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Energy Hoax * Greenpeace MD * Lori's Appeal * Crazy Horse * Reich for Governor
22 January 2002
This issue includes updates on the California pseudo energy crisis, (a recent study reports), on the trial in California on Greenpeace activists delaying a missile defensive/offensive weapon test, on Lori Berenson, her trial is up for an appeal today, more on a review of Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz, and a Flyby News political endorsement for Robert Reich for Governor of Massachusetts. His campaign is time sensitive, since he was late to join the fray, and needs 15% of the delegates attending the Massachusetts Democratic Convention this February 2nd in Worcester. More on this can be found in item 5 and from his website, http://www.robertreich.org
Also, the ninety-day action plan to ban space-based weapons is nearly ready to be announced by the Institute for Cooperation in Space. Stay tuned, and if you want to help network this campaign and Flyby News, send your snail mail address to info@flybynews.com, and we will send you copies of a flier to post on bulletin boards and distribute. And pass the word to your online friends to subscribe for Flyby News. There is a link to add any address to our list at the bottom of http://www.flybynews.com . All addresses remain confidential.
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1) Study: California Energy Crisis Was a $71 Billion Hoax
2) Activists get probation in Calif. missile case
3) Lori Berenson - Court Appeal Finally to be Heard
4) Crazy Horse by Mari Sandoz
5) Robert Reich for Governor of Massachusetts
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1) Study: California Energy Crisis Was a $71 Billion Hoax
January 17, 2002
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) issued the first comprehensive review of the California energy crisis today, exactly one year after the first rolling blackouts hit California. Using government and industry data, the 58 page report, entitled "Hoax: How Deregulation Let the Power Industry Steal $71 Billion From California," shows that the California electricity system did not fail according to the laws of supply and demand, as it has been widely portrayed. The California energy crisis, instead, was a hoax - orchestrated by a power industry freed from price regulation - that will cost $2,200 for every Californian.
The report is available at
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/rp/rp002169.pdf
For nearly a year, the energy industry, state officials and President Bush claimed there was a shortage of energy in California. But the crisis suddenly disappeared late last spring after Governor Gray Davis committed the state to spending at least $43 billion for energy over the next twenty years. The report shows that the power industry manufactured blackouts and threatened more of them as tools to gain unprecedented profits and overpriced, long-term contracts during the crisis. The report also warns that unless the state of California regains control of its electricity supply, and makes it publicly accountable, additional artificially-created crises will occur in the immediate future.
"The energy crisis was a hoax, set up by deregulation, to suck billions of dollars out of the state," said Harvey Rosenfield and Doug Heller of FTCR, a non-profit, non-partisan research and advocacy group based in California. "The utilities, energy companies and power traders backed deregulation because they knew it would be a license to steal. Once freed of state scrutiny - once the cop was off the beat - they held the state hostage until we agreed to pay their demands. When they stole as much as they thought they could get away with, the 'crisis' mysteriously disappeared - leaving the people of California stuck with the tab."
"It wasn't a shortage, it was a shakedown," FTCR said.
Among its findings, the report shows that:
* The rolling blackouts, which occurred on generally low-demand days, were not caused by a shortage of power plants, but by energy companies looking to maximize their prices and profits.
* Throughout late 2000 and 2001, when prices skyrocketed, California used less electricity than prior years, in which prices were stable and there were no blackouts.
* Californians overpaid $8.5 billion for electricity between January and October of 2001 alone - and will overpay at least another $20.5 billion over the next decade.
* While the U.S. entered a recession during the first half of 2001, power companies, such as Enron, Duke and Reliant, reaped unprecedented windfalls.
* The crisis suddenly ended - without the predicted summer blackouts - not because of Californians' conservation, mild weather or new power plants, but because the energy industry had achieved its goals, and was facing investigations and legislation that threatened to "kill the goose that laid the golden egg": deregulation.
More Crises Unless Deregulation Ended
The report concludes with a series of policy prescriptions including the development of a long-range plan for a hybrid energy system that is part private and part publicly-owned power,
and well regulated. The study also calls for regulatory and statutory changes that will save consumers billions of dollars, such as a retroactive ban on "direct access," a re-allocation of
the electricity rate structure and the formation of a Consumer Utility Board.
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The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights (FTCR)
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/
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2) Activists get probation in Calif. missile case
LOS ANGELES - Nine people who were arrested during a protest of a July missile test at a U.S. Air Force base in California were sentenced in Los Angeles federal court last week to a year's probation.
The defendants were among a group of 17 alleged Greenpeace activists who pleaded guilty last week to criminal charges of conspiring to enter a U.S. Coast Guard safety zone in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California aboard inflatable rafts and boats to prevent the Air Force from launching an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The test, in which an unarmed missile was fired over the ocean and then destroyed by another rocket, was delayed while the Air Force cleared the activists out of the restricted area.
