The Great American Electric Scandal

By Sherman H. Skolnick 8-13-99

Thomas A. Edison, a mostly self-educated wizard, ended up with a lot of things named after him. One of those is the Chicago-based COMMONWEALTH EDISON CO., supplying power for a large part of Illinois.

Although some may praise Edison, the inventor, lately they curse his namesake, Edison, the electric utility. Why? Frequent black-outs and high rates are too easy of an answer.

Edison is the largest nuclear electric firm in the U.S. Because of its nuke plants being old or just plain trouble, the firm still uses plenty of fossil fuel generators. And some of those are old enough to apply for a Social Security pension. Some claim some of Edison's facilities are almost 90 years old. For years, Edison paid a dependable dividend to stockholders who are not inclined to have the latest, most modern equipment at the expense of a reduced dividend. And Edison is loaded with a mountain of debt owed to banks owned by America's banker-judges.

One of the largest owners of Edison is a foreign, absentee owner, the VATICAN, through a Netherlands front, ROBECO. This is quite natural, since Chicago is the largest Catholic Archdiocese in the U.S. And the Pope also owns several other sizeable enterprises in Chicago. And like any faraway owner, they are principally interested in the bottom-line take-home profit of their property, rather than the comfort of local utility rate-payers or customers. Also, the Vatican owns the water works in Rome, and many there similarly claim lack of good service.

When Edison applied for yet another nuclear facility license in the 1970s, a Chicago political activist, Harriet Sherman [a member of our court reform group], fought them. The basis of her objection: that the U.S. Atomic Energy Act prohibits foreign ownership of nuclear facilities in the U.S. Ignoring the Vatican ownership question, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected her petition. Edison used their muscle to inflict reprisals. Without a proper basis, Edison arbitrarily cut off her residential electric service. No one in authority seemed to care or offer a remedy. The Vatican is not only a foreign separate sovereignty, as law books refer to it, but, moreover, is a religious government, a theocracy. By the way, the Vatican also has owned the other major nuclear electric plants in the U.S., in Virginia and in Florida.

The false cut-off of the loudmouth's electric service ended up as an unpublicized damage suit in Chicago's courts. As plaintiff, she forced 16 local judges, some not even Catholics, but beholden to Edison and the Vatican, to one by one disqualify themselves. Some judges gave hour-long court speeches, in response to her demand that they divulge whether they are so beholden, to explain away why as NON-CATHOLICS, they as judges were still somehow obligated to the Vatican. One Judge told her in Court, in my presence, "You forgot to ask me whether the Archdiocese and the Vatican are the ones necessary to get me on the election ballot in this County." So she asked and he said "You do not get on the ballot at all, Catholic or not, without their blessings." He removed himself.

Tired of her targetting so many judges, one by one, and to avoid a messy trial, the Vatican-owned Commonwealth Edison Company quietly settled. The activist was happy ending up with a long-needed new roof for her residence.

One of the great secrets of Chicago, if not the nation, is that 8 downtown buildings do not need Edison. In their sub-basement, carefully hidden by secret entrances from office workers, are atomic "pigs".Called that because the compact mechanisms seem to stand on feet like such an animal and operate much like in a nuclear-powered submarine. Using such cheap, efficient power, such buildings leave their lights on all night. Why? Turning the fluorescent bulbs and electronic devices on and off too much make them "pop".

In April,1992, was a strange flood downtown Chicago, caused by a forgotten, no longer used tunnel crossing under the nearby river, somehow caving in. [Some claimed sabotage.] The tunnel was once used for narrow-track railroad cars running in tunnels under the downtown, to deliver coal and other items.

As the river flooded the downtown building basements, there was a growing danger it would inundate the sub-basements of the buildings with the secret atomic electricity. Only a handful of elite electrical engineers, pledged to national security and secrecy, ever knew about all this. If some kind of disaster almost happened, Chicagoans were never informed of the near-miss by the pressfakers.

Superstitious sorts worry about Friday the 13th. A day ahead of August 13, 1999, a Friday, a series of events seemed to spotlight Edison's foreign owners "milking" their worn out property. The result: businesses just west of downtown had their juice cut off. To avoid burning out other equipment, in a spreading problem, Edison gave only ten minutes warning notice it was going to shut off the power to part of downtown, called "The Loop" by locals. The first story claimed it all started when an Edison crew reportedly damaged a main cable.

