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Greg Palast: This is it, folks

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By Greg Palast

This is it, folks – our last chance to make the New York Times bestseller list – we’re doing well – but we want to slam it – we want to make sure that people can’t miss Vultures’ Picnic when they go on Amazon, walk into stores and browse at airports.

Let’s make sure the media can’t ignore our book.

If you already bought it THANK YOU. Really, we can’t thank you enough. But we’re going to ask one more thing, think of your family. The Holidays are coming up – Vultures’ Picnic will make a great Xmas or Hanukkah present for that Uncle you’ll end up arguing about #OccupyWallStreet with.

Besides being stuffed with tons of info and investigations on the 1%, Vultures’ Picnic also happens to be “Sardonically funny and entertaining “, as one of our readers aptly described it.

If you read my columns, watch my BBC or Democracy Now! reports, you’re just getting the news appetizers. The whole enchilada, the whole book, is tastier than you can imagine.

Go to Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble right now and write a review – a marketing friend of ours – and one of our biggest supporters – tell us that real people’s testimonials have the biggest effect on people’s buying habits. Celeb’s are great and all (Bobby Kennedy Jr. says “Genius. A real-life spy novel”; but we want to hear what YOU think – and we need YOU to spread the word.

We don’t have the budget to advertise like the 1% do.

But we have YOU – our army – to go to Facebook, Twitter whatever to spread the word about Vultures’ Picnic – send your friends the excerpts here, here and here.

Thanks for everything – and remember you’re the reason why we can do what we do – you’re our Peoples’ Mic – now move your fingers and spread the word.

#OccupyTheTruth

***

Greg Palast is the author of Vultures’ Picnic: In Pursuit of Petroleum Pigs, Power Pirates and High-Finance Carnivores, released on November 14 by Penguin USA.Order it now! And I’ll send you, as a thank-you, no charge, a private link to see ALL FIFTEEN FILM SHORTS and two audio tracks that are embedded in the “amplified” or “enhanced” versions. Check out a couple.

For more information about Palast’s brand new book and his book-signing events in your city click here

Download Chapter 1 of the book:

Subscribe to Palast’s Newsletter and podcasts.
Follow Palast on Facebook and Twitter.

GregPalast.com

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About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

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23 comments

  1. Patrick

    Saw Greg’s report – BBC Newsnight on PBS- concerning a vulture fund depredations on the debt of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Brilliant journalism, sicking behavior by vulture capitalists in NYC. Bought $100M debt for $3M from a bent Bosnian Prime Minister and are seeking the full $100M in Jersey – a UK dependency and tax haven.

    Giving the vultures their pound of flesh means depriving the people of a strife torn country funds they could use to re-build their society. Instead the money will go to providing houses in the Hamptons for the funds precipals and their unknown backers. Balkan connections spring to mind.

    Apparently the legal system hasn’t moved on as far as we thought from the days of Dickens, and Jarndice and Jarndice.

    This type of journalism needs to be both supported and widely disseminated.

  3. Greg

    half way thru the book – I have now added Palast as an author to read more of … certainly can recommend the book – but the facts are troubling – how do we control greed & corruption?

  4. FrankZappasGuitar

    Love your work Greg, but Jesus H don’t give us that tripe about “our book.” This is YOUR book and we all appreciate you need to push some sales to guarantee continued success in the lefty media sphere, as well as positive wikipedia updates, ie “New York Times Bestselling Author Greg Palast…” Your work stands on its own, Greg, so please don’t debase yourself with emotional appeals (as in “aww…its my book too?”)

    1. rotter

      I think he wasnt talking about “our book” as in you, me,himslef, and occupy Berkley. He has a few people who are always with him (one of them seems to be his girlfreind as well as primary assistant). He nearly constantly talks about what they’re doing, where they’re going, who they’re meeting, etc.,..unless hes making it all up, and why would he, it really is team effort. Of course, all good Journalism is, even though your never going to hear most names ever put it that way, much less give credit where its due.

    1. LeonovaBalletRusse

      Markbn, we need better coordination with, or cooperation from, Powell’s. I clicked on your link, which brought me to the Union site with the Powell’s logo, and clicked on that link.

      When the Powell’s site appeared, there was NO “Vulture’s Picnic” icon to click on. I scrolled down, again nothing.

      You had a great idea, but this needs to be worked out better for solidarity’s sake. Is Greg Palast reading this?

  6. Pat Crawford

    This reads too much like a pure advert. “We”? Please. This sort of thing hurts the brand of naked capitalism. I heard him on the radio and it sounds like great investigative reporting. But stick to that. It doesn’t help to market it like some strange reality show.

