With a certain search engine on the net you'll find this gem of a story in which the usual suspect wins a very special $5000 lottery.

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gogreen61
January 3, 2010 at 9:34 a.m.
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"Thr beginning of my faith in a god.
I was in a situation many years ago. Everyone I thought I could count on would not help me.
I prayed to god to help me. I promised god if he got me out of this mess I would drink TEA and not drink alcohol anymore. I needed $5000.00 and I was 17 at the time. Here is JUST ONE of the things that changed my thinking.
A friend of my sisters who had a lot of money, Was very grinch like, He would reuse foil for potatoes when he cooked them, If you left a light on in the house you all ate soup for supper,(Honest) Plus he drank heaviley.
He of all people came with the money.
On our way home he pulled out a coffee container of iced tea. He said he didn't know why but had a strong urge to drink tea tonight.
I was 17 He had to know he would not get his money back. What are the odds of this event taking place?
And now during these hard times I put my direction in the hands of god. To direct my path. To help me make the right decision. And so far I am beating this depression.
The worst of which is yet to come.
God answers everyones prayers who hanestly believe in him. But sometimes his answer is NO.
Science is good but whenever scientist create something that is good for mankind, Mankind in return makes a weapon out of it.
That is all I have to say for now."

TheUsualSuspect
Oct 22, 2012 at 1:58 p.m.
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.......I would rather be unhappy with 700gs than be unhappy without it........

The volumes it speaks is that I don't want to come down to your level. I evaluate your comments by how much or how little sense they make. The fact that you had a very serious problem back when you were seventeen (as you admitted on this site) makes it very easy for someone to drag your upbringing into this issue -possibly lots of anger and communication problems. Your Oprah Nation/Gerry Springer obsession with trying to trash someone by trashing their family also backfires on you. Why that focus? Again, that's your level, not mine.

As I said before, it doesn't matter if you buy lottery tickets or not, your defense of purchasing lottery tickets makes you vulnerable to criticism for supporting the lottery system. You've done the same thing on previous issues. You like to pretend and/or you like to deny a previously made position. Making every thing murky deceives you into thinking that the opposition hasn't dissembled your "reasoning."

Read this to understand that when you try to play games with what you mean, you're not fooling anyone but yourself:
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TheUsualSuspect
Oct 22, 2012 at 1:58 p.m.
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Everyone has high hopes of hitting the lottery.....But even I would rather be unhappy with 700gs than be unhappy without it........The high one gets from maybe winning the lotto is fun for a moment. then the big let down when you lose. But if I won, I can guarantee you I would be more happy for a long long time than if I had not won. My houses would be paid for and that alone would keep me happy for at least the next 20 years.
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Again, even if you don't buy lottery tickets, the above makes obvious that you depend on clouding an issue for your "benefit."

And note that I didn't trash the winner's family.

And if I get trashed on this site, it's because the trasher feels insulted by having their thinking exposed as faulty. Check your various usernames for how you trash others.

As for who is or isn't supporting me, most commentary on this site is solo. And, who is supporting you? Oh, yeah, I almost forget. You supported yourself when TheUsualSuspect said: "looks like temple is the winner" That's quite a team you (two) make. Now you can tap dance around the fact that you two are one and the same but, by your own criteria for not originally denying it, you supplied more proof that you two are one and the same.

And again with Oprah Nation/Gerry Springer comments. It's a common practice for people in AA to blame their problems on their upbringing. Some of them never rise above that mentality. It's the only explanation that's real to them.

What would happen if you attempted to relate to the story and lottery tickets? Would it be to difficult for you to have anything to say? Like when you last commented as TempleOfGod on that other story?

Well, I've been kind about holding back on this one:

The usual suspect went into the temple of god to buy lottery tickets.

We are rounding up the usual suspects...
(This expresses no particular viewpoint; it just begged to be said)

LOL, RUSerious. It's not only a dead horse that's been beaten, it's also one person with five usernames.

Hello gentlemen, I'm from the animal protection league. I've heard there is a dead horse being beaten here. Is there any truth to that?
Wait....you have the right to remain silent.
;-)

TheUsualSuspect
Oct 22, 2012 at 1:58 p.m.
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Everyone has high hopes of hitting the lottery.....But even I would rather be unhappy with 700gs than be unhappy without it........The high one gets from maybe winning the lotto is fun for a moment. then the big let down when you lose. But if I won, I can guarantee you I would be more happy for a long long time than if I had not won. My houses would be paid for and that alone would keep me happy for at least the next 20 years.

