Dale Terry

Miami Dolphins cornerback Will Allen was arrested and charged with driving under the influence in Miami Beach.

Washington Redskins cornerback Byron Westbrook was arrested early Friday and charged with driving under the influence.

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin is facing DUI and speeding charges in Arizona.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida defensive tackle Gary Brown has been dismissed from the football team following his arrest last weekend.

School spokesman Steve McClain says Brown has a history of "not meeting a set of expectations" at Florida and is no longer part of the program.

Brown, a redshirt freshman from Greensboro, is charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery following a dispute at a weekend party in Gainesville. According to a police report, Brown is accused of striking two women who were trying to kick people out of the party.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon coach Chip Kelly will wait before deciding whether to take disciplinary action against LaMichael James, the star tailback jailed this week on domestic violence charges.

EL PASO, Texas -- A pair of suspended Texas-El Paso football players accused of robbery say they are guilty.

Daniel Palmer and Nickolas Sampson, both 20, pleaded guilty Friday to charges that last summer they robbed Rafael Aguilera, who was trying to sell the men stereo equipment.

I was out today doing some business when I decided to cash a check that someone gave to me for buying a cabinet that I owned. The check was a Wachovia check and I went to the drive thru. The teller said"Welcome to Wachovia, how may I help you?" I put the check in the bin with my ID and after a few seconds, she asked if I had an account with Wachovia. I replied, "Yes, I have a equity line on my house with you" She then told me that she couldn't cash the check unless I had a checking or savings account, but I could come in and with additional ID, get it cashed. I told her that I hated working with her bank anyway but I would come in.

I went in and was again greeted by,"Welcome to Wachovia, How may I help you?" I again gave my check and ID over, was asked again it I had an account, and then was asked for additional ID.

I asked why the additional ID would have any effect on her decision to cash the check or not and she replied, "That ;t was just Policy." I then told her that I couldn't understand why a business would make it hard to....do business with them. And that the policy was probably made by the same morons that bankrupted the bank. A few seconds later, the branch manager came by and asked me if I needed help. "No, she is helping me cash this check. Does it look like I need help, Can't a customer voice his displeasure at your company? She looked at me like I was a problem, not a customer. I then said, " Do you always treat customers this way.? So I now have 3 people trying to "help" me cash a @250.00 check. The first person then says, that she needs a thumb print. I then say, " How ridiculous, what are you going to do with it?" Then she says it is policy and tells me that it will cost $5.00 to cash the check.

I ask for my check and ID back, tell the manager that no wonder people hate banks and leave. I go to my bank and deposit the money.

So, I know some of you might be like the other person beside me who needed to make a point by saying that the tellers were doing a "Great Job" First off, who cares what that person thinks. It is mentality like that that has got us in the mess we are in. That being nice is enough. It isn't. It has to make sense, and there is no sense in treating people, future customers that way. That other customer was a "Sheep" He believes that all will work out if we just be nice. Wait until he misses a credit card payment or loses his job, he won't think that way anymore.

So, I add another company that I refuse to do business with. Wachovia Bank, home of "Great Customer Satisfaction" What a joke.

Other companies that I refuse to do business with. Walmart, they don't have American made goods.

Sam's Club, same reason, and they charge me to shop.

If there is any proof we need that Congress doesn't care for the people of the United States, it is with it's handling of the Economy as we work our way out of recession. Over a trillion dollars has been spent to help special interests. Kind of an oxymoron, "special interests" What could be more special than the people of the US?

So before they spend the next trillion, I have the simple solution to the problem. Give each
American one million dollars. That's right, one million dollars. No taxes will be paid on this money and those with underage children will get their children's money. but it comes with these conditions.

1. Each person will take the debt and pay off their mortgage. Banks will get made whole.

2. Each person will take any remainder and pay off credit cards. Banks will get more.

3. No loans can be made on the properties that are paid off for 5 years if still owned by the original owner.

4. Each person will pay for 5 years worth of health care premiums.

5. The remainder if any will be put into a interest bearing account that gets the same rate as the Federal Funds Rate. It cannot be borrowed on, nor used for anything except health care for the life of the fund.

6. If a citizen does not own a home, they must purchase one with the money and cannot touch any of the money until they do, unless it goes to health care.

7. All citizens must take a basic economics class, a constitutional history class and government science class. They must be able to show a b grade or better in budgeting, understanding our constitution, and understanding our electoral system, how government funds itself through taxes and fees.

