The NDN's Matt Clark reports: "District officials first said the reason for the teachers being placed on the “do-not-call” lists was because they created “an air of negativity.” They later rescinded the statement, saying the teachers were placed on the lists for performance issues. Traube, who had taught full time in New York City schools and had been substitute teaching for at least 16 years, said he believed he had done nothing wrong in standing up and speaking out at the meetings." Teachers harassed, blacklisted, and suspended for speaking out? Never would happen here? Do we have system of local government marked by centralization of authority under unnamed, powerful tyrants, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and even racism? Not us!!! Teachers silenced, threatened, fired. The first people the fascists go for are the intellectuals. And it's always disingenuously disguised by various means, in this case insinuating that the teachers are somehow to blame. Burn the books; ban the teachers; put brief time limits on public participants in school board meetings and other forums of democratic discourse. Power to the rabble? Blocks, stones, worse than senseless things!!! The masses must be controlled by the masters who know best what's good for us. Keep the ordinary people beered up and going to the stadiums; Taser the mavericks. Don't let anyone THINK. ___________ I have been blocked from making an electronic Comment in the _Naples Daily News_ since December 13, 2007, when my last criticism of Superintendent Dennis Thompson was published. Through my complaints to the managers of Comments (Stephan Schonberg, Chris Silk, and various Webmasters), I've repeatedly changed my screen name, password, cookies, etc. and have been able to include little squeaks of dissent but disabled immediately afterward. Two months ago, "asshole" was secretly and invisibly attached to my comment signature, blocking my contributions with "Watch your language: a.....e is not allowed in our paper." Comcast is part of this campaign as well, effectively disrupting my e-mail to 450 members of my Pax Christi group in 2003.