Once again I brought you out. What you are and why you are that way (how many times were you threatened way back then?) are clearly stated in all the comments below. Like the chronic lottery ticket purchaser, no matter how much you attempt to hide from real life and what you are, you once again lose.

I'm done reading the static, deadhead, repetitive products of your self-abused brain circuitry. When ever I see the number increase I'll only re-post past commentary. Like the one above. Repetition, in your case, might aid the comprehension problem.

Expect a call from Gerry Springer.

And, hey you two (or the five of you), did you hear the one about when Sybil went to buy a bunch of lottery tickets?

She had to get in line 5 times.

The volumes it speaks is that I don't want to come down to your level. I evaluate your comments by how much or how little sense they make. The fact that you had a very serious problem back when you were seventeen (as you admitted on this site) makes it very easy for someone to drag your upbringing into this issue -possibly lots of anger and communication problems. Your Oprah Nation/Gerry Springer obsession with trying to trash someone by trashing their family also backfires on you. Why that focus? Again, that's your level, not mine.

As I said before, it doesn't matter if you buy lottery tickets or not, your defense of purchasing lottery tickets makes you vulnerable to criticism for supporting the lottery system. You've done the same thing on previous issues. You like to pretend and/or you like to deny a previously made position. Making every thing murky deceives you into thinking that the opposition hasn't dissembled your "reasoning."

Read this to understand that when you try to play games with what you mean, you're not fooling anyone but yourself:
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TheUsualSuspect
Oct 22, 2012 at 1:58 p.m.
Suggest removal

Everyone has high hopes of hitting the lottery.....But even I would rather be unhappy with 700gs than be unhappy without it........The high one gets from maybe winning the lotto is fun for a moment. then the big let down when you lose. But if I won, I can guarantee you I would be more happy for a long long time than if I had not won. My houses would be paid for and that alone would keep me happy for at least the next 20 years.
************
Again, even if you don't buy lottery tickets, the above makes obvious that you depend on clouding an issue for your "benefit."

And note that I didn't trash the winner's family.

And if I get trashed on this site, it's because the trasher feels insulted by having their thinking exposed as faulty. Check your various usernames for how you trash others.

As for who is or isn't supporting me, most commentary on this site is solo. And, who is supporting you? Oh, yeah, I almost forget. You supported yourself when TheUsualSuspect said: "looks like temple is the winner" That's quite a team you (two) make. Now you can tap dance around the fact that you two are one and the same but, by your own criteria for not originally denying it, you supplied more proof that you two are one and the same.

And again with Oprah Nation/Gerry Springer comments. It's a common practice for people in AA to blame their problems on their upbringing. Some of them never rise above that mentality. It's the only explanation that's real to them.

What would happen if you attempted to relate to the story and lottery tickets? Would it be to difficult for you to have anything to say? Like when you last commented as TempleOfGod on that other story?

And why would you open the door for bringing your family into this discussion? Is that effort related to your need to blame opposing viewpoints on child abuse?

When people attempt to insult someone by saying that they were victims of child abuse, they reveal that they derive pleasure from the idea of child abuse. You might want to think about that.

This discussion is about the lottery.

Being non-committal on whether you buy lottery tickets is a ruse to take attention away from the fact that you've stopped defending the purchase of them. Why have you stopped?

The pattern of your multi-usernames persists. When the opposition clarifies the issue, you dissemble. Your original claims and "reasoning" no longer holds. That's why you bailed out of the other issue with this:

"All I was doing was entertaining an experiment.
Do some people with an over abundance of self esteem need to always have the last word no matter how meaningless the conversation.
The answer is yes. They always do. Don't they?"

By the way, your past track record of winning should compel you to buy lottery tickets:

"looks like temple wins"

What aren't you commenting in defense of the lottery?

Someone on the site told me about it. What's your real world explanation and your lottery related explanation for why you would use another pretend name to pretend you are your own friend. Since you're not burdened with the ability to read and to comprehend, just state off the top of your head why you did that.

I'll make it shorter:

Why did you use another pretend name to pretend that you are your own friend?

And, do you see any relation between why you would pretend to be your own friend and why you buy lottery tickets?

