A handy acronym list can be found on my January 13th blog. My updated teacher news links continue uncensored for now in blog that follows.
Hear ye! Hear ye! A Proclamation!
OECTA: The house of secrets? Yes! It's true! You will notice I posted a new introduction in the top bar of my blog beneath the title. Let's get over this nonsense. I do not officially represent OECTA or anybody else. I do not try nor would I want to make anyone think I do. This is me, all me, and nothing but me, for I am the Grand Poobah of the David Chiarelli -School Edition blogsite. Nobody else! ;-)
So if you think I am Kevin O'Dwyer, Sam Hammond or Kevin Cohn [?!], the answer is no. If you are confusing me with the official voice of a local OECTA teacher unit with the same acronym in it's title, the answer is no!
Duh!
Later on I will explain more about my unexpected Ascension to "Grand Poobahship". Meantime, no! No I am not infallible, nor a tight butt like so many other darn "official" lords + highnesses these days, be they teacher union leaders, or party apparatchiks, whomever.
Nope!
Censorship sucks! Information is knowledge! Knowledge is power!
I regret if I sound snarly but I am growing tired of the officious local harassment + accusations I have been receiving for nearly two years now. Somehow I am supposed to be confusing OECTA members about whom I actually represent on my blog. Apparently they are so dimwitted that they think I am speaking on behalf of OECTA Provincial + OECTA TSU. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Sometimes it gets so absurd private warnings are even sent out not to read my blog [?] One executive member has even gone so far as to report me to the school board for sending our teachers a link to the eulogy I wrote when one of our young colleagues died.Previously I'd find it hard to even imagine her, or any union leader for that matter, trying to get one of their colleagues in trouble with the bosses! Whatever is our OECTA coming too?
Quite frankly I would be very embarrassed + humiliated if you thought I was the official voice of OECTA Provincial or OECTA TSU, especially when it comes to our OECTA MOU, local contracts + protests. I always strive to be very clear about who I am in my postings + all my communications. Claims to the contrary are quite annoying and pure poppy cock.Misrepresenting myself is the last thing on my mind that I'd want to do. Nor do I have any need whatsoever to do so to boost my readership locally or across the province. Why would anybody even try to claim I am doing all these ridiculous + unnecessary things?
Should the insulting behaviour persist I will regretfully be forced to publish these emails past + present in full, exactly as they are were sent to me. When anybody writes + sents it to me themselves, it is now quite frankly mine to share as I see fit. Contrary to popular misconception that's a very basic journalistic fact for those of us who are public political figures serving in an elected position.
The situation with many if not most of our OECTA leadership is very disheartening. Is it becoming necessary to expose some of their most unfortunate lack of any understanding or respect for how social media like blogs, websites + tweets work nowadays? These inform + empower the teacher protest movement. There has been a major paradigm shift many seem to have missed, unintentionally or not: Information is no longer the exclusive domain of the privileged few who alone can use it to control what the rest of us know, think or do.
OECTA can no longer be a house of secrets where the information within and that going out to our members + the public at large can be tightly monitored + controlled. Our members + others can surf + communicate over the internet to find out just about anything nowadays. It's all out there somewhere! Thank God for that!
Please also note: the total reader visits to my blogsite in January was 28241. Now we know why OECTA TSU in particular is so keen to censor me! How many folk do you think read the official Highlights newsletter last month? The OECTA Provincial Agenda?
I want my blogsite to be a clearing house for a wide range of news links, web resources, and challenging points of view. I don't like any sort of mundane party speak here. I want my site to allow us to critically consider our teacher issues like the well educated, professional + responsible free thinkers whom we are, regardless of our different teacher affiliates. As far as my opinions go, readers can + do disagree. I respect that + think it's great that we have thought things through + arrived at our own points of view for ourselves, be they different or not.
That's education rather than indoctrination. It is not some misguided attempt to enforce group think upon us. IMHO it is pitiful + insulting when one's views or beliefs come from just regurgitating those of somebody else, be they a high falootin' union executive leader, a self proclaimed "expert" or a political boss. OECTA for one, is without doubt headed for a big upheaval or sad demise in the years ahead if they think they can still control what we think and know to serve their own purposes, whatever that might be. For shame!
