Island Issues

College Wokeism Exposed By Fernandina Beach FSCJ Student

College Wokeism Exposed By Fernandina Beach FSCJ Student

A discerning young Fernandina Beach student enrolled at Florida State College at Jacksonville demonstrated how much more perceptive she is than the far left indoctrinators that staff that institution anticipated.

“…..and that is the woke theory of how a guy can be a gal.”

This alert young freshman displayed that her thought processes aren’t susceptible to the barrage of woke silliness they spew when she pointed out to her family and friends the irrational nonsense the college was inflicting upon unsuspecting impressionable neophyte students in a course incoming freshmen are required to take.

According to her FSCJ orientation material (https://www.fscj.edu/student-services/first-year-experience)  “All incoming Associate in Arts (AA) students are required to take “Strategies for the Pursuit of Knowledge (IDA 107) within their first 15 hours at FSCJ as part of their first year experience (FYE).”

After reading through the material supplied by the school to these young first year students, it’s obvious FSCJ desperately needs to make biology a required course and a prerequisite for the required “Strategies for the Pursuit of Knowledge” class.

The required “Strategies for the Pursuit of Knowledge” course promotes sexual reassignment or transgenderism as normal thereby endorsing this mental disorder as natural when it is anything but.

In a required biology course freshmen students would learn that there are two genetic identifiers which determine sex. Females have the XX chromosome and males have the XY chromosome. At fertilization, the female always contributes an X chromosome, and the male can contribute either the X or Y chromosome. If both sexual partners contribute the X chromosome, the offspring will be female. If the male contributes a Y chromosome, the offspring will be male. That is a scientific biological fact.

The illustration here is a sample of the questions from a quiz the Fernandina Beach student took.

Transgenderism is a mental disorder that merits treatment just like any other mental health disorder. Changing one’s sex is biologically impossible. Putting on a dress and lipstick does not make a guy a gal. A guy can dress and act like a woman, that is his right in a free and tolerant society, but there is nothing that dictates we are required to pretend with him. For example, his DNA remains that of a male and how will he explain prostate cancer to the gals in his bridge club if that occurs?

The transgender movement is part of “wokeism,” a far left ideology that demands that the vast majority embrace their minority view. This is a group that represents less than one-half of one percent of the United States population, an infinitesimal number. There are more members of the Flat Earth Society, a group less strident, but equally confused scientifically and factually.

People, like the author of this textbook and the classroom instructor are promoting transgenderism as normal. It is not.

Following is a passage from Chapter 9, Understanding the Civility and Cultural Competence, from the online text book “Strategies for the Pursuit of Knowledge” that is required for the class:

“More and more, gender is also a diversity category that we increasingly understand to be less clearly defined. Some people identify themselves as gender fluid or non-binary. “Binary” refers to the notion that gender is only one of the two possibilities, male or female. Fluidity suggests that there is a range of continuum of expression. Gender fluidity acknowledges that a person may facilitate between male and female identity.”

If that terminal loopiness wasn’t enough there are also charts displaying “Gender Pronoun Examples” that include made-up words such as “Ze,” Hir/Zir,” Hirs/Zirs,” and “Hirself/Zirself” and examples including: ”Ze is speaking” and “The backpack is zirs,” etc.

While mobs on U.S. college campuses freely and openly threaten, intimidate, harass, and viciously assault Jewish students this FSCJ text cautions against something called “microaggressions” or “inadvertent slights.” Deliberate acts of actual violence and threats are not addressed. Instead it lists categories and examples of “microaggressions” or “thoughts that might distress other students.”

Nowhere is chanting “Kill the Jews” and “Hitler was right,” “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea,” vile antisemitic hatred spouted by student and faculty mobs on today’s campuses mentioned.

The entire text reads like something out of the Babylon Bee and proves there are no adults in the classroom at FSCJ, where mental illness is simultaneously celebrated and encouraged while rampant antisemitism on U.S. college campuses is never mentioned much less denounced.

***

Appropriate Adjustments: In order to conform to FSCJ’s required curriculum, adjustments should be made to reflect the school’s identity. For example in the music department song titles and lyrics should be changed to reflect “gender fluidity,” which is described in the school’s textbook?

Based on Table 9.1 in the required text’s Gender Pronoun Examples the pronoun “she” in the following song titles can be changed to “Ze” as in “Ze Loves You”,  “Isn’t Ze Lovely,” “There Ze Goes,” “My Baby Ze Left Me,” and so on. As I reread them they might also be interpreted as the drunken musings of a befuddled Inspector Clouseau.

