Los Angeles: June, 2002

Prodded by allies of the defense corporations in the intelligence and defense communities, the Drug Enforcement Administration has opened a major investigation of drug use within the entertainment industry.

Though relative newcomers to power politics, the entertainment representatives play the game skilfully. Having learned in California in the ‘70s and '80s that money is political power, as the elections of Governors Brown and Curb demonstrated, the entertainment conglomerate now pours millions each year into election campaigns. Secretary of the Treasury Richard Trugman, the grand old man of the Democratic Party financing and a former record company executive, is one of the leading strategists in the counter-attack.

Although not the originator of the idea, it was Trugman who in the late '80s persuaded the entertainment companies to invest heavily in American colleges and universities. Eager for grant money following the end of most free tuition, programs-a change forced by the conservative-led tax revolts of the '70s and '80s-the schools quickly created faculties, devoted to entertainment technology and product. Considered the, "new liberals," these academics fueled, the intellectual drive against their more conservative colleagues, many of whom were supported by grants from old-line defense-industrial corporations. In the vicious battle now brewing between the federal agencies and the entertainment conglomerates-a battle over the ultimate power to control, information and therefore -people's minds the academics have come down heavily in favor of the "free speech" of the entertainment conglomerate. Most artists, entertainers and other figures from the creative world have joined in a media blitz against the proposed withdrawal of satellite and cable licenses.

Bobby is 15 years old. He lives in an average house in Tarzana with his parents, his sister, Jennifer, 21, and his brother, Michael 20. He has just completed the tenth grade. At Bobby's school, all tests are scored and reported instantly by computer. Homework and home testing is performed on the family, computer using a TV screen for a read-out. The ever-growing curriculum in televised adult education now covers a range of subjects so broad that companies selling home teaching programs have stepped up efforts for the elimination of public schooling beyond age 12.

Bobby's brother, Michael, is still in college. He is studying micro-technology and hopes to get into automotive computers, one of the fastest growing fields in American business since the introduction of the completely computerized car in 1989.

Bobby is awakened by pre-selected music turned on by his computer. 1980s' fashions have been revived this year and, ironically, Bobby has been dressing just like his father did in his teens.

Breakfast is, fast and simple. In the kitchen; Bobby places a frozen, 10-inch food cassette under the microwave cooker unit. In 10 seconds, it ejects a meal of both hot and cold food. Radio frequency and conductor technology now allows the precise cooking, or non-cooking, of various food elements simultaneously. In fact, the term "fast food" has not been used since the late '80s when all food became fast food.

On the console is Bobby's private computer terminal, which gives a read-out on his television screen. He once spent three weeks of his spare time programming it to produce an unending stream of wing-shaped figures, then he erased it. This was before he broke the telephone and cable company codes. Now, he'd probably have transmitted the images over the cable network.

Bobby grew up as one of the calculator toy babies of the '90s. who learned to love read-outs right in his crib. Fascinated by calculators, he has never been without one. Lately he carries a simple 30-function with a mid-range size memory. In school, he belongs to the "Push 'n' Pull" computer club. The more serious computer kids consider him a bit of a maverick because he, thinks of his computer as a toy. But he is more of a rebel than they know.

Bobby is on a waiting list today to talk to Albert Einstein at Princeton. In 1987, the university developed, a software program of all of Einstein's works, treatise, speeches, letters and even known casual conversations, recreating his ideas and thought patterns in a computer. Einstein's speech profile was programmed into the computer from electronically reproduced tapes, and the computer speaks through a voice mechanism in an accurate mechanical recreation of Einstein's voice. It is possible to question the computer, and get back an answer Einstein might have given. Other computer personalities are being created at universities and companies everywhere.

Using grant money from CBS, UCLA unveiled its Sigmund Freud program two, months ago. The Einstein computer has solved some unique scientific problems in its five-year history. But younger people are particularly interested in its philosophical remarks. After breakfast, Bobby goes to the computer room to watch some music. He selects a colorful 12-inch cassette from a wall file and inserts it into his Beta-Mix tape machine. Bobby can't afford the newest model, but his machine still does some intriguing tricks. Through a system of amplifiers and tape decks of various configurations for both picture and sound, he can record, play, and more importantly, mix anything his heart desires.