http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=154569&article=4566 re: argument against slander on HIMC radio news [mailto:edi@hal-pc.org] My letter to the Houston Indymedia Center Thu Jul 18 07:02:06 2002 206.180.128.155 Why it would be dumb for HIMC to do a radio show on me & others at KPFT Why some people need to get a life. http://houston.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=3555&group=webcast The simmering conflict that HIMC now faces due to the initial proposal that Loel Coleman put forward to do a slander story on me for the HIMC News program on KPFT will likely only get worse if you do not end the discussion over the issue. Just say that you all have absolutley no interest in pursuing the matter any longer. What you might not understand, because you are involved in the conflict, and are thus less than objective, is that what is at work within HIMC now is the very same type of division that Buzzanco, Ingham, Scooter and Otie Maclay created at KPFT. Coleman and Parkin have simply adopted their methods and applied them against you. To wit, if you do not follow them, then you are the enemy and become a target no different than anyone else they sense is getting in their way. Buzzanco says you are digging yourself in a hole. He is actually correct, but for a different reason than he puts forward. You are digging yourself in a hole that Buzzanco wants you to dig. For example, the story was originally supposed to be about me, then me, Dan Jones and Greg Geiselman (the fabricated enemies of Buzzanco). Now the story is supposed to be about race-baiting, etc. involving people on the KPFT LAB and other individuals beyond that. You seem to be somewhat blind on how these people are playing you to do their dirty work for them. But my caveat to you all is simple. If you do such a show, I can guarantee two things - you will be sued in civil court for any slanderous material presented, which would include any slanderous statements made by anyone you interview that is not properly fact-checked for accuracy. You will also lose you privilege as KPFT broadcasters, for good. Now, I am not saying here that I will be the one to sue you, because the concept of a broad ranging story will potentially defame many people, according to the sources for material you have been discussing that have come to my attention. Some of the potential targets are attorneys, legal aids, experienced with civil court, etc. And some of them have money to support such litigation. It's just a simple fact in America. And if you think that you can use the HIMC radio program to unfairly attack the structure of authority at KPFT, i.e., the LAB, the GM and volunteers, without severe repercussions, then you are simply deluding yourselves. Now, I'm not here to pick on HIMC in general, nor the radio program. I am supportive of the reasonable people in the discussion, of which there are many of and who will go unnamed here, so as not to expose them to attacks by those who are sadistic. I just hope that those in the middle, those who don't have the facts, are not swayed into making an hubristic mistake in doing any such program, by those forces within your organization, or who are trying to influence it, who only have their personal (and very petty) interests at heart and have proven time and time again that they will use any means at all, not matter how vile, to get their way. Truly, if you want to do an accurate story, do one about the hard work and victories those very same people who are being targeted have actually accomplished. That would be news. * Who is running the show -- Who is pulling the strings, Thu Jul 18 18:16 * What happens when Buzzanco doesn't -- get his way, Thu Jul 18 19:24 A good example of a Buzzanco follower -- who is trying to unseat the KPFT GM, Thu Jul 18 18:36 * Another follower, another example of -- trying to oust our KPFT GM, Thu Jul 18 18:57