Biography greg palast

American journalist

Gregory Allyn Palast (born June 26, )^[1] is demolish author and a freelance newspaperwoman who has often worked book the BBC and The Guardian. His work frequently focuses carry corporatemalfeasance but he has likewise worked with labour unions person in charge consumer advocacy groups.

Early survival, family, and education

Palast was resident in Los Angeles, growing give up in the San Fernando Depression community of Sun Valley. Geri Palast is his sister.

Palast said his desire to inscribe about class warfare is firm in his upbringing in rendering "ass-end of Los Angeles," wonderful neighborhood wedged between a hold sway plant and a dump.

Type said that kids in divagate neighborhood had two choices: Annam or the auto plant. "We were the losers," he articulate. He was saved from excellence war by a favorable commit to paper number. "A lot of party didn't make it out. Owing to I made it out, near my sister (Geri, a supplier Clinton administration assistant secretary presumption labor) made it out, Mad feel I have this onus to tell these stories bond behalf of all of those people who didn't make wash out out."^[2]

He attended John H.

Francis Polytechnic High School, and transferred to San Fernando Valley Nation College (now California State Institution, Northridge) in before completing cap senior year of high kindergarten. Palast said about high school: "Basically they were melting tonguetied brain, and I had stay with save myself. Before I fully grown high school, I talked doubtful way into college.

Before Crazed finished college, I talked discomfited way into graduate school."^[1] Palast then attended the University run through California, Los Angeles, University pleasant California, Berkeley, and University duplicate Chicago, from which he piecemeal in with a Bachelor defer to Arts in economics and perform with a Master's of Work Administration.

Palast majored in commerce at Chicago from the ease of a Weather Underground fellow he met at Berkeley who suggested Palast "familiarize himself be smitten by right-wing politics and learn nearby the 'ruling elite' from 'the inside.'"^[1]

Career

Since , Greg Palast has made more than a 12 films for the BBC extravaganza Newsnight with the Investigations Fabricator Meirion Jones, which have bent broadcast in the UK shaft worldwide.

In addition to birth films on US elections they have investigated oil companies, rank Iraq War, the attempted action against Hugo Chávez, and probity vulture funds which target excellence poorest countries.

Palast spoke cherished a Think Twice conference retained at Cambridge University^[3] and lectured at the University of São Paulo.^[4]

Palast's investigation into the Scrub family fortunes for his structure in The Observer led him to uncover a connection revivify a company called ChoicePoint.

Engage an October interview Palast spoken that before the election, ChoicePoint "was purging the voter rolls of Florida under a arrangement with a lady named Katherine Harris, the Secretary of Rise and fall. They won a contract, uncut bid contract with the disclose, with the highest bid."^[5] End subsequently noticing a large design of African-American voters were claiming their names had disappeared unearth voter rolls in Florida hem in the election, Palast launched deft full-scale investigation into election borrowing, the results of which were broadcast in the UK moisten the BBC on their Newsnight^[6] show prior to the purpose.

Palast claimed to have derived computer discs from Katherine Harris' office, which contained caging lists of "voters matched by competition and tagged as felons."^[5] Palast appeared in the documentary single, Florida Fights Back! Resisting decency Stolen Election, along with Vincent Bugliosi, former Los Angeles Proxy District Attorney and author bring into play The Betrayal of America.

Palast also appeared in the flick Orwell Rolls in His Grave, which focuses on the concealed mechanics of the media.^{[citation needed]}

In May , Palast said he'd received emails that former Creamy House Deputy Chief of StaffKarl Rove exchanged through an calculate supplied by the Republican Strong Committee.

Palast says the emails show a plan to attack likely Democratic voters with supplementary scrutiny over their home addresses, and he also believes Rove's plan was a factor satisfaction the firing of U.S. Attorneys.^[7]

After Palast was invited by Parliamentarian F. Kennedy Jr. to materialize on his Air America discourse show to discuss, among keep inside things, election fraud, the twins teamed up to publish fastidious report in October in Rolling Stone, concluding that the determination had already been stolen.

"If Democrats are to win loftiness election, they must not plainly beat John McCain at say publicly polls -- they must anaesthetized him by a margin turn this way exceeds the level of Party vote tampering", Palast and Jfk summarized.^[8] To combat the farflung acts of voter suppression prowl Palast and Kennedy uncovered, justness duo launched a campaign hollered Steal Back Your Vote,^[9] which features a website and unforced downloadable voter guide / mature comic book.

Palast has conducted a multi-year investigation into KansasSecretary of StateKris Kobach's Interstate Supporter Registration Crosscheck Program (commonly referred to as "Crosscheck"). The promulgation utilizes states' voter registration lists to match possible "double voters," using their first and newest names and the last couple digits of their Social Cover number.

In , Palast investigated Crosscheck for Al Jazeera America, finding that the program was inherently biased toward removing girlhood voters from states' voter rolls. In , he followed bump into with a documentary film, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, along with an article. ^[10]

Energy companies

In , Palast directed far-out U.S.

civil racketeering investigation snag the Shoreham Nuclear Power Opinion project, under construction by Remove & Webster and Long Resting place Lighting Company. A jury awarded the plaintiffs US$ billion; notwithstanding, New York's federal judgeJack Maladroit. Weinstein, reversed the verdict, topmost the case was later prescribed for $ million.^[11] The racketeering charges stemmed from an recrimination that LILCO filed false deed in order to secure amount owing increases.

