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October 10th, 2009
09:26 am - Disability Rights Community vs. Autism Speaks
[sent to family and friends]
The letter below is the latest step in a national and international protest against the U.S. organization known as Autism Speaks. Countless attempts have been made to impress upon the organization that its public rhetoric, policies and practices are profoundly harmful to ALL Autistic citizens, and that its leadership MUST accept guidance from Autistic stakeholders and the broader disability rights communities if they wish to retain their status as a prominent charitable organization.
Autism Speaks has thus far been dismissive and even contemptuous in response to such appeals and cautions. It has therefore become necessary, regrettably, to adopt a more aggressive approach to the re-education of Autism Speaks -- by first educating their sources of publicity and revenue.
If Autism Speaks cannot be made to sincerely recognize the necessity of giving the voices of Autistic citizens a prominent place in the guidance of its activities -- and to act in good faith on that necessity -- then the organization must be prepared to face its own extinction.
The global disability community stands united in this demand for just and equitable representation: "Nothing about us without us!"
--DKM
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The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN):
Letter to the Sponsors, Donors and Supporters of Autism Speaks
http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=61
or
http://tinyurl.com/yc2le2s
Petition, open for individual signatories (like you!) to ASAN's letter:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/AutismSpeaks
ASAN website:
http://www.autisticadvocacy.org
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More background on opposition to Autism Speaks, their policies and practices, and their recent "I Am Autism" video:
codeman38 -- "Do You Know What You’re Supporting?"
http://tinyurl.com/ygpnp7f
codeman38 -- A level-headed evaluation of the "I Am Autism" video:
http://tinyurl.com/lmspla
[includes transcript and link to video]
Disabled-World.com -- "Autism Speaks - Friend or Foe?"
http://tinyurl.com/ye5xnto
Club 166 -- "When Will They Listen?"
http://tinyurl.com/yggjj45
ABFH -- A long list of links to blogs and articles in response to "I Am Autism," plus a few links to video parodies:
http://tinyurl.com/yzqe3wz
[scroll down for link lists]
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A few alternative voices [videos]:
Dan Marino Foundation & ASAN, NoMyths.org PSA:
http://nomyths.org/
Rethinking Autism: Autistics Speak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWOwNP9vC6k
[end]
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September 27th, 2009
03:09 am - An email to Autism Speaks
[sent to all addresses available on the Autism Speaks website]
[subject] Your "I Am Autism" video is an OBSCENITY
To Autism Speaks, all agents and associates thereof,
For an organization that so loudly proclaims "it's time to listen," it is a savage irony that you should prove so unspeakably DEAF to the sensibilities of the very people you purport to help. Countless stakeholders in the "autism debate" have labored to educate you on the difference between advocacy and atrocity, charity and self-indulgence, help and HARM. And what have you done?
Simply put, your new "I Am Autism" video is the most repugnant example of thinly veiled Machiavellian hate-propaganda I've seen in years. It is an obscenity, an offense, an insidious threat and feckless endangerment, not only to Autistic citizens (children and adults; "high-" and "low-" functioning; ALL Autistics), but to the very spirit of human decency itself.
To be sure, the overall flavor of the piece -- crudely calculated misinformation and histrionic bravado -- is exactly what I have come to expect from Autism Speaks. But I never would have expected you to take it to such an extreme of brazenness. The blind arrogance and deceitfulness are absolutely breathtaking. The only thing missing from your little lynch-mob revival is torches and pitchforks. What's next? Will you tell the world that Autistics are really just al-Qaeda terrorists and "commie vermin, who hide in the shadows and breed like cockroaches, waiting for their chance to serve Satan, rewrite the rules of baseball, urinate on the flag and put LSD in mom's apple pie"? Given your current trajectory, that seems to be the logical next-step for Autism Speaks.
What the hell is wrong with you people? You should be ashamed of yourselves.
--One Shocked and Deeply Concerned Citizen
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September 26th, 2009
07:02 pm - Quickie Rant: Autism Speaks and their "I Am Autism" disgrace
[Enraged profanity ahead. You have been warned.]
First post here in ages. Haven't had much to say. But now, I am so fucking pissed off I can't see straight. I've long been aware that the voracious "charity" that so pompously and disingenuously refers to itself as "Autism Speaks" is staffed and run by some of the suckingest bottom-feeders in the swamp. But this "I Am Autism" skullduggery just fucking sucks the slime right out of Dick Cheney's ass-crack.
I'll be trying to compose something coherent in the days an weeks to come. But for now, I just have to ask:
Autism Speaks, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?
