnet capacity for individuals who seek
|
|      to use the FedWorld BBS as their primary means of
|      participating.
|
|      * Willingness and ability to publicize your institution's
|      participation as a Public Access Site to the local media and
|      community, and answer local public and press questions about
|      participation.
|
|      * Willingness to be listed in a national directory of Public
|      Access Sites that will be made available to the public and
|      press, before and during the meeting.
|
| If your institution would like to serve as a Public Access Site,
| please do one of the following:
|
|      Point your World Wide Web browser to:
|
|                   http://meeting.fedworld.gov
|
|      Or, send a blank e-mail message to:
|
|                   pas-info@meeting.fedworld.gov
|
| In response to your e-mail, you will receive an automated
| response detailing how to register as a Public Access Site. If
| you do not presently have e-mail, newsgroup, or World Wide Web
| capability but plan on having such capability by the time of the
| meeting, you may register as a Public Access Site or receive
| general end user information by calling the GPO Access User
| Support Team at (202) 512-1530.
|
| Participation options:  It is possible to participate in the
| electronic open meeting in four ways depending upon desired level
| of interaction -- electronic mail of comments, subscription to a
| "Listserv," subscribing to a "Usenet" newsgroup, and accessing
| the open meeting homepage via an HTML viewer, such as "Mosaic" or
| "Netscape".
|
|      Electronic mail of comments --  This is the easiest way to
| participate in the open meeting.  However, interaction will be
| limited.  Choosing one of the options below is recommended.
|
|      Subscribing to a Mailing List -- Subscribing to a mailing
| list allows more interactive participation in the meeting.  When
| one subscribes to a mailing list, one will receive all the mail
| messages which everyone posts to the mailing list.  It is much
| like putting a note on a bulletin board at the water cooler, but
| instead of having to go to the water cooler, one will have the
| note passed across one's desk.  For help on subscribing to a
| mailing list please send an e-mail message, the body of which
| contains the single word "help" to: join@meeting.fedworld.gov
| You will receive an e-mail message which tells you in detail how
| to subscribe to a mailing list.
|
|      Subscribing to a USENET newsgroup --  Subscribing to a
| USENET newsgroup is similar to joining a mailing list.  The
| difference is that to subscribe to a USENET newsgroup, one needs
| to have a newsreader configured for his or her own computer.  If
| you are familiar with a newsreader on your system, you will be
| able to participate in the newsgroups like any other regular
| newsgroup.  The newsgroups have the following names:
|
|    alt.gov.meeting.services     alt.gov.meeting.benefits
|    alt.gov.meeting.infoaccs     alt.gov.meeting.partdemo
|    alt.gov.meeting.techgoal
|
| Each of the newsgroups corresponds with one of the five subject
| areas, described in detail below.
|
|      World Wide Web Access -- Using a World Wide Web browser
| offers the greatest level of interaction for participating in the
| electronic open meeting.  Point the browser to:
| URL:http://meeting.fedworld.gov
| The participant will arrive at a user friendly interface from
| where one can search the different newsgroup mailing list
| responses and reply (either anonymously or not) as one deems
| appropriate.  The participant will also be able to view
| background documents on-line, and complete a voluntary
| participant survey.
|
|      Accessing Background Materials On-line --  Any user who has
| access to a file transfer program, such as FTP or Fetch, may
| access the document archive from: meeting.fedworld.gov or may
| view the relevant documents by pointing a Web browser to the open
| meeting homepage URL cited above.
|
| FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENTS CONTACT:
| Lew Oleinick, Information Policy and Technology Branch, Office of
| Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and
| Budget, Room 10236, New Executive Office Building, Washington,
| D.C. 20503.  Telephone: (202) 395-4638.  E-mail:
| OLEINICK_L@A1.EOP.GOV.
|
| SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
|
| Background
|
|      The world has entered the age of electronic information.  We
| are present at the creation of a Global Information
| Infrastructure that will build on what aviation and
| communications have already done to shrink the world into ever
| more interdependent communities.  Our U.S. National Information
| Infrastructure (NII) will in many ways be the paradigm upon which
| the global infrastructure is modeled.
|
|      The NII is a combination of facilities, services, and people
| that will allow all Americans to send and receive information
| when and where they want it at an affordable cost.  The NII
| includes the physical facilities used to transmit, store,
| process, and display voice, data, and images.  It includes
| software and services, including security services, that will
| integrate and interconnect these physical components through the
| efforts of a wide variety of private sector providers.  It
| includes vast quantities of information that exist today in
| government agencies and the valuable information produced every
| day in the private sector.  Finally, it includes all Americans,
| but especially the people who create information, develop
| applications, information products and services, construct
| facilities, and train others to tap the NII's potential.
|
|      While much of the infrastructure already exists, information
