15 February 2008 - Winning money, getting money and more
First, for those who listened to "Partyline" yesterday, we got a call at the end of the first hour. This caller thanked me for attending the Jefferson City Host Lions Club 52nd Annual Ham and Bean Dinner the day before AND for buying tickets to their raffle for lottery tickets. And to tell me that I won the $50 worth of lottery tickets. Better yet, she brought the ticket to me later that morning.
During our promotions meeting, I was scratching off the tickets. The first 9 tickets were losers. I checked the odds....just to be sure...JUST TO BE SURE...ranged from 1:4.71 to 1:4.82. The next was a winner....for a free ticket. Well, when it was all said and done, the $5 investment in the raffle got me $50 worth of lottery tickets....and the tickets got me $20. So, I made $15 on it. Not bad.
Oh, and I went CRAZY with my winnings. I bought....hold on....ground beef, tortillas, taco seasoning and yogurt. OOOOOHHHHH....AHHHHH
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Now, on to getting money. As most of you know, in 2007, we were only partial year residents of Missouri. BUT, since I worked here all year in 2007, I had state taxes withheld for the whole year.
I did our taxes last Friday, the first time doing state taxes in ten years...and THAT state was Minnesota. Well, our small refund arrived yesterday. LESS THAN A WEEK!!
I think I will use that for something crazy.....like ground beef, tortillas, taco seasoning and yogurt.
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Another UNIVERSITY shooting, this time at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. The leads me back to the point I made following the Virginia Tech shootings in April.
On a college campus, you are just asking for trouble. Why? Because you have a large population that is KNOWN to be unarmed. The standard policy on college campuses is to NOT allow firearms.
I am not saying that we arm college students. But I am saying that there is this little piece of our Bill of Rights known as the Second Amendment. For the record, the Second Amendment reads,
Now, often times the more liberal elements of our population cling to the phrase "well regulated Militia" in the Second Amendment. Well we must look at that word "Militia" and understand what that word really means. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
To get the best idea of what that word meant to those who wrote our Constitution, lets look at the Militia Act of 1792. This was amendended by the Militia Act of 1862 to include African-Americans in the ranks of the militia. And both of these acts were replaced by the Militia Act of 1903, which created the National Guard.
The base act, the 1792 act..or acts really...conscripted every "free able-bodied white male citizen" between the ages of 18 and 45 into a local militia company overseen by the state. While back then, the militia was VERY loose, it did make all of us white boys part of them. And it had provisions for us to own weapons.
Right now, I am in violation of that. Where can I get a deal on Glock 21?
Anyhow, don't prohibit students from carrying firearms. Just make them subject to the same laws as the rest of us. It would remove the giant target off of their back.
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Yesterday there was a call during "Partyline" where we discussed the use of one's First Amendment rights to free speech. The conversation started with the caller saying that she wished more people would excercise their right to free speech.
Quickly, I brought up that free speech is NOT absolute. Their are consquences for one's words and actions. Rick brought up that burning a flag may be free speech, but don't be surprised when someone pops you in your nose for doing so. While that is assault, and I do not condone that, it is a possible reaction.
The response was, "we shouldn't have to live in fear like that." Huh?
So, I went on and said that our founding fathers, the signers of the "Declaration of Independence" knew that there would be consequences of their actions. And there were some definite consequences. All we got in response again was "we shouldn't have to live in fear like that." What?
Even in physics we learn that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Same goes for speech. Every time I speak, or write, that I may get a reaction. Might be agreeing with me, might be disagreeing with me, might be changing stations, or maybe, like Kathy, the rolling of ones eyes at me.
It is not "living in fear"....it is a reality. If someone doesn't like that, excerise the right to shut up. Safer, though less effective.
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Add your comments and hit up some of those political ads...you know, do to them what they have been doing to us for years.