LILCO sought a displacement of these charges on character grounds that Suffolk County called for authority under the Racketeer Phony and Corrupt Organizations Act professor that the allegations of cool history of racketeering did call for qualify as a continuing evil enterprise.^[12]

Palast has also taken sprint with the official story recklessness the grounding of the Exxon Valdez, claiming the sobriety fall foul of the Valdez's captain was yell an issue in the collide.

According to Palast, the basic cause of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in was sound human error, but an Exxon decision not to use nobleness ship's radar in order go along with save money. The Raytheon Raycas radar system would not imitate detected Bligh Reef itself - as radar, unlike sonar, silt incapable of detecting submerged objects.

The radar system would take detected the radar reflector, fib on the next rock midland from Bligh Reef for goodness purpose of keeping vessels gen up on course via radar.^[13] Palast outcome out that the original owners of the land, the provincial Alaska Natives tribe, took solitary one dollar in payment implication the land with a in attendance not to pollute it ahead spoil their fishing and wrap record hunting grounds.^[13]

In An Open Sign to Greg Palast on Summit Oil^[14]Richard Heinberg offers friendly denunciation of Palast, saying he conflates the "amount of oil left" with "peak (maximal) flow rates" for oil, the latter kick off key to the Peak Border concept.

On October 27, , Palast wrote, "The Petroleum Debate System Owes Us an Example. BP has neglected warnings insist on oil safety for years! On the other hand so has PBS. The Crude Broadcast System has turned adroit blind eye to BP disloyalty for decades. If the examine had come six months formerly the Gulf blow-out, after [major accidents in and or name years of government fines], Crazed would say, “Damn, that Frontline sure is courageous.” But scandalize months after the blow-out, PBS has shown us it exclusive has the courage to trim down the wounded.

The entire hr told us again and re-evaluate and again, the problem was one company, BP, and cast down 'management culture.' Unlike Shell Oil’s culture which has turned Nigeria into a toxic cesspool; not the same ExxonMobil’s culture which remains remark denial about the horror obsessive heaped on Alaska. And different from Chevron’s culture, which I beholdered in the Amazon.

Chevron chic left Ecuadoran farmers with recognize all over their bodies arena a graveyard of children old-fashioned of leukemia.^[15]

"LobbyGate" scandal

In , essential as an undercover reporter rep The Observer, Palast, posing translation a US businessman with pact to Enron, caught on wrap record two Labour party insiders, Derek Draper and Jonathan Mendelsohn, display about how they could market access to government ministers, select advance copies of sensitive feat, and create tax breaks expend their clients.^[16]

Draper denied the allegations.^[17] At Prime Minister's Question About July 8, BritishPrime MinisterTony Solon claimed that all the definite claims had been investigated with the addition of found groundless: "every allegation thankful in The Observer has back number investigated and found to engrave untrue".^[18]

Vulture funds

Starting in Palast promulgated a series of investigations other self what aid groups and investors call "vulture funds".

A marauder fund is a private objectivity or hedge fund where companies or people buy the responsibility arrear of a poor country mushroom litigate to recover the financial assistance, often at the expense advice aid and debt relief. Landmark Minister Gordon Brown commented air strike the practices saying "We especially condemn the perversity where Shark Funds purchase debt at swell reduced price and make neat as a pin profit from suing the defaulter country to recover the adequate amount owed - a with decency outrageous outcome".^[19]

In Palast detailed greatness workings of vulture funds by the crisis of the English automotive industry:

Singer, through unornamented brilliantly complex financial manoeuvre, took control of Delphi Automotive, grandeur sole supplier of most build up the auto parts needed saturate General Motors and Chrysler.

Both auto firms were already charge bankruptcy. Singer and co-investors needed the US Treasury pay them billions, including $m (£m) absorb cash immediately, or – chimpanzee the Singer consortium threatened – "we'll shut you down" near ending GM's supply of genius. GM and Chrysler, with single a few days' worth observe parts in stock, would conspiracy shut down and permanently artificial into liquidation.

Obama's negotiator, Storehouse deputy Steven Rattner, called greatness vulture funds' demand "extortion" Finally, the US Treasury quietly compensated the Singer consortium a sedate $bn in cash and subsidies from the US Treasury's car bailout fund. Singer responded willing Obama's largesse by quickly closing down 25 of Delphi's 29 US auto parts plants, migrant 25, jobs to Asia.

Singer's Elliott Management pocketed $bn souk which Singer personally garnered glory lion's share.

—&#;Palast ^[20]

Works

Books

Films

Newsnight

See also

References

External links

• - 'The Writings another Greg Palast' (official website)
• GregPalastOffice - Greg Palast's YouTube page
• Greg Palast at IMDb
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Election Larceny the Presidency?

  - interview bargain Democracy Now!

• - 'OPEC & The Economic Conquest Of Iraq', Greg Palast
• New York Inquirer talk with Greg Palast
• Palast article 'On the Mid-Term Elections'
• "A Sleeper Stall of Rove-Bots" - May 24, interview
• Greg Palast Tracks Vulture Dosh Preying on African Debt - Video report by Democracy Now!
• "Save My Vote ", SaveMyVoteorg, Los Angeles, CA: Palast Investigative Provide security, archived from the original send for September 30, , retrieved Oct 12, ,