| will be so strategic a resource for U.S. competitiveness in the
| 21st Century that conscious and deliberate action -- in concert
| with industry and the public -- is needed.  Of course, government
| is in no position, financially, technically, or managerially, to
| design or build the information highway, or even to re-pave it.
| So the NII will be designed, built and operated by the private
| sector.  What then is the government's role?
|
|      The Federal government should be in step with the change
| from paper to electronic information.  The U.S. government is the
| world's largest creator, collector, user, and disseminator of
| information.  Sound scientific research, the public health and
| safety, the equitable collection and distribution of tax
| receipts, and the delivery of benefits and services are a few of
| the national priorities that depend on Federal information
| systems.  In addition, the unique nature of information in a free
| society -- Jefferson called it "the currency of democracy" --give
| Federal policies special importance.
|
|      The government then should act as a facilitator and catalyst
| to the development of the NII.  It should help create a legal and
| policy framework that allows the information highway to develop
| in a manner consistent with consumer choice, universal service,
| and security and privacy protections.  It should also be a model
| user -- creating a government that works better and costs less by
| using technology to improve information dissemination and service
| delivery.
|
|      For the NII to succeed, it must be built upon a partnership
| of business, labor, academia, the public, and government that is
| committed to deployment of an advanced, rapid, powerful
| infrastructure accessible and accountable to all Americans. The
| Administration has established the Information Infrastructure
| Task Force (IITF) to coordinate the Administration's efforts to
| formulate forward-looking telecommunications and information
| policy.  Its goals are set forth in the Agenda for Action,
| published on September 15, 1993.
|
|      One of the fundamental tenets of the Administration's
| philosophy is that government information is a public asset and a
| valuable national resource.  The government should make
| information available to the public on timely and equitable
| terms.  It is also necessary to foster the existing diversity of
| information sources, in which the private sector, along with
| State and local governments, libraries, and other entities, are
| significant partners.  On the one hand, this means that the
| government should not expend public resources filling needs which
| have already been met by others in the public or private sector.
| On the other, it means that the government should actively
| disseminate its information at the cost of dissemination and not
| attempt to exert copyright-like controls or other restrictive
| practices on government information.  These guiding principles
| are set forth in OMB Circular A-130, most recently republished in
| the Federal Register on July 25, 1994. (59 FR 26906).
|
|      Toward those goals, the recent revisions to the Office of
| Management and Budget Circular A-130 have increasingly focused on
| the exchange of information with the public and the promotion of
| agency investments in technologies that improve service delivery
| to the public.  On December 7, 1994, OMB Bulletin 95-01 unveiled
| the Government Information Locator Service (GILS) -- the "virtual
| card catalog" called for in the Agenda for Action.  This first
| phase of GILS is a step toward improving the infrastructure for
| information and service delivery to the public.
|
|      Even before GILS, a number of Federal agencies, such as the
| Department of Commerce's "NTIS FedWorld" and the Government
| Printing Office's "GPO Access" systems, were using dial-up
| electronic bulletin boards and connections to the Internet.  The
| GILS initiative then is an effort to stimulate the expanded use
| of electronic access and dissemination practices in a more
| coordinated manner.
|
|      Aside from GILS, questions arise as to other appropriate
| courses of action for the near and far term.  Generally, what are
| the respective roles of the Federal government, State and local
| governments, industry, the public interest and library
| communities, and academia in creating an electronic government?
| More specifically, how can the delivery of services to the public
| be enhanced by electronic means?  What services should they be,
| and how can they be delivered cost effectively and within overall
| budgetary constraints?  What methods are best suited to further
| disseminate government information to the public, collect
| information from the public, and reduce burden while maximizing
| efficiency?  In what ways can the interaction between agencies of
| the Federal government, or between agencies at the Federal, state
| and local levels be improved?  How can we best encourage
| partnerships among governmental entities at all levels with
| private sector entities to ensure a diversity of information
| sources, providers and facilitators?  Finally, what are the
| priorities?  These topics are elucidated further below for
| discussion in the electronic open meeting.
|
|      Five relevant topic areas have been identified:
|
|      Services - from emergency help and health care to business
|      licenses,
|
|      Benefits - from social security and food stamps to small
|      business grants,
|
|      Information - from declassified secrets and travel aids to
|      satellite weather maps,
|
|      Participatory Democracy - ensuring everyone's chance to be
|      heard in a democracy,
