Philip Guffy has fearlessly run the boards for the sometimes chaotic, always informative Houston Indymedia Radio Show for a number of years and is now headed for greener pastures.
Listen up to Houston Indymedia Radio Show on June 20th at 7:30pm on 90.1fm for the final show of Philip Guffy, our fearless technician for a number of years. He has voluntered as a technician for a number of KPFT programs, including Cultural Baggage and The Human Rights Show.
It seems like Philip has been voluntering on the show since forever, here are photos he uploaded from a show we did in 2006. We will miss his impressive skills and composure as we continue to produce our weekly show without his help.
After the show, there will be a get together at Notsuoh's at 314 Main, join us in wishing Philip well before he moves east.
Rice University Media Center Entrance 8, Rice University
June 21, 2008 7pm
Moving documentary portrays the life of James Byrd who was dragged three miles to his death in Jasper, Texas nearly ten years ago. Features interviews with Dick Gregory, Martin Luther King, III and Susan Sarandon. Sister Helen Prejean, Rev. Jew Don Boney and members of the Byrd Family make guest appearances in the documentary. Running Time 40 minutes.
Produced by filmmakers Eligah "Ricky" Jason, Micki Dickoff and Eric "Spurgen" Brown.
Ricky Jason will attend the screening at Rice University and speak about the film.
Local activist Dave Atwood will comment on the impact of Byrd's death on Texas.
[More info and Trailer]
It Harms, Not Helps, Public Safety
from the open publishing newswire: In August, Sheriff Tommy Thomas plans to send nine jailers for special immigration training in Glynco, Ga. to question inmates about their immigration status and hold them for federal agents through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program known as “287(g)”. The Sheriff hopes to convince federal officials to provide training in Houston also, possibly in the sheriff’s academy.
Proponents of this “287(g)” program say it is needed to help deal with the “criminal alien crisis.” They ignore the fact that local law enforcement officers already have the authority to arrest criminals, both in enforcing state or local laws and assisting the federal government. Local law enforcement also helps the federal government deport criminals who are removable because of their offenses. Immigration authorities have had full access to the Harris County Jails for over a decade.
The Sheriffs decision to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement for the “287(g)” program with ICE is not an effective crime-fighting tool, but will have dire consequences for Harris County residents, instead... [read full article]
Join the Mobilization for resignation of Sheriff Tommy Thomas | Protest Tommy Thomas Blog
From the Open Publishing Newswire:12:07 Update AP reports the execution is off for tonight. I just spoke with Gloria Rubac of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, who is with about 15 other people at the Walls Unit in Huntsville to protest the planned execution of Charles Hood. There have been a lot of last minute legal developments that make it seem as though the execution may be postponed or cancelled. The 15 people there plan to stay and protest until midnight, when, to our understanding, the “justice” system has to either execute Hood, or wait until tomorrow.
Around an hour before the execution, the State District Judge withdrew Hood’s death warrant, and recused himself from further deliberation in this case. This was a delight to the Texas Defenders Service, which has been writing appeals on behalf of Hood, and the Death Penalty Abolitionists gathered in Huntsville. But the District Attorneys of Collin County have been filling numerous appeals to the Criminal Court of Appeals (CCA)...[Read Full story]
Sheila Jackson Lee has disregarded human rights concerns from groups like Friends of Brad Will to support the Merida Initiative, also known and "Plan Mexico" due to its similarity to Plan Colombia. Plan Mexico is a gift to weapons manufacturers that would establish a U.S. military foothold in Mexico, fund corrupt police / army / paramilitary forces in Mexico, suppress legitimate dissent, and create a pretext for harassing the Zapatistas who have never used or trafficked drugs.
Jackson Lee said "I rise today in cautious support of H.R. 6028, the 'Merida Initiative to Combat Illicit Narcotics and Reduce Organized Crime Act of 2008.'"
read more
From the Open Publishing Newswire:
The article I was originally going to write, I decided not to when I read about Karl's execution. Karl was very remorseful. He was extremely remorseful in the letters he sent to me, and was very remorseful on that gurney. According to Associated Press and KWES news Karl's last statement was, "I want you all to know I love you with all my heart. I want to thank you for being here," he said. "We are here to honor the life of Felicia Prechtl, a woman I didn't even know, and celebrate my death. I am so terribly sorry. I wish I could die more than once." [Read the Full Article]
Texas executed Karl Chamberlain tonight, June 11 making him the first prisoner to be executed in over nine months and the 406th person killed by the state of Texas since the death penalty was reinstated in 1982. The state has twelve more executions scheduled almost on a weekly basis. Derrick Sonnier was recently given a new execution date for July 23.
Please take a few minutes to call the governor’s office, send faxes, anything that you can do to voice your opposition. Contact the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty to find out how to get involved in the local abolition movement. [read more]
Interview With A Condemned Man: Charles D. Hood | Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty | Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement
from the open publishing newswire: Students from Rice and UH who met at the Baker Institute for Public Policy to demonstrate against Michael Chertoff were stopped immediately by Rice police and told that they were not allowed to protest the Chertoff event, a lecture titled "Addressing 21st Century Threats: The U.S. Prevention Strategy."
Rice police officers first asked students for Rice ID's but said that not even Rice students would be allowed to demonstrate against the event. When a UH student asked if there were any free speech zones, the officer replied that due to construction, there were no free speech zones.
