Congratulations to Governor Ron DeSantis and University of Florida President Ben Sasse.
They brought common sense back to the University of Florida while at the same time unwittingly solving a workforce issue for Gainesville area Starbucks and other fast food joints.
UF, under the leadership of former Nebraska Republican Senator Sasse, recently fired all of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) employees in order to comply with a new law signed by Florida Governor DeSantis.
Starbucks here we come!
If Starbucks and other fast food joints were concerned about filling vacant barista and burger flipping positions they now has a slew of prospects. However, based on their fields of study and past employment history they’ll probably require extensive training in handling entry level position tasks such as making change, writing orders, bussing tables, and customer relations skills.
These newly unemployed DEI folks are all unskilled laborers. They’ll also have to learn that in order to stay employed they’ll have to actually perform their assigned jobs since they will not be handed paychecks based solely on their skin color, ethnicity, cultural background or the gender they pretend they are.
These sad sack former DEI employees must realize now what it feels like to lose money to a con man or what’s it like to wait all day for a repairman that didn’t show up. The schools or universities that convinced them that there were careers in DEI should be compelled to reimburse them for their worthless degrees and offer them gratis courses in logic, economics, and the basics of business.
The new law was implemented in January and bans all public colleges in Florida from using taxpayer money to fund a DEI program called the Florida Educational Equity Act.
The misguided DEI act aimed to promote an ideological framework that focuses on treatment of people based on race, disability, sex, and a variety of other external factors, rather than their merit.
Posting on X {formerly Twitter} Governor DeSantis said something most people with common sense already knew: “DEI is toxic and has no place in our public universities. I’m glad that Florida was the first state to eliminate DEI and I hope more states follow suit.”
The removal of DEI from the UF system received positive feedback from both students and professors alike as they seem to agree with the governor and Sasse.
David Canton, the director of the University of Florida’s African American Studies program and a professor at the school, said: “We’re an academic discipline. We’re teaching students skills of research, critical thinking, and writing. Our programs are safe. We’re an academic discipline. We’re not out here indoctrinating students encouraging them to become social activists. We’re here to teach them these critical thinking skills, how to evaluate evidence, and make sound academic choices.”
Did anyone read about this in any other Nassau County area news outlets. Yeh, I didn’t think so.
***
Have Sign Will Protest: The small angry clique of hysterical local protesters, always on the prowl for issues to demonstrate their radical fury, dishonesty, and abuse, arrived on the doorstep of Rayonier at South 3rd Street and Gum the other day prepared to wag fingers, chant, and sign-wave.
Fernandina local lefties scraping bottom of the “things to protest” barrel.
Much to its collective chagrin the clueless group was greeted at the facility’s open house with polite graciousness, openness, and honesty…no looting, pillaging, raping, marauding or plundering anywhere in sight. The wind completely taken out of their sails the radicalized losers left dragging their silly signs behind them, searching for another villain to impose their imagined condemnation upon.
This sad group’s collective ineptitude is as outrageously entertaining and funny as the cartoon failures of Wylie Cayote.
A Jacksonville TV station interviewed two of the gray haired granny protestors and neither of them could skillfully explain what it was they were upset about or what their objective was. Rayonier won this one by a shutout and their spokesperson didn’t even have to show up.
Whoever is running public relations for Rayonier deserves a bonus as they even managed to generate a puff piece in the city’s newsletter, the blind online Fernandina Observer, on a topic that has its traditionally far-left readers sputtering in anger. Even Mike “Left Coast“ Lednovich, one of the Observer‘s contributors and a Black Lives Matter activist, and Mike Tomes, the curmudgeonly sidekick to the News Leader’s angry Chuck Oliva, were confused by the online outlet’s failure to find anything at Rayonier to condemn, maybe because there wasn’t anything.
It’s time for Lednovich to break out his BLM sandwich board again as his crowd appears to be fresh out of stupid causes.
***
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Speaking Of Impotent Lefties: If nothing else the local News Leader’s arrogant far left scribbler, Chuck Oliva, is consistent in his contempt for local voters who increasingly view him as an out-of-touch partisan ideologue who “ain’t from around these parts.”
In a February 14 screech headlined “Non-partisan election concerns” the New York transplant warned the dwindling clique of NL readers that – and I’m not making this up – “,,,Mike Lednovich only lost by 213 votes and Genece Minshew lost by 211 votes ….and without this outside Republican interference, Lednovich and Minshew would be sitting on the commission today.”
In other words according to “‘ole Cranky” GOP voters being asked to cast ballots for Lednovich’s and Minshew’s opponents is “outside Republican interference.” In a nutshell this guy thinks Republican voters interfere with elections by voting.
Again, does NL Publisher Foy Maloy ever read the rubbish his left-wing Editor Tracy Dishman shovels into that paper? Or is he too busy attempting to stop it from hemorrhaging advertisers that don’t want to be associated with such absurd ideological claptrap?
If nothing else Oliva and his far left scrawler pal, Mark Tomes, who also unintentionally provides some chuckles for the paper’s few remaining readers, expose how radicalized, bitter, and dishonest this NL trio is in their imaginary causes.
