AUDIO: kpft_2014-02-05_2200, Ronnie Garza, Gulf Port 7

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show (every Wednesday night from 10-11PM CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer and discussion partner is Egberto Willies (@EgbertoWillies).

For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:

• You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts;
• An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig is usually a call-in show. Whether you’re listening live on the radio or on the internet from anywhere in the world, you can call in at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.) 

I think that a fair introduction for the topic of this show was written at the time by Whitney Radley for Houston.CultureMap.com, published Dec. 12, 2011 and entitled: Showdown at the Port: Occupy Houston protestors block traffic with their bodies, clash with police:

“In conjunction with West Coast Port Shutdown and in solidarity with similar movements from [Houston] to Honolulu, Occupy Houston — and representatives from occupations in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio — took on the Port of Houston Authority on Monday afternoon. By the end of the protest, 25 occupiers were arrested.

“The day of action was conceived as an effort to support the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the California truck drivers attempting to form a labor union. Though the blue-collar port jobs seem a far cry from the suits and portfolios of Wall Street, occupiers also considered the port protest “a statement against the multinational conglomerates and their relentless campaign to outsource American jobs and undermine our economy in the pursuit of ever-widening profit margins.”

Twenty-five protesters were arrested, but for 7, their legal nightmare had just begun.

My guest tonight is Ronnie Garza (@SurveillanceEye), an Austin Occupier and social and political activist. He was one of those so-called “Gulf Port 7”, and tonight we’ll discuss his story.

Some of the questions we’ll be exploring:

• Were the protesters ‘entrapped’?
• Were the Gulf Port 7 actually collateral damage from a political spat between Houston & Austin?
• When is law enforcement surveillance and/or infiltration of a group justified, if ever?
• What do news consumers do when the Mainstream Media fails them?
• When ‘alternative media’ become your only source for a real event, how do you evaluate it for objectivity and accuracy?

NOTE: This post is subject to update before and after the show.

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Some of the links used for this show are BELOW the break:

SOURCES (Below the break):

• Ronnie Garza’s Story in his own words: http://surveillanceeye.wordpress.com/
• “Surveillance Eye” Documentary, with additional links and info: http://occupyaustin.org/surveillance-eye-documentary/
• Showdown at the Port: Occupy Houston protestors block traffic with their bodies, clash with police, by Whitney Radley
• West Coast Port Shutdown
• [Occupy Houston] Gulf Port Action DEC12 [2011] UPDATED
• Occupy Austin: http://occupyaustin.org/
• International Longshore and Warehouse Union
• Employers’ new ruse: “Independent [Trucking] contractors”, Salon.com 2011-Oct-7: http://www.salon.com/2011/10/07/truckers_driven_to_the_shadows/
• Port of Houston Authority

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KPFT is the Pacifica station in Houston, Texas