Greg Palast

Greg Palast is a New York Times-bestselling author and a journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation as well as the British newspaper The Observer. His work frequently focuses on corporate malfeasance but has also been known to work with labor unions and consumer advocacy groups. Notably, he has accused Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and Florida Elections Unit Chief Clay Roberts, along with the ChoicePoint corporation, of election fraud during the US Presidential Election of 2000 and again in 2004 when, he argued, the problems and machinations from 2000 continued and that challenger John Kerry actually would have won if not for disproportional "spoilage" of Democratic votes. [1]

Palast has lectured at Cambridge University and the University of São Paulo. He lives in London and New York City. Palast is originally from Los Angeles, the "scum-end of LA, between the power plant and the garbage dump", and was educated at the University of Chicago, where he infiltrated the "Chicago Boys".

Election Claims

Palast has alleged ChoicePoint is biased favoring the Republican Party and used inaccurate data during the 2000 Election. Alleged tactics include listing voters as felons for alleged crimes said to be committed in the future. People convicted of a felony in different states and rights restored by a said state were not allowed to vote, despite the restoration of their rights. People were listed as felons based on a coincidence of name, despite data (such as date of birth) showing a criminal record did not apply to the voter in question, with "scrub lists" 90 percent wrong.

Schlenther v. Florida Department of State (June 1998) rules Florida can't prevent a felon in Connecticut who kept his voting rights in Connecticut from voting in Florida. But Florida insisted felons, granted rights, receive clemency from Governor Jeb Bush, possibly needing two years. NAACP filed suit arguing Florida violated of the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and the US Constitution, while others argued Florida violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

Palast has claimed that Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., not Pres. George W. Bush, won Ohio and New Mexico (two states with electoral margins close late in the October polls) citing exit poll results, becoming his second time to claim Bush stole a presidential election. As exit polls are used to judge the honesty of elections worldwide, the same should be true in the U.S., Palast argues.

Long Island Lighting

In 1988, Palast directed a US civil racketeering investigation into the nuclear plant builder Long Island Lighting, in which a jury awarded the plaintiffs US$4.8 billion, however, New York's chief federal judge reversed the verdict.

Exxon Valdez

Palast has also attempted to debunk the drunk captain theory of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, by arguing that the captain was, despite being drunk and sleeping off his bender, not on duty at the time. His first officer was reportedly in command but the main cause of the Exxon Valdez accident (1989) wasn't human error but was, according to Palast, instead due to an Exxon decision to not fix the ship's radar (in order to save money). Coupled with various other breaches of safety regulations - like not bothering to have their containment ships close at hand as per regulations and agreements, the results were deadly for the local ecology, according to Palast.

Palast argues that this penny pinching was particularly noteworthy when one considers the fact that the original owners of the land, the local native American tribe, took no payment for the land other than a promise not to pollute it and spoil their fishing ground.

Reliant Energy

Palast asserts that Reliant Energy maintains a file on him, including false data regarding his sex life, which they distribute as propaganda against him (1-p.112).

Writings by Greg Palast

Columns

Inside Corporate America

Books

Armed Madhouse (2006)
Democracy and Regulation (2003) (Co-Authors: Theo MacGregor and Jerrold Oppenheim)
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (2002)

External links

GregPalast.com - 'The Writings of Greg Palast' (official website)
Scoop.co.nz - 'OPEC & The Economic Conquest Of Iraq', Greg Palast

Harper's (October 24, 2005)

References

1 -- The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast (2002)

2 -- New York Inquirer Interview with Greg Palast