Since bamboozling students appears to be the objective of the required “Strategies for the Pursuit of Knowledge” course, it seems appropriate that FSCJ’s alma mater or anthem should be “I’m My Own Grandpa,” altered somewhat here to fit the required course’s gender identities and to reflect the college’s overall flapdoodlery. Here’s how it goes:

Now, many many years ago
When I was twenty three
I was married to a widow
Who was pretty as could be

This widow had a grown-up daughter
Ze Had hair of red
My father fell in love with zir
And soon the two were wed

This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life
My daughter was my mother
‘Cause ze was my father’s wife

To complicate the matters
Even though it brought me joy
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy

My little baby then became
A brother-in-law to dad
And so became my uncle
Though it made me very sad

For if ze was my uncle
That also made him the brother
Of the widow’s grown-up daughter
Who, of course, was my step-mother

My father’s wife then had a son
That kept them on the run
And ze became my grandchild
For ze was my daughter’s son

My wife is now my mother’s mother
And it makes me blue
Because, ze is my wife
She’s my grandmother too

Now, if my wife is my grandmother
Then, I am zer grandchild
And every time I think of it
It nearly drives me wild

For now I have become
The strangest case you ever saw
As husband of my grandmother
I am my own grandpa

I’m my own grandpa
I’m my own grandpa
It sounds funny I know
But it really is so
I’m my own grandpa

Hail FSCJ!

***

Speaking Of College. A number of Nassau County service clubs annually provide scholarships to deserving local high school students. Prior to awarding the scholarships interviews are conducted with potential recipients.

The president of one of these organizations related a story to me the other day about a pragmatic young local high school student he interviewed who knew precisely why she wanted the scholarship.

The prospective scholarship recipient had done her research he explained. She had investigated various fields of study, as well as her employment prospects and earnings potential in those fields following college graduation.

She dismissed the sciences including medicine, biology, engineering, etc. Those weren’t her interests, she lacked enthusiasm for them. She said her investigation into the humanities such as sociology, history, performing arts, philosophy, literature, etc. revealed that the time and money required to earn a degree in any of them wasn’t worth the investment. Based on her research college was not her best option.

She told the interviewer that based on her research and her interests she was going to pursue welding, a trade she calculated had an exceptionally high earnings potential in a field that fascinates her. “She didn’t need the scholarship for books and tuition,” he told me. “She said that since the trade school was located in Jacksonville she needed the money for room and board.”

He described the studious young woman as polite, impeccably dressed, exceptionally well spoken, and confident.

She was awarded a $2,000 scholarship.

Can anyone explain to me why, when this industrious young woman graduates and steps into a job that pays $50,000 annually to start, she should be responsible for her former high school classmates’ student loans because they borrowed tax dollars to get degrees in Puppetry Arts and African-American Studies?

Certain welding job pay $200,000 a year plus depending on the specialty. Show me a humanities graduate making more than $40,000 a year with a degree in philosophy, environmental science, linguistics, ecology, African-American studies, counseling psychology, etc.

***

Copy Cat Bowl Game: I missed the New Year’s Eve Harvard versus the University of Pennsylvania in the Plagiarism Bowl. Claudine Gay, Harvard’s Most Valuable Player, is hoping that her performance will result in a nomination for the United States Supreme Court.

Gay, who is black, is also blaming her exit this week as Harvard’s president on racism. She’s got it backwards. It was racism that got her hired.

Gay, who still earns $900,000 annually as a Harvard instructor,  also had an opinion editorial published in the New York Times this week blaming her downfall on racism. Neither she nor the Times revealed who wrote the piece.

***

News Stories I Love: Last month three armed teenagers robbing a check-cashing business in Commerce City, Colorado left their car running outside. Their getaway vehicle was stolen by one of their industry contemporaries, a woman, as the trio committed their robbery. A local news outlet, Denver Westword, reported the incident writing: “CCPD [Commerce City Police Department] said: “It happens to everyone, boys. Because the female car thief took their ride, the armed suspects were forced to flee on foot, and we caught two of them and two of their guns. So ma’am — whoever you are — we’d like to shake your hand. Then slap a pair of handcuffs on it because you’re also facing Motor Vehicle Theft charges.”

***

Drinking, Dining & Dancing: Within the past two months four Fernandina Beach restaurants closed (two this past week) three of them on South 8th Street.