    1. Paul Tioxon

      Since when does selling anything hurt a brand of capitalism? Even a naked brand? If we live with systemic risk, if we live in a global debt system where we have no other options but to depend upon getting money to spend in order to live, we need to learn to channel money, capital where we want it to go. This is the same attitude that keeps people from voting because everything is too corrupt for their moral hands. We are all born into a world that we did not make, after all, we are all mortal with so much time and decisions to make within the terms of the world as it is.
      We need to have some compassion for one another since we must work for money and money is the system which none of us can avoid. Yves shows compassion in sharing. I am never more impressed with anyone than when they part with money, when I get a job especially, and Yves is sharing something valuable that she has built up to give someone a chance to leverage her name, her site in order for them to earn a living.

      1. LeonovaBalletRusse

        AND, Yves is so generous, and so modest. She never asked for funds directly until the drive, and she facilitated means of payment incredibly well, and for any amount we could afford, to paid any way we could do it.

        She sets a magnanimous example for everyone. It doesn’t bother me at all to see Palast’s pitch, except he was too apologetic and awkward about it. He is a fantastic investigative reporter and writer, with steady feeds of hilarity. This is just the site he belongs with.

        I’m waiting to see if Powell’s plays ball by making it EASY and QUICK for us to buy the book from them, then I’ll click on Palast’s book and buy it from Powell’s.

        How about it, Yves, will Powell’s do right by Palast & NC?

    2. rotter

      If you actually read the book,you can start with the first chapter, which is published on line for FREE, you would understand who and what hes talking about.

  7. glenstein

    I’ve had a hard time taking Palast seriously, ever since he claimed the 2006 election would be “stolen” and that “We’ve found that November 7, 2006 is a day that will live in infamy.” Then he said the same thing about 2008. I don’t know how that weighs on his investigative capacities with respect to oil & money corruption but I’d like to see an explanation.

    1. Darren Kenworthy

      Is there an election in recent history that hasn’t been “stolen”, in the sense of having been “bought”?

  8. DC Native

    I’m about 1/3 finished with the book at this point and it is already worth the money. Honestly, I hadn’t read a Palast article in a few years but I stumbled across the first chapter last Sunday evening (and stayed up until about 12:30 PM reading it!) and knew I had to order the book on Monday.

    Palast’s sales pitch might not sit well with some liberals, but the actual information inside the book will slap you upside the head and make you say, “How didn’t I know this already?!”

    Honestly, I tend to think I’m relatively well-informed with some of these topics, but Palast’s book is filled with revelations that you won’t find anywhere else. I won’t ruin the surprises, but it has already made me look at the Katrina debacle in an ENTIRELY different light. As in, I have begun to question how I became so misinformed about the most crucial details of that man-made disaster.

    You won’t regret buying this book.

  9. PhilJoMar

    Here we go again…why do some people get so wound up when they spy just the tiniest possible morsel of hypocrisy? I couldn’t care less that GP might have his name put up in lights at Times Square or become the richest investigatory journalist (auto-whatie?) in ze vurld. But he has already had an effect on the world of vulture funds through UK legislation and if we can get these digusting entities closed then I will willingly clean GP’s house with a toothbrush to show my gratitude!

    1. rotter

      AND most of the complaints about “hypocrisy” come from the happy freemarketeers who lurk here, only occasionally erupting in defense of the truth, justice, mangnaminity, omnipotence, benevolence and eternal divinity of “the market” when they cant contain themselves any longer. or too provide us a glimpse of thier standard pattern of thinking by providing opinions about a book they obvioulsy havent read.

  11. leapfrog

    Just bought the Kindle copy and I will pass the word! I’ll also buy a copy for my 20-something daughter, who thoroughly enjoyed Griftopia and All the Devils Are Here. I’m looking forward to having 4 days off for Thanksgiving and I’m going to cozy up and read it straight through. Judging from the reviews, sounds like its going to be a great read.

    1. leapfrog

      Update: Just finished it! 5 stars! I had an inkling of the massive corruption in the world, thanks to Yves, but I had NO IDEA of the grand scheme of things. I couldn’t put it down. At first I thought it was rather dry reading and hard to connect the dots at times (just my personal opinion), but literally could not put it down for the last two-thirds.

      Thank you, Greg & Badpenney, Matt & others(all the heroes who stepped forth to tell their story).

      Now, how do we go about fixing the problems here? Pull a Lula on the bad guys?

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