If I Only Had A Brain: Overcoming The Manipulation Of Celebrity Political Endorsements

The right to vote is a privilege that we have long taken for granted. It has become subject to the indifference of our entitlement rather than being subject to the scrutiny of our responsibility. The important work for this election will not be accomplished by the candidates, or at least it shouldn't be. The most important and essential work for this next Presidential election is to be accomplished by the electorate, the American voter...you and me.

Our tendency is to believe that on November 4, 2008, we will go into the voter's booth, push a button or two, and magically, our candidate , whoever they may be, will be elected to office. When, in fact, the real work must be taking place right now, in the privacy of our homes, as we do the research required to make the best possible decision. The alternative is that we continue to spend months on end being dirtied by political mudslinging while we sit on the sidelines and let the candidates "fight it out". Political campaigns have become sport and we have become spectators. And, this is what we call democracy?

Political campaigning has become a sideshow, of sorts, designed to distract us from the real work we need to do to put forth an honest vote. Candidates for public office, Presidential or otherwise, are not to be sold to us like exercise equipment on a late-night infomercial. We must choose who our personal candidate will be, and not told who they will be. Voting is as much an exercise of freewill as anything. Rights come with responsibilities. We, then, need to be responsible in how we make the decision. In order to exercise our right to vote, it is incumbent upon us to turn away from the glitz and glamour of the political "red carpet" back to the organic nature of true democratic process. We are too far afield of the essence of the democracy, and have become far too enamored with the fame and celebrity overshadowing the candidates.

Exercising your right to vote consists of 4 essential steps:

1. Knowledge of the candidates. Who they are. Why they're running. What they stand for.
2. Understanding of your personal values. What you believe and why.
3. Diligence: Which candidate has most closely demonstrated that he or she values what you value. (Tip: This decision should not be party-based, it should be value-based.)
4. Vote using the information you acquired in completing steps 1-3 above.

Voting is a private decision albeit one that has public rewards or consequences, or both. Our individual votes determine who will decide how we will live as a nation and what our role in the world will be. It is not a decision that should be taken lightly or left up to someone else to make for us because ultimately, the choice is ours and we will be held accountable before GOD for it.

We have minds of our own we need to use them to make the right decisions. We have to stop the cycle of being influenced by another person's world view. Each of us has a world view, and therefore, each of us also has the responsibility of doing some heavy lifting, pitting value to value, between now and the next Presidential election. Our votes should not be based on what someone else thinks or believes. We have the inherent capacity of being able to make informed decisions and we need to use it. We don't need celebrity endorsements, multi-million dollar campaign "war chests", special interests, or any such thing.



When you step into the voting booth in November 2008, it should be just you and your candidate. The only voice in your head should be one telling you that you can confidently vote for the candidate that you believe will, based on your own due diligence, best fulfill the spiritual, intellectual, ethical, and physical demands that will be required of our next President. It's your voice and it's your choice. Choose wisely.

The Hurricane Katrina survivors will be victims again... GUARANTEED!

This time it will be our own governments mostly that will do the victimizing but some businesses will get it on it as well. Its simply one of the biggest revenue generating processes utilized by various levels of governments that very little is known of by the regular citizen. It causes family savings to be lost, assets to go uncovered and even inheritances to disappear over time. It victimizes the poor disproportionately than any other class in our society. It takes away from those who need it the most... like poor, middle class and poverty level citizens. But this process has also been known to victimize people of all classes and races in the United States. What are we talking about? Unclaimed Money is the name of the game. Millions of dollars that were in utility deposits, savings bonds, bank accounts, family properties, safe deposits contents and a slew of other unclaimed assets and money is turned over to various government agencies every year, with only a small amount ever being returned to the rightful owners or heirs. This unclaimed money windfall is actually multiplied TENFOLD because of disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

