The Color Red

Oy! Too little going on. Anyway...

I see red
And it hurts my head



Guess it must be something
That I read



It's the color of your heartbeat
A rising summer sun
The battle lost or won



The flash to fashion
And the pulse to passion
Feels red



Inside my head
And truth is often bitter
Left unsaid

 


Said red red
Thinking about the overhead
The underfed



Couldn't we talk about something else instead




We've got mars on the horizon
Says the national midnight star
(It's true!)




What you believe is what you are
A pair of dancing shoes



The soviets are the blues
The reds
Under your bed
Lying… 

The Continuing Implosion of the MORE Caucus

The MORE Caucus is at it again. Well, really the de facto leader of the MORE Caucus and his sidekick, but they are the faces of what is left of the MORE Caucus and one can't really see either without thinking of the MORE Caucus so ipso facto.

At last night's UFT Delegate Assembly, there was some old putz handing out what some considered anti-Semitic literature entitled, "Why the UFT Should Not Partner With the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) on Anti-Racist Initiatives." This was due to a resolution that was to be voted on last night (and ultimately passed)...

"Resolution to unite with orgs against toxic political atmosphere. Supports. News stories horrible, frequent, don’t want it to become norm. Sacred spaces, of religion, and schools under attack. Don’t even want to talk about 45’s role. Let us stand against all kinds of discrimination and with orgs that speak out against it." 

So the UFT wished to join with the ADL in this battle. Gee, why not? But come to think of it, what timing it was to show some people's true colors in passing this literature.

I mean just about six weeks after 11 Jews were slaughtered in their own synagogue in Pittsburgh while praying and celebrating a new life.

But six weeks later many are still awaiting to hear an official statement from the MORE Caucus condemning this barbaric act. I guess no one should be holding their breath, right?

Enough of that. Let's get into the flyer, as well as the accusations thrown, that was being handed out in front of 52 Broadway last night. Apologies to one MORE Caucus member for my rejoinders.

I'm getting tired of this Israel/Jew bashing from the MORE Caucus. First, it absolutely has ZERO to do with anything that the 75k+ members of the UFT want or need. Secondly, I have the same disdain for those from the right that continue to sycophantically support Israel. Both the MORE Caucus and it polar opposites on the Right don't have a clue in what they are talking about nor the good grace and knowledge on when to keep their moths shut and when to open them.

Has the ADL done some not good things? Yes! Has it done a lot of good things? Yes! But has the MORE Caucus, whilst looking at the world in it's ISO hazed glasses, fails to see, as does the Rightists in this country, is that there is something called nuance.

noun: nuance; plural noun: nuances

1.

a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound.

The world is not a vacuum.Let's just look at Venezuela.

 

But the MORE Caucus just decides to live in its own purity bubble. That those who are not pure are cast out, calling out others who don't think like the collective (BORG), while refusing to look inward to wonder why at a MORE Caucus meeting 95% of the attendees are WHITE!! And of these WHITE MORE Caucus members, most of these members work in schools that a certifiable wet dreams to work in. 

I despise the Israeli government and Bibi with a passion. I KNOW the Settlements are illegal and wish it would stop. Israel is so far from its roots and it's core beliefs now I am saddened.

But I shall not back down from Israel's right to exist and to defend itself. And I shall not back away from my belief that Palestine should have a state. But, it takes two to tango and I know for a fact that Israel has done much more tangoing.

Can those in charge of the MORE Caucus have this kind of nuance and thinking when it comes to other matters? Such as BLM, cops, Unity, capitalism, or dare I say...MORE Caucus members that disagree with the "ideals" of some fruity little ISO club? 

Not only was handing out the flyer and the motion to amend not working with the ADL done in the wrong place, at the wrong time (Many teachers are Jews!!!), but it shows yet again, that the needs and wants of the rank and file are way down the list of those at the MORE Caucus.

Yeah, yeah, I know, you guys were out there supporting the OT/PT chapter last night. Big deal. Anyone can be opportunistic. It doesn't take much effort. 

Been Thinking of My Blood Sugar, The UFT, and the MORE Caucus

In the summer of 2012 I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. In retrospect I think I had
been having symptoms, constant thirst and always running to the bathroom, for two years before that.

At the time of my diagnosis my blood sugar level was nearly 500 as as my cholesterol level. My A1C was over 13. And my weight was 30 pounds heavier than it is now. I went from a size 38 waist to 32.

I am not on insulin, yet I am on Metformin, Glimepiride, and Jardiance for the Diabetes and Lipitor for the cholesterol. My cholesterol is now normal and my blood sugar, well it can always be improved, but my A1C is usually around 7 (it should be less, closer to 6.5) but I have cut out a lot from my diet.

I'm saying this because I remember several years ago talking about going on a hunger strike. Hunger strikes are hard. No food at all. Only water.

What's easy is going off my medications (OK, I have opened myself up to a litany of jokes!) . Flush it down the toilet. Stop going to CVS once a month for refills (except my Lipitor which comes mail order).

Why am I sharing this? Because something needs to be done with how our union elections and how decisions are made.

The UFT is calling, or at least exploring, earlier than usual elections for 2019. ATRs still have no voice, no functional chapter, no nothing. All teachers, all members of the UFT vote for every single officer. Why as an elementary teacher am I voting for HS VP? What purpose does an at-large executive board serve? Why at the DA is modern technology not used for voting of resolutions (simple, use an app to vote yes or no). There are a slew of other things to complain about.

That is one group. The other group is the MORE Caucus.

The MORE Caucus has gone bat shit crazy of late and is controlled by its patróns at the ISO and Gus Hall Superfriends Club, not to mention some truly demented human beings there. Worse yet, the purges of earlier this year in which the MORE Caucus stuck to the playbook of Stalin, Mao, and Saddam Hussein. The MORE Caucus still cares more for all this extraneous bullshit stuff rather than for the rank and file.

So what am I thinking.

I am really think choosing one of these two groups, that if things don't change I am going to go off the meds and set myself if I go hypoglycemic, or worse, so be it. But at least I will be doing it for for change, for the rank and file, a for a cause that means something.

If I do this I will be all in. Live on camera and streaming I will take my blood sugar. Instead of seeing between 90 and 150 2 hours after I eat, what will be seen are numbers like 600, 700, 900 or higher two hours after I eat. If I stroke out let it be on the UFT or the MORE Caucus.

I'm getting tired of the bullshit. I don't know what else to do. I am open to other ideas.