Greenwatch TV -- past programs, 2005
(see bottom of page for links to records of previous years, and music credits)
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December 21 : Abolition of Capital Punishment
This show aired as a compilation of pre-taped events.
Features: Mecom Fountain vigil by Amnesty International Group 23 members and supporters, December 7; several events around the execution of Frances Newton, including words from her mother Iva Jewel Nelms, and Nanon Williams' mother Lee Bolton, and Gloria Rubac, Njeri Shakur, Jolanda Jones, and Maria Jimenez. The largest amount of time in the show consists of a talk by Sister Helen Prejean at her acceptance of the annual award given by Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty last year. The show closes with views of the annual signing of greeting cards to death row prisoners done by Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement members and supporters at the SHAPE center.

December 7 : Pre-Runoff Election Program
Voting took place three days later, December 10 (Saturday).
Guests:
1. Sue Lovell, candidate for City Council, At-large position 2.
2. Daisy Maura for HISD Position IX.
(We taped political words from David Cobb made during his visit to Houston in late November, and shall hold them for later airing.)

November 23: was to have been a Pre-Thanksgiving Roundtable; then we would have gotten into Buy-Nothing Day
WE ENVISIONED A SHOW, A LIVE SHOW, BUT WHEN WE GOT TO THE STUDIO,
THE GATES WERE LOCKED, PUBLIC DENIED ACCESS.
We planned to air one or more of the short clips put out by Adbusters.
Is that all it takes to get them to throw up the barricades? ( Paranoia Runs Deep. It was simply a lack of communication, not a nefarious plot to keep us off the air. Apologies all around... HMS did air a taped show of ours near the usual time.)

November 9: Amazon Rain Forest
Guests:

October 26: Pre-election Program
Guests:
1) Dennis Carter, running for Houston City Council, Position A.
Civil Unions are Civil Rights - Vote against Proposion 2.
2) Sarah Berel-Harrop, Houston area faith coordinator, Unitarian-Universalists.
3) Jerry Simoneaux, a lawyer who supports civil rights.

There are nine proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution to vote upon. Texas Greens so far have consensus: Do not oppose marriage: Vote no on Proposition 2. As for the rest, as for this, ask yourself, "Why did anyone ask for this?" There might be more than one answer.
By the way, quite a few more people want to represent you on city council. Look at their records, then Vote, November 8.

October 12: Living with Disabilities
Guest -- Scotty McClymonds, host, Access This, 7:00-7:30 PM Sunday evenings, KPFT 90.1 FM.
Notes: Think about being in a wheelchair on an overpass in New Orleans. Or being hearing impaired while Rita bore down on us. And what would it be like not to be able to see?

September 28: Building a Sustainable Society
Guests:
1. Cath Conlon, Blackwood Educational Land Institute (see site for more details about Texas Bioneers)
2. Steve Scholl, Attorney at Law, Peacemaker (Solve Conflict)
3. Mark Illing, Teacher and Electrical Engineer (Water Harvester)
The Nationwide Fall, 2005 Bioneers Conference this year: is at St. Thomas University Athletic Building, October 14, 15 & 16.

September 14 : Topic: Birthing -- resources available in Houston for more natural deliveries, especially timed just before the BIRTH Fair, October 1-2.
GUESTS:
1. Pat Jones (birthcare@aol.com) and Sarah Greene (B.I.R.T.H.)
2. Debbie Hall (Doula in Houston)
3. Phone guest Ina May Gaskin (author of Spiritual Midwifery; see The Farm, then click on Ina May.)
4. Other guests TBA.

August 31: Decade of Nonviolence and Peace Week (September 17-24)
To celebrate the midpoint of the UN's Decade of Nonviolence (DNV), the DNV-Houston Board conceived the idea of “Peace Week” with a goal to bring together organizations working for Peace in the Houston area, to highlight/expand the efforts of the DNV movement and to help create a nonviolent world.
Guests:
1. Carol Keene, Decade of Nonviolence Houston Board Member, Co-chair of the Decade Peace Week conference and awards Dinner.
2. P.K. McCary, Writer, Storyteller, Host of the Peace Hour monthly show on KPFT 90.1 FM (also Board Member and Co-chair as Carol above)
2. Robert Barrientos, Local Artist, volunteer contributing his time and talents to Peace Week
NOTES: See also Promoting Peace.