As always, I heartily invite anyone who has any deep well thought out concerns about my blog to communicate them to me directly. They can be appropriately be addressed in a friendly personal manner between us, or even with a moderator if we so choose. I always welcome constructive imput + indeed have actually made some well considered changes here and there to my blog based upon these discussions. It only makes sense. Like it or not the old ways of communicating are not fixed in stone anymore. Internet protocols are still new + evolving as the web continues to grow + change over time.
Unfortunately that has been a long standing offer that none of my local OECTA TSU critics have ever take me up on. I wonder why? BTAIM I am not going to engage in any further dubious "in camera" executive kangaroo courts, nor like I said will the ill informed + ill advised secret emails be tolerated any longer without being publicly shared. For crying out loud I have even offered any of them who are upset the option of writing a guest blog about their concerns. So as far as being public and upfront goes, no further attempts at censorship of any sort will be treated any differently than the emails or kangaroo court anymore.
Backroom secret discussions and plots to depose me from our local union executive are your tawdry business. Please know that every time they occur somebody comes running to tell me everything anyway asap.I have a very loyal and numerous local political base whom read + follow my blogs regularly. They seem to respect + readily support me. I thank you all for that. I am very pleased to continue to be of service in letting you know what's going on despite the deafening silence + tightly regulated flow of information that we face as OECTA members. It is weird: who works for who anymore? I've always thought our OECTA executives worked for the members, not the other way around!
I have often joked that if this blog were to ever go down it is set, figuratively speaking, to explode and take everybody involved along with it. Ha? Ha? Ha? Better to go with a bang not a whimper?!?
Please note: Absolutely no genuflecting, blind allegiance, royal silence, boot licking or toadyism are in any way or manner required, nor of course acceptable, here in my School Edition blog or in the course of my travels. I wonder how many other teacher and political groups or organizations insist on that anymore? Not too many I'm afraid.
Duh de duh. But no more unpleasantness.
As for this new Grand Poobah thing of mine: it is hereby decreed that any + all "inauguration" gifts, offerings, or future tithes etc etc etc are to be respectfully directed to the charity of your choice. Hmmm. This should be fun.;-) And now for some more Grand Poobah decrees:
Hear ye! A Decree: So as to not cause confusion, the title of the Grand Poobah's Teacher School Underground will not be referred to using the acronym TSU in my "School Edition" blogs, since it is also shared by many other such groups like TSU: theTennessee State University etc. etc. etc. The decree will stay in effect for the foreseeable future. No future usage is anticipated, lest it be ridiculously misconstrued or taken out of context, contrary to the Grand Poobah's desired opinion and intent. Grand regards + thanks in advance for your respectful understanding!
BTW: This always was the case but if it makes you feel better to see it in print GA [+ others] than so be it! Next time please talk to me first rather than sending tattle tale letters based upon conjecture to our TSU executive. I truly regret that it is necessary to post this message here brother. It was much better when for you + I could just talk directly with each other sharing our interesting + much more beneficial discourses.
Alas! Most unfortunately it looks like what's left of our once fresh original new TSU executive team has now come full circle. Whatever happened to the exciting changes we set out to accomplish for our unit? Now we are just replacing one stale oppressive status quo with another of our own making. I had hoped for so much more than the censorship + control being recreated again.
Hear ye! Another decree! Any + all readers of the School Edition blog need not address me as the "Grand Poohbah" of course, if you so please. I much prefer "David". However in other ridiculous meetings, greetings + functions of a political, governmental or union nature which become officious +/or nauseating my proper titles will need to be used. "Your Grandness" or "exalted" are also known to suffice when acknowledging the presence of a Grand Poobah among everyone else who wants to act like the Lord Almighty in our OECTA house of secrets. Please do not require me under such circumstances to rise on a point of personal privilege to insist that the proper titles be used. Grand thanks in advance for your respect of the decree.
