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Churlish?! If Proclivities frontman Matt Douglas ever used that word in one of his delightful pop songs, you'd be totally fucked in trying to find the right word to criticize him for it.

Churlish. I love it.

Marc Maximov's review of my film, A NEW KIND OF LISTENING got a couple things right—the film's "passionate argument for inclusion and respect makes it a powerful piece of advocacy." And he rightly quotes me when I said, "We don't want this film to be just about FC [Facilitated Communication]."

Unfortunately, Maximov made one factual error, was lazy in his reporting and missed a core message of the film.

First, Maximov wrote, "After seeing a rough cut of the film, officials at the [FC] institute had sufficient qualms to request a disclaimer at the end." No such request was made by the institute. Margaret Heath, Polly Medlicott and I included the language in deference to the institute's amazing work and the promise FC holds for thousands of people who can benefit from its use.

Secondly, in his critique of FC, Maximov wrongly asserts that Margaret Heath, a highly skilled and sensitive facilitator, actively influenced the typing shown in the film. Maximov's failure to contact Ms. Heath and explore his own skepticism before printing erroneous assumptions does a disservice to the many people working earnestly to give voice to people who might otherwise be voiceless.

Finally, as the review title indicates, Maximov's eyes were focused squarely on Chris Mueller-Medlicott and the disabled members of the theater group. Yes, Chris is a main character, and Maximov's discussion of his life and how it is treated in the film is right on. But one of the key messages of the film—that inclusive arts benefits and transforms everybody—was missed.

The film is challenging and will stir controversy and debate. We need the courage to suspend disbelief and trust the heartfelt, inclusive work shared in A NEW KIND OF LISTENING.

Kenny Dalsheimer
www.anewkindoflistening.com

WFMU--man, remembrance of sounds past. Especially Jim (The Hound) Marshall, the Saturday afternoon DJ, and his posse. Obscure rock and roll, arcane chatter.

I remember a long discussion of "Dallas." The Hound said he liked the cat fights. "They have a certain tension." Someone said, "Ooh, tension. I like that." The Hound said, "750 verbals, man. Dig it."

http://www.blogger.com/profile/06328225246284521960

Yes, there are obviously people who like "homogenous" schools. Guess what. They're not all white.

I am not a social conservative, but can still see that busing is not the answer to anything. If you can't teach poor kids close to home you can't team them across town either. Economic busing serves noone and is only meant to mask the problem, making it just slightly harder to identify.

I disagree that the Chapel Hill election revealed a 50/50 division. While the mayoral race as about 50/50, the council races showed voters supporting a predominantly progressive slate. I believe that Kleinschmidt's campaign did not aggressively refute the simplistic and quasi-factual statements that Matt Cz made during the race & paid the price when some of these assumptions began to be accepted conventional wisdom. A well-run campaign that cleaned up the issues instead of letting mold grow would have resulted in more like a 60/40 split.

Braineyson- thank you, it's been corrected

"She was quick to credit the voter owned elections pilot program, having said before that she felt she needed to win to violate it." I think she said "validate" not "violate." Must be a typo. Can you fix this?

yay indy voting guides and links to good info. thank you for this valuable service!

The Indy Voting Guide is a valuable resource for the community and to call people who want to use it as a resource to help them vote ignorant and unable to think for themselves is just sad.

@Lassiter: We distribute in Apex because people ask for the papers there. Also, some people work in other communities but live in Apex (or vice versa) and want to keep up with news and culture in the Triangle, not just their own towns.

SLassiter - Apex is in Wake County and the Indy covers county elections, so there is still value for us. It is a small paper. It does what it can. At least they don't just put in the same news feeds as everyone else. I frequently disagree with the Indy's stance, but I cannot find fault with the way in which they run their paper.

I almost never read the indy but when I do it is usually when I find it laying in the bathroom in DH Hill library. Sometimes there are decent articles, truly independent thinking. But on most occasions, especially this one, I feel that this article is perfectly suited to where I found it: on the floor beside the toilet where it is in easy reach as an alternative to Charmin. I'm glad he managed to provide absolutely no facts and only small pieces of quotes. I would have watched MSNBC if I wanted these words. The question remains that if he is such an idiot/clown along with Bill O'Reilly why do they continue to have the highest ratings if (according to polls and the latest election) the majority of our nation is left? I am confused by the people on here saying those opposing this article are stupid and "non-thinkers" as we are sheep of the right-wing while you are doing the same. As I have thought before, if he and Mr. O'Reilly were liberals, you would be wet for joy.

what a thoroughly enjoyable piece of writing... just brilliant! thank you

Dear Editor: if your newspaper doesn't have the resources to cover Apex politics, then I kindly ask you to remove your newspaper boxes from our town. Thank you.

Letter to the editor,

I'm an infrequent reader of your paper, only picking up a copy when I stop at local coffee shop. Although I disagree with most of your editorial positions, I often find some valid points.

I am writing to pass along my thoughts on the cover story on Glen Beck by Hal Crowther.

Considering how much space it took up, Mr. Crowther did not offer your readers much. It was merely MSNBC's Keith Olberman in print. With the hundreds of words Crowther used he failed to offre supportive evidence challenging Beck. The entire article was filled with sophomoric name calling, something you'd already know of if you reviewed the comments on your website.

And, considering the paper's political leaning I find it remarkable. Could it be the Rush Limbaugh "mind numbed robots" also read the Independent?