That's all I can manage for now.
Here's the dirt, should you wish to explore further.
Autism Speaks Hits A New Low
(A level-headed analysis)
"I Am Autism" -- Awareness video by Alfonso Cuarón -- "Ransom" Reprise
(A long and growing list of blog entries in opposition to the video)
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July 4th, 2009
05:08 am - Deficit-model feeds anti-Autistic prejudice
[crossposted from my WordPress blog]
[Originally posted on June 24, 2009, as a comment on Helene Guldberg's Psychology Today article, "How the quack industry harms autistic children," an interview with Michael Fitzpatrick, discussing his book, Defeating Autism: A Damaging Delusion.]
Not a bad article - especially in contrast to the kind of "information" that currently dominates popular opinion on the topic of autism.
Unfortunately, it does not go nearly far enough into the question of harm, because it proceeds solely from the narrow "deficit model" of autism. Lacking what is often referred to in academia as "the sociological perspective," such discussions cannot approach the issues that have, by far, the most devastating impact on quality of life, not only for children, but for all Autistics.
There is no question that some of the medical and developmental issues often associated with autism can be debilitating in and of themselves. Nevertheless, this is only one part of the picture. What is being almost universally overlooked is the seemingly obvious fact that misinformation, stereotypes, stigma, and widespread cultural prejudice against human diversity are not "symptoms" of autism. These phenomena, which operate in the much wider medium of society at large, obviously taint autism science and make parents and Autistics victims of fear and exploitation, but that's not all. The culture-wide propagation of misinformation and the social construction of anti-Autistic prejudice loops back around to impact on the day-to-day lives of all Autistics in deeply pernicious and suffocating ways that even "experts" are ill-prepared to recognize. Day after day, at the hands of the general public, Autistics face direct expressions of fear, pity, dehumanization, manipulation, bullying, abuse, and denial of any or every form of opportunity, no matter how well earned. These are all constant hazards to every Autistic citizen on the planet.
But none of this is in any way intrinsic to autism itself. This does not "come with" autism. This is what is done to autistics. And, for the vast bulk of Autistic citizens, the effects of widespread misinformation and prejudice are far more genuinely debilitating than anything that is actually part of autism itself.
Like it or not, professionals and researchers are at the forefront of this problem. Proceeding almost exclusively from the "deficit model," they have no tools with which to contribute to the solution -- indeed, they may well lack the conceptual vocabulary necessary to even begin to recognize the depth and scope of the problem. Without the benefit of a "sociological perspective" -- without a grasp of the much more devastating impact of socially constructed prejudice -- professionals are scarcely even in a position to prevent themselves from harming Autistics, to say nothing of helping.
I think the Autistic community deserves better.
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October 31st, 2008
11:03 pm - "Oh, you lucky bastard."
Hunter S. Thompson.
Then, Kurt Vonnegut.
And now, Studs Terkel.
And that's all I can think to say: "You lucky, lucky bastards!"
*sigh*
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October 23rd, 2008
06:49 pm - Katie Couric's Terrorphobia Inc.
To be fair, most of the corporate media float these sensationalist red herrings almost to the exclusion of all else. Nevertheless...
Tonight on CBS News, Couric plugged an upcoming segment promising to examine the presidential candidates positions on what she called "one of the most serious threats to this country, Islamic extremism."
My immediate reaction:
NO, Katie. "Islamic extremism" IS NOT "one of the most serious threats to this country." Statistically, by your own logic, such "serious threats" should include, as equally dangerous, the likelihood of allergic reactions to peanuts, and auto accidents involving deer on American roadways [1]. A much bigger threat -- indeed, a genuine "existential threat" -- is posed by deceitfully alarmist rhetoric peddled-for-profit by the corporate media, power hungry politicians, and the all-consuming National (in-)Security Industry.
Now I'm searching in vain to rent a billboard, as I always want to do when this bogeyman gets trotted out. As usual, I'll just have to settle for breaking things instead. Gah!
[1] A False Sense of Insecurity, John Mueller, Ohio State University - Department of Political Science, Regulation, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 42-46, Fall 2004 PDF
See also:
Terrorphobia: Our False Sense of Insecurity, by John Mueller
http://www.the-american-interest.com/ai2/article.cfm?Id=418&MId=19
Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them, by John Mueller. (more)
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September 18th, 2008
01:59 am - APA Complicity in Abuse and Torture
A message from the Psychologists For Social Responsibility discussion group brings good news, and bad. A majority of the APA membership have made a significant step toward redeeming the organization, at least on the issue of participating in -- and thus, tacitly condoning -- inhumane treatment of detainees.
