Recently a correspondent mentioned in passing, "you'd better not say anything bad about Bill Gates." Her daughter had received tuition assistance from a Gates Foundation "charity." So I didn't tell her that schools which participate in that program aren't allowed to use Macintoshes in their classrooms.

The late 19th Century robber barons invented the modern public relations industry. Carnegie, Rockefeller, Mellon. Rockefeller had himself photographed giving dimes to poor children, and had full time employees to make sure those pictures made the newspapers and newsreels. You can bet he paid those "communications professionals" thousands of times more than he gave those children. But they weren't as effective as today's flacks, or the term "robber baron" never would have made it to public awareness.

For a long time people familiar with the computer industry knew what its leading families are like. William Gates was born into old Pacific Northwest money. Grandpa owned the biggest bank in the state and bought daddy a seat in the legislature. Mommy "sat" on several corporate boards including IBM's law firm's. A lot of us suspect she pulled the strings that led to IBM handing its monopoly off to Microsoft (stock ticker symbol MSFT). William went to an Ivy League school to network, didn't need to finish the degree. That's what rich kids do.

And the way the MSFT empire operates reflects the mentality of those born into weath. As miserly as it gets. For the empire's first decade and a half its leaders were famous for their complete lack of charitable works. They didn't even give dimes to starving urchins. Then their PR flacks talked some sense into them and they started campaigning for the Gates Foundation. And every dime that foundation hands out has strings attached designed to enhance the MSFT monopoly.

But it turns out the "charities" are more underhanded than that. They invest in the companies that create the problems their "good works" are supposed to mitigate. Recently there's been a little coverage in the trade press, and some of it has even leaked into the "mainstream" media. Here's a piece in a trade journal for "value added resellers" and systems integrators. As Prof. Chomsky reminds us, the business page is where the real news is.

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