Speaking of your research (i.e. traumatic memory), how did you manage to miss this gold in your search for lottery information? (One of your online friends pointed it out.)

TheUsualSuspect
Apr 13, 2012 at 7:27 a.m.
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Looks like temple won.

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TempleofGod
Apr 6, 2012 at 4:14 p.m.
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Allowing is as guilty as doing. Why arent you protesting in front of abortion clinics?
You would rather protest against people who believe in a god. The god who you say allows killing the same as you do.
Thats a big LOL isnt it?

More Oprah Nation projection. Look up the word projection as a psychological defense mechanism. Your chronic theme of child abuse needs examination. Is that how you acquired the unhealthy dream of wanting money from people who can least afford to give it up?

And anyone with any sense can figure out that paranoia compels the purchase of lottery tickets. Need to be rescued because everything and everyone is out to get you.

You were supposed google a counter to this:

"Within the entire range of all the good and bad things that can happen to a person, there is a wide range of good and bad things that when they happen to a person he or she will be psychologically right back where they were before the event in six months.

Kara's regression to the mean started as soon as she began anguishing over the fact that she missed sharing in the 201 million dollar pot by one number. Then add to that the realization that her "million dollars" will be at least $300,000 short due to taxes.

"In six months she will psychologically be back where she was the day before she won. She will be plagued with the fact that no matter how good things are in her life beyond the wish for more money, she will be anguishing for more money."

I know enough about people to know that some of them need to dream about winning the lottery in order to feel like someone.

What happened when you googled for help with your support of purchasing lottery tickets?

What would your psychological approach say about your government inspired fantasy about acquiring a lot of money, that you didn't earn, so that very same government agency could use you to promote the sales of millions and millions of more losing tickets to be purchased by millions of people who share your fantasy?

And what of the loser revenue used to support the schools that produce the lottery ticket purchasers who just can't do the math? How's that all play out for you?

When you answer, try to avoid the attempt to get even with all the people who ever bested you. Seriously, stay on the lottery topic.

Why nothing to say about the lottery? Concentration problem?

Are you aware that you said this about me?:

"...some people with an over abundance of self esteem..."

Why did you take a new username?

Say more bad stuff about people who are educated beyond your ability to think clearly and are willing to acquire more knowledge than you can handle.

Where's the good stuff you were looking for when you googled the lottery?

Consider how buying lottery tickets is evidence of a vapid sense of self. Get someone to clarify what I clearly wrote that you find too hard too understand due to TV hypnosis.

Do you know that your self-defeating trope is evidence of your citizenry in Oprah Nation?

What would happen if you concentrated on the subject of purchasing lottery tickets?

What would happen if you responded to comments relevant to the lottery story above, instead of typing Oprah Nation inspired comments?

What is it about the lottery that forced you to say this?:

"All I was doing was entertaining an experiment.
Do some people with an over abundance of self esteem need to always have the last word no matter how meaningless the conversation.
The answer is yes. They always do. Don't they?"

It's proof that you're not taking responsibility for what you are -your comments prior to that statement are what you are. Interest in the lottery is evidence that the ticket purchaser is so miserable that they feel the only way out of that misery is to be rich. The purchaser wants to mimic what he fantasizes about the rich. It's as though he doesn't exist or that he barely exists; and he needs to live someone else's life in order to feel alive. Evidence of chronic TV hypnosis.

And TUS, knocking people who educate themselves looks very very bad. It's the big give-away. I'm almost embarrassed for you.

I'm allowing you to continue to say what you're saying for the chance that eventually you'll truly realize what it means for you. It's a better chance than winning the lottery.

US, what about the lottery: Can't believe you actually pasted this:

"Yes, Kara, thanks for participating in taxation on the stupid.
Only paranoids buy lottery tickets:
They buy the tickets because they need to be rescued. Why do they need to be rescued? Because everything is against them. Paranoia."

What happened when you googled around to find something that supports your defense of purchasing lottery tickets?

What would your psychological approach be for someone who changes a pretend name when he gets buried under his own commentary only to do the very same thing with his new pretend name?

I'm really interested in your thoughts about the lottery. But you're all over the place.

What happened when you googled around to find something that supports your defense of purchasing lottery tickets?

Did you actually paste this?:

"Yes, Kara, thanks for participating in taxation on the stupid.
Only paranoids buy lottery tickets:
They buy the tickets because they need to be rescued. Why do they need to be rescued? Because everything is against them. Paranoia."

Wow, it looks like someone's been scratching a lot of losing lottery numbers lately. ;~)

What would your psychological approach be for someone who changes a pretend name when he gets buried under his own commentary only to do the very same thing with his new pretend name?

Are there any stats re: the matter of lottery winners helping the thousands of children and babies who die each day?

Here's an important change. What would your psychological approach say about your government inspired fantasy about acquiring a lot of money, that you didn't earn, so that very same government agency could use you to promote the sales of millions and millions of more losing tickets to be purchased by millions of people who share your fantasy?

Really think about why you buy lottery tickets. And how you would feel about yourself if you got your hands on a big bundle of unearned money. You would feel as though you were entitled to that money more than the thousands of children and babies who die each day from starvation and dirty water are entitled to your "god's" mercy.

Magical thinking to soothe the need to be rescued. An immense sense of entitlement. That's a good place to be. Right?

To get a view of what you need to be rescued from, click on your name and look at the list of your most recent posts. Then come back and write something about the lottery.

What would your psychological approach say about your government inspired fantasy about acquiring a lot of money, that you didn't earn, so that very same government agency could use you to promote the sales of millions and millions of more losing tickets to be purchased by millions of people who share your fantasy?

US, thanks for letting me know that you don't have the wherewithal to form your emotionality into you own words. Instead, you had to google for someone else's words, which is very templeofgodian of you. Accordingly, I didn't read the rest of "your" comment.

The topic, as it relates to the story above, is the purchase of lottery tickets.

Again with your weird need to feel bullied. The overwhelm you feel from my on the mark comments is the same overwhelm that causes you to buy lottery tickets. Are you any relation to templeofgod? LOL ;~) (That said, let me know if you want to talk about how buying lottery tickets is a subset or form of religiosity. Hint: Magical Thinking.

What would your psychological approach say about your government inspired fantasy about acquiring a lot of money, that you didn't earn, so that very same government agency could use you to promote the sales of millions and millions of more losing tickets to be purchased by millions of people who share your fantasy?

Yes, RuSerious, re: your first sentence, I was kidding.

And, you are correct re: the appearance that the loyal opposition and I are responding to each others ancillary comments. But, you should note that I keep trying to bring it back to the subject of the story: The sad need for the fantasy about acquiring unearned money and the participation in the perpetuation of that fantasy.

First of all, Gfan, you're kidding with this line, right? "Ok, under strict orders from RUserious no one is allowed to comment on this story anymore." All I did was ask "Are you two still at it? You can't just agree...?"
If it was an order, it didn't have much impact, even on myself, especially when I saw that line. At least you know I read comments all the way to the end.
But (in my OPINION) you each had a line that should be studied by anyone contributing to these comments:
TheUsualSuspect: "Your opinion would have a better impact if it were not intermingled with your sarcastic and rude overtones."
gazettefan: "Are you actually unaware that you are typing a lot of words for the purpose of telling someone that they shouldn't state their opinion?"
But-and I'm being serious (for myself as well), by the time we get around to countering another's last statement it seems we no longer think we are stating our opinion but that we are setting them straight with indisputable facts that they hadn't known before so it's our duty to enlighten them, and they certainly shouldn't disagree. (Don't you agree?)

Look up the word "sarcastic."

And because you're into repitition, enjoy this:

What would your psychological approach say about your government inspired fantasy about acquiring a lot of money, that you didn't earn, so that very same government agency could use you to promote the sales of millions and millions of more losing tickets to be purchased by millions of people who share your fantasy?

Are you actually unaware that you are typing a lot of words for the purpose of telling someone that they shouldn't state their opinion?

So when you can't effectively deal with the particulars of someone's opinion, you denounce the fact that the opinion was even stated, right?

Your first two sentences especially reveal that you're stuck in non-productive thinking.

The rest of your post reveals the same thing. I've already addressed all your comments and questions that you re-stated in that post. Especially the one about what the winner(s) think. Your repetition on this matter mirrors your empty-of-clear-thinking-practice of purchasing lottery tickets.

Here's one of my comments that should help you understand what I've said in this post and my other posts:

What would your psychological approach say about your government inspired fantasy about acquiring a lot of money, that you didn't earn, so that very same government agency could use you to promote the sales of millions and millions of more losing tickets to be purchased by millions of people who share your fantasy?