The City of Fernandina Beach’s controversial capacity/impact fees keeps chalking up victims. The latest victim is Colleen Angel and her popular South 8th Street Hillbilly Hot Dog joint that was chased into the county by unreasonable fees. However, the new location in front of Ms. Angel’s “Amelia’s Best Barber Shop” near Sadler and South 8th didn’t provide the visibility or ambience required for the place, and she called it quits a few weeks ago.

The Korean eatery Area 51 Korean Grill at 510 South 8th  shuttered about six weeks ago and the building is now for sale for $925,000 and comes with a fully equipped kitchen, dining room, new roof, etc.

The latest casualties are South 8th Street’s Burger King and downtown’s Joes’ 2nd Street Bistro. I‘ll miss Ricky and Marie Pigg’s linen table cloth eatery at Joe’s, particularly their French bouillabaisse one of the best I’ve ever eaten here or in France.

The word “restaurant” is a high compliment for a fast food joint like Burger King and I doubt it’ll be missed by anyone over the age of 16.

25 Comments

Jason I. - 11. Jan, 2024 -

Dave, there are two kinds of men in this world. You are neither of them.

John Privitera - 08. Jan, 2024 -

It has now been three years since the attack on our Capitol on January 6th, 2021. I remember what I was doing on that day three years ago and that when I turned on the news my heart sank. A dark day, but an important reminder of the fragility of our democracy.

Watching the videos playing I could tell that many of the rioters storming and infiltrating the capitol were using tactics eerily reminiscent of those that I had learned in the military. What I was watching was not just a riot, but a carefully planned operation executed by operators with advanced training.

Don’t let the Q-Anon shaman’s from that day fool you. Many of the individuals on the ground that day were organized, armed, well trained, and extremely dangerous. I was sick to my stomach with a feeling that our democracy might be falling apart before my very eyes.

On the day after 9/11, I volunteered to return to active duty in the US Marines. On January 6th and the days following I remember a similar feeling in my heart that I had to do something. When I saw the videos of the police officer being killed, of masked men kitted out in military gear climbing up the Capitol terraces, and brave capitol police holding the line, I knew that now was not the time to stand idly by. There will be another January 6th unless we take decisive action to stop it.

Trump was one of the key planners and instigators of the January 6th attack. Preventing the next January 6th means removing its instigators and planners at every level. We must work to ensure Trump does not return to power irregardless of who wins the election.

Fred “the original” - 08. Jan, 2024 -

1) An “attack” without weapons
2) We are a Republic not a Democracy
3) Police were not killed, a Veteran was! Did you miss that video?
4)”Brave” Capital police allowed access and even acted as tour guides to the non violent insurgents, now called rioters.
5) You are delusional if you think Trump orchestrated that. As you said, you think it was a carefully planned operation. Trump has no military background.
6) Any Marine worth his grain of salt would know better!

Alan Casterella - 09. Jan, 2024 -

The past two episodes of this blog are certainly up there when it comes to being filled with ultra MAGA nonsense, however, you sir take the cake when it comes to idiots.

Harrison Waller - 09. Jan, 2024 -

I think you are referring to “Fred”.

Alan Casterella - 10. Jan, 2024 -

Yes, the guy is confused and he has the facts wrong. He posts too much and all that I’ve seen have been asinine comments or examples of being nasty to others. Grouchy old white guy or whatever, his comments posted right here prove the point that he is the equivalent of the village idiot.

Fred “the original” - 11. Jan, 2024 -

Harrison, Alan is confused and obviously doesn’t “follow” the blog or he would know the difference between me and “Fred” aka Coleman/Julia/etc… LOL I think he might need a safe space to contemplate his lack of intelligence and understanding. I’ve yet to see a refutation of any of the points I made… Gonna be hard to do that when video evidence is available, if you only look Alan.

Fred “the original” - 10. Jan, 2024 -

What part of what I said has anything to do with MAGA? I can clearly see you swallowed the blue pill hook, line and sinker…

Al Macdougall - 09. Jan, 2024 -

Having voted for Trump two times, I will not for a third.
While many of his original ideas were right, he failed to implement them.
Get past the hyperbole and think–MAGA is a great goal, but Trump cannot deliver.

Harrison Waller - 09. Jan, 2024 -

Trump cannot deliver?

Lowest unemployment in history for minorities , women, etc.
Russia and China weren’t invading other countries or about to invade them.
Energy independence.
Border security.
Reduced regulations.
No inflation.
etc., etc.

The only thing he didn’t “deliver” was getting Mexico to pay for the wall. Maybe you should re-consider.

