Canada Free Press -- ARCHIVES

Because without America, there is no free world.

Return to Canada Free Press

Front Page Story

Hippies hang hats at Presidio

by Judi McLeod

august 11, 2004

There are no tents, bleating goats or hippies, but San Francisco’s Presidio has become what must be the largest commune on Mother Earth.

according to an Internet description, "The Presidio of San Francisco, once the army’s premiere West Coast installation, (is now) a National Historic Landmark District and part of the Golden Gate National Recreation area, the world’s largest park in an urban setting."

Gone funky, the late Timothy Leary, leader of LSD and the psychedelic movement, who told folk to "tune in, turn on and drop out", would be sorry he missed it.

The new Utophia of the 21st century, the Presidio is like a Grand Eco-Central.

Surely the most tragically hip of all Presidio householders is Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, in his white, shingled bayfront house there since 1993.

Office tenants at the Presidio represent the top drawer of environmental and social justice causes.

It seems that almost everyone ever profiled by Canadafreepress.com hangs their hat at the Presidio, including the Tides-funded Institute for Global Communications (IGC), subject of Tuesday’s press conference by Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Ballart, his brother Mario Diaz-Ballart and Rep. Iliana Ros-Lehtinen for alleged ties between Heinz-Kerry and Cuba.

Side by side with the U.S. Postal Service and the San Francisco National Cemetery, managed by the Department of Veteran affairs, are Eco Talk, an environmental radio feature with "sound solutions for a healthier planet" and Ecotrust, a 1991-founded non-profit think tank and community development organization, "promoting a conservation economy in the Pacific Northwest from California to alaska."

Permanent residents of the Presidio area’s 16 cemeteries are Wyatt Earp and Joe DiMaggio.

But the live Presidio inhabitants are spookier.

Gorbachev is both a householder and an office tenant, with prestigious State of the World Forum offices.

according to a May, 1995 news item in the San Francisco Chronicle, Gorbachev invited a number of prestigious global elitists to join him at the Presidio for a State of the World Forum conference.

Lofty purpose of the conference was "to discuss the state of the world" and "new directions" for the "future of the nation state".

"Former Senator alan Cranston was quoted as saying, `There appears to be a great cynicism everywhere about government. and there’s a yearning for new directions.’" (Ken Raggio.com).

Cranston became the chairman of the Gorbachev Foundation USa.

among the invited guests to the State of the World Forum were former U.S. President George W. Bush, former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, President of Czechoslovakia Vaclav Havel, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakosone, anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu of South africa, media mogul Ted Turner, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and alvin Toffler. author of futurist books like Future Shock and The Third Wave.

Gorbahev’s office neighbours at Presidio include both the Tides Centre and the Tides Foundation.

according to a Presidio tenant list, the Tides Centre "provides charitable organizations with a legal structure and infrastructure support services. Tides currently works with over 250 organizations annually.

"Tides Foundation is partnering with individuals, famlies and institutions to craft strategic and effective social change philanthropy."

Not far away in the plethora of UN agencies taking up offices at the Presidio is the United Religious Initiative, "an international organization whose purpose is to build peace. In a world fractured by violence, it provides solutions for change."

With the bustling eco colony taking over the Presidio, not only Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement