Mega Millions Numbers Revealed, But The Identities Of The Winners Are Not

The huge Mega Millions jackpot that has made headlines has now climbed to over $656 million, which is up from the $640 million that was last reported. However, according to officials, the three winners have yet to be identified and have not claimed the prize. The three winners reside in Maryland, Illinois, and Kansas. They will split the now $656 million prize, which means that every winner will receive approximately $218 million prior to taxes. All the winners have a few months to claim their prize. The winner in Kansas has up to a year. The Kansas and Maryland winners will be allowed to remain completely anonymous, but unfortunately, the Illinois winner must be revealed eventually if he or she wishes to receive the money. The winning numbers in the Mega Millions jackpot were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46, and the Mega Ball 23.

I cannot believe that this jackpot has gotten so huge. It was in the $400 million range, then in the $500 million range, and now it is in the mid $600 million range. Just how high is this thing going to get? I wasn’t too surprised by the three winners. It had been reported that 95% of the possible winning combinations were sold in the 44 states that run the lottery, so I had a feeling that there would be more than one winner. Although winning all that money would be great, if I was the Illinois winner, I would be wishing I was the Kansas or Maryland winner. When this person is identified, you know that the media is going to be all over that. Life will never be the same for that person. If I won, I would want to remain anonymous. I would not want people bombarding my life, but I guess I would deal with it if I won all that money.

Prank For April Fools Goes A Little Too far

Although April Fool's Day jokes can be fun, keep in mind that sometimes, you can go too far. This was the case yesterday when my friend Daniel pulled a prank on our friend Allen. Allen is a prankster and likes to prank me and Daniel. However, Daniel got a little carried away.


On Friday morning, Daniel and Allen went to Atlanta, Georgia, for the Real World auditions that were taking place. Allen had an audition set up. Unfortunately, I could not go with them because I was on my way back from the beach with my family. Apparently, there were around 150 people there, and each audition was only 10 seconds long. That is not very much time to make an impression, but regardless, they both thought that Allen would make it.

The people in charge said that the finalists will be sent an email later that night to let them know that they made it. I get home later that evening and checked Facebook. I saw Allen's profile, and he said that he was a finalist. I called him, and he was very excited. He said that a guy called him and told him that they liked his personality. He would be going to Mobile, Alabama, in 2 weeks for the final audition between the finalists. I was happy for him. Later that night, Daniel came to my house to hang out. Well, he played me a message of the recording between the guy and Allen. I was wondering how Daniel had that recorded. Well, then I found out.

Daniel had got a friend of his to call Allen and pretend he was from MTV. His friend is going to school to be an actor, and he is really good at it too. I felt bad for Allen, but it was a good prank. Daniel wanted to wait until Saturday afternoon during April Fool's Day to tell him. I told Daniel that I don't think it was a good idea, but he decided to do it anyway. I should have called and told Allen myself, especially whenever he actually found out. Daniel, Allen, my cousin, and his friend were at the house. They all ended up telling him. I was off in the distance. I didn't want a part of it. Well, Allen got upset, and he left my house. I called him later, and he was still very upset.


Hopefully, we will all stop the April Fool's pranks from now on.

2012 Acm Awards = 0 Excitement

The 47th ACM Awards took place Sunday evening on April Fool's Day. Miranda Lambert and Jason Aldean were the big winners with two awards each. Miranda Lambert won her third consecutive Female Vocalist award, and she also won for Album. Jason Aldean won for Vocal Collaboration and Single. Miranda's husband, The Voice host Blake Shelton, walked away with Male Vocalist. Lady Antebellum once again took home Group. In a surprise twist, Thompson Square managed to win Duo over Sugarland after the latter duo had won the award for the past two years (This award was not televised; instead, it was given out a night early). This makes Thompson Square the third duo to win this award in the past 20 years. Sugarland and Brooks + Dunn are the only other two duos to take home this award during this period of time. The Eli Young Band took away their first award with Crazy Girl winning Song. Taylor Swift won the biggest award of the night, Entertainer of the Year, for the second year in a row.

That is pretty much all there is to report. I thought the ACM's were very dull this year. Reba and Blake as hosts just do not work for me. It is also getting very old to see the constant Blake and Miranda lovefest that is going on. The industry has made them out to be the new Tim and Faith, except that they aren't anywhere near the stars that Tim and Faith were in their prime.

Almost every single performance was flat. The sound issues seemed especially bad this year. Martina sounded the best out of everyone, but I just could not believe that the ACM's would actually let a live wedding take place on stage while a performance was going on. I am sorry, but I believe a wedding should be private with friends and family. It should not be showcased to the world. It just seemed very awkward, and it distracted from an amazing vocal by Martina. Pretty much every other performance had terrible sound issues. They need to have these sound issues resolved before the show airs.

I am tired of Lady Antebellum winning Vocal Group every single year. It is time for the Zac Brown Band to win. I don't know what they have to do to win. They have had 8 straight #1 hits, and have sold millions of records. In addition, Scotty McCreery winning New Artist was a joke. Brantley Gilbert has done so much more to win that award.

Despite all the negatives, there were a few positives. Despite my criticism of Lady Antebellum winning, they did deliver a solid performance of "Dancing Away With My Heart." Brantley Gilbert sounded good on "Country Must Be Country Wide." I especially loved Zac Brown Band's surprise performance of "Whiskey's Gone", an album track from their current album, You Get What You Give. Other than that, there wasn't much good about the show, and I usually love country music award shows. Maybe I'll wake up, and it'll all be an April Fool's joke?

