Lottery

Right now the Oregon power ball is up to 360 million. I figured I’d pick up a ticket or two on the way home…. It fun to dream. What would you guys do with that kind of money?

I'd start with a vegan commune! Actually, with that much money there could be a network of vegan retreats around the world!

Hm, maybe I should get a ticket. I probably will not win, but without a ticket I surely will not win.

Haha! I was just fantasizing about this myself. Well, not about the Oregon lottery, as I am not in that state, but about the vegan community I'd create if I ever had tons of money.

One thing I know for sure--it would have a big and very well stocked community gym!

1st contact my attorney and accountant

2nd purchase my parent's home for them and replace one of their cars with a sensible model. Pay off their bills and give them a good cushion.

Pay off my sister's house and buy her a more reliable, sensible car, and pay my Nephews college....this kid is soooo smart.

Buy my best friends home for her, she has been my Oak.

Donate a huge portion to charity.

Purchase a modest home on the water (I love the ocean, it brings me peace), Invest the rest, I really don't truly need anything else at this time.

I don't play lottery, so I guess that means I won't win, lol

I've never bought a lottery ticket before! I'm not even sure how to!

It would be kind of neat to win....but did you know lottery winners file bankruptcy at a higher rate than the general public? Most people just don't know what to do with the money once they have it!

I always imagine that if I did someday win the lottery (after figuring out how to buy a ticket ) that I would try to keep it completely quiet. Usually the media gets a hold of big winners, but I would request that not to happen, I wouldn't tell my family or friends, I would just start putting checks in the bank. I'd get myself a financial advisor (like Dave, hehe(sorry if you don't know who I'm talking about, he's a friend of Rob's who happens to be a financial advisor)) Anyway - so I'd start investing it, keep working my regular job and only use lotto money if I need it to stay afloat, and by the end of my life I hope I would have had enough time to a)significanly increase my wealth and b) figure out the best way to disseminate it.

I could just start giving it away immediately, but I like the idea of increasing the amount over time so I have more to donate. I wouldn't want to be famous for it, what a hassle! Plus, I wouldn't want to make any hasty decisions, I'd want to figure out who needs the money the most and where it would be most useful. Oh, and of course I'd want to make sure my family and friends were cared for.

Anyway - that'd be my plan

I don't play lottery, so I guess that means I won't win, lol

Haha, yeah me neither. But I still like to fantasize about what I'd do with the winnings. I figure that if I were to buy a ticket it would increase my chances of winning only negligibly, so I don't bother!

I would like to own a big piece of land where horses, that would other wise be destroyed, could live the rest of their lives. I saw a show once about some people who did that. They weren’t rich thought. To help pay for vet bills the couple would sell bags of carrots. All the kids from the area would buy the carrots to feed the horses. Some of the horses they had were off the track, some were lame, one had been taken from a lab the night before it was going to be put down. I thought it was a cool idea.

I am getting less stupid by the day!!!! I finally figured out how to add my avatar!!!! Before I couldn’t figure out how the condense it from this computer. http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/1381/yellowboat1hs.jpg

You have no idea how happy this makes me

A bit off topic....

Madcat:

I used to be a foster facility for abused horses for the Humane Society while litigation was pending. I would get in some extreme cases.

I know someone locally who takes in and places x-race horses in permanent homes. Interestingly, most race horses I have encountered do not eat carrots, nor know what they are. We use to try to treat them, but they wouldn't eat them, they had never had that kind of attention before. Several were fairly mean and would ram the doors to try to bit care takers. I generally handled these extreme cases as I am soft spoken and female (they responded better to females). I assume they were most likely treated badly by men, which would explain their behavior. The starved one's would try to attack you at the door during feeding, like they were afraid they wouldn't get fed. I would feed these through trays in the door to avoid injury and they were turned out into large fields to frolic and enjoy the lush grasses. Most showed signs of healing mentally as their condition improved. I am happy to say that we did not have one horse return to their abuser.

It was very rewarding, I could see how you would like to get into caring for these beautiful animals.

If I had that kind of money I would invest in and promote ethanol and biodiesel. And I'd start a chain of vegan restaurants. And I'd start a propaganda campaign intended to help sweatshop workers unionize

If I had that kind of money I would invest in and promote ethanol and biodiesel. And I'd start a chain of vegan restaurants. And I'd start a propaganda campaign intended to help sweatshop workers unionize

I like those goals/dreams, Will.