"It is not the job of the court to pass judgment on the political views of the defendants or the government," U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Morrow said before imposing the sentences. The judge did not impose fines because Greenpeace USA had already agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit spurred by the protest.
Greenpeace had also agreed to keep its activists away from federal military installations involved in missile testing for the next five years or face a hefty fine of up to $500,000, according to court papers.
The remaining defendants face sentencing April 15.
The protesters, from Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, India, Sweden and the United States, were initially charged with conspiracy and trespassing into restricted space.
Their guilty pleas last week came as prosecutors prepared to go to trial against the defendants, who could have faced 11 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Under terms of a plea deal with prosecutors each defendant could potentially face a maximum of six months in a federal detention center.
Prosecutors said 15 of the defendants appeared to be activists. Two others claimed to be journalists. However, U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said: "It is our position they were not independent and that they were working for Greenpeace at the time of this incident."
Story Date: 21/1/2002
© Reuters News Service 2001
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14114/story.htm
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3) Lori Berenson - Court Appeal Finally to be Heard
Monday, January 21, 2002
To All Friends and Supporters of Lori Berenson:
LORI'S COURT APPEAL FINALLY TO BE HEARD
After "sitting in limbo" for seven months, Lori's appeal to the Peruvian Supreme Appeals Court will be heard Tuesday morning. Dr. Sandoval will have but five minutes to present Lori's defense to the five-member court panel. The prosecutor will have five minutes to argue why the charges of collaboration should be upgraded to active participation in a terrorist group. Dr. Sandoval will then get an opportunity to make one very brief remark. The judges will then consider the oral hearing and are expected to examine all the files from the court case before deciding whether to uphold the conviction, change the conviction as requested by the prosecutor, ask for Lori's release as requested by Dr. Sandoval, reduce her sentence, or say she must face another trial. The court cannot raise the sentence above 20 years.
Although, by Peruvian law, the appeal was to be completed 15 days after sentencing, seven months already have passed since the Special Civilian Terrorism Court convicted Lori of collaboration and sentenced her to 20 years last June 20. We hope that the appeal will be looked at carefully and that the court will conclude, as we know, that Lori is innocent of the charges. However, our long experience with the Peruvian justice system leaves us believing this won't happen.
Rumors from Lima indicate a decision by the court is expected from one to 15 days. However, since this is Peru, the decision could be put off for months!
LORI CONCERNED FOR MOUNTING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN PERU
Much to our and Lori's disappointment it is clear that conditions in Peruvian prisons have substantially worsened these past few weeks. In additition to the way Lori and Nancy Gilvonio were moved from Chorrillos Prison on December 21, with the gassing, beatings, and sexual abuse that the Peruvian government has hidden from its public, we now have learned that recently other political prisoners, and even their families, have been beaten and abused during peaceful protests. And throughout the country, workers, students, and others have faced similar physical abuse when peacefully expressing dissent.
Lori and we don't understand the current lack of tolerance for protest and dissent since these are fundamental rights protected by democratic governments. We hope that the Peruvian authorities will look into these recent abuses and take corrective action before the situation further deteriorates.
MARK RETURNS FROM VISITING LORI IN CAJAMARCA AND HER FORMER CELLMATES IN LIMA
Mark visited Lori this past weekend in Huacariz Prison in the northern Peruvian highlands of Cajamarca. She was in good spirits and busy making greeting cards with a thread design she has been perfecting for a few years. Mark had the opportunity to visit Lori's cell for the first time since her arrest and could not believe how "spartan" the conditions are. The all concrete cell is designed for one person and is very small. Again, the cell has no heat and there is only cold water.
Lori was very preoccupied with the violence that the government has used against those protesting peacefully and of the crackdown against fellow political prisoners. She has reason to be. Mark visited the women in the Santa Monica de Chorrillos Prison in Lima on Sunday following his visit with Lori in Cajamarca. Mark was still able to see the bruises (fading black and blue marks and lumps) on the arms and legs of some of the women. These were still evident 1 month after the Dec. 21 incident in which Lori and Nancy Gilvonio were taken from Lima. The Peruvian government insists this process was a "normal" police effort.
Rhoda and Mark B.
To learn more and what you can do to support Lori Berenson, visit
http://www.freelori.org
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4) Crazy Horse by Mari Sandoz
You may recall a short review of the book, Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas, in the Flyby News issue of 21 December 2001. This book was carefully researched on the biography of the Indian leader of the 1800's, recalling the later Indian Wars, especially during the aftermath of the Civil War. Mari Sandoz's writing champions the worth of the Native American, the need for just laws, and concerns for the rights of the poor and dispossessed and those who face discrimination. This book and Cheyenne Autumn was published long before Americans were ready to listen, and give Sandoz's impassioned account of the near destruction of the culture of the Plains Indian Tribes. For more on Mari Sandoz, see
http://sandozlit.com/sandozlit/siouxhistory.html
Excerpts of Reviews of Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz
"Here is a glorious hero tale told with beauty and power...the story of a great American."