|
|      Technology - how the technical portion of electronic
|      government will work.
|
|      The following sections provide additional information and
| issues for discussion.  Participants will provide us with
| comments, questions, and suggestions to particular issues or
| problems.
|
| SERVICES: From Emergency Help and Health Care to Business
| Licenses
|
|      Governments provide a range of services from disaster relief
| and public safety to public education.  Already, information
| technology is being used to help deliver these services.  Fishing
| licenses are being issued from electronic terminals and
| reservations for a campground in a National Park can be made on-
| line.  Governments at all levels are creating electronic systems
| like California's "Info/California" kiosk based service delivery
| that, so far, includes twelve State agencies, two county
| governments and the US Internal Revenue Service.  The US Postal
| Service has been a leader in kiosk-based service delivery and
| continues to expand its use of kiosks.  In the public safety
| arena, for years the FBI's National Crime Information Center has
| helped catch fugitives from justice no matter where they attempt
| to hide.
|
|      Every year the American people and governments at all levels
| must cope with natural disasters--tornadoes, floods, earthquakes
| and hurricanes.  Property is destroyed and, most tragically,
| lives are lost.  In times like these how can governments best
| deliver the services that are needed?  How can information
| technology assist governments and the public in these times of
| need?
|
| Questions related to services:  As electronic delivery systems
| evolve what government services should they provide and where
| should they be located -- in libraries, schools, shopping
| centers, community centers?  Are kiosks a good idea?  How should
| these services be paid for or funded?  Will faster, more
| efficient delivery offset any added expense?  Will the ability to
| control and audit funds improve further?   What types of services
| would be best provided by using information technology?
|
| BENEFITS: From Social Security and Food Stamps to Small Business
| Loans
|
|      Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Aid to Dependent
| Children, and care to disabled veterans are some of the major
| Federal benefits programs.  Can governments deliver these
| benefits more quickly and efficiently while maintaining the
| accountability and security of the programs and at the same time
| the dignity of the recipients?
|
|      Each year some $500 billion in cash payments and food
| assistance are provided to needy Americans.  Most of these
| entitlements are delivered by checks or vouchers--paper and
| postage--while some are directly deposited electronically into
| bank accounts--no paper, no postage.  But, many recipients of
| this form of assistance do not have bank accounts.  In these
| instances, how can we take advantage of emerging technologies,
| avoid paper and postage and thus save time and money?  An answer
| may be electronic transfer of benefits to a credit card-like
| benefits card.  This is actually being done in several states
| right now.
|
|      Systems using bank-like automated teller machines and retail
| point-of-sale terminals (scanners already installed in many
| grocery stores) are undergoing testing in six states (Iowa,
| Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) and
| are planned in thirty-one more.  This year Texas goes on-line
| with the nation's largest electronic benefit transfer (EBT)
| system.  Elsewhere, eight other southern states are joining
| forces to create the first regional system and every month since
| 1993, Maryland's "Independence Card" program has delivered some
| $57 million in food stamps, welfare and child-support benefits to
| 170,000 households statewide.  No paper, no postage, and no lost
| or stolen checks.
|
|      Federal grants from the National Science Foundation are an
| example of a benefit, the delivery of which has been improved by
| information technology.  Notices of available Federal science
| grants are available on-line.  They may be downloaded and printed
| by the applicant at his or her ease.  When an application is
| completed, it may be submitted to the National Science Foundation
| by electronic mail.  The whole process has been made more
| efficient and user-friendly which ends up saving the tax payers'
| money.
|
| Questions regarding benefits:  What do people think about the
| pilot EBT projects in Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico,
| Ohio, and Pennsylvania?  What have people's experiences been with
| the Maryland EBT program?  Of course, entitlement programs are
| not the only types of government benefits.  Also included are
| small business loans and grants for educational projects and
| agricultural research.  How can governments continue to improve
| the delivery of other benefits?  To what extent are electronic
| transfers an answer?  Without judging the merits of an individual
| benefits program, what do Americans expect of their governments
| as technologies evolve?  Which enabling technologies should we
| pursue?  Are added safeguards needed to protect from fraud and
| abuse or will electronic transfer make controls easier?
|
| INFORMATION:  From Declassified Secrets and Travel Aids to
| Satellite Weather Maps
|
|      Government agencies at all levels collect, maintain and
| disseminate an incredible array of information.  Some of it may
| be routine data relating to consumer products while other
| information may be a precious national secret.  Still more
| information may relate to layers of regulations that apply to