During these times there is a very very large portion of those who lose their home and important papers in the process, to also forget the location of many of their assets. Once these assets go unclaimed for a specified amount of time, they are usually turned over to a government agency with the hope of finding the owners of record. But history has shown that these unclaimed assets and unclaimed money accounts are seldom recovered because the government does a very poor job of tracking the unclaimed accounts owners or rightful heirs. This is the same government that can track you down for past taxes, criminal behavior, outstanding tickets and summonses, child support and just about any outstanding debt you may owe them. But they seem to have an inability to deploy these same tactics to return your unclaimed money and unclaimed property when these came into their coffers. Can you imagine how many THOUSANDS of even TENS OF THOUSANDS of bank accounts, family deeds, bonds, insurance policies, store and utility deposits information has been lost due to the recent disaster?

The sad part is that these are people who are victims already, and they are also prime targets for this unclaimed property victimization that comes later... courtesy of the state and federal governments. Did you know that it is estimated that 7 out of 10 people have unclaimed money that they don't know about? That is an AMAZING 70%! How would you like a business where people placed their valuables with you but only 30% of them ever came to claim their property later? That would be a very desirable business venture wouldn't it? Well it is also estimated that these government agencies are now holders of over $1 TRILLION dollars of unclaimed money and unclaimed property. Have you already been a victim of this practice? Has a present or deceased family member been a victim of this unclaimed money and unclaimed property practice? Do you have unclaimed money owed to you? Don't delay and find out today because the truth of the matter is that most of the people that are reading this article already have money owed to them, or they will have money owed to them in the future. The key is knowing all of the places to look.

Why so many states are legalizing gambling?

There are currently 13 states that have legalized gambling and they have over 450 casinos between those states, and they bring in 72 billion dollars a year.

From this money states get extra money for road repair, schools and many other things that a state needs money to fix and maintain.

In the last 10 years there have also been a large number of Indian casinos being granted licenses in states that do not have legalized gambling, which means the only place t gamble in those states is in the Indian Casino, and they do not pay taxes on that money.

Many states are waking up and realizing that there is a very profitable business out there that they are not getting any revenue from, and not only does it bring money into the state it also creates thousands of jobs for each casino that opens. So for a state with a high unemployment rate this means more people are working and less of the stats money needs to be spent on these people, again a win for the state and the people.

It also means more money for the state to feed kids a hot meal at lunch and the money to put new books in the classrooms and maybe to build more schools. This money is also used in some states to hire more police officers.

Legalized gambling besides bringing in more money to the government in taxes also brings money into the community gamblers will use services such as hotels, restaurants and other local attractions while they are in the area. This can bring a major boost to a small starving economy separate from that of the casino.

Another reason why many states are pushing to make gambling legal is to attempt to wipe out the illegal gambling business. Many people feel that if gambling is legalized there is no reason for people to go to sleazy and dangerous back room casinos.

These type of places are becoming harder and harder for the police to find and as soon as they do find them, they will either pack up and change locations or another will just take their place. Another bad thing about illegal casinos s that there is no one monitoring to make sure the casino is not cheating their players.
In many cases police have raided illegal casinos and found that all the table and card games are rigged for the casino to win, and if this is ever discovered the casinos operators have in the past committed murder to keep their secrets, and most people fear for their lives and refuse to cooperate with the police.

Legalized gambling is monitored to make sure both the player and the house are playing an honest game.
Do not let all of this make you think that gambling has no downside. A lot of this money has to go to treatment for people, who develop gambling addictions, and most cities with a casino do usually see a rise in crime in those areas, so more police officers are not just a luxury it is a necessity.

Does the American government see its citizens as its children?

In Americas 230 year history the government seems to have forgotten that there job is to run the government as the people see as best and not the government telling the people what is best for them.

The most recent example is the Internet gambling Ban signed into law last week by President Bush. The bill makes it illegal for banks and credit card companies to transfer money to casinos for the purpose of wagering on sports or games of chance, like roulette, blackjack and poker.