August 17: Frances Newton, the impending execution of an innocent black woman. Emphasized the many holes in the evidence and the state's case.
Guests:
1. Njeri Shakur, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement
2. Hitaji Aziz, Progammer on KPFT 90.1 FM (Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30 AM)
2. Rabia Tahiri, Outreach co-captain, Committee to Free Frances Newton
http://www.freefrances.org

August 3: Independent Media Issues (especially around the funding of Houston Media Source, brought up at City Council).
Guests:
1. Sue Buske, President, The Buske Group (Cable Communications Consultants, www.buskegroup.com) - by phone from California
2. Robb Zipp, Independent Media Expert (Houston, Texas)

July 20: Nurturing Cultural Heritages in Houston
Guests:
1. Mark Lacy, of Houston Institute for Culture (HoustonCulture.org)
2. Alice Valdez, from M.E.C.A. (Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts - see also History and Mission)

July 6: Peak Oil - End of Suburbia
Guests:
1. Brian Herod (Houston Sustainability Network, and many other activities including Green Drinks, Japhet Creek Cleanup)
2. Robin Holzer (Co-chair, Citizens Transportation Coalition) see also CCFCC citation of CEC news update
3. Reginald Adams (Museum of Cultural Arts Houston - MOCAH; Sierra Club Building Environmental Community campaign - BEC; President of Houston Land Assemblage Redevelopment Authority - LARA)
4. Phone interview with Tom Mast, author of Over a Barrel: A Quick Guide to the Oil Shortage.
See also the related PEAK OIL local event JULY 9 which includes many links to technical and other web sites.

June 22: Social Security -- Secure it, do not trash it!
Guest: Leo Gold, host of The New Capital radio show on KPFT 90.1 FM
We should not allow anyone to talk us into destroying Social Security in order to save it! Look into the history of why it was created in the first place.

June 8: Local Food Co-ops, Farmers Markets, and Sustainability
Guests: Pat Greer, Jim Bundscho, and Cath Conlon
One of the increasing number of Food Co-ops in Houston is Central City Co-op (Pat); here is an example Houston Farmers' Markets link; sustainability via Blackwood Educational Land Institute (and Bioneers).
PS: This summary is just a place holder; we have much more information that will soon be posted! Great show. See also the event Saturday, June 18.

May 25: Mass Killings in Darfur
Genocide. Our host and guest critically analyzed the situation, going into historical roots, examining racial and religious divides, and discussing geopolitics, attitudes and reacctions around the world. So when will the world community act to put a stop to the killing?
Guest: Omowale Luthuli, Coordinator of "Stop the Killing in Darfur" Committee (email: luthuli@aol.com, phone 713.284.0583)
Notes: Yet another great show! Ask for a copy of the tape.
LINKS added since the show (random, not mentioned in the show): WIKIPEDIA entry (good); a blog http://www.passionofthepresent.com/; some non-profits -- Human Rights Watch (especially see What to Do), Save Darfur, Darfur Genocide.

May 11: Local Air Quality
Why do so many people have asthma these days? What chemicals are being put into our air? By whom? Which has a greater effect on air quality, chemical plants or vehicles? How do vehicles differ in their pollution?
Guests:
1. Jane Laping, Mothers for Clean Air (MfCA) -- see the Newsletter!
2. John Wilson, Galveston-Houston Area Smog Prevention (GHASP)
3. Beth Hollingsworth, Bike-to-Work Day (May 20)
Notes: Yet another great show! Ask for a copy of the tape.

April 27: The War on Drugs - Collateral Damage
How much longer must this modern prohibition go on before the majority opinion rules?
Guests:
1. Dean Becker, producer of Cultural Baggage, KPFT 90.1 FM (www.DrugTruth.net)
2. Jerry Epstein, Drug Policy Forum of Texas (http://www.dpft.org)
3. taped interview with Ed Rosenthal (former medical marijuana grower from California) http://www.green-aid.com/

April 13: The Texas Legistature - in Session Jan 11 - May 30
Will they do more good than harm in Austin? What are the hot topics?
Guests:
1. Renee Feltz, News Director, KPFT 90.1 FM (live in the studio)
2. Patrick Hansen, Community Organizer with Campaigns for People in Austin (phone interview)
3. Chuck Hurtt on prison reform (phone interview)
(See some links for action items and a peek inside the lege.)

March 30: Department of Peace - Teaching Ourselves Peace and Campaigning for a U.S. Dept of Peace.
Guests - Kathy Kidd and Paul Krim, Houston Area Dept of Peace: http://www.dopcampaign.org/
NOTES: This movement gains momentum as the war in Iraq drags on and as our citizens see more and more of our resources going down the drain in destructive, backward-looking ways. The Democrats of Texas put a plank in their platform in 2004; Greens will in 2005. Vote your hopes, not your fears!

March 16: Veterans
Guests:
1. Jeremy Simon, veteran recently returned from the war in Iraq.
2. Jackie Simon, Jeremy's wife.
3. Perry Jefferies, calling in from near Fort Hood. Jeremy, a veteran as well, works with Operation Truth (http://www.optruth.org), a support organization for veterans.
4. Quinn Allen, Legal Administrative Advisor with the Veterans Administration (VA) Regional Office (http://www.va.gov).
NOTES: This show started with Mr and Mrs Simon talking about what it was like to be away at war and at home waiting, both wondering when the tour of duty would end. Mr Jefferies called midway through and talked about lack of funds, the back door draft, and inadequate funding for services; he stayed on the line during the next segment. For the second half of the show, Mr. Allen described the range of services that the VA seeks to provide for returning vets, and expressed the thought that they do all they can with what they have. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) also came up, and deserves more attention.
[See also: GI Hotline, Troops Out Now, The Ground Truth; PTSD-Alliance, Military Families Speak Out for a start.]