| small businesses, major corporations or even government agencies
| themselves.  We know the information is out there, but how do we
| find it?  Until recently, our only option was to write or call
| the agency that had the information.  Of course, first we had to
| figure out which agency that was.  And then we waited.
|
|      All of that is changing.  In December 1994, the Federal
| Government Information Locator Service (GILS) was launched.  As
| it evolves, more and more Federal data will be at our fingertips.
|  This locator service is similar to the card catalog at the local
| library, only it is electronic and on-line.  GILS allows one to
| search on-line using a specific set of key-words of interest to
| locate appropriate subject matter.  For example, suppose one had
| an interest in a major construction project and its effect on
| wildlife habitat.  Using GILS, one could locate the various
| environmental impact statements.  In addition, one might also
| locate pertinent satellite photographs.
|
|      Even declassified secrets are available electronically on
| the Department of Energy's OpenNet service.  More agencies will
| follow.  The National Archives and Records Administration is
| developing a government-wide declassification database.
|
|      One information source which is quite useful when planning
| to plant or harvest crops, or when planning a day at the beach,
| is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA)
| national weather forecasts.  These forecasts are available for
| any city in the United States which has a NOAA weather station.
| At last count, there were over 150 city forecasts available from
| NOAA's on-line computers.
|
|      For businesses, the Department of Commerce provides a
| bulletin board which contains timely economic information.  For
| companies involved in export activities with Mexico and Canada,
| such items as export and import levels for particular product
| categories, such as paper products, from these two countries are
| easily available.
|
|      For the academic community, the Department of Commerce's
| Bureau of the Census provides a bulletin board containing
| detailed demographic information about our country's citizens.
| For the medical community, the National Institutes of Health
| provide a bibliography of medical and scientific articles which
| allow physicians and scientists to remain up-to-date with the
| latest advances in medicine.
|
| Questions regarding information dissemination.  What level of
| effort should governments devote to electronic dissemination of
| government information?  Are there benefits to the public at
| large or only to relatively sophisticated professional
| researchers, environmentalists, historians, or scientists?
| Should the taxpayers foot the bill for information access or
| should the direct users pay some of the cost?  Where should
| access be available--at libraries, schools, community centers, on
| home computers?  Which enabling technologies should be pursued?
|
| PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY: Ensuring Everyone's Chance to be Heard
| in a Democracy
|
|      What if everyone in the United States were to have instant
| electronic access to their elected, appointed and career
| government officials?  Interested parties could participate in
| the drafting of regulations and engage directly in debate on
| government action.  While several million Americans have
| electronic mail capability, with a population of more than 250
| million, such access is still relatively limited.  More and more
| agencies are advertising that they are now "on-line" and are
| soliciting citizens to contact them at their electronic mail
| address.  It is also the case that more and more of our elected
| officials are establishing e-mail addresses or Web sites.
|
|      There is little dispute that using information technology to
| support government rulemaking can reduce costs for both agencies
| and the public.  And, as a practical matter, electronic
| rulemaking is more efficient and can possibly reach a greater
| number of interested parties than by merely publishing in the
| Federal Register, corresponding by mail, talking by telephone and
| traveling to hearings and meetings.  This same technology also
| enables interested parties to interact with other interested
| parties, consider and devise new and better ways of doing things,
| all prior to or without governments' involvement.  For example,
| the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunication and
| Information Administration recently used electronic rulemaking to
| gather responses to a report on reallocating the Federal radio
| spectrum.  The report was placed on-line and was made available
| through an electronic bulletin board system and via the Internet
| by Telnet.  Sixty organizations responded to the report.  These
| sixty responses were then placed on-line for everyone to see and
| discuss.
|
|      A related effort is making available to the public the rules
| and regulations they are expected to follow.  Also relevant are
| legislative materials and supporting documents, such as
| Congressional committee reports.  The ultimate issue is how we
| can make it possible, more practical, and more attractive for
| Americans to participate in government at all levels.
|    Questions regarding participatory democracy.  As more of us
| utilize information technology to participate in governmental
| processes will the volume become overwhelming?  How do we balance
| the level of involvement with expectations and governments'
| ability to deliver?  Is there a broad interest from the public to
| participate, or would tax dollars be better spent elsewhere?
