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Winning the Lottery
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/02/2010 12:55:01

Good Morning.

Depressions and Recessions can sure make people do silly things. I don't know if there's any stats about it, but it's not hard to imagine a few more people huddled around the slots or the craps tables at Foxwoods, Atlantic City, or Las Vegas...hoping against hope for that big payoff.

Or maybe there's been a little uptick in the government supported gambling that most of us call 'the lottery'. I don't know if it's good or bad, but we have a local candidate for governor (Tim Cahill, I-MA) that's running primarily on his record in running "the best managed and most profitable state lottery in the country.

But is it a good idea to hope for that one big payoff?

I know what I'd do. To quote a phrase, "I've got a lot of old debts I've got to pay off with this stuff." (Yes, bonus points. Be specific.) We could use some new cars, a house would be nice, and with a big enough payoff we could travel again and maybe I could even go to flight school.

But that's all an untoward fantasy, methinks. Just pulling something out of my arse, have you noticed that no Powerball winner has come from east of the Mississippi river? What's up with that?

Of course, the whole game is rigged. More than a decade ago, one of my friends was able to cobble together $500 and he bought an unopened book of scratch tickets from his uncle, who happened to be a lottery agent. After spending the afternoon scratching away...he didn't even break even.



This Commonwealth has been arguing about legalizing casinos for more than two years now. So far, there has not been any motion made towards passing the legislation, and in fact the state has made greyhound racing illegal. One dog track has already closed..although I don't know the fate of the other at this time.

Relying on chance to prop up the economy is a bad idea all around, methinks. But you can't tell a politician that; all they see is money coming in to the state on the backs of the downtrodden, and maybe a few hundred minimum-wage service jobs to keep the casino afloat.

Casino opponents always point to the social aspects. For once, perhaps these "NIMBYs" might be onto something. Casinos bring increased traffic and pressure on local services, and an uptick in local crime rates. Not to mention attracting the low end of society looking for that big break, or just there to try to take advantage.

While we all look at that lottery win as a 'dream come true', would we really be ready for what that would bring to our lives? I leave you with a cautionary tale from Portsmouth, NH. Our lottery winner didn't put that money up her nose....but she sure came close.


PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- A New Hampshire woman who won recently won $100,000 in a state lottery game has been charged with attempting to buy 100 OxyContin pills.

Police say 51-year-old Paula Cahill, of Portsmouth, was caught in an undercover sting Wednesday and is charged with felony drug possession.

Cahill won $100,000 on July 12 while playing an instant scratch game.
Capt. Corey MacDonald tells the Portsmouth Herald that Cahill met with undercover officers and attempted to buy the pills, offering $5,500.

She was arraigned