A typical Grand Poohbah ceremonial inauguration
More to come as need be.
Hear ye! Hear ye! A Proclamation!
OECTA: The house of secrets? Yes! It's true! You will notice I posted a new introduction in the top bar of my blog beneath the title. Let's get over this nonsense. I do not officially represent OECTA or anybody else. I do not try nor would I want to make anyone think I do. This is me, all me, and nothing but me, for I am the Grand Poobah of the David Chiarelli -School Edition blogsite. Nobody else! ;-)
So if you think I am Kevin O'Dwyer, Sam Hammond or Kevin Cohn [?!], the answer is no. If you are confusing me with the official voice of a local OECTA teacher unit with the same acronym in it's title, the answer is no!
Duh!
Later on I will explain more about my unexpected Ascension to "Grand Poobahship". Meantime, no! No I am not infallible, nor a tight butt like so many other darn "official" lords + highnesses these days, be they teacher union leaders, or party apparatchiks, whomever.
Nope!
Censorship sucks! Information is knowledge! Knowledge is power!
I regret if I sound snarly but I am growing tired of the officious local harassment + accusations I have been receiving for nearly two years now. Somehow I am supposed to be confusing OECTA members about whom I actually represent on my blog. Apparently they are so dimwitted that they think I am speaking on behalf of OECTA Provincial + OECTA TSU. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Sometimes it gets so absurd private warnings are even sent out not to read my blog [?] One executive member has even gone so far as to report me to the school board for sending our teachers a link to the eulogy I wrote when one of our young colleagues died.Previously I'd find it hard to even imagine her, or any union leader for that matter, trying to get one of their colleagues in trouble with the bosses! Whatever is our OECTA coming too?
Quite frankly I would be very embarrassed + humiliated if you thought I was the official voice of OECTA Provincial or OECTA TSU, especially when it comes to our OECTA MOU, local contracts + protests. I always strive to be very clear about who I am in my postings + all my communications. Claims to the contrary are quite annoying and pure poppy cock.Misrepresenting myself is the last thing on my mind that I'd want to do. Nor do I have any need whatsoever to do so to boost my readership locally or across the province. Why would anybody even try to claim I am doing all these ridiculous + unnecessary things?
Should the insulting behaviour persist I will regretfully be forced to publish these emails past + present in full, exactly as they are were sent to me. When anybody writes + sents it to me themselves, it is now quite frankly mine to share as I see fit. Contrary to popular misconception that's a very basic journalistic fact for those of us who are public political figures serving in an elected position.
The situation with many if not most of our OECTA leadership is very disheartening. Is it becoming necessary to expose some of their most unfortunate lack of any understanding or respect for how social media like blogs, websites + tweets work nowadays? These inform + empower the teacher protest movement. There has been a major paradigm shift many seem to have missed, unintentionally or not: Information is no longer the exclusive domain of the privileged few who alone can use it to control what the rest of us know, think or do.
OECTA can no longer be a house of secrets where the information within and that going out to our members + the public at large can be tightly monitored + controlled. Our members + others can surf + communicate over the internet to find out just about anything nowadays. It's all out there somewhere! Thank God for that!
Please also note: the total reader visits to my blogsite in January was 28241. Now we know why OECTA TSU in particular is so keen to censor me! How many folk do you think read the official Highlights newsletter last month? The OECTA Provincial Agenda?
I want my blogsite to be a clearing house for a wide range of news links, web resources, and challenging points of view. I don't like any sort of mundane party speak here. I want my site to allow us to critically consider our teacher issues like the well educated, professional + responsible free thinkers whom we are, regardless of our different teacher affiliates. As far as my opinions go, readers can + do disagree. I respect that + think it's great that we have thought things through + arrived at our own points of view for ourselves, be they different or not.
That's education rather than indoctrination. It is not some misguided attempt to enforce group think upon us. IMHO it is pitiful + insulting when one's views or beliefs come from just regurgitating those of somebody else, be they a high falootin' union executive leader, a self proclaimed "expert" or a political boss. OECTA for one, is without doubt headed for a big upheaval or sad demise in the years ahead if they think they can still control what we think and know to serve their own purposes, whatever that might be. For shame!