( cutted for mercy upon thy friends page )
A long list of background links on the issue can be found here:
Psychologists and interrogations - Key articles
A wholesale changing-of-the-guard at the APA's top levels is most certainly in order, and may yet happen. If so, the organization may well become significantly more amenable to actions against ongoing patterns of abuse and torture not connected with "national security," such as the atrocities perpetrated by the Judge Rotenberg Center and its widespread ideological ilk.
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August 18th, 2008
11:02 pm - In case anyone cares
If it looks like a close race, I'll vote against McCain by voting "for" Obama.
If it looks like a clean sweep for Obama -- and if it looks like the Supreme Court can manage to mind its own damned business -- then I'll be casting my customary, and more sincerely patriotic, protest vote. Probably for Nader.
If, on the other hand, McCain is selected to serve as replacement buttmuppet for Cheney's third term as emperor ... well, let's just say I won't be available for comment.
Vote OBAMA '08 -- For The Marginal Possibility of a Slightly Less Psychotic America™
*sigh*
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June 18th, 2008
03:24 pm - Yearbook Too Good For Short Bus Rabble?
Hi folks. I've been totally swamped for the last couple of months, but am gradually recovering. Today I managed my first blog post in months. Whoopee. Link:
http://dkmnow.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/yearbook-exclusion/
I'll just stick with the essentials here. You'll know what to do:
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School Leaves Autistic Kids Out Of Yearbook
Parents Say Act Done Intentionally, School Disagrees
June 18, 2008
ROSEVILLE, Calif. -- The parents of twin autistic boys left out of a yearbook are accusing the school of discrimination.
Darla Granger said her sons Holden and Hunter were purposely left out of their Roseville, Calif., school yearbook -- along with the rest of the school's special needs children.
"When your own school district and the people that are supposed to be there to support you and your kids and your situation sort of shun you, it is hurtful," Granger said.
Holden and Hunter Granger, who are in second grade, are students of the Placer County Board of Education, which assigns special-need students to various schools within the district.
The boys are in a collage photo in the yearbook, but the school's special needs class, including teachers, is missing.
"I got the book and was excited to look up their class and see their pictures with their names and their teachers, and they weren't in it," Granger said.
Darla and her husband, Blandon, have filed a complaint with the Placer County Board of Education, but said they aren't taking legal action and would just like to ensure that the class pictures of their children and other special-needs students are included in future yearbooks.
The Placer County superintendent who oversees the special needs program at Quail Glen Elementary said she thinks the incident was an oversight, not a malicious act.
"I do have a hard time understanding how they could have not noticed that every autistic child from their campus was missing," Darla Granger said.
The boys' father said he doesn't know if the act was intentional but doesn't think care was given to include the children with special needs in the yearbook.
"I just felt like I needed to speak out," Blandon Granger said. "I feel like we are owed an apology."
Sources (same story on different sites):
http://www.local6.com/education/16639257/detail.html
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/education/16639257/detail.html
http://www.wjactv.com/moms4moms/16639257/detail.html
http://www.clickondetroit.com/education/16639257/detail.html
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Placer County Office of Education
360 Nevada Street
Auburn, CA 95603
530-889-8020
http://www.placercoe.k12.ca.us/
Gayle Garbolino-Mojica, Placer County Superintendent of Schools
ggarbolino@placercoe.k12.ca.us 530-889-5922
Keith Bray, Administrator
kbray@placercoe.k12.ca.us
Larry Mozes, Assistant Superintendent, Student Services
lmozes@placercoe.k12.ca.us
Susan Bolton, Special Education Coordinator
sbolton@placercoe.k12.ca.us
Glenda Lightfoot, Special Education Coordinator
gchun@placercoe.k12.ca.us
Cyndi Stone, Principal/Coordinator
cstone@placercoe.k12.ca.us
Michael Warych, Principal/Coordinator
mwarych@placercoe.k12.ca.us
Susan Watts, Special Education Director
swatts@placercoe.k12.ca.us
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DRY CREEK JOINT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT
9707 Cook Riolo Road
Roseville, CA 95747
Phone: (916) 771-0646
Fax: (916) 771-0650
http://www.placercoe.k12.ca.us/district.aspx?id=134
http://www.drycreek.k12.ca.us
Mark Geyer, Superintendent
mgeyer@drycreek.k12.ca.us
Lynn Barbaria, Special Education Director
lbarbari@drycreek.k12.ca.us
Louise Santana, Student Services Director
lsantana@drycreek.k12.ca.us
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Quail Glen Elementary School
http://www.placercoe.k12.ca.us/site.aspx?id=89
1250 Canevari Drive
Roseville, CA 95747
Phone: (916) 789-7100
Fax: (916) 789-7113
http://www.drycreek.k12.ca.us/indexSch.asp?page_id=8
patriots@drycreek.k12.ca.us
Tracy Robinson, Principal
trobinson@drycreek.k12.ca.us
Renee McCann, School Secretary
rmccann@drycreek.k12.ca.us
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April 7th, 2008
07:10 am - i can haz protest?