Mayor Richard M. Daley, a devout Catholic, held a press conference and rightfully railed against Edison's bungling. Referring to the city's franchise agreement with Edison, he demanded they fire most of their engineers and get an outside engineering firm to rectify the endless black-out problems.

Cynics claim the whole mess is simply that the Pope wants to be rid of a growing hole in his pocket called Commonwealth Edison. Maybe the city will buy out Edison's old machinery for municipal electricity. [Years ago, it did not work in Cleveland because of massive media bombardment.] Wags contend its a scheme by the petroleum cartel to sell more candles.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 13, 1999

Answers

link please. Fraid I don't just just listen to someone like this without knowing some background.

-- uh-huh (waiting@yup.com), August 13, 1999.

Link please? It's convenient but not necessary.

Were people capable of rational assessment before the internet?

As to the article, the editorial points are worth noting.

Even the most predjudiced views can carry a measure of wisdom, but it takes time to see if these views hold up.

-- Tom Beckner (xouttbeckner@erols.com), August 13, 1999.

This anti-Catholic drivel should be ignored. I would request it be deleted, but it stands as proof that anti-Catholic bigotry in America did not end with the decline of bigoted groups like the KNOW NOTHINGS, KKK, or the election of J.F.K. as president.

I am capable of dismissing this entire post based on the bigotry and simple-mindedness alone, I am also a stockholder in Dominion Resources Inc. Dominion Resources owns North Anna and Surry power stations in Virginia, operated by Virginia Power. While I would welcome influence from Pope John Paul II, this company is run by a bunch of good ole boys in Richmond.

May God bless and change your pitiful heart.

-- ubi (ubi@petros.com), August 13, 1999.

As a former 50-year resident of the Chicago area, I know Sherman Skolnick's reputation very well; I have even gone head-to-head against him a couple of times. A strident atheist, his only claim to fame is the filing of lawsuits across suburban Chicago to have anything related to Christianity removed from public property, mainly at Christmas time: nativity scenes, crosses, etc.

I smile because his actions almost always backfire; for instance, in Island Lake and Wauconda, northwest of Chicago, hundreds and thousands of outraged citizens erected giant illuminated crosses in their front yards.

His anti-Christianity, anti-Catholic bias comes across in this post. It's the Catholic Church in Rome that's responsible for ComEd's incompetence! There's a man who deserves a tinfoil hat.

-- Sandmann (Sandmann@alasbab.com), August 13, 1999.

Sandman,

I think you mean Rob Sherman. He sues local governments to remove religious icons.

-- mabel (mabel_louise@yahoo.com), August 13, 1999.

Lighten up guys/gals! Catholic, Jewish, Republican or Environmentalist - it doesn't matter. What matters is how an organization controls an entity or investment, etc. There seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to criticizing ANY "untouchable" organization. During the hippie "revolution" the "patriots" were saying "Love it or Leave it!" and many hated the hippies. Today, the "patriots" are now the "enemy" because they say the gov. is criminal. Let the cards fall where they may. Facts are facts (if the above are facts).

The dicussion is about who is doing what to keep the lights on!

-- dw (y2K@outhere.com), August 13, 1999.

Can't the Pope just say "Let there be light"?

Papacy.. the silver bullet.

[dang.. I KNOW I am going to be struck by lightening for that one]

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), August 13, 1999.

Yeh, let's not be too quick to shoot a messenger just because he looks scruffy and smells bad. ComEd has been getting a lot of bad comments coming in for quite some time now. They seem to be one of the lesser prepared utilities, just like my own dear Conectiv.

-- Gordon (gpconnolly@aol.com), August 13, 1999.

Getting back to the main topic... the state of the Electrical Industry in general... Rick Cowles did a very interesting write up this past week (following the NERC's "Quarterly Report" released on Aug 3). In it, he states:

"The electric industry, in preparation for deregulation and competition, has changed dramatically in the past ten years. Maintenance budgets have been slashed. As an example, in the world of Transmission and Distribution, fix-on-failure has become the maintenance mode for most quipment, rather than periodic maintenance and/or replacement prior to failure. Personnel downsizing has been endemic - the 'history' of most electric comapanies has walked right out the front door. As shown by two summer's worth of power interruptions and disruptions in the mid-West and mid-Atlantic states (and acknowledged at all levels of industry and government), distribution systems are being strained to the breaking point."

I believe the link to Mr. Cowles's full commentary was posted in this forum a few days ago.

-- M.C. Hicks (mhicks@greenwich.com), August 13, 1999.

