Synopses & Reviews
The New York Times bestselling author of Armed Madhouse offers a globetrotting, Sam Spade-style investigation that blows the lid off the oil industry, the banking industry, and the governmental agencies that aren't regulating either.
This is the story of the corporate vultures that feed on the weak and ruin our planet in the process-a story that spans the globe and decades.
For Vultures' Picnic, investigative journalist Greg Palast has spent his career uncovering the connection between the world of energy (read: oil) and finance. He's built a team that reads like a casting call for a Hollywood thriller-a Swiss multilingual investigator, a punk journalist, and a gonzo cameraman-to reveal how environmental disasters like the Gulf oil spill, the Exxon Valdez, and lesser-known tragedies such as Tatitlek and Torrey Canyon are caused by corporate corruption, failed legislation, and, most interestingly, veiled connections between the billionaires of financial industry and energy titans. Palast shows how the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization, and Central Banks act as puppets and bandits for Big Oil.
With Palast at the center of an investigation that takes us from the Arctic to Africa to the Amazon, Vultures' Picnic shows how the big powers in the money and oil game slip the bonds of regulation over and over again, and simply destroy the rules that they themselves can't write-and take advantage of nations and everyday people in the process.
Review
"Twisted." Katherine Harris, former Florida Secretary of State, on Greg Palast's 2000 election reports
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"Palast is astonishing, he gets the real evidence no one else has the guts to dig up." Vincent Bugliosi, author of None Dare Call it Treason and Helter Skelter
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"[H]as fast become a cult fave among progressives....[Palast's] book provides a road map for other journalists, and he's donating the proceeds to a fund for investigative reporting. Let's hope more DIY muckrakers heed the call." Village Voice
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"After reading this book, students may indeed wonder why the government, judicial system, regulatory agencies and the media say little or nothing about this runaway, albeit legal, corruption." William Kircher, KLIATT
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"Palast distinguishes himself from many other advocacy journalists...with his near obsession with documentary evidence...and his painstaking research methods." Chicago Tribune
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"There is much of value here, but readers who want a full-bodied, serious analysis of how globalization is affecting developing countries or how corporate giants pay for political favors should look elsewhere." Publishers Weekly
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"The last of the great journalists." C-Span
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"The type of investigative reporter you don't see anymore a cross between Sam Spade and Sherlock Holmes." Jim Hightower
Synopsis
Investigative journalist Palast here collects his best work, which appeared in British and American publications. He exposes corruption worldwide, and his targets include the WTO, Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris, Tony Blair's administration, Exxon, Pfizer, Hillary Clinton, and the IMF.
Synopsis
Award-winning investigative journalist Greg Palast digs deep to unearth the ugly facts that few reporters working anywhere in the world today have the courage or ability to cover. From East Timor to Waco, he has exposed some of the most egregious cases of political corruption, corporate fraud, and financial manipulation in the U.S. and abroad. His uncanny investigative skills as well as his no-holds-barred style have made him an anathema among magnates on four continents and a living legend among his colleagues and his devoted readership.
This exciting collection, now revised and updated, brings together some of Palast's most powerful writing of the past decade. Included here are his celebrated Washington Post exposé on Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris's stealing of the presidential election in Florida, and recent stories on George W. Bush's payoffs to corporate cronies, the payola behind Hillary Clinton, and the faux energy crisis. Also included in this volume are new and previously unpublished material, television transcripts, photographs, and letters.
Synopsis
An award-winning investigative journalist exposes Jeb Bush's and Katherine Harris's stealing of the presidential election in Florida; recent stories on George W. Bush's payoffs to corporate cronies; the payola behind Hillary Clinton; and the faux energy crisis.
Synopsis
"Palast is astonishing, he gets the real evidence no one else has the guts to dig up." Vincent Bugliosi, author of None Dare Call it Treason and Helter Skelter
Award-winning investigative journalist Greg Palast digs deep to unearth the ugly facts that few reporters working anywhere in the world today have the courage or ability to cover. From East Timor to Waco, he has exposed some of the most egregious cases of political corruption, corporate fraud, and financial manipulation in the US and abroad. His uncanny investigative skills as well as his no-holds-barred style have made him an anathema among magnates on four continents and a living legend among his colleagues and his devoted readership.
This exciting collection, now revised and updated, brings together some of Palast's most powerful writing of the past decade. Included here are his celebrated Washington Post exposé on Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris's stealing of the presidential election in Florida, and recent stories on George W. Bush's payoffs to corporate cronies, the payola behind Hillary Clinton, and the faux energy crisis. Also included in this volume are new and previously unpublished material, television transcripts, photographs, and letters.
About the Author
Greg Palasts writings have appeared in The Washington Post, Harpers, and The Nation. Hes been a guest on Politically Incorrect, C-Spans Washington Journal, and does regular investigative reports for BBC Nightline. Winner of Salon.coms 2001 “Politics Story of the Year,” Greg Palast is a legend among his colleagues and his devoted readership worldwide. He divides his time between New York and London.
Table of Contents
Forewords
Who Gives a Shit? An Introduction 1
1 Jim Crow in Cyberspace: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida 6
2 Sell the Lexus, Burn the Olive Tree: Globalization and its Discontents 44
3 Small Towns, Small Minds 76
4 Pat Robertson, General Pinochet, Pepsi-Cola and the Anti-Christ: Special Investigative Reports 84
5 Inside Corporate America 115
6 The Best Democracy Money Can Buy 140
7 Cash-for-Access "Lobbygate": the Real Story of Blair and the Sale of Britain 152
8 Kissing the Whip 182
9 Victory in the Pacific A Conclusion 197
Index 201