University Of Kentucky + University Of Kansas To Meet In NCAA Championship

The #1 seed team Kentucky Wildcats will face #2 seed team Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA championship game, which will be held Monday night at about 9:20 ET. Kentucky faced a grueling semifinal game against #4 seed Louisville Cardinals Saturday night, but Kentucky ultimately won out with a score of 69-61. Lots of critics did not expect to see Louisville advance as far as they did. Louisville had to defeat teams in the west regional of the NCAA tournament located in Phoenix. The win over Michigan State was a large part of their advancement. However, even though they gave Kentucky a run for their money, they just were not enough to beat Kentucky. Kentucky is led by head coach John Calipari. The team includes superstar freshman Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

The Kansas Jayhawks had a tough game of their own against the Ohio State Buckeyes. They barely managed to squeak out a victory with a score of 64-62. At one point during the game, Kansas was even trailing 26-13. However, with the help of center Jeff Withley blocking seven shots and guard Travis Releford hitting four straight free-throw shots very late in the game, Kansas managed to pull out the victory. Kansas is led by head coach Bill Self.

I am not a really big college basketball fan; however, my sister and best friend absolutely love it. They both like Duke, but they got beat out earlier. They are both pulling for Kentucky, and they think that Kentucky will pull it out. Kentucky seems like a solid team, but then again, Kansas does too. It will definitely be an interesting game on Monday.

Paul Ryan's Plan For Cutting Federal Budget

On Thursday, The House of Representatives approved Paul Ryan’s proposed $3.5 trillion budget plan by a 228 to 191 vote. Paul Ryan is the House Budget Committee Chairman. Ryan’s plan calls for Medicaid to be privatized, and many federal programs, including food stamps, to be completely eliminated. Every single Democrat voted against this plan. All but 10 of the Republicans supported it.

The plan would cut spending by $5.3 trillion over the next 10 years. It would raise Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67, and Medicare would be eliminated for everyone under the age of 55. A portion of the savings will help to reduce our federal deficit, and part of them will provide tax breaks to the wealthy, which includes doing away with the estate tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax. In addition, the top income tax rate would be lowered from 35% to 25%. However, it is likely that the plan will make it past the Senate.

While I do think this seems a little drastic, I do think a change like this is needed. As I have said before, I do not know a lot about politics. However, we as Americans take way too much for granted, and we tend to think that the world owes us something. The world should not be taking care of you. Do not be a leach to society. Now, I understand that there are some people who need help, so I don’t think all federal programs should be done away with. However, I do think we have spent too much on these type of programs, so they should be decreased. Instead, we should be spending on coming up with jobs for the poor. Also, I believe the Medicare age eligibility being raised is an excellent idea. People are living longer nowadays. As people live longer, it only makes sense that the age eligibility for Medicare and Social Security be increased.

Jerry Lee Lewis "The Killer" Gets Hitched Yet Again

76-year-old rock star Jerry Lee Lewis, who is known as “The Killer” and has top hits like “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On” and “Great Balls of Fire”, marries for a seventh time in Natchez, Mississippi. Apparently, he was wed on March 9^th, but the news is just now getting around. On Friday, March 30^th, The Associated Press confirmed that Lewis had tied the knot yet again. The bride’s name is Judith Brown, and apparently, she was previously married to Lewis's cousin, Rusty. To make things more interesting, Rusty’s older sister, Myra Gale Brown, was married to Lewis herself in 1957 when she was only 13 years old. Judith Brown began working for Lewis a few years ago as his caretaker. She is 62 years old, which makes it a 14-year difference between the two.

I think there needs to be a limit on how many times a person can get married. I understand that divorces happen and spouses die, but to be married seven times in a single lifetime is crazy. When people are married that many times, it is obvious that they do not truly know the meaning of a marriage. Therefore, they should refrain from ever getting into one in the first place. Oh well. Good luck to Jerry Lee Lewis and Judith Brown. Hopefully, this will be Lewis’s last time getting married. How many more times could he possibly tie the knot? Maybe he should shoot for ten marriages! If he lives to be in his 90’s, that may very well happen.

Former President George H. W. Bush To Support Romney, But What About George W?

At an event that was held in Houston on Thursday, George H. W. Bush officially declared that he would be endorsing Republican Mitt Romney for the upcoming presidential election. This endorsement from the former president is another example of how the Republican Party is coming together to back Romney, which increases the pressure on challengers Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. H. W. Bush has provided encouraging words to Romney during the primary season, but he had never officially endorsed him. However, his wife, Barbara Bush, had officially supported Romney and had even recorded automated telephone calls for him during the Ohio primary. Their son, Jeb Bush, who is a former governor of Florida, officially endorsed him last week.

However, there are still no signs of endorsement from George W. Bush. Mitt Romney has claimed that he speaks to George W. Bush on occasion, but he has not yet met with him. The 43rd president, who currently resides in Dallas, has not attended a single one of Romney's Texas fundraisers. Both Republicans and Democrats alike both believe that Republicans would be best to not worry about having Bush’s backing. After all, he only has a Gallup approval rating of 34%. In addition, 45% of the voters believe that a lot of the blame is on his shoulders.

I have to say that I agree with what both sides are saying. I do feel bad for Bush because I don’t think he deserves all this blame. Sure, he wasn’t a great president, but people like to put blame on somebody. He just so happened to be in office when all this occurred. It is our fault for living beyond our means.