"His anti-Christianity, anti-Catholic bias comes across in this post. It's the Catholic Church in Rome that's responsible for ComEd's incompetence! There's a man who deserves a tinfoil hat."

-- Sandmann (Sandmann@alasbab.com), August 13, 1999.

Sandman,

I've never been able to equate Catholic w/ Christian. Was born and raised Catholic and always knew about this sort of thing.

$$$Church of the Bigger Buck.$$$

-- freeman (freeman@cali.com), August 13, 1999.

I would be VERY interested in any references to the "pigs" in the basements. If I'm not brain dead this morning, I seem to think that any "pig" would have to be fairly large, by most standards, and have a fairly large cooling system, since electricity, contrary to many beliefs, doesn't just "convert" from reactor activity, it needs a steam turbine generator, the condensor from the turbine to get the steam back to water to go around again, etc.......

Chuck

who is probably more than healthily sceptical today

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), August 13, 1999.

another PEEK at the= BEAST-SYSTEM.=POLITICAL-INQUISITIONS?

-- seeker. (dogs@zianet.com), August 13, 1999.

Sandman,

I'm a Catholic myself, and at times ashamed about it. The Vatican is as ruthless if not more so than the CIA my friend - get real. Furthermore the untold wealth in the Vatican could have been auctioned off long ago to do some REAL good in the world - think about it.

The link is at www.sightings.com

Mayor Daley of Chicago seems to agree 100% with Skolnick on this...

Follow the money... to the Vatican...

Chuck,

The pigs sound far-fetched to me too.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 13, 1999.

Andy,

You say you are Catholic. When was the last time you were to Mass or Confession???

The idea that the Vatican "owns" or "controls" Dominion Resources or any other utility is ridiculous. And the drivel about the wealth of the Vatican is old and too worn to be convincing. People donated the art treasures of the Vatican to use their talents to give thanks and glory to God. How many people view spendor the the Cistine chapel ceiling and have cause to lift their minds and hearts in contemplation of the Creator? Much real "GOOD" is done by these works, spiritual good that is timeless, much more through the centuries than the temporary relief purchased by sale of the art to private collectors. Do you contend that poverty would be erased by the liquidation of the Vatican holdings?

-- ubi (ubi@petros.com), August 13, 1999.

who do you think,the WHORE drunk with blood 'of the saints' is in book of revelations,& she rides the=BEAST. THE n.w.o. WILL HAVE 1 RELIGION GUESS-WHO?? POLITICS & RELIGION= a big NO-NO.

-- the truth=sets free. (dogs@zianet.com), August 13, 1999.

"Link please? It's convenient but not necessary.

Were people capable of rational assessment before the internet?

As to the article, the editorial points are worth noting.

Even the most predjudiced views can carry a measure of wisdom, but it takes time to see if these views hold up."

Yeah, and if this was published anywhere off the internet I would be able to look up a masthead and get a better feeling for what is going on. Sorry, but I don't just let myself get led around by the nose, I prefer to do some research.

-- uh-huh (waiting@yup.com), August 13, 1999.

They never expect The Spanish Inquisition!

-- Monty Python (***@__._), August 13, 1999.

Chuck, I would have shared your skepticism ( I would be VERY interested in any references to the "pigs" in the basements. If I'm not brain dead this morning, I seem to think that any "pig" would have to be fairly large, by most standards, and have a fairly large cooling system, since electricity, contrary to many beliefs, doesn't just "convert" from reactor activity, it needs a steam turbine generator, the condensor from the turbine to get the steam back to water to go around again, etc....... ) except that, in the back of my mind, I kept thinking I'd heard something about a small nuclear reactor like that, way back in 1977, when a few hundred of us "nuclear activists" were staging a protest at the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, near Portland, Oregon. I went to do a search, but my Alta Vista won't open (for the last few hours--is this newsworthy??)

So I regressed to looking in my old encyclopedia (remember? they're mad of paper and cardboard :)

I have in front of me a picture of the "World's First Nuclear Reactor, built under grandstands at the University of Chicago, produced the firest controlled chain reaction in 1942"

The damn thing ain't all that big. Appears, from comparison with the people in the picture, to be about15 to 20 feet square, and almost as high, with a console about the size of a large electric panel, and a generator attached to one side, belt drive, about the size of a five to ten horse air compressor.

No link, just this: New Standard Encyclopedia, c 1970 page A-747.

My recollection is that this reactor is still in use, but that's only a recollection.