Alan Casterella - 10. Jan, 2024 -

In the aftermath of an Iowa school shooting that left one dead and at least five wounded, Donald Trump stated in a speech this past weekend that the community should “Get over it”.

Trump’s insensitivity, lack of empathy, and unwillingness to take any action on school shootings is disgusting.

Over the past two decades, I have watched in horror as violence like what I bore witness to in Iraq slowly crept its way into my country. I will not sit idly by as our nation is overtaken by terror and violence orchestrated by the extreme right, and I hope you won’t either. KEEP DONALD J. TRUMP OUT OF OFFICE!

Fred “the original” - 11. Jan, 2024 -

The TDS is strong in this one… LOL

Al Macdougall - 10. Jan, 2024 -

No, what you cite are peripheral and transient events–I do not see how a second term will produce meaningful change, but thanks for your reply.

CoCoNUT Harry - 06. Jan, 2024 -

So Harvard’s Claudine Gay pulls down $900K a year … for what now ? In the progressive, liberal, woke world isn’t that “income inequality” ? I see no mention of this in WaPo, the NYT, or other lame stream media – wonder why ? Asking for a friend ….

John Fulton - 05. Jan, 2024 -

Dave – “I’m My Own Grandpa” was written by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe in the late 40’s and was often sung by my late good friend Dan Hammer, accompanied by John Springer at the piano. Next time you see John, ask him to play it. I think he also knows many of the verses. Really sorry to hear Joe’s is closed. One of our favorites over the years.

George Miller - 05. Jan, 2024 -

Unfortunately, even red states aren’t immune from academic wokeness. One of the commenters here shows symptoms of overexposure to it. Let’s root this sickness out.

Glen Stettler - 05. Jan, 2024 -

Well Dan… since you did ask.

Possibly stating the obvious. We have lived in a world where blatant ignorance wasn’t rewarded. Where ignorant group think wasn’t a badge oh honor. Lived in a world where you worked your way through college, received a degree that provided value to an employer. Or worked in the trades and built magnificent things.

A world where men didn’t wear ass-chaps (in public) and dry hump each other in a parade in the name of acceptance. This was called public indecency, not a parade. We did believe in who you loved in the privacy of your home was no body else’s business. But that’s not what is happening. We lived in a world where science is never settled, or it’s no longer science. We lived in a world where children were protected from pedophiles, not served up.

Yes grasshopper, we did get it correct. And please don’t forget to call us all racist if we don’t agree with you. That’s on your checklist for a intelligent response, isn’t it?
Always leave some room in your analysis to understand where your incorrect…. Or YOU are…….. Fill in the blank on your own.

Signed, old white guy, (with a deep brown mother).

Peg Dickinson - 05. Jan, 2024 -

Don’t forget Parkway Grill, it’s not in the city but has been around for many years and had some of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had, All served with hometown friendliness….

Pat Keogh - 05. Jan, 2024 -

Speak for yourself, Dave, I’ll miss the flame broiled Whopper at BK. Now that you’ve trash-written the blog for 80+OWM what’s the right answer to #6 and why’s it worth “1 pts”? Isn’t “1” still singular?

Gay, zhe gets only $900K as an instructor? Is there no equity at Harvard? I also think you should apologize to Mr. Cooper on behalf of all “you people”. I know I’ll feel a lot better when you do that. Ze seems offended.

Jake M - 05. Jan, 2024 -

Sorry to see Joe’s 2nd St Bistro go. I took a friend from Pennsylvania there once and suggested the Shrimp & Grits. When she finally got her nose unwrinkled at the thought of grits, she tried it and was instantly a fan. Now where ever she goes, if grits are on the menu, she orders them. Really going to miss Joe’s. On a side note, Danny Boy, mature white males aren’t the problem, you are.

Dan Cooper - 05. Jan, 2024 -

Trash writing that only appeals to old white men over the age of about 80. WTF is wrong with you people?

Bayard Rustin - 05. Jan, 2024 -

Dan, ageism – like racism – is such a terrible and painful accusation to just throw out there. Did you run this comment past your parents before you sent it out?

Tom Yankus - 05. Jan, 2024 -

Wondering if Dan partners with Julia? Hmmm? Anyway, next time I visit St. Pete Beach I’ll stop by Ted Peter’s Smoked Mullet Shack (Est. 1951) and purchase both a gift certificate for some delicious old white guys, over 80 “soulfood”…eh, smoked mullet. Tada.

Harrison Waller - 07. Jan, 2024 -

Julia, is that you?

Tina1S - 09. Jan, 2024 -

They’re mostly all white men over 80 years old.