UsualSuspect, how in the world could I come to the conclusion that you buy lottery tickets after you wrote this?:
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TheUsualSuspect
Oct 22, 2012 at 1:58 p.m.
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Everyone has high hopes of hitting the lottery.
And no good feeling lasts forever. But even I would rather be unhappy with 700gs than be unhappy without it.
Life is what you make of it. You can "try" to be happy all the time or you can be miserable all the time. The high one gets from maybe winning the lotto is fun for a moment. then the big let down when you lose. But if I won, I can guarantee you I would be more happy for a long long time than if I had not won. My houses would be paid for and that alone would keep me happy for at least the next 20 years.
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Since when is it not permissible to make assumptions? What's the point of your not admitting to buying lottery tickets? And what's wrong with me strongly stating my opinion, including the educated opinion, that buying lottery tickets reveals bad thinking?

And why are you asking me why I'm stating my opinion on this matter? My opinion on this matter serves the purpose of stating the explanation. Read my comments for the answer to your question.

And why don't you make a distinction between good research and bad research?

Ok, under strict orders from RUserious no one is allowed to comment on this story anymore.

Are you two still at it? You can't just agree that overdoing or obsessing about any one thing (buying lottery tickets, gambling of any kind, eating, drinking, continuing to debate this subject without hope of agreeing), and many other actions including things usually considered normal when done in acceptable (who gets to decide?) amounts, is what might make that thing a less than desirable act?
Before you point it out to me, I realize I'm adding to it right now. I equate it to occasionally buying a lottery ticket because they're there.

Your obsession with low self esteem only proves that you are an unwitting citizen of Oprah Nation.

As far as how intelligent I feel, the great majority of gambling, including the purchase of lottery tickets, is done the most by people who can afford it the least. Such behavior reveals cognitive impairment. So, yes I do feel smarter than people who buy lottery tickets, and especially those who defend the purchase of lottery tickets. But, no I don't feel more intelligent than everyone else (or whatever it is you're trying to say). And your insistence that I am trying to claim that kind of superiority only reveals that you feel that you're being bullied. Which you are not, you only feel that way because you're engaging in a debate that may be beyond your ability to discuss a very simple issue that is not as messy as you're trying to make it. That messiness is another attempt at camouflage.

And if you are now, after all this time, claiming that you don't buy lottery tickets, state why you don't.

Mimicry of an opponent is a desperate attempt to camouflage and blend in, a sort of ploy to avoid detection. In this case it's also an attempt at misdirection from staying relevant to the story above, which is addressed by the paragraph below:

What would your psychological approach say about your fantasy about acquiring a lot of money, that you didn't earn, so that a government agency could use you to promote the sales of millions and millions of more losing tickets to be purchased by millions of people who think like you do?

What would you conclude about your self esteem if you applied your googleized psychology to your need to buy lottery tickets?

What would that psychological approach say about your fantasy about acquiring a lot of money, that you didn't earn, so that a government agency could use you to promote the sales of millions and millions of more losing tickets to be purchased by millions of people who think like you do?

Concentrate on responding to this sentence from my last post:

"But in this particular matter, you happen to be the one who has something to learn."

Emphasis on "particular." Stop being all over the place.

Your most recent comment answers that question. It's good for people to have others to look up to.

We each feel we have something to teach the other. But in this particular matter, you happen to be the one who has something to learn.

My point is stated in my comment just below your most recent one. It's no coincidence that you buy lottery tickets and can't understand plain English.

"There may be a few people who win the lottery who will be a little happier. These are the ones with IQs above 100. The problem is: The great majority of lottery ticket purchasers are of less than average intelligence. This lack of intelligence is what compels them to buy lottery tickets: Can't do the math, and negative values."

There may be a few people who win the lottery who will be a little happier. These are the ones with IQs above 100. The problem is: The great majority of lottery ticket purchasers are of less than average intelligence. This lack of intelligence is what compels them to buy lottery tickets: Can't do the math, and negative values.

In six months she will psychologically be where she was just before she found out she won.

I'm sure the nice lady will enjoy her winnings despite what some know-it-all in Janesville Wi. thinks.