[crossposted]
So there.
Next?
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For those few who (owing to their living under a rock, I guess) are as yet unaware:
Q: Who is "katleen"?
A: "I Am Kathleen."
Q: Oh, you mean "Kathleen." Don' look so "leejun" to me. Whyzit such a big deal?
A: Because the "subpoena" [PDF] is a retaliatory abuse of power, and a compound civil rights violation, contrived with intent to intimidate a very large group of citizens ... and because "WE ARE ALL KATHLEEN, NOW!"
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April 5th, 2008
12:40 am - Shoemaker's Witch-Hunt: An Open Letter
[crossposted]
In case you weren't aware, Kathleen Seidel and neurodiversity.com are under attack via a frivolous and brazenly unconstitutional "subpoena" issued by a dirtbag anti-vax lawyer in one of the most half-witted foilhat freakouts since the first radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds." This "subpoena" is an obvious attempt to intimidate and silence Kathleen, and by proxy, the entire autistic self-advocacy community.
My "Open Letter" (below the cut) is posted on my WordPress blog, and crossposted here at IJ on my own journal and at the ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif) asperger asylum. Many more blog entries in support of Kathleen can be found at I Speak of Dreams, and The Voyage, and Natural Variation.
Please show your support and help protect our civil and human rights by blogging about this outrage.
( Shoemaker's Witch-Hunt: An Open Letter )
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April 1st, 2008
10:22 am - Autism Awareness: "Wait -- you're saying that YOUR prejudice is a 'symptom' of MY autism?"
[crossposted from my WordPress blog]
So, the dreaded "Autism Awareness Month" has arrived, and thus, the seasonal deluge of parental angst and professional avarice shall soon be upon us.
For my own part, I will indeed be attempting to participate in the "Blogging for Autism Awareness" project. Here, have a button:
As words are often in short supply for me (well, coherent ones, at least), I expect I'll mostly just be linking back to various classics in autistic self-advocacy and disability rights genres. But for this stab, I'm going to indulge in a bit of self-quotation, plus links.
( yadda-yadda-yadadda, da-blah-blah-blah )
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March 14th, 2008
05:37 pm - Three-point-whaaaat?
On this most irrational of days, wishing you all magical math and merriment, full of fish and finger Pi in ... well, Springtime.
:-)
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March 8th, 2008
02:33 pm - Evidence of Barm
(or, "Data?! We don't need no stinkin' data!")
So, the Gub'ment conceded that one girl's quasi-autistic characteristics might have been aggravated by some jab or other ... and that's conclusive proof that autism is caused by vaccines. Gawd, I love America! Big Pharma must be peeing their socks in delight over this spectacular distraction from their real atrocities. And what better way to help marginalize dissenters and their pathological obsession with "fact-checking"?
Well, who knows where scientists and autistics get their crazy ideas, anyway, and who cares? For normal people, sixty-two thousand four hundred repetitions make one truth, and researching the netertoobs goes something like this:
Scientist: The Earth is round.
DragonBallZFan: It looks flat to me.
AnnCoulter: The Earth is flat, you godless, anti-American, terrorist-supporting liberals! And you know why? Science said it's not flat, and science is always wrong because it conflicts with the Bible!
QB253X2: Get a year's supply of Viagra for just $14.95 at htttp://www.stealyouridentity.info
[Shamelessly snarfed from a recent comment on Slashdot.]
And everyone wants to be normal, whether they're sane enough to admit it or not. Any sicko who wants more proof that autism is caused by vaccines doesn't deserve to live in the Magic Kingdom Of Free Money. They should be waterboarded and deported back to Aflaqistan where they belong.
The only facts that matter are Gawd-Loving Red Blooded American Dollars, and the only data that matters is what's displayed on the boards on Wall Street, and the numbers on the checks that pay for the repackaging of parental guilt remanufacturing of poor defective little children.