| What are the best strategies for seeing that citizens have access
| to the rules, regulations and related information needed to
| comply with government requirements.
|
| TECHNOLOGY: How the Information Infrastructure of Electronic
| Government Will Work
|
|      We are in an era of technological upheaval--the information
| age.  The advances in information technologies of all types have
| caused businesses to rethink the way they operate and governments
| to reinvent the way they do business.  The future look of
| governments is what this electronic meeting is all about.  How
| will governments work, individually and together, for Americans.
|
|      In the other topical discussion areas, we are talking about
| what electronic governments will do and generally how they will
| do it.  Here, it is more what they will do it with--the
| technological tools to accomplish the tasks of governing.
|
|      The Information Infrastructure Task Force, a Federal
| government body, along with the Information Infrastructure
| Advisory Council, made up of representatives of State and local
| governments, industry, and academia, are also looking at the face
| of future governments.  They are looking at issues such as the
| need for telecommunications reform, security matters, privacy,
| reliability and vulnerability, intellectual property rights,
| health issues and the technologies themselves.
|
|      Interoperability, the ability to communicate with one
| another, is a critical goal for future governments.  Federal,
| State, Tribal and local agencies must be able to interact
| instantly and effectively.
|
| Questions regarding the technology of electronic government.
| Does interoperability of governmental systems cause concerns?
| What if some government agencies systems aren't interoperable or
| they can't afford a system at all?  Will their citizen customers
| suffer as a result?  Will the information they use be as accurate
| and timely as necessary?  What about reliability?  We know it is
| essential, but won't technological vulnerabilities still exist?
| Will governments become so dependent on the use of advanced
| technologies that they will be unable to function if the system
| fails during an emergency?  Are there alternatives?
|
| Relevant Information Sources
|
|      The following documents relevant to the topics to be
| discussed in the electronic open meeting are available
| electronically via anonymous FTP at: meeting.fedworld.gov  The
| description of each document is followed by its file designation.
|       "Public Information in the National Information
| Infrastructure,"  Report to the Regulatory Information Service
| Center, General  Services Administration, and to the
| Administrator of the Office  of Information and Regulatory
| Affairs, Office of Management and  Budget, Henry R. Perritt, Jr.,
| Villanova University Law School,  September, 1994.
| PERRITT1.TXT
|
| "The Electronic Agency and The Traditional Paradigms of
| Administrative Law," Henry R. Perritt, Jr., Administrative Law
| Review, Vol. 44, pp. 79-105, Winter 1992.
| PERRITT2.TXT
|
| "Agenda for Access: Public Access to Federal Information for
| Sustainability through the Information Superhighway," The Bauman
| Foundation, Washington, DC, January 1995.
| BAUMAN.TXT
|
| "Information Superhighway: Issues Affecting Development," US
| General Accounting Office, Report to the Congress, September,
| 1994, Wash., DC, GAO/RCED-94-285
| GAO94285.TXT
|
| "Information Superhighway: An Overview of Technology Challenges,"
| US General Accounting Office, Report to the Congress, January,
| 1995, Wash., DC, GAO/AIMD-95-23
| GAO9523.TXT
|
| "Executive Guide: Improving Mission Performance Through Strategic
| Information Management and Technology -- Best Practices," US
| General Accounting Office, Comptroller General of the United
| States, May, 1994, Wash., DC, GAO/AIMD-94-115
| BESTPRAC.HTM (only by HTML viewer)
|
| "Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal
| Services," US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment,
| September, 1993, Wash., DC, OTA-TCT-578
| GOVWORK.TXT
|
| "Reengineering Through Information Technology: Creating a
| Government That Works Better and Costs Less," National
| Performance Review, Accompanying Report of the National
| Performance Review, Office of  Vice President, September, 1993,
| Wash., DC,  REENGIN.TXT
|
| "Management of Federal Information Resources, Office of
| Management and Budget Circular A-130," 59 Federal Register 37906,
| 25 July 1994.
| OMB_A130.TXT
|
| "National Information Infrastructure; Draft Principles for
| Providing and Using Personal Information and Commentary; Notice,"
| 60 Federal Register 4362, 20 January 1995.
| PRIVPRIN.TXT
|
| "The National Information Infrastructure: Agenda for Action,"
| Information Infrastructure Task Force, 15 September 1993.
| AGENDA.TXT
|
| "The Information Infrastructure: Reaching Society's Goals,"
| Report of the Information Infrastructure Task Force Committee on
| Applications and Technology, National Institute of Standards and
| Technology, US Department of Commerce, Wash., DC, September,
| 1994.
| GOALS.TXT
|
| "Protecting Privacy in Computerized Medical Information," US
| Congress,  Office of Technology Assessment, September, 1993,
| Wash., DC, OTA-TCT-576
|
| MEDPRIV.TXT
|
| "Putting the Information Infrastructure to Work," Report of the
| Information Infrastructure Task Force Committee on Applications
| and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology,
| US Department of Commerce, Wash., DC, May, 1994.
| PUT2WORK.TXT
|
| "Breaking the Barriers to the National Information
| Infrastructure," A Conference Report by the CRIERS.TXT
|
| Conclusion
|
| After the public meeting and receipt of comments, we will

