What Would You Do If You Won A Million Dollars?

It’s true, money won’t buy happiness, but it will make a helluva down payment.”

Redd Foxx, Comedian

What Would You Do If You Won A Million Dollars?

A young rancher struggling to make a living in one of the poorest corners of the nation claims one of the biggest undivided jackpots in U.S. lottery history — $232 million — after buying the ticket in a town called Winner, South Dakota

Neal Wanless is 23 years old and single. I bet not for long. Women will be coming out the countryside. In fact, across the country and around the world to get the hands on Neal’s money. Winning the lottery is big gamble on life. I wish him well.

Neal Wanless' winnings are certainly enough to set him and his family up for life, but past lottery winners have burned through vast fortunes in spectacular fashion or found that they were better off before they struck it rich.

Evelyn Marie Adams won the New Jersey lottery twice in the mid-1980s but still managed to lose the entire $5.4 million.

And there's West Virginia's Jack Whittaker, who won $315 million on Christmas day, 2002, and five years later was blaming the money for causing his granddaughter's fatal drug overdose, his divorce, his inability to trust and hundreds of lawsuits filed against him.

"I don't have any friends," he told The Associated Press in 2007. "Every friend that I've had, practically, has wanted to borrow money or something and of course, once they borrow money from you, you can't be friends anymore."

The secret is to use the riches that you possess and the ones that you can obtain to enjoy personal fulfillment and to help others. There are people who have money and people who are rich. There is a difference. I’d rather be rich. I am rich, I have always been rich.

3

The Light Is On and Somebody is Home

I believe in miracles. I am living proof anybody can come back from the dead.
John Lucas, NBA Coach

These could just as easily been my words. So many people have tried to put out my lights. Some have said, "I will destroy you if it is the last thing I do" Don't you like it when someone says, "You not going to do that... over my dead body." Then you go ahead and do it any way. That's what I do.

People who really know me understand that my self worth does not depend on the opinion of others. And that is a whole other story. What do you think about all those people who you don't know, who think they know you? They run their mouths or other parts of their anatomy and they write trash blogs. You want to know my philosophy? Ten percent of everyone you ever met will LOVE you, 10% will HATE and 80% couldn't give a darn. So, I ignore the haters and work to win over the 80%. I recommend that you do the same.

I am a point of light and I light the path of others. Do like wise.

First Quarter (Part 1)

Ozwald Balfour was born on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. After graduating from high school in 1973, Balfour joined the La Tropical Dance Group, one of the nation’s top Folk Performing Companies. While he was still developing his talents as a dancer, Balfour’s skillful leadership was tapped to be the manager of a tour to Surinam just three months after he joined the group.

Balfour said, “The tour was spectacular. It was my first trip abroad. When we landed our limo drove onto the tarmac to pick us up. We stayed in the country’s finest hotel and performed for royalty. I was hocked.” For the next two year Balfour performed throughout the Caribbean at the leading hotels, nightclubs and on television.

Balfour literally danced his way from Trinidad in the south to the Bahamas in the north. “When I got to the Bahamas I realized that I was out of islands. Next, I joined Carnival Cruise Lines as an entertainer. We sailed from Miami to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Martin on seven-day cruises. I did three shows for a total of 60 minutes each week. What a life, exclaimed Balfour with glee.

In 1975, Balfour moved to Pensacola, Florida to take a job as a limbo dance at Trader Joe’s, one of the top nightclubs in the city. It was here that Balfour made his transition from on stage to behind the scenes. He co-wrote a government grant to form the After-School Community Theater (ACT). Balfour said that he found his calling as a producer and director working with young aspiring actors and actresses. “I particularly enjoyed discovering new talent.”, said Balfour.

New York City was my next quest. My first job was as a director at children’s theater in Brooklyn. When I took my young actors to Broadway to see The Wizard of Oz starring Eartha Kitt, I was inspired to pursue a career in the entertainment industry”, Balfour recalls. When he returned to Trinidad in 1979, Balfour landed a job as the Radio/Television Producer with Lonsdale Adverting Agency, one of the leading agencies in the Caribbean. In 1980 Balfour married Annie Maynard, his high school sweetheart. The newly weds moved to Utah so that Balfour could realize his dream to get a college education.

Entertainment

Sundance Film Festival 2009 is over and the 40,000 attendees have left Utah to return to their normal lives. There was initial concern that economic down turn would put a chill on the festival. This may have been the case to some degree, the officials spending figures are not yet in. This year, those who attended the festival - regulars and first timers alike - experienced the magic of the Sundance adventure.

Is Capitalism Still The Answer?

Nationalization is a term that is common in the developing world but is new to American dialog. To Americans it has been a negative term. Poorly managed Third World countries often nationalized western assets. The current global economic crisis has led to wholesale nationalization in order to prop up poorly managed companies in a wide variety of sectors.

Americans are experiencing shift of enormous proportions. No money, no love. An economy based on borrowing to finance even every day products and services is in deep trouble when credit dries up and lending to businesses and consumers have come to a halt. How big of a bail-out is needed to revive the US economy? It still appears the be the case, when the American economy is sick, the global economy needs drastic life support.