***
Is it Just Me Or…has anyone else noticed the lack of diversity among the mobs shown on TV that rampage and loot stores in New York, L.A., Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, etc.? Where are the DEI finger waggers when they’re needed?
***
Dumbest Public Comment Of Year: “President Biden accomplishes more in one hour than the average person does in a whole day,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre, quoting Biden’s wife Jill.
That would be true if she were referring to napping, falling over, mumbling, shuffling, memory lapses, misstatements, gaffes, pooping his pants, blank stares, outright lies, slurring his words, and exaggerations.
Biden saying, “My memory is fine” ranks up there with Bill Clinton’s “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” Following KJP’s statement Biden displayed his “fine” memory by confusing Egypt with Mexico.
***
Things I Wish I’d Said: “Biden walks like a toddler with a full diaper.” — Bill Maher. “Does anyone else find it ironic that the Biden administration couldn’t find its black Secretary of Defense during Black History Month.” — Greg Gutfeld.
***
Fernandina resident and retired FBI agent Jerry Hester’s book now available.
Mafia Miami: Congratulations to Fernandina Beach resident, former FBI agent, and good friend, Jerry Hester, who just had his book “Mafia Miami” published by the National Book Network.
Jerry’s true story is based on how he and his FBI team broke up an organized crime mob out of Miami and the hurdles he faced to bring it to a successful conclusion.
I was flattered by the publisher asking me to review the book and my back cover appraisal follows:
“Miami Mafia is an engaging book distinguished by a sharp, fast-moving narrative flow that provides readers with a vivid account of a modern organized crime operation and a behind-the-scenes look at the difficulties of investigating it while at simultaneously battling barriers thrown up by petty office politics and an FBI undergoing radical and divisive changes. This is an excellent and timely gangster story that delivers an unprecedented true tale of the historically clandestine world inside the mob and the FBI, told by the agent who lived it. It should be required reading for new FBI agents or anyone who thinks they might want to be one.”
Jerry and his wife, Daisy, also a retired FBI agent, moved to Fernandina Beach four years ago. He currently works with the National Football League on security issues.
A local book launch is scheduled Thursday, April 4 at 4 p.m. at Story & Song at 1430 Park Avenue, Fernandina Beach. Call them at 904/601-2118.
Jerry will also be with two other local writers at the Amelia Island Writers event Tuesday, March 26, 4-6 pm at the Amelia Island Museum of History, 233 S. 3rd Street for a happy hour book event. Other authors scheduled are friend James Bruner author of “The Bike Cop” series and Kevin Kozak. author of “New Blue”, A Jerry Krone novel, co- authored with John Drake.
Donations for beer, wine, refreshments, and the museum are accepted, and books will be available for purchase by cash or check. Parking is permitted at the adjacent community theatre. RSVP by March 22 to Lee Ann Shobe: jimlee.shobe@gmail.com
A podcast with Jerry can be found at: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mYmlyZXRpcmVkY2FzZWZpbGVyZXZpZXcubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M/episode/ZDAwNDAzZTAtZWQxYi00ZjZhLWFjNTMtNzBjYmJkZWM4ODgw?ep=14
***
Drinking, Dining & Dancing: The best barbeque brisket East of the Mississippi will be available at PJD’s Beer & Wine Garden., 12 South 2nd Street, tomorrow Saturday, March 9 when Smoke N da Cockpit cranks up its smoker to begin serving at noon. It won’t last long at $13 a serving , $15 with one side and extra sides of baked beans, potato salad and chips available for $3 each. In my opinion retired air traffic controller Tony Bonic produces the tastiest brisket I’ve had since living in Texas. Tuxedo-clad John Springer and his sidekick drummer Rob Taylor will begin a long-term gig Friday and Saturday March 15 & 16 at the Crabtrap downstairs 6:30 – 9:30 p.m., the corner of South 2nd St. North and Alachua. The duo will try to stump the crowd with musical trivia and keep it guessing about some of the songs you know you’ve heard but just can’t recall the titles of.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s December X post contained a well stated comment: “The E for “equity” in DEI is about equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity.”
Alternatively, if you are a Marxist, you may subscribe to this well-known “equity” mantra: “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need.”
In real life, “equity” in DEI is achieved by penalizing the overachievers for their excellence and rewarding the underachievers for their mediocrity (as in eliminating SAT’s).
By the way, one of the primary clinical characteristics of Narcissism (a mental problem) is manifested by needing to have the last word. Just saying.
Well said!
So you had to get the last word in, didn’t you! Just saying.
Oh, you were talking to me then? Gotcha… LMAO I thought you were talking to Moderate Majority, but you do you Christi. I was complimenting your comment… just saying I’ll let you comment back without reply since you seem to have a tad bit of that narcissism you mentioned.