These games are harmlessly enjoyed regularly by millions of Americans everyday, but some people become addicted to these games so the government is telling all of its citizens that no one is allowed to play these games in an online casino.

This is not the first case of the government going against the wishes of the people, in the early 1900’s the government decided that the consumption of Alcohol should be banned, because some people were developing health and mental problems related to drinking too much. So rather then educating the people on the ill effects of prolonged Alcohol abuse the American government banned Alcohol.

But instead of reducing the consumption of Alcoholic beverages it increased, and because the government was not allowing the production or importing of Alcohol, organized grime got into the moonshine business, and eventually the Government saw the error of their decision and repealed the law.

Another great example of a failed policy to protect the people is the war on drugs that the government has been aging since the early 1980’s Billions of tax dollars a year goes into the war on drugs, but what are the results?

The price of drugs has risen, and to support their habits many drug addicts have had to commit acts of robbery and murder to get their drugs.

The American prisons are packed full of people whose only crime was possession of these illegal drugs.

Instead of being an industry that is regulated and controlled you have people selling these drugs to kids in school playgrounds, and shooting each other to protect their territory.

Had the government decided not to criminalize drugs but make it a heavily controlled industry, they could use the tax money for social programs like schools ad to give Americans universal health care.

Please do not misunderstand me I am not in favor for legalizing hard drugs, but the current system is not working at all, but I am all in favor for legalizing online casino gambling.

If I choose to play some hands of blackjack or poker from the comfort of my home what rights does the government have to tell me not to, and what sense does it make that I can not play in a casino over the internet, but I can drive down the street to the local casino and play there.

To enforce this ban millions if not billions of dollars of software and computer hardware will be needed to monitor all of the banks transactions and that money will come from taxes instead of the government taxing online casinos or even having all the online casinos government controlled then they get all the profits to be used to improve the lives of the American citizens, millions of which are bellow the poverty line if not homeless.

The American government needs to start re-thinking its policy of treating its citizens like small children, or the American people need to demand a new government.

Alcoholism among Young People

“Social diseases” is a familiar term for everyone despite the reaction to it. This article reveals one of such diseases and gives a description of the cause and consequences.

At first sight it may seem that life in society is peaceful and quiet. People are surrounded by comfort and cosiness and don’t seem to be longing for anything else. The real life seems less colourful than from the first sight. The more independent we get from each other, the lonelier we become. Loneliness creates stress and aggravation within the micro climate of an individual and he/she always seeks ways to get rid of negative feelings and problems that circle a person. If a grown up is under pressure, can you imagine how hard it is for a teenager to get acquainted with the world around and face first difficulties. Both grown ups and teenagers look for a cure from stress and the first thing they gat a hold on is alcohol, cigarettes or even drugs.

Every person has a freedom of choice, but the question is will this choice be easy or right? Strong personality will never pick the easy way if it will appear to misleading. A weak personality will do everything to postpone the solution of the problem. Alcohol or the “spirits” is something that may make the world look different and friendlier for an hour or so. If that is the example of a weakness of a grown up, you can imagine, how much more impressible a teenager is. There are a couple reasons for a teenager to take a glass or two and repeat the procedure even more often than a grown up. First of all, they might be following an example of parents that have this problem within the family and consider it ok when their child drinks spirits right in front of them. Parents might not even know or care what happens even more often, than be alcohol addicted themselves. The situation in the family may be built on complete ignorance of every member as soon as it doesn’t harm anybody but the individual rebelling. The “rebelling individual” is usually a teenager that requires attention of parents that for some reason can not give it t the fullest. Another reason may be to show off, to be different, not like others that look so boring and so not fun. And another one that is called the “adult reason” is the desire to escape from the harshness of reality by means of drinking.

This is a serious problem that the government and social organizations can not fight alone. If the society realizes the importance of the cure from alcoholic addiction, then the lifestyle of the society will change for better.