Yeah. If argumentum ad populum is good enough for real people, then it should be good enough for me. Right?
Right.
(Sorry -- I'm too disgusted to say anything intelligent about all this, but for some reason, the sarcastic remarks just keep pouring out of me.)
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March 7th, 2008
10:14 pm - Whyizzit?
When I look at John Hagee, I can't help but be struck by what a perfect representation he is -- a frighteningly uncanny personification -- of what my country has become.
Welcome to my nightmare.
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04:06 am - ...or, Why I Don't Mind Being Dirt-Poor
Mark Morford -- "Read this column before you die""Maybe what bothers me is how Carpe Diem Syndrome is just half the game. Or a tenth. Hundredth. Because the truth is, you could eat at every restaurant in the world and see every exotic wonderland and read a million great works of art and still be quite a miserable spiritually vacant neoconservative jackass with a world-class photo album and the soul of a cockroach..."
Heh.
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March 5th, 2008
02:51 pm - Update On Posts Blocked by NYU/CSC "Town Hall"
As was made clear by events on and following Tuesday, Feb. 26, NYU's Child Study Center failed to live up to its promise of providing an open forum for discussion of children's mental health (though they would have us believe otherwise). However, it would appear that Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz is gradually making good on his subsequent promise to reply via private e-mail to those posts which were blocked.
As evidence, I have just received a reply to one of my posts, which I will be deconstructing shortly for your enjoyment the purpose of furthering open dialog.
Moreover, the e-mail reply DID include, as expected, a copy of my original post, and presumably, this will be the case with all such replies. What that means is that those of you who were blocked will have a second chance to re-insert your voice into the sphere of public debate where it belongs.. If you wish, when you receive your reply, I will be happy to add the text of your original post to the current list of those that were gagged blocked by Koplewicz and crew. (yes, I know -- I still need to polish up the list's introductory text -- bear with me)
( reed moar )
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March 4th, 2008
02:56 am - How NYU/CSC's "Town Hall Meeting" SHOULD Have Been Done - A Coincidental Demonstration
For over two months, they protested of their eagerness to listen, to welcome the voices of the concerned, to come together with all and work hand-in-hand to help the children ...
Mmmmmm-hm.
Via the purely unrelated vehicle of yesterdays's liveblogging on the ongoing scandal surrounding the political lynching of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, Harper's legal affairs contributor Scott Horton and Firedoglake.com accidentally delivered a seamless demonstration of what an online "town hall meeting" should look like.
( no-no-no ... wait -- whaaaat? )
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February 28th, 2008
04:34 pm - Par For The Course: "Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi is torture in a 12-oz can..."
First, this (New and Improved) Blast From The Past:
And now, Old Meets New:
Wolfram's adulation for Pepsi's latest "gift" to the world:
What gets me is that they had high-paid executives sitting around a table, drinking this dreck and all nodding approvingly, "Oh yes, this is what America wants, a 'light, crisp, refreshing' beverage that tastes like Cheney sputum."
You want to defeat terrorists? Force them to drink Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi. I'm sure it would violate the Geneva Conventions, but they'd immediately tell you anything they knew, then hang themselves. Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi is torture in a 12-oz can.
I'm not an extremist. Really. I don't believe immigration will destroy the U.S. I don't believe 9/11 was an inside job. I don't believe a group of guys hiding in caves will emerge and force us all to live under sharia law. I don't believe that allowing same-sex couples to marry will eventually lead to men marrying the rare and deadly Asian Shit Ant.
But having tasted Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi once, I'm certain that the end of civilization is about three weeks away. Even the irritating gold, white, red, blue and black can should be enough to tell you that...
And THAT, my friends, is why I am now off to brew yet another pot of coffee.
Cheers. XD
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February 26th, 2008
04:29 pm - Call for posts that were blocked by NYU's "Town Hall Meeting"
As some of you may know, New York University's Child Study Center hosted what they purported to be a "town hall meeting" today on the topic of childhood mental illnesses. For weeks, they have been effusively "inviting public participation and input," which was to take place, supposedly, in the forum today. But what you won't likely know unless you participated in the forum is that countless posts were BLOCKED for no apparent reason -- except, perhaps, that "Doctor" Harold Koplewicz (of "Ransom Notes" and Paxil Study 329 fame) just didn't happen to feel like addressing those posts, and as such, saw no reason for them to appear at all. Clearly, he has his own unique definition of what "town hall meeting" should mean.
Here are three of my most "controversial" posts that were silenced in this "open forum":
( And what I'm hoping to do about it... )
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