Michael Chertoff is an unelected official and is ignoring more than 30 federal laws as well as state and local laws in his push for building the border wall. This small attempt to raise concerns about these anti-democratic policies were silenced by what was clearly a university decision to silence any expression of opposition. [read full story with photos]
from the opening publishing newswire: On or about March 13 2008, 3 groups of prisoners carried out a joint and coordinated direct action at the Luther unit Texas Department of Criminal Justice, located in Navasota TX. Despite intense pressure from prison administration all 54 men in each of the 3 dorms (162 men in total) maintained their solidarity in the face of harsh collective punishment and refused to inform on any of their fellow prisoners who carried out the action.
This type of collective, coordinated direct action is largely unheard of in the draconian Texas prison system and the solidarity of the prisoners strikes fear into the hearts of the prison authorities. The total property destruction is estimated at close to $8000 Dollars which strikes at the pocket book of a vastly over extended prison industry that is experiencing chronic guard and budget shortages.
This past week of May 12 - 16 new cameras were installed in the dorm and extra security measures are being taken in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the direct action of March. Let us hope that the spirit of rebellion continues and grows.
[read full story]
from the open publishing newswire: The nation's largest private prison company has partnered with the federal government to detain close to 1 million undocumented people in the past 5 years until they are deported. In the process, Corrections Corporation of America has made record profits. Critics suggest the CCA cuts corners on its detention contracts in order to increase its revenue at expense of humane conditions. Thanks to political connections and lobby spending, it dominates the industry of immigrant detention. CCA now has close to 10,000 new beds under development in anticipation of continued demand.
Renee Feltz, a Houston IMC volunteer, former KPFT News director, and current graduate student at Colombia School of Journalism joined HIMC Radio during our pledge drive to talk about her award winning investigative report "The Business of Detention"
Full Story with Audio | www.businessofdetention.com | Texas Prison Bid'ness
from the open publishing newswire: Environmental activists from Arkansas, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, Texas, and Iowa converged today to urge the Houston-based Dynegy corporation to halt construction on its six proposed coal plants.
The protest targeted Dynegy's annual shareholders meeting. Activists gathered outside the meeting to protest and hand out information detailing the dangers of coal and then held a rally nearby featuring short remarks from community activists representing each state. Coal-fired power plants produce around 40% of the U.S.’s CO2 emissions which fuel global warming; and cause 24,000 deaths, 1,000 hospitalizations, and 38,000 heart attacks each year in the U.S. due to the harmful chemicals released.
[full story with photos]
Clean Energy Supporters Die-In Against Dynegy | Video from the Dynegy Action and Protest of their shareholders meeting
www.cleanupdynegy.org | Houston Climate Protection Alliance
International Human Rights Activist to "Walk 4 Life" to Abolish the Death
Penalty From Trenton New Jersey to Texas Andre Latallade, also known
as Capital-"X" will walk from Trenton New Jersey, approximately 1,700
miles to the Governors mansion in Texas in an attempt to bring awareness
to the death penalty. The death penalty has recently been abolished in New
Jersey, and Texas is known as "the busiest killing state." He is trying to
"build a bridge between the two groups of victims, the executed, and their
families and the victims and families of violent crimes."
Andre says "separated we call for life or death, I say we unite and call
for solutions." He asks that life without parole be called for as opposed
to the death sentence.
The march began on March 31, 2008, during a defacto moratorium on executions while the US Supreme Court looked at a court case from Kentucky that challenged executions as cruel and unusual punishment, as a violation of the 8th amendment. On April 16th the court rejected the challenge, and new execution dates have been set; in Texas the first execution date is scheduled for June 3rd when local protests are planned.
By Friday May 9th, Capital X's march had made it to Little Rock Arkansas, where he spoke with Houston Indymedia Radio. Listen to the interview here | On May 30th Capital X performed at a Hip Hop show organized by the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement at Avant Garden [See Photos!]
Capital X video blog on onloq.com | Capital X Walk for Life Blog | Capital X on Myspace | Journey of Hope Blog with coverage of March for Life
Houston Indymedia has changed the wording of our Mission Statement, which sits on the about page and serves along with the Action Guidelines as the document new participants sign. The wording of the new statement is:
"The Houston Independent Media Center is an all volunteer collective committed to using media production and distribution as tools for promoting social and economic justice. We seek to provide alternatives to for-profit media not only in our coverage, but also within our collective by implementing consensus based non-hierarchical work-group models of decision making. While focusing on local social movements, we will explore connections to global systems. We believe that by reporting on dissent, by critiquing corporate, government and military domination, and by promoting art, culture and critical thinking through participatory events, we can contribute to the development of an equitable and sustainable society."
Some of the significant changes since the previous Mission Statement from early 2001 includes that we are all volunteers, that we are focusing on social movements, that we reporting on dissent, and that our events are intended to be participatory.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer with us at Houston Indymedia, please send an email to: houston at indymedia dot org
Last updated: Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800imc-houston
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Philip on the boards, signing off..
June 21: Byrd: The Life and Tragic Death of James Byrd Jr.
Why Shouldn’t the Harris County Sheriffs Office Enforce Federal Immigration Laws?
6/14 Sheila Jackson Lee Supports the Merida Initiative
6/12 Texas Executions Start with Karl Chamberlain, Continue though Summer
6/6 Defending Democracy: Revolutionary Art @ Station Museum
6/6 Students banned from protesting Michael Chertoff at Rice University
6/4 First Execution of 2008 Stayed
6/1 HIMC Radio makes it through Pledge Drive
5/31 Prisoners take direct action against surveillance cameras in Navasota TX
5/26 Business of Detention: CCA's new 'Growth Industry'
5/14 Protesters converge on Houston to say "No New Coal"
5/10 Capital X March for Life - New Jersey to Texas
Houston Indymedia Has a New Mission Statement
