Report: Lottery Still Pays 20-Cents on the Dollar for Scholarships

The Arkansas Lottery Commission released a report this week showing the Lottery still only allocates, at best, about 20-cents in scholarship revenue for every dollar it makes selling lottery tickets.

According to Lottery Commission reports for the month of October, the Arkansas Lottery took in $33,271,398.30 in revenue, but only paid out $6,773,936.78 in college scholarships.

Moreover, lottery officials indicated to reporters from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the net proceeds may have actually been bolstered by unclaimed prize money the lottery has on hand (that is, prize money people have won but never picked up) and by the timing of recent lottery payouts. In other words, the $6.8 million may have actually been more than you might expect simply because of when the lottery happened to pay some of its bills and because a lot of people haven’t stopped by to pick up their winnings.

So let’s do the math: $6,773,936.78 / $33,271,398.30 = .2036 or 20.4%.

So for every $1 the Arkansas lottery commission made in October, about 20 cents went to college scholarships. The other 80 cents were spent elsewhere.

At this rate, the Arkansas Lottery won’t meet its scholarship goals for 2014.  (more…)

Wishing You a “Burl Ives” Holly, Jolly Christmas

We are celebrating Christmas each day for the next week with short stories and memories about the Christmas season. Yesterday I talked about Snoopy and the Christmas Truce of 1914. Today I want to wish you a “holly, jolly Christmas.”

When you hear someone wish a “holly, jolly Christmas,” your mind probably jumps straight to Burl Ives. After all, he made the song famous, singing it on his own hit record and in the TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Many people assume Ives wrote the song himself. The truth is, the song was written by a little-known artist named Johnny Marks.

You’ve probably never heard of Johnny Marks, but you have heard his music. Marks wrote “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas,” but he wrote several other popular Christmas songs, including, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Run, Run Rudolph,” and, yes, the old standby “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (written along with his brother-in-law Robert L. May who created the character of Rudolph for Montgomery Ward).

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Wishing You a Very “Snoopy” Christmas

In 1967 the Royal Guardsmen released “Snoopy’s Christmas.” The song, which followed up their hit “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron,” is a favorite on many radio stations this time of year. In the song, Snoopy goes up against German ace fighter pilot “the Red Baron” on Christmas Eve during World War I. In the end, the Baron invites Snoopy to land with him; the pair exchange Christmas wishes, and part ways “each knowing they’d meet on some other day.”

The song echoes the wish for peace on earth and goodwill to man that so many talk about this time of year. What many people do not realize, however, is that in Christmas of 1914 Allied and German soldiers actually did pause from fighting to celebrate Christmas together.

The event has gone down in history as “The Christmas Truce of 1914.” Soldiers from both sides left their trenches and crossed the lines of battle unarmed. They sang songs together, exchanged food and small gifts, and played soccer. Against the backdrop of something so horrific as World War I, men still found it in their hearts to treat each other like men at least for one day.

“Snoopy’s Christmas” is a lighthearted retelling of that story, but the message is still there. At Family Council, we are so glad to have friends like you standing with us in the fight preserve, protect, and strengthen traditional family values. If you have not already done so, I hope you will make a generous, tax-deductible gift of $50 on our website to help us finish 2013 strong and begin 2014 with confidence. Click here to donate.

In the spirit of peace and goodwill this Christmas season, I hope you and your family have a very “Snoopy” Christmas.