Seems simple doesn't it. Banks will get most of the money, helping their balance sheets. Health care is pretty much taken care of, because each person has an account. Current businesses will have capital increased through the purchase of consumer goods. The real estate industry will boom, putting people to work. And we will have a more educated citizenry, hopefully not one that will fall for this mess again.

I was on my way to my congressional office today, driving and using my Blackberry to text messages, and a text came from my 8 year old daughter. It said, "Dad, the kids at school don't have books and it will cost $30.00 per child to get them. Can we get some help?" Being the smart Senator that I am, I did the quick math and came up with less than two thousand dollars total. So when I got to my office, I told my highly paid staff to draft a bill to get $2000 to the school. My chief of staff said he would get right on it, and immediately called in two junior staffers to start doing research on school budgets and prior bills. He suggested that I meet with local school board members for a photo op and propose a committee to be convened to study the situation. The next day, my calendar was a "booked" with appointments with the lobbyist from the NEA, National Association of School Book Manufacturers, and the National Organization of Women.

I met with the NEA and they assured me that they were all for the book purchase, but how could teachers be left behind without pay raises with the new bill. I was told by a staffer that the teachers union thought highly of me, so of course I directed the staffer to draft additions to the bill that included pay raises. At a specially prepared luncheon, I met with the School Book guys and they wanted me to buy the second installment of the first book which without it, the first book would be useless in the next grade. They also mentioned that their friends, The National Association of School Suppliers would need to get involved, because the books were big with lots of pictures,(for those that didn't understand English) and required a bigger than normal desk for students to sit comfortably. A staffer suggested that we have a meeting with the Suppliers the next month.

After the luncheon, I met with the National Association of Women. Since I meet with them weekly, we didn't have much to go through except they were concerned the books might have material in them that would be against women. I told them that we would have a study on the book and get back with them in a couple of months.

I was running late for my photo op and told my driver to speed up when we hit a pothole. I just can't believe that the roads are this bad! I made a note to get a staffer to call Jim who heads the Senate Committee on Road Conditions to look into it.

Well, a couple of months passed and I felt great when I told my daughter that it looked like we would be able to get her a new school, hire 300 more teachers and allow all the children to go to Disneyland in the name of cultural exposure, all for $9 million dollars. I felt I was really a great dad and public servant.

She said," we had a bake sale and got the books the next week. We got them at a discount because we didn't go throught the Government Procurment Office. Thanks anyway."

Nest time I am going to get a staffer follow up with my daughter so I won't disappoint her.

From USA Today, "The study, which uses 2002 and 2003 data, the most current available, finds that public schools graduate 69.6% of an estimated 4 million eligible students each spring, meaning about 1.2 million students likely won't graduate this year. That means about 7,000 students drop out per school day, Swanson says.

Researcher Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute says Swanson's figures "seriously understate graduation rates, especially for minorities." They say that just 52% of blacks graduate, and 57% of Hispanics.

Prresidnet Obama, like his predessors before him have increase the Federal Budget expenditures for Education, this time putting an emphasis on elementary, secondary and early childhood education.

It is estimated that 41 states have a 35 billion dollar education shortfall.

For some interesting reading, go to the National Educators Association and look at their Issues and Actions section. And additional information can be found at the website for the American Association of School Administrators.

From the NEA website, "Obviously we don't want to tie our merit to test scores," Preusser says. "If that happens, I want a dorm in the back of the school where the kids can live 24/7."

Call it old-fashioned, like Mom and apple pie, but NEA still believes a short and strong salary schedule, with a minimum of $40,000 annual pay for teachers, is best. It rewards teachers for things we know make a difference in teacher quality-knowledge and experience-and, at the same time, avoids the capriciousness of typical merit pay plans."

From the AASA website, "When asked how they are using or plan to use ARRA Title I monies, the top five responses were:

• • professional development (63 percent)
  • saving existing personnel positions (58 percent)
  • classroom technology (53 percent)
  • classroom equipment/supplies (38 percent)
  • software (35 percent)
• The top five reported uses for ARRA IDEA dollars are identical:
  • professional development (68 percent)
  • saving existing personnel positions (61 percent)
  • classroom technology (54 percent)
  • classroom equipment/supplies (41 percent)
  • software (37 percent)

And additional comments from one involved."But Charles Barone, a former congressional staffer who helped design the education reform law, says the plan doesn't go far enough. He predicts states won't do much to change how they hire teachers - and they'll still get their money. "All they're going to have to do is copy and paste what's in their current plan to get this money," says Barone, who now consults about education and writes a popular blog."

End the end, more government waste and no accountability.