Personally, I wouldn't want that much money and like the others, I don't play the lotto so I won't ever win it. But, I can't logically see how my money will make an effective difference in a Capitalistic society. Capitalism breeds greed ( see above exploitation of third world countries) and strife. Poverty encourages racism, drug abuse, violence and ignorance. I could initiate programs to fight the effects of poverty but, that is limited and temporary. I"m unsure that ANY amount of propaganda could convince the American public to "rise against" this oppression. The media and political thinktanks have already shifted the blame - they'd like for us to believe that economic depression and poverty are a result of "affirmative action" and "illegal immigration" - thus pitting "poor" against "poor" in a perceived battle of "race". In reality, more jobs are lost because the high paid executive of the company they are employed with decided to maximize profits by moving labor into third world countries. I'm sorry, but am I the only one who sees this as an ECONOMIC war??? Really, though....would the media even accept/support the propaganda I'd put out - how would the government censor me?

But then, I'm just a libertarian socialist with a fear of money.

But then, I'm just a libertarian socialist with a fear of money.

Spiritually, one should be without fear, for what you fear, you will draw to you.

...

I FEAR MONEY, TOO!

I used to have a horse off the track, way back in the day. She was awesome! For some reason I don’t seem drawn to animals who are nice and sweet, they are always a little bitchy and mean from time to time. She loved carrots, apples, and corn on the cob. How ever she hated horse trailers, I think she thought I was taking her to a race so she would always fight it like crazy. It got to the point I would have to knock her out a little to take her anywhere. Five years ago on thanksgiving I got a call from the stable saying she was lying in her stall and refused to get up to eat. Animals that graze have stomachs that are designed to constantly have food in them. Horses should always want to eat and it is a very bad sign if they don’t. I rushed out there, crying the whole way. I called the vet, but since it was a holiday it took her forever to show up. My horse had coliced (her colon had twisted). The vet told me the to undo it she would need to go into surgery immediately, the only place to have it done was in corvallis, since she was old it was likely that she wouldn’t survive the surgery, and even if she did it would be likely to twist again. The vet tried giving her some anesthetic to see if she could get the horses muscles to relaxes enough to untwist on there own. Then she left to go get ready for her thanksgiving diner. For the next three hours I sat in the stall with my horses head in my lap, she shut her eyes and I stroked her face. It was oblivious that the drugs were making her feel better, and she started to relax. I nuzzled my face against her. This may sound funny, but I like the way horses smell (cats too). After a while she started to thrash around, the pain was coming back. I called the vet again and again she made the trip out. There was nothing she could do to fix the problem. We lead Light out of the barn and into a grassy area. I held her on to her as the vet gave her the first injection. After a moment the vet her a push which brought Light to the ground. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she started gasping for air. “its just a reflex” the vet told me “she dosent know what’s going on by now”. I sat down and held her head again as the vet gave her the second injection to stop her heart.

I know that some of you probable don’t think its right to keep horses. But I think it’s just about the same as having a dog. They are social animals and bond with those around them. Every time I walked into the barn Light gave a little neigh. When I turned her out to pasture she followed me around. I loved her very much, and I believe that she loved me too.

The racing industry ruins many horses. To get them racing as early as possible they start their training before there are done growing, damaging their joints. Many horses develop arthritis by the time they are five. I have heard of cases were the owners of race horses take out large insurance policies and when the horses start to loss the electrocute them to get their money.

My horse was a dissented of French race horses. Her name was in French, but translated it meant Light from above. If any one here knows how to translate it back to French I would love to know, so maybe I can research her past. I didn’t win the power ball, so it will have to wait, but on day I hope to be able to have the land to help some more horses who need a home…. I would name it after Light.

 

But then, I'm just a libertarian socialist with a fear of money.

I thought I was the only one to describe myself with those two opposing philosophies.

Lately I've backed away from the libertarian term as every Libertarian I've met is far too conservative for my taste. I just want the government to leave me the hell alone.

You might want to look into anarchosyndicalism, as I understand that it's a blend of the two political philosophies, although I haven't read much on it myself. I just stick with (my own views on) socialism, as I don't believe that it's inherently opressive.

 

The media and political thinktanks have already shifted the blame - they'd like for us to believe that economic depression and poverty are a result of "affirmative action" and "illegal immigration" - thus pitting "poor" against "poor" in a perceived battle of "race".

I know what you mean. I guess you could say my goal, if I had a bunch of money, would be to outmaneuver the Rush Limbaugh loving think tanks Noam Chomsky style

 

The media and political thinktanks have already shifted the blame - they'd like for us to believe that economic depression and poverty are a result of "affirmative action" and "illegal immigration" - thus pitting "poor" against "poor" in a perceived battle of "race".

 

I know what you mean. I guess you could say my goal, if I had a bunch of money, would be to outmaneuver the Rush Limbaugh loving think tanks Noam Chomsky style

Ah! Noam Chomsky...the man who taught me the meaning of libertarian socialism! Linguist, activist extraordinaire! He's a intellectual dreamboat! Profit over People. Manufacturing Consent....Wow.