Choctawhatchee High School

Adam Nystrom remembers being taunted by classmates in middle school for needing so many special-education courses. "They'd say, 'Oh, that's the retard class,' and everybody would laugh," recalls Adam, who suffers from a learning disorder that impedes reading ability. "I wouldn't really say anything because there isn't anything funny about it.".......more

"Even though I am just a truck driver, I am proud of what I do and what I have become," he says. "I believe deep down inside that I have succeeded already."

Mindy McCready Coming Home

"I'm so happy to be out, I'm the happiest girl in the world right now.".........Mindy McCready

Florida Family Arrested Over Baggy Pants

Several members of a Palm Beach County, Florida family were taken into custody by police last week after they protested the arrest of one of their members over the issue of baggy pants. The family claims they were arrested by close to two dozen deputies because they were upset with the 20-year-old's arrest.......here

The family says in addition to number of police, there were K-9 units and a police helicopter used in the incident.

Yo Quero Taco Bell With Mucho Queso

Plant City, Florida

This Day in History

Jose Rizal (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896)
Was a Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is considered a national hero and the anniversary of Rizal's death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution........here

The 20 Funniest Political Videos of 2007

here

American Muslim Youth Speak Out

Year 2 For The People's Governor

It was typical Charlie Crist. The 51-year-old first-year governor prefers cajolery to confrontation, a sunny smile to sweeping condemnations. His centrist policies and corny aphorisms -- calling Floridians "the boss," and himself "the people's governor" -- are delivered with warm sincerity. But as Crist enters his second year in office, he's finding that sincerity may not be enough -- and his personal warmth is being met by increasingly icy responses......here

There Are Rumblings On The Republican Right Wing

Loxahatchee Rock Miners And Palm Beach County Politicians

Loxahatchee rock miner Enrique Tomeu looks more comfortable in a hard hat than a tuxedo. "All I am is a hardworking guy who has busted his butt all his life," he says humbly. But in 2005, he schmoozed at the highest levels of the Republican elite - at George W. Bush's second inauguration, a $42 million cavalcade of power brunches, candlelight dinners and nine inaugural balls. To attend the four-day fete, Tomeu contributed $50,000 to Bush's inaugural committee, more than most Palm Beach County families earn in a year......more

Dave Barry's Year-End Review

It was a year that strode boldly into the stall of human events and took a wide stance astride the porcelain bowl of history. In short, 2007 was a year of deep gloom, pierced occasionally by rays of even deeper gloom. Oh, sure, there were a few bright spots.......more

Democrats' Stealth Presidential-Primary Campaign In Florida

When Bill Clinton appeared in Winter Park recently to raise money for his wife's presidential campaign, he slipped into town behind the tinted windows of a sport utility vehicle. When he left two hours later, he pulled out with a quick wave to onlookers, leaving reporters cooling their heels on the curb........here

The Woman Who Knew Too Much

Florida's Unspoiled Charms

The Lower Florida Keys is a roughly 36-mile stretch of Florida islands between Marathon and Key West......here

3,900 And Counting

The Plant City Strawberry

Florida strawberry growers, almost all within 30 miles of Plant City, planted a record 8,320 acres this year after a sixth consecutive record sales year of $273 million. Those figures represent a 14 percent increase from $239 million in sales in the 2005-06 season and an 11 percent increase in the 7,500 acres planted last season, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture......here

House Members Spent $20.3M On Flock

House members spent $20.3 million in tax money last year to send constituents what's often the government equivalent of junk mail - meeting announcements, tips on car care and job interviews, surveys on public policy and just plain bragging..........here

Central Florida Pakistanis Uneasy

Less than a month ago, Pakistanis living in Central Florida were protesting President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule. Now, they're wondering what the latest turn of events -- the assassination of opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto -- means for their homeland, and the United States........here

Kucinich Campaign Weekly Update

John Edwards - Season

Obama Family Holiday Greeting

Max Lesnik At Home In Cuba And Florida

He fled Cuba in 1961, but still calls Fidel Castro his friend. He can't stand communism, but bitterly opposes the U.S. embargo. He lives in Miami, but travels regularly to Havana, even appearing on state-run television. Max Lesnik always has an opinion, and often makes someone mad — no matter which side of the Florida Straits he's on.........here, Interview with Amy Goodman........here

Man Of Two Havanas

End The Embargo On The Cuban People

Buddhist Community Grows In Homestead

Between the alligator-infested Florida Everglades and the craziness of Miami Beach lies a peaceful center surrounded by tomato and fruit farms.Wat Buddharangsi, a Thai Buddhist temple, is unexpectedly found on five-acres in the rural town of Homestead, a short drive from Miami.........here

Happy Holidays From The Lawrenceburg Indiana Police

Free Ingrid Betancourt

A video delivered by her kidnappers shows her sitting in a jungle clearing on a roughhewn bench, legs crossed, hands motionless on her right knee over shapeless dungarees. Her chestnut hair drops over a shoulder to her waist. She has been a prisoner of the FARC for nearly six years since venturing into rebel territory while campaigning for the presidency, and this is the first proof that she is alive to surface since a 2003 video.......here
Betancourt children in release plea

Conquering the Spirit of Debt

It's Bizarre In Florida

Florida, well-known for its theme parks and beaches, has another - more dubious - distinction, a tendency toward bizarre news and 2007 was no exception. There was the battle over former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith's body, the city manager who was fired after he became a she, and the love triangle involving the female astronaut who drove 1 609km, allegedly using diapers to save time, to confront a romantic rival........here

North American Union

Controlling the scared and the lazy is simple.

