Friday, the state of Florida was a sea of red!

This photo was taken Friday at Ocoee High School in Ocoee, Florida. Students that wore red to school that day were released into the courtyard to take a photo as a protest against what is happening, not only at Ocoee, but across Florida. Orange County, if our politicians in Tallahassee do not take steps to adequately fund education, will face a budget cut of at least $100 million dollars. Yes, you heard me right....$100 MILLION DOLLARS ON TOP OF WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN CUT!! We're talking teachers, media, art, education, clerical....who is left to teach the children and run the school. It's crazy!!

Not to mention what's happening with the national budget debacle in Washington. What a joke!

(Can you find me? Look under the "a" in "State" about 4-5 people down.)

Cuts in Education NEVER Heal!

Principal Mike Armbruster, Ocoee High School, Ocoee, FL regarding funding or lack of funding for education.

"You have a vested interest!" This is the comment I hear most when I share my opinion of the current travesty occurring with the funding of education in our state. You see, from the perspective of those I am speaking with, they see a high-school principal who will be charged with doing more with much less in the upcoming year, and who is feeling sorry for himself. While their perception of why I have a vested interest is wrong, the assertion that I have that vested interest is right on target.

Each day I get to walk with greatness and to work for young people who constantly amaze me. Whether through their academic excellence, athletic abilities, ability to perform in the arts, willingness to serve or their resilience to the world around them, they are truly amazing. The thought that much of what they have will soon be taken from them is reprehensible to me. As I stand among 2,700 children each day, I would hope that these children would be a "vested interest" for all.

I would hope that it would not just be the dedicated educators and parents with school-aged children who care, but that business people, community members, retirees and, most importantly, our elected officials would see the importance of serving all children to the highest possible level. Understand that I am not an activist; I am not one to spend time fighting for causes. I simply get in the trench and do what must be done with what I have. I was raised that way.

I am an optimist. I get up every day with a belief that all children can learn, most people are good, and my elected state officials will honor our state constitution and "adequately" fund education. On this last one, I have been sorely disappointed.

Every child deserves the best that we can give. Our state Legislature has used the oldest tactic in the world to literally take from our children. Lawmakers have distracted us by dividing and conquering us. What better way to move the attention from them than to make local school boards have to choose between cutting small schools, athletics, social workers, media specialists, guidance counselors and all the other emotional items up for discussion.

So we begin to battle each other: The athlete's father screams for athletics; the troubled teen's mother screams for the social worker; and suddenly we are at each others' throats. We forget about those who force us to choose. Their strategy had been working well.

But then a few people here and a few there realized that it was not the school boards that were the problem, but rather those who decide how to fund education. Those whom we elect to serve us. With that realization, a small movement started that is growing in leaps and bounds. Many have come to realize that we have the power to change this education crisis. Many are fully prepared to do whatever it takes to realign the priorities of those we "hired." Soccer moms, lacrosse dads, students, principals, teachers, Parent Teacher Student Association/SAC members, and concerned community members in our district and around the state are moving. The sleeping giant has finally awoken, and will be heard.

On Friday, there will be a sea of red as schools across our district make the point that "cuts in education never heal." On the surface, it is tee shirts and a slogan, but deeper, it is the people speaking out for the rights of those who cannot speak out for themselves. It is America at its best, with the people running government, not government running the people.

If we don't act now, we will have no one to blame but ourselves when our students lose what they deserve.

C. R. A. P.

Senator Judd Gregg....Putting Principles Before Power

[I]t has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy. Obviously, the president requires a team that is fully supportive of all his initiatives. I greatly admire President Obama and know our country will benefit from his leadership, but at this time I must withdraw my name from consideration for this position.

Now that's doing the right thing, for the right reason and withdrawing with a clear conscience. Lately, we've seen too many in the news that can't say the same thing. No wonder between the bank execs, politicians not paying their taxes but expecting us to follow the rules and so on that we lose trust in those that we elect into office. Gregg knew even before being placed into office that there were problems with idealogy. He knew in his heart that not only would he have to answer to the American people, his Republican party, but also to his own self. And that, maybe above anything else, weighed the heaviest on him. So again, good job on doing the right thing.