I do watch Beck on occasion and agree there is much shtick to his program. But there is something you may not have observed (if you watch his program at all). The structure of his one hour show goes over twenty minutes before the first commercial. It allows Beck to present an uninterrupted case to support his argument.

Additionally, within the article are frequent criticisms of the Beck audience, demeaning their intelligence and even their education.

If that is one of the measuring sticks Crowther wants to use, an equal point can be made from the other side of the political aisle.

Considering how many less-educated (less intelligenct?), poorer, minorities vote Democratic what does this say about the quality of the candidates they support?

If you can, sit down with Crowther and ask him to watch Beck, and then provide your readers with an intelligent and thoughtful articles on where Beck's program fails its audience.

Regards,
Anthony Bruno
Cary, NC

I applaud the others who found fault with Crowther's story on Beck. For those who could not get through the entire piece the following is a sampling of Crowther's superior writing talent.

"he looks like the misbegotten love child Rush Limbaugh and Joan Rivers gave up for adoption"

"Beck is pudgy graceless, rude, hysterically ill-informed and to all appearances an idiot."

"Even for "conservative" media, where the bar is set so low and ratings are stimulated by feeding raw meat to the Cro-Magnon fringe"

"Though Fox News audiences never hold their heroes to the highest logical standards"

"Last January, his TV show took the jump from CNN to the higher cotton at Fox News, where he abuses liberals, logic and President Obama as part of the Troglodyte Trio that includes Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, the big bad wolves of brain-dead broadcasting."

"It's as if Clarabelle from The Howdy Doody Show had been resurrected, with his horn reprogrammed to issue reactionary boilerplate"

"America's rapidly declining literacy." Serious readers stopped complaining years ago that the best-seller lists were dominated by depressing trash."

"His next literary offering, the oxymoronic Glenn Beck's Common Sense,"

"Beck has just signed a contract with Simon & Schuster to produce books for juveniles and young adults. Soon the Pied Pinhead will be coming for your children."

" he can't run, he can't talk, he certainly can't think"

"His incontinent rhetoric may strike you as fantastic, even psychotic, but in the alternate universe of talk media nearly everyone practices what a psychiatrist might call "belligerent projection" "

"All progressive Americans share the dream of strangling Bill O'Reilly with coaxial cable, or driving their SUVs back and forth across Rush Limbaugh's distended abdomen"

"Sean Hannity may sound like a Holy Cross linebacker whose helmet absorbed too many burly forearms, or the cop's slow son who washed out of the police academy (actually his education didn't go that far)"

"This industry cultivates the worshipful attention of the flagrantly below average, some so far below that they believe the Republicans are the party of the common man"

"Its core audience is made up of people who never sat in enough classrooms or read enough books to be able to separate reasonable convictions from irrational fears and prejudices"

"Conceptually insecure, they need constant reassurance that people with access to microphones and TV cameras—important players, to them—can be just as irrational as they are"

"Beck never matriculated at all (of the Rabid Right's top tier, Bill O'Reilly is the only one with a bachelor's degree and the only one who was ever a journalist)."

"He seems to be the beneficiary of the same sympathy that made Sarah Palin, a joke or a scandal to most educated voters, a heroine to blue-collar Americans who saw her as the girl next door".

"The Palindrome is part of anti-intellectual America's celebration of the ordinary, even the subordinary—the theater of accessible fantasies."

"Is this Beck's golden secret, that he's incapable of making anyone feel inferior?"

Here is the dark side of democracy, the rank soil where demagogues sink their roots..

"Why is it that high school graduates who've published more books than they've read get national pulpits"

"these raging illiterates look like the last spasm before culture death, before the American experiment flatlines."

"But let him keep his money—it won't buy him an intelligent audience or a bigger brain"

"A letter to the editor of the Progressive Populist described Sarah Palin as "the canary in the dummy mine."

Regards,
Anthony Bruno
Cary, NC

All broth and no meat. The author does an excellent job of name calling without backing it up. He seems to be saying "I'm smart, you are dumb. I'm handsome you are ugly and your daughter has cerebral palsy. I am right, you are wrong. Na-na-na-na pooh pooh. And all of the smart kids agree with me. The stupid ones agree with you. Right smart kids?" My five year old can make that argument.

Although it's been a while since Crowther was in the 5th grade, he still hasn't lost is adolescent knack for delivering the classic line, "you're fat, ugly and stupid;" only now it takes 3500 blowhardy word for him to express that sentiment. Funny stuff coming from a guy who writes for a free magazine that advertises "dating" and massage services.

Regardless of what ones thinks of Glen Beck's politics, he is obviously not stupid. He is a powerful communicator with a message that resonates with millions.

I'll go out on a limb and try to make some Indy-esque endorsements. After carefully reviewing all available info on these candidates it seems that the more "progressive" among the bunch are Bills, Haynie, and Olive. Smith, the lone Democrat can't be bothered to stand up a website so I can't evaluate him. Bills is Unaffiliated. Everyone else is Republican. Bills is endorsed by the Realtors, but other than that seems to have good views. Olive got points for knocking on doors in my neighborhood. All of my picks are non-incumbents and there's a vibe going on to try to shake things up on the council a bit (note the "Re-elect No One" signs popping up.) Some folks have been on the council a little too long.

Apex Rich: Thanks for your understanding. We'll definitely consider your and others' comments about the geographic diversity of our endorsements for the next municipal election cycle. I'm all for running endorsements in those races; we just have to figure out how to allocate the resources with only three staff writers. I believe it's worth doing, though.