OK, then I'll expect a gift card from you this Xmas instead of a damn worthless lottery ticket!!!!! ;~)

Ashamed? Please tell me you're not serious. Or was that an editorial ""you" (should be ashamed)..."?
In any case, I would be ashamed if I were that person I mentioned who gambles on the house or the pay check, but not on my yearly gum allotment. I would no more stake my fulfillment on a lottery ticket than I would on my annual new years drink or even a week's vacation in an exotic locale. They would not define my happiness or my satisfaction with life (though I could be pretty happy on that vacation, and would certainly be temporarily let down when I returned).
But, yes, there are some who could have that psychological need for (how could it be described?) instant or constant gratification or high similar to a huge lottery win, alcohol, drugs, internet use, tv watching, even sex, and, as you say, would be be back to a low point in very short order when not partaking (or at the high point) of their particular "vice". But I believe those people are the exception.
I think you are classifying anyone who has ever purchased a lottery ticket as having a dependency.
By the way, I didn't intend to suggest that you thought the lady would misuse her winnings, just that she was flawed for having purchased the ticket in the first place.
For the record, I DO give gift cards very often. The lottery tickets I've given are for a rare and specific reasons beyond reasonable explanations to someone who doesn't know me, and to my knowledge have caused nothing bad nor anything fantastic to happen.

If a lottery system could get away without having winners, it would. The winners are paid endorsers of the purchase of millions and millions of losing tickets.

It was positive whether or not you continue to buy lottery tickets. Telling you to lose the habit is a positive thing.

RUserious, I didn't forget about your post. No matter how little importance you claim the dream is to your fulfillment, you should be ashamed of having that dream at all. The "degree" you should be concerned about is the degree that compels you to buy the ticket. The purchase is the indicator of the degree. The purchase also indicates personality/character.

I didn't specify that the lady would misuse the money. My comment didn't pass that kind of judgement because even if she handles that money well, in six months she will psychologically be back where she was just before she won.

From now on, give gift cards instead of lottery tickets. Then everyone wins, and gets to buy something. (Include are written caveat that the money is not to be used to buy lottery tickets.)

The good that the lottery does: That revenue goes to the schools. The schools produce the buyers of the tickets. You know, the people with the math problem that I mentioned to the other commentator.

No, everyone doesn't have high hopes of hitting the lottery. Only the ones who buy the tickets do. The rest of us know that all but a very very tiny of fraction of one percent of the tickets sold produces a winner. We can do the math. The odds of hitting the big lottery are greater than being stuck by lightning. Accordingly, if you think you have a chance of hitting the big lottery, you should wear a lightning rod on your head whenever there's lighting.

We non purchasers also understand that the lottery system is only selling a dream. And that system's market depends on millions of people who not only can't do the math but are so disconnected from what is truly valuable in life that simple arithmetic eludes them.

The high and low you speak of parallels the addiction to pornography.

And your comment implicitly indicates that the high you get from the lottery dream is all you really have.

You wrongly say that all my comments are negative. Here's something very positive I'm going to say to you:

You will never never never ever hit the big lottery. Never. Save your money and get some interests that take the place of buying a dream that indicate disconnection.

You contradicted yourself with your first sentence of your last comnent and your ealier comment.

And, yes, I stated some opinions on the matter of buying lottery tickets and what the lottery reveals about people. Try responding to what I said point for point.

Also, I do say some positive things on this site. You may have me confused with yourself. Look at your own comments. Then look up the word "projection" in the sense of psychological defense mechanism.

And honestly state what goes through your mind when you buy lottery tickests so we can compare those thoughts with what I said.

And, TheUsualSuspect, if getting $700,000 of unearned money is supposed to make someone so happy, how can a few comments so easily undo that happiness? Think about it.

TheUsualSuspect, what I said is based on research and not hate. Do some research on happiness. And think about the desperate fantasy that goes through you head, or anyone's head, when you buy lottery tickets.

And also think about how ignorant and hostile your comment is. It's the same kind of desperation.