I hear the jingling of keys for three Republicans!

What was listed in the two "Spendilus Bills":

$25 Million shall be available for tribal alcohol and substance abuse drug reduction assistance grants
$150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish”
$50 million for habitat restoration and other water needs in the San Francisco Bay Area
$198 million to compensate Filipino World War II veterans
$125 Million for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
$650 Million for Digital Converter Box Program, coupons and converter box installation.
$1 billion for the Census Bureau
$40 Million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for Operation of Indian Programs
$954 Million to carry out the immunization program
$15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships
$87 million for a polar icebreaking ship
$1.7 billion for the National Park System
$1 billion for community-development block grants
$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”
$650 Million to the Forrest Service for hazardous fuels reduction and hazard mitigation activities in areas at high risk of catastrophic wildfire
$545 Million for Indian Health Services
$100 Million for the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program
$850 million for Amtrak
$150 million for the Smithsonian
$300 million for energy-efficient-appliance rebate programs
$4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion for “youths” up to the age of 24
$55 million for Historic Preservation Fund
$7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programs”
$150 million for agricultural-commodity purchases
$1.368 Billion for grants or loans for energy retrofit and green investments in assisted housing
$1.5 Billion for NASA, Science, Aeronautics, Exploration, and Cross Agency support.
$198 Million for School Lunch Room EQUIPMENT
$9 Billion for ‘Broadband Technology Opportunities Program’
$1.256 Billion for NOAA, Operations, Research, Facilities, Acquisition, Construction and Management
$300 million for Violence against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs,
$545 Million to carry out chronic disease, health promotion, and genomics programs
$60 Million to carry out environmental health programs
$50 Million to carry out injury prevention and control programs
$40 Million for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to carry out research activities within the National Occupational Research Agenda
$40, Million for the National Center for Health Statistics
$390 Million Dollars for the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund
$600 Million Dollars for acquiring motor vehicles with higher fuel economy
$400 million for hybrid cars for state and local governments
$34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters
$500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities
$44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters
$350 million for Agriculture Department computers
$88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building
$448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters
$200 Million to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Program
$200 Million for direct loans and grants for distance learning and telemedicine services in rural areas
$6 billion for university building projects
$4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
$200 Million for developing and implementing a nationwide Integrated Wireless network supporting Federal law enforcement
$1.2 Billion for TSA procurement and installation of checked baggage explosives detection systems and checkpoint explosives detection equipment
$2 billion for renewable-energy research ($400 million for global-warming research)
$2 billion for a “clean coal” power plant in Illinois
$6.2 billion for the Weatherization As.sistance Program
$3.5 billion for energy-efficiency and conservation block grants
$3.4 billion for the State Energy Program
$200 million for state and local electric-transport projects
$1 billion for the manufacturing of advanced batteries
$1.5 billion for green-technology loan guarantees
$8 billion for innovative-technology loan-guarantee program
$2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects
$4.5 billion for electricity grid
$89 billion for Medicaid
$30 billion for COBRA insurance extension
$36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
$20 billion for food stamps
$380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program
$2 billion for federal child-care block grants

$79 billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (for bailing out your local politicians overspending)

$145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits
$83 billion for the earned income credit
(largely welfare now defined as a tax cut)

The Mom Song....dedicated to all moms

A funny!

You are on the bus when you suddenly realize ... you need to ummm....pass gas.

The music is really loud, so you time your degassing with the beat. After

a couple of songs, you start to feel better as you approach your stop.

As you are leaving the bus, people are really staring you down, and

that's when you remember: you've been listening to your ipod...:)

The correct way to weigh yourself....:)

A smart idea for your car alarm!

Sounds like a good idea!



Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.

This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this:

It's a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage. If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your house, odds are the burglar won't stick around. After a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there. This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.

Tim Tebow's ESPN Motivational Speech