As always, I heartily invite anyone who has any deep well thought out concerns about my blog to communicate them to me directly. They can be appropriately be addressed in a friendly personal manner between us, or even with a moderator if we so choose. I always welcome constructive imput + indeed have actually made some well considered changes here and there to my blog based upon these discussions. It only makes sense. Like it or not the old ways of communicating are not fixed in stone anymore. Internet protocols are still new + evolving as the web continues to grow + change over time.
Unfortunately that has been a long standing offer that none of my local OECTA TSU critics have ever take me up on. I wonder why? BTAIM I am not going to engage in any further dubious "in camera" executive kangaroo courts, nor like I said will the ill informed + ill advised secret emails be tolerated any longer without being publicly shared. For crying out loud I have even offered any of them who are upset the option of writing a guest blog about their concerns. So as far as being public and upfront goes, no further attempts at censorship of any sort will be treated any differently than the emails or kangaroo court anymore.
Backroom secret discussions and plots to depose me from our local union executive are your tawdry business. Please know that every time they occur somebody comes running to tell me everything anyway asap.I have a very loyal and numerous local political base whom read + follow my blogs regularly. They seem to respect + readily support me. I thank you all for that. I am very pleased to continue to be of service in letting you know what's going on despite the deafening silence + tightly regulated flow of information that we face as OECTA members. It is weird: who works for who anymore? I've always thought our OECTA executives worked for the members, not the other way around!
I have often joked that if this blog were to ever go down it is set, figuratively speaking, to explode and take everybody involved along with it. Ha? Ha? Ha? Better to go with a bang not a whimper?!?
Please note: Absolutely no genuflecting, blind allegiance, royal silence, boot licking or toadyism are in any way or manner required, nor of course acceptable, here in my School Edition blog or in the course of my travels. I wonder how many other teacher and political groups or organizations insist on that anymore? Not too many I'm afraid.
Duh de duh. But no more unpleasantness.
As for this new Grand Poobah thing of mine: it is hereby decreed that any + all "inauguration" gifts, offerings, or future tithes etc etc etc are to be respectfully directed to the charity of your choice. Hmmm. This should be fun.;-) And now for some more Grand Poobah decrees:
Hear ye! A Decree: So as to not cause confusion, the title of the Grand Poobah's Teacher School Underground will not be referred to using the acronym TSU in my "School Edition" blogs, since it is also shared by many other such groups like TSU: theTennessee State University etc. etc. etc. The decree will stay in effect for the foreseeable future. No future usage is anticipated, lest it be ridiculously misconstrued or taken out of context, contrary to the Grand Poobah's desired opinion and intent. Grand regards + thanks in advance for your respectful understanding!
BTW: This always was the case but if it makes you feel better to see it in print GA [+ others] than so be it! Next time please talk to me first rather than sending tattle tale letters based upon conjecture to our TSU executive. I truly regret that it is necessary to post this message here brother. It was much better when for you + I could just talk directly with each other sharing our interesting + much more beneficial discourses.
Alas! Most unfortunately it looks like what's left of our once fresh original new TSU executive team has now come full circle. Whatever happened to the exciting changes we set out to accomplish for our unit? Now we are just replacing one stale oppressive status quo with another of our own making. I had hoped for so much more than the censorship + control being recreated again.
Hear ye! Another decree! Any + all readers of the School Edition blog need not address me as the "Grand Poohbah" of course, if you so please. I much prefer "David". However in other ridiculous meetings, greetings + functions of a political, governmental or union nature which become officious +/or nauseating my proper titles will need to be used. "Your Grandness" or "exalted" are also known to suffice when acknowledging the presence of a Grand Poobah among everyone else who wants to act like the Lord Almighty in our OECTA house of secrets. Please do not require me under such circumstances to rise on a point of personal privilege to insist that the proper titles be used. Grand thanks in advance for your respect of the decree.
A typical Grand Poohbah ceremonial inauguration
More to come as need be.