|

|







 Dennis Fischman <dfischmn@acs.bu.edu>
 Subject: conspiracy theory
        William Domhoff, a radical sociologist, about twenty years ago
wrote two things I think are still worth remembering about conspiracy
theories:

        1)  History is NOT a conspiracy; however, there have been plenty
of conspiracies in history.
        2) The U.S. is not run by conspiracy but by consensus.  The power
elite don't have to gather in a secret boardroom to discuss strategy.
They basically agree on what is acceptable and what is not, and they act
to maintain the system without any master plan.  Therfore, local
resistance is possible.

Dennis Fischman
dfischmn@acs.bu.edu
(617) 776-4701 home
(617) 353-2907 work                     "Ph.D. in changing the world"


Ed' Girard comments:

That was the vision of the framers of the Constitution, The Bill of Rights,
Right to bear arms, habeas corpus, Miranda, Civil Rights, U.S.C., the right
to redress and every citizens duty to question, investigate, discover and
proceed with the right to be secure in our person, home and life.

Participate in the Open Meeting May 1-14, 1995. Our goverment is seeking
discussion and recommendations from every aspect of Federal, State, Tribal,
Local, individual government.

Access for the citizen to government is the theme. Let's make it happen
people! ftp meeting.fedworld.gov cd/chdir /pub/open_meeting mget *.*

 o  The U.S. is not run by conspiracy but by consensus.

 o  There is one aspect of our government that, to my knowledge, has *never*
    been exercised - (paraphrased) "Whenever the citizenry transmits to it's
    majority decision by vote... the government will respond granting power
    to the people. (paraphrased-not eloquent-nonetheless de facto in the
    constitution).
 Comments ?
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                 End of Issue # 1147 of the Blind News Digest

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