First the Enron 'death star"now...Mercury News: Energy gouging found by judge. The judge found that El Paso's pipeline-operating subsidiary, El Paso Pipeline, withheld ``extremely large amounts of capacity'' during the energy crisis and operated pipes at only about 79 percent of capacity during the winter of 2000-01. Specifically, he concluded the company held back at least 345 million cubic feet per day of natural gas -- enough to serve about 1.5 million California homes. This damning report, which El Paso naturally denies, tends to confirm what anyone with a brain knew implictly during the energy crisis of late 2000 and early 2001 -- that the energy companies and their helpers were gaming the system. So what can California do about it? Suing the energy industry is only one step, though a valuable one. Death squads in Fresno?...CITY OF FRESNO CRIMINALIZES POVERTY By Mike Rhodes The City of Fresno has a "campaign" to make the poor and homeless go away. This campaign includes increased harassment of the poor and homeless downtown, a TV advertising campaign asking people not to give money to the poor, the relocation of services for homeless people to a location South of downtown, and an ordinance that will make panhandling illegal. The campaign went into high gear last month when the Mayor and Chief of Police promoted and the City Council introduced an ordinance prohibiting the poor and homeless from asking for money. The ordinance is not intended to stop middle class groups from asking the public for money, standing in the middle of street medians, or yelling at passing cars. It will just affect the poor. The harrassment in downtown Fresno has gotten so bad that the homeless are being threatened with death if they don't move on. MORE ON http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/09/151006.php
