I saw Greg Palast Saturday night

[proud2BlibKansan]

He was speaking in Chicago and we went to hear him after the march. These are just random notes. I was pretty tired after a long day.

Palast started out by telling us there are two rules for drilling oil:

1. The lower the supply of oil the higher the price

2. The lower the supply of oil the higher the price


He also talked about the desire to CONTROL the flow of oil and the role that plays in the invasion of Iraq. So he said if we had been chanting while we marched "No Blood For Oil" we needed to change that to "Blood For NO Oil".

When Clinton left office, oil was $18 a barrel. Now it is $92 a barrel. The oil in Iraq is not metered so no one knows exactly how much oil is being taken out of Iraqi oil wells (and how much is NOT being taken out).

Columbia College, where Palast was speaking, is involved in a labor struggle between security guards and Wackenhut. He called Wackenhut the "#1 union buster in the US."(He also discusses Wackenhut in ARMED MADHOUSE.)

He said Bush is afraid of horses. He was removed as a pilot in the TANG because he was afraid to land a plane. So the 'Mission Accomplished' gimmick was really a joke.

There is not one instance of George Bush being IN a meeting on the war in Iraq.

Paul Bremer kept $600 MILLION in US currency in his office in Baghdad.

He talked about the 'Don't taze me bro' kid in Florida and said that kid is now working for Greg Palast as an investigator.

Palast has a new DVD out about Katrina called BIG EASY TO BIG EMPTY. He was arrested while filming the DVD because he was filming a camp where displaced New Orleans residents were living and an oil refinery was in the background. Under Homeland Security regs, you can't take pictures of an oil refinery.

Palast talked about the fires in California and the fake press conference by FEMA. He called the fire a "celebrity fire". He stressed the difference in the way the people were treated in California and in New Orleans. And he said the issue is class, the badge is race.

They let us submit questions and the most popular one was about the 2008 election. Does he think that Bush and Cheney will cancel the election to stay in office? He answered "The puppets will change. The puppeteers will remain the same." George Bush is the current puppet. (Read ARMED MADHOUSE!!! This is one of the most fascinating parts of that book.)

[SpiralHawk]

1. Commander AWOL afraid to land a plane? Bwaa ha ha ha ha

He's just another anti-American republicon homelander....

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. LOL Great picture!!

[BridgeTheGap]

2. Greg Palast is a credit to humanity

More power to him!

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. He is an American hero

[mmonk]

3. Reminds me of something I wrote in the paper

and have received telephone messages from people who took the time to try and find my number and address since it was published (I'm too scared to return any of the calls). It went as follows:

I read the op-ed by Gal Luft you published titled, “Time has shown this wasn’t a war for oil” whereby Luft takes Alan Greenspan to task for claiming the Iraq war was largely about oil. The conclusions by Luft are as dubious as his omissions of fact.

For years prior to the invasion of Afghanistan, the United States had been negotiating with the Taliban government on behalf of Unocal for oil pipeline rights through the country. The present government is headed by Hamid Karzai , a former Unocal consultant.

Prior to the invasion of Iraq, Vice President Cheney convened an Energy Task Force. Through the Freedom of Information Act, Judicial Watch obtained a map of Iraq from the meeting with it’s oil field reserves divided into blocks. After the invasion, one of the Bremer Orders (#39) called for: Provision 1, privatization, Provision 2, 100 percent Foreign Ownership of Iraqi Businesses, Provision 3, National treatment of foreign investment, Provision 4, Unrestricted Repatriation of Profits for Foreign Investors, Provision 5, Forty Year Leases of Iraqi Real Estate by Foreign Entities.

One could conclude the administration sought private control vs. Iraqi Government control so that international oil interests could control oil prices.





Let me add, Armed Madhouse is worth anyone's while to read.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Yes everyone who wants to understand this illegal invasion

must read ARMED MADHOUSE. It is the best explanation for WHY we invaded Iraq that I have seen yet. And his stuff on election fraud is just chilling. I was leaning towards Richardson until I read what he did (NOT) do following the 2004 election in his state.

Palast is a gem. Too bad we don't have several more like him.

[Hissyspit]

7. .

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Thanks Hissy!

[proud patriot]

8. k and r