The villainizing of DEI demonstrates a blind willingness to remain ignorant of its purpose and how it’s implemented in both public and private sectors. A significant number of top Fortune 500 companies openly publish their DEI practices. I happen to have the privilege of working for one of them. And despite this anti-WOKE political stunt designed to rile up Conservatives, the list of Fortune 500 companies that make DEI part of their corporate culture is growing. In this week’s blog, Dave writes: “The misguided DEI act aimed to promote an ideological framework that focuses on the treatment of people based on race, disability, sex, and a variety of other external factors, rather than their merit.” This is a prime example of the ignorance to which I refer. DEI and “merit” are not mutually exclusive. If something has merit, it has good or worthwhile qualities. Deciding what is worthwhile or good is subjective. As such, DEI aims to bring awareness to the decision-making process by recognizing that people of different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences can and do add value to what may be lacking in an otherwise homogeneous environment. Moving on… Dave, in a sleight of hand all too often found in shoddy reporting, quotes UF’s Dr. David Canton right after writing that “The removal of DEI from the UF system received positive feedback from both students and professors alike as they seem to agree with the governor and Sasse.” To the uninitiated, a reader might conclude that Dr. Canton supports UF’s dismantling of DEI based on Dave’s quote. In reality, the following is how Dr. Canton really feels as reported by UF’s organization of faculty and profession staff (UFF). “There is no data or evidence that proves that DEI initiatives promote indoctrination or that diversity leads to white people falling behind”, said Dr. David Canton, director of African American Studies and associate professor of history at UF. He is also the former interim dean of institutional equity and inclusion at Connecticut College.
“There’s a belief that universities are too far left and we need to bring them back to their original intent or the center,” Canton said. “When I hear that, I’m thinking the 1950s. Go look at a curriculum. Go look at the faculty and staff. We see that it wasn’t as diverse.”
In related [good] news, this week the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Florida federal judge’s August 2022 ruling that the so-called “Stop WOKE” act violates the First Amendment as it applies to businesses and is impermissibly vague. DeSantis and Florida’s Legislature have failed again in their unconstitutional efforts to limit free speech. A win for Democracy.
You are wasting your time (and ours) on here… Start your own blog, see how popular your thoughts are with all your pseudo names and ideologues.
Thanks for the clear explanation.
Two candidates can have equal “merit”, but the candidate with this week’s preferred gender or skin color, or whatever gets awarded a little extra merit based on our preconceived notions regarding their stereotypical background.
Sound a LOT like the 1950’s to me. Just in reverse.
Apparently, the explanation wasn’t clear enough. You’re equating DEI with hiring quotas based on race, sex, or “whatever” (as you put it), or in the case of higher education, on affirmative action. The first is illegal based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the second was rendered illegal last year by the Supreme Court. Policies that instruct hiring managers to use the race of individuals as a “tiebreaker” or “plus points” for individual candidates are impermissible under the law. The opposition to DEI is framed around an argument that fails to hold water, but one that nevertheless is designed by politicians to stir up their base to win votes in order to keep their jobs or seek higher office. DEI, by definition, is a program designed to correct imbalances that occur because of discrimination and to address and help eliminate hostile work environments. Period.
I worked for a Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) and we (all GSE’s) were forced to add a DI department (at the time, later to become DEI) and unnecessary staff to promote/support it. I suspect a large percentage of other corporations have added DEI departments out of pressure (either real or perceived).
Diversity is to merit as Democrats are to Republicans.
I just read an article talking about major US banks (BofA, et als) downsizing or discontinuing their DEI personnel and policies. I guess whatever the DEI people were getting paid wasn’t justified by the results expected from management. What a shame – they’ll have to actually compete in the workforce for a real job now.
Good points made today, Dave!
RE:
Did anyone read about this in any other Nassau County area news outlets. Yeh, I didn’t think so.
REALLY, Dave?
https://www.citizensjournal.net › ☕️-the-dei-cleanse-☙-thursday-february-2-2023-☙-cc-news
☕️ THE DEI CLEANSE ☙ Thursday, February 2, 2023 ☙ C&C NEWS – Citizens …
Feb 2, 2023Opinion. By Jeff Childers. 02-02-23. Good morning, and Happy Thursday, C&C! It’s been a busy news week. Your roundup today includes several stories about Florida’s success at purging hateful DEI and CRT propaganda from its schools; a tepid FBI raid on Biden’s homes in Rehobeth; Governor DeSantis beats the College Board; Trump drops another inflammatory vaccine jab against DeSantis; Gavin …
https://www.citizensjournal.net › university-of-florida-eliminates-all-dei-positions
University Of Florida Eliminates all DEI Positions – Citizens Journal …
3 days agoThe new law was implemented in January and bans all public colleges in the state from using taxpayer money to fund a DEI program called the Florida Educational Equity Act. The act aims to promote an ideological framework which focuses on treatment of people based on race, disability, sex, and a variety of other external factors, rather than …
https://www.citizensjournal.net › new-florida-laws-in-effect-for-2024-heres-what-to-know
New Florida Laws in Effect for 2024. Here’s What to Know – Citizens …
Jan 2, 2024The law requires drivers to move over a lane, or reduce their speed to 20 miles an hour under the posted speed limit when emergency vehicles are present with their emergency lights activated. The law was then expanded to protect utility workers and garbage trucks. The law is now
Great article this week Dave. Thanks for the heads up that DEI leaders at UF are no longer pushing radical ideals to out college students. Don’t raise the flag yet, I’m betting they left a lot of mess in their wake to clean up.