Gfan: "my sense of fulfillment in this life doesn't depend on the sad desperation intrinsic to that mentality."
Actually, Gfan, I agree with you on the subject of lottery tickets to some degree. The degree depends on the personality of any given ticket buyer. You must know that "sense of fulfillment" doesn't always come into play when an individual purchases a ticket.
The lady in this story could make the best use possible of the money (share it, invest it-that itself being a gamble-use it for education to lay a solid groundwork for the rest of her life...) or these winnings could actually ruin her life. Well, not the money itself, but depending on her character, it could set things in motion that could cause HER to ruin her own life. We've all read those stories.
Does the revenue brought by the lottery do any good. I think it was supposed to start out that way. Does it, though? I don't know-never researched it.
Myself, I've bought tickets to make change when I needed small bills (no, really) and have "won a few, lost a few". The most I've ever won was about $80 since the lottery came to Wisconsin. And whether tthompson was serious or not, I've actually included tickets in some silly cards to friends in the past, one of whom won $40 and another who won around $700 (Remember early on in Wisconsin when you could win the chance to be on the lottery show or have someone be appointed to play in your place?). Mostly though, I never hear, so either they won and didn't want to feel obligated to share, or most likely didn't win even a buck. What do I spend annually on tickets? Maybe $20. If I win anything, it's usually $1, and no, I'm sure I haven't broke even. But seems like I've heard of people mortgaging their homes (or using an entire paycheck) on the chance to win a big powerball jackpot.
So that's why I tossed a friendly jibe your way about "outlook on life"...it was from my perspective. But as far as the lottery and what it can do to people's lives...if only we had the power to influence people who might ruin their lives because of it (either from winning or losing). My thought is that those people in danger of that would be in endangered by something else if there were no lottery. We can't protect them from everything. Not that we can't be there to help when we can, but probably not in totally rewiring the thought processes of with those who we might consider "weak".

RUserious, thank you for pointing out that your comment wasn't hostile and psychotic.

What my comments on this story reveal about me is how I feel about the lottery and the mentality that supports it -and that my sense of fulfillment in this life doesn't depend on the sad desperation intrinsic to that mentality. Maybe that will become clear to you if read my comments again.

After which, you are you welcome to kindly comment more directly on the actual content of my comments.

Then when you're done with that, you can comment on why you didn't directly respond to the content of my comments in the first place -including a short explanation as to why your original comment required a parenthetical bailout. ;~)

Gfan, do we see your outlook on life laid out here in five (or was it 6?) easy pieces?
(Keep in mind, this was only a friendly poke)

Within the entire range of all the good and bad things that can happen to a person, there is a wide range of good and bad things that when they happen to a person he or she will be psychologically right back where they were before the event in six months.

Kara's regression to the mean started as soon as she began anguishing over the fact that she missed sharing in the 201 million dollar pot by one number. Then add to that the realization that her "million dollars" will be at least $300,000 short due to taxes.

In six months she will psychologically be back where she was the day before she won. She will be plagued with the fact that no matter how good things are in her life beyond the wish for more money, she will be anguishing for more money.

Congrats on the nice windfall ! spend it wisely and have fun !

If Kara is a winner, she is only a winner in own mind. What she is to the rest of the world is an instant celebrity who is being paid to promote the purchase of millions and millions of more losing lottery tickets.

Actually the purchase of lottery tickets is a mockery of cultural Darwinism. The effort behind the purchase is an ersatz version of blind variation. Unfortunately for the purchaser, the culture of the lottery system includes mathematical odds that make the purchase pure folly. So, contrary to what the purchaser is attempting, he or she highlights the fact that not all variations, including ersatz ones, benefit a species on a small scale. especially on a scale as small as the individual.

tim, I include miniature xrays of my arthritic L4 fracture and ask for donations for surgery. I do better than the great majority of lottery ticket purchasers. ;~)

I.D. s are sooooooo silly ! If ID's were required for Voting how could the democrats ever get any of their candidates elected?

where is wiselady? i miss her comments.

F'dup fails to realize that winning the lottery is NOT a right guaranteed by the Constitution.

gfan that's a bit harsh. what do you put in your birthday cards to friends you feel obligated to buy something for??:)

thinkaboutit, yep. It's less or more difficult depending on the state you live in.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljaco...

Only paranoids buy lottery tickets:

They buy the tickets because they need to be rescued. Why do they need to be rescued? Because everything is against them. Paranoia.

She's a long lost relative of mine.

Yes, Kara, thanks for participating in taxation on the stupid.

I used to work with Kara, Congrats!!! Couldn't have happened to a greater person!

thinkaboutit: yes in some states, but not Wisconsin. As far as I am aware.

Are you able to claim a large lottery prize w/o your identity being revealed to the public?

If I won the lottery and the local newspaper printed it and told everyone i'd buy the newspaper business and burn the place down. Seems dumb to have an article on this...unless she ran it.

"Bet" she won't be shopping at outlet malls anymore...lol

Way to go.. Congrats