March 2: The Death Penalty - Innocence, Juveniles, Houston Crime Lab
Guests:
1. Jewel Nelms, mother of Frances Newton, and innocent woman on death row in Texas. See www.freefrances.org
2. Njeri Shakur, community activist. (See www.texasmoratorium.org)
3. Gloria Rubac, likewise. Long-standing opponent to executions.
NOTES: This show included a taped segment with Lee Bolton (Nanon Williams' mother). Both Frances and Nanon, among others face execution due in part to HPD Crime Lab and less than adequate legal counsel. The tape also featured Jolanda Jones speaking at a protest downtown.

February 16: Black History in Galveston
Guest:
Izola Collins, author of ISLAND OF COLOR - Where Juneteenth Started. (for reviews and source, see Guidry News and Author House)

February 2: Fourth Ward History - Slave Trade, Freedmen's Town
Guests:
LIVE IN THE STUDIO with Brian:
Gretchen Hollingsworth, award winning producer (713.521.0883; isisrhythm2005@yahoo.com)
PHONE INTERVIEWS:
1) Dr. Fred McGhee
2) Thelma Scott Bryant, retired HISD schoolteacher from the 1920s
NOTES: Enlightening insights into what it was like to live in a vibrant community during the days before the civil rights movement, before World War II.

January 19: HISD Building Plans
Guests:
1) Kathleen A English, Architect
2) Lenwood Johnson, Community Organizer
NOTES: See Building Green; see also On Shaky Grounds (Houston Press)

January 5: The Need for Radical Change in Our Society
Guests:
1) Heather Ajani, Anarchist
2) Travis Morales, Communist
3) George Reiter, Green
NOTES: George talked about how corporal punishment leads to many of the ills of our society, and it springs from the way we live, forming a vicious feedback loop. Travis brought along a video of speeches by Bob Avakian, leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party in the US. Heather spoke belief in the essential goodness of human beings given freedom. (at last, some notes. 2005-03-08)

Previous years (click on the year to see details)

2004 Includes: Values and Politics, Radical Encuentro, Texas Water Resources, Mr. Sharon Tear Down that Wall, Electronic Elections, Proposition 1 (Spring 2004 in Houston), What is going ON in Haiti, Immigrants and Homeland Security.

2003 Includes: Local Elections (Dec 10; Oct 1, 15, 31; Sep 17), Simplicity, Iraq Quagmire, Globalization/WTO, Hispanic Politics, Gay Rights, Tree Sitting, Cuba, Health Care, FCC, Flooding, Women and War, Labor Day, War and Immigrants, Death Penalty (Apr 3, Jan 23), Progressive Media, Living Wage, Peace Movement, and the Souls of Black Folk.

2002 Includes: Civil Rights in Perilous Times (Robert Jensen, Danalyn Recer), Police Accountability (Civilians Down, Corpus Justice, Copwatch), Rahul Mahajan for Governor, Texans for Gun Safety, The New Katy Freeway, Labor Day Special, HIV at home and in the world, Plan Colombia, Pacifica Radio, Health Care for All, Palestine, Latino Labor, Congo Conflict, African American History, Enron and Deregulation, Cuba, statewide Green Party candidates for office, and more.

2001 Includes: School of the Americas Watch, Peace, Middle East Policy, LGBT Politics in Houston, Alternative Media, Marijuana Law Reform, Immigration Issues, Death Row, Prisons and Criminal Justice (Ray Hill), Corporate Misbehavior (Ralph Nader taped), Third World Debt (Jere Locke), Environmental Issues, Green Party supported local candidates, and more.

Music played during the show (especially during in-tro and out-tro) has been an evolving element. In the beginning back in late 1999/early 2000 or so, canned 'public domain' clips gave something... Then we got a Free Radicals CD and encouragement to use it on the air free from Houston musician/activist Nick Cooper, so we used several cuts from that pretty exclusively for a year or so. Then on KPFT's Democracy Now! we heard "Is It For Freedom" by Sara Thomsen, tracked her down and got permission to use that song, so did and still do upon occasion. We also play songs from GASCD, including Bruce Cockburn "Call It Democracy", Propaghandi "Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes", Michael Franti "Oh My God", Rheostatics "Bad Time to be Poor" -- Get this excellent double disk set! (GASCD: Governments Accountable to Society and Citizens = Democracy; thanks, Susan and Alan in Ontario, for turning us on to this.) And we're looking to air tunes from Green Revolution when/if Sudden Death responds. Listen up for David Rovics, Dave Lippman, or you never know who might show up live in the studio, Darryl Cherney did once... Come on down! Our show ends at 10:00 PM and a short, topical song might fit in real nice to close the show...

Explicit Links to Music (for printed bi-fold...)
http://www.enjoymusic.com/freeradicals/
http://www.gascd.com
http://www.davidrovics.com
http://davelippman.com/
http://www.darrylcherney.com/
http://www.righteousmothers.com
http://www.sarathomsen.com

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last update: 2005-12-27