Also, now that k'm thinking about it, the Navy has used Atomic Power Plants in their ships for many decades. There is a to scale drawing of the first, USS Nautilus, on pages S-482 to S-483 in the same encyclopedia.The reactor appears to be similar in size to the one under the football stadium at U.C.

University of Chicago continues to operate the "Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies"

-- Al K. Lloyd (al@ready.now), August 13, 1999.

Sherman Skolnick is head of C.C.C.C....The Citizen's Committee to Clean up the Courts, and as I understand it he has had some effect in the past. BTW, the same could be said about the head of the Church of England, Queen Elizabeth, one of the larger landholders on Manhattan Island.

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@It's ALL going away in January.com), August 13, 1999.

ubi,

Read the works of Malachi Martin (rest in peace) and you may discover more than you would like about the Vatican... btw I'm talking about the stuff they have locked away which you or I would never get to see in a million years ... as for the Vatican connection being ludicrous do a little more digging my friend...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 13, 1999.

"Sherman Skolnick is head of C.C.C.C....The Citizen's Committee to Clean up the Courts, and as I understand it he has had some effect in the past. BTW, the same could be said about the head of the Church of England, Queen Elizabeth, one of the larger landholders on Manhattan Island."

Skolnick is a frequent guest on WWCR, a rantanoid/militianoid station on 5.070 shortwave. The same station broadcasts Mark Koernke's "Intelligence Report", a militia call-in talk show (!!!No kidding!) and Pete Peters of Christian Identity fame.

Before anyone makes any assumptions about my listening habits, I also follow the BBC, Radio Holland, Russia, NPR and just about any other wierdness I can find on shortwave. Vive le First Amendment!

Skolnick is pretty kooky but sometimes he makes some sense (even a broken clock is right twice a day). Yes he is anti-Catholic, which is a head scratcher for me, but there it is.

-- Forrest Covington (theforrest@mindspring.com), August 14, 1999.

The fastest way to understand *THE VERY IMPORTANT WORKS OF FATHER MALACHI MARTIN* is to listen to the interviews. Go to www.artbell.com and click on the following archived interview dates for Malachi:

Appearances: 10/18/96, 11/15/96, 4/4/97, 7/11/97, 12/3/97, 5/4/98, 7/13/98

You catholics may not like this, and, even you christians will not like this, but Malachi was trying to tell us something.

I am not a catholic, and not a christian, but even I felt his words were worth listening to. As a result of listening to him, I have learned to respect the ideal of christianity just a bit more. Just a bit, mind you, for reasons that do not relate to the church, but more from the ideals that came from our constitution and bill of rights. I have learned to respect that which was offered to us as individuals working towards a humanistic ideal. This country was founded on judeo- christian ideals. We have allowed a great mass stray from those ideals. I am ashamed and saddened.

I will comment no further on this thread. Nothing else needs to be said. Listen and learn.

-- OR (orwelliator@biosys.net), August 14, 1999.

OR,

you are SO right my friend - Father Malachi was a GREAT man - did you know he headed up the Vatican Secret Service in the USA? He was a great man, but also a dangerous one - many in the Vatican are not at all sad to see hime gone...

Essential reading - Windswept House and all his others, check them out at Amazon.com

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 14, 1999.

For some reason, which completely escapes me, the following is all on-topic on this thread.

1. Truth for Catholics
2. Who is the Rock of Matthew 16:18?
3. Biblical Evidence for Catholicism (ex-Protestant)
4. Nazareth Resource Library (ex-Protestant)
5. Catholic Answers' Tracts by Topic
6. Where We Got the New Testament (ex-Protestant)
7. Philip Hughes' History of the Church
8. Philip Hughes' Church in Crisis
9. Lane's World CatholicPage (ex-Protestant)

"History is not a creed or a catechism, it gives lessons rather than rules; still no one can mistake its general teaching in this matter, whether he accept it or stumble at it. Bold outlines and broad masses of colour rise out of the records of the past. They may be dim, they may be incomplete; but they are definite. And this one thing at least is certain; whatever history teaches, whatever it omits, whatever it exaggerates or extenuates, whatever it says and unsays, at least the Christianity of history is not Protestantism. If ever there were a safe truth, it is this." (John Henry Newman, ex-Protestant)

Don't be surprised when Catholic bashing on this forum is taken as an invitation to post Catholic apologetics. :-)

-- Lane Core Jr. (elcore@sgi.net), August 15, 1999.