Bruce Gagnon - Swords into Plowshares

Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space will be speaking at 7:00 P.M. Friday evening, January 4th.

Unitarian Universalist Church, 2470 Nursery Road in Clearwater, Florida

Bruce is an expert on the rise of the Military Industrial Complex, the on going space weapons program and the urgent need to transition our "war economy" into a new paradigm of productivity and peace. There is no charge. Donations will be taken. Canned goods accepted.

Tent City In Suburbia

Between railroad tracks and beneath the roar of departing planes sits “tent city”, a terminus for homeless people. It is not, as might be expected, in a blighted city centre, but in the once-booming suburbia of southern California. The unraveling of the region known as the Inland Empire reads like a 21st century version of The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck’s novel about families driven from their lands by the Great Depression........here

Florida Identifies 272 Impaired Waterbodies For Cleanup

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, DEP, has identified five groups of waterbodies that are impaired and in need of water monitoring, cleanup and restoration. In the latest round of evaluating impairments in the surface waters of Florida, DEP Deputy Secretary Mimi Drew signed a final order on December 12 targeting 272 impaired waters for cleanup in the Everglades, Indian River Lagoon, Perdido, Springs Coast and Upper East Coast Basins........here

The Legacy Of The Dean Campaign

I believed that we had to stay steady and hang in there, donate to the party and vote loyally...that we would make a difference. I am trying to still trust, but it appears lately there is an agenda already pre-set that doesn't need us and in fact finds the netroots rather cumbersome to have hanging around. I hope I am wrong.......here

The Frank Factor

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
--Edmund Burke

Mr. River Alan Wright

We have just been informed by Alan's life partner, John Wilsusen, that our dear friend, Alan Wright, died early this morning at Melech Hospice in Temple Terrace. We feel blessed to have known this pure soul. Our gratitude for his friendship and tireless work for the Hillsborough River is beyond words......here, Story.....here

Democracy In The Crescent City

Police used chemical spray and stun guns Thursday on protesters who tried to force their way into a City Council meeting, the latest strife over plans to demolish some 4,500 public housing units in a redevelopment project that council members ended up unanimously supporting.......here

"That our fundamental principle that every resident has the right to return to better housing will not be empty promises but words in action."......Ray Nagin

To Pander To The Right-Wing Elements In The Cuban Community

Top Florida officials say they treated the politically charged custody fight over a young Cuban girl like any other case, but documents obtained by The Associated Press show they took extraordinary steps to stop the youngster's father from taking her back to the communist island.........here
Rather than allowing Izquierdo to take his girl home, DCF hired 19 lawyers and spent over $250,000 to oppose their reunification.

US Worse Than Britain During Its Imperial Heyday

The Archbishop of Canterbury

Has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday. Rowan Williams claimed that America’s attempt to intervene overseas by “clearing the decks” with a “quick burst of violent action” had led to “the worst of all worlds”........here

“Our modern western definition of humanity is clearly not working very well"

God, Guns And Guts

Dale Mabry Hwy. And Van Dyke Rd.

Howard Dean: Economy to Be a Big Issue

"The economy is really alarming a lot of Americans," he says, noting that people are afraid of losing their homes and their jobs. In a year-end interview with U.S. News, he added that the party of an incumbent president usually pays a severe price when the economy goes bad—and that's what will happen to the Republicans in next year's election........here

Is Stogie A Sucker For Ron Paul?

I smell a false-populist, false revolution. Recognize Ron Paul's phony rallying cry to protect the constitution as a ploy by the "Republican" party to continue their destruction our republic....... Mark Frankenberg

What Happen To "Vox" On "Tampa Blab?"

Fantasy League Election: Bill 92 vs Barack 08

Gov. Crist May Sue Insurers

Gov. Charlie Crist has asked three trial lawyers to build a case for a possible class-action lawsuit against property insurers, alleging that the industry hasn't passed on savings to consumers as required by a new Florida law.......more

"I would give the insurance industry an F, a dead F, because I think they have failed not only what the law requires, I think they have morally failed the people of Florida."

"Don't Tase Me, Bro!" Named Top Phrase Of '07

Little did University of Florida student Andrew Meyer know back in September that his 15 minutes of fame would live on in the pantheon of dubious utterances after he disrupted a speech by Sen. John Kerry......here

Florida's Early Voters

Weeks before Iowa voters trudge through the snow for the presidential caucuses on Jan. 3, thousands of Florida voters will get the first crack at casting a ballot, thanks to Florida's early-voting laws. The Republican Party traditionally has dominated the absentee voting wars, but the Democrats will compete with them this year, said state Democratic Party spokesman Mark Bubriski. Republicans "have reached a ceiling as far as how many guaranteed early voters they've got," he said, and for Democrats, who have not, "the sky's the limit."........here

State Democrats will kick off Wednesday their "Create Change 08" campaign to recruit Democrats to sign up as "permanent absentee voters" who can vote online or by mail in every election through 2010.

Sen. Dodd Comments After the FISA Victory