—New York Times
"[One] of the great stories of the West, and written...in the spirit of the sages, with a scrupulous regard for truth and history."
—Atlantic Monthly
"This history of the Oglala Indian Crazy Horse is a splendidly done thing. [Sandoz] gives a magnificent picture of the Plains Indian civilization."
—Washington Star
There is much to learn from this book, about a rare leader's pure devotion to his people, true humility, and the deceit and treachery, not just from the conquering ancestors of European descent, but from those of the Oglala nation, too, who became envious and corrupt under influences and weaknesses of a human nature. As the adage says, unless we learn from our past mistakes, we are doomed to repeating them. With this realization, Leonard Peltier, with dignity and humility, calls for the spirit of Crazy Horse in what is good for all to help him overcome the treachery keeping him behind bars for about half his life, more than a quarter of a Century.
To learn more about Leonard Peltier, and his beautiful artwork and devotion to the people of the Oglalas, visit his defense committee's website – http://www.freepeltier.org
The following is some information from the web on purchasing
Crazy Horse - The Strange Man of The Oglalas by Mari Sandoz
Price $14.95
Crazy Horse - The Strange Man of the Oglalas: by Mari Sandoz
Hard Cover (limited quantity) Price $15.95
http://sandozlit.com/sandozlit/siouxhistory.html
Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas
University of Nebraska Press (Mari Sandoz) at barnesandnoble
http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp?sourceid=00001199494924770070&ISBN=0803292112&bfdate=01-21-2002+10:33:26
Crazy Horse : The Strange Man of the Oglalas (50th Anniversary Edition)
Author: Sandoz, Mari
List Price: $14.95
Crazy Price: $11.36
You save: $3.59 (24%)
Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr
Publication Date: February 1992
Dimensions: 7.99" x 5.34" x 1.1"
Type: Trade Paper
Category: History/United States - State & Local
ISBN: 0803292112
http://www.alphacraze.com/shop/detailview.asp?acp=0803292112
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5) Robert Reich for Governor of Massachusetts
Flyby News is endorsing the campaign to elect Robert Reich for the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Reich needs 15% of the delegates attending the Massachusetts Democratic Convention in order to this candidate on the ballot. Please mobilize yourself, friends and family, who live in Massachusetts to go to the February 2 caucus to elect delegates supporting Bob Reich for Governor. As you well know, for too many years we've had no real leadership, no vision, and no sense of strong public values in that office. Robert Reich can make a difference. For most of his adult life he has fought for more and better jobs. As U.S. Secretary of Labor he helped raise the minimum wage, fought sweatshops, improved pension security, implemented the family and medical leave act, made workplaces safer, and fought for corporate social responsibility. He stands up for the average working people and for those who have been left behind. If you want to know where he stands on issues, see
http://www.robertreich.org/2002/issues.shtm
If you can, help Robert Reich get on the ballot. A lot of entrenched interests want to keep things the way they are. They don't want new ideas. They want politics as usual.
Robert Reich – Background
Robert Reich is a university professor at Brandeis University in Waltham. Before joining Brandeis, he served as the nation's 22nd Secretary of Labor during President Clinton's first term. Under Reich's leadership, the Labor Department moved forward on several initiatives to build the skills of American workers. The department cracked down on unsafe work sites and fraudulent purveyors of pensions and health insurance. It initiated a national crusade to abolish sweatshops in the United States and to eradicate child labor around the world. Under Secretary Reich, the Family and Medical Leave Act was passed and implemented. In addition, Secretary Reich was instrumental in raising the minimum wage for the first time since 1989. Before heading the Labor Department, Reich was a member of the faculty of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He served as an assistant to the solicitor general in the Ford administration, representing the United States before the U.S. Supreme Court, and he headed the policy planning staff of the Federal Trade Commission in the Carter administration. Reich is the author of eight books, including The Work of Nations, which has been translated into 22 languages, the best-seller Locked in the Cabinet, and, most recently, The Future of Success, published by Alfred Knopf. He has written more than 200 articles on the global economy, the changing nature of work, and the centrality of human capital. He is a consultant to many governments and corporations. Reich was the host of the widely acclaimed four-part public TV series Made in America (1992), and most recently the writer and host of the PBS special At the Grass Roots (1998). He also co-hosted the public TV series The Long and the Short of It. His radio commentary can be heard every other Thursday evening on public radio's "Marketplace," and his writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Britain's Observer, and many other publications. Reich is founder and national editor of The American Prospect. He has written extensively for the Prospect on the international economy and American progressivism. Currently, he is university professor and the Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy at Brandeis University and its Heller Graduate School. For the past 20 years, Reich has been a resident of Cambridge, MA with his wife, Clare Dalton. They have two sons.
Reich for Governor Committee
P.O. Box 381483
Cambridge, MA 02238
(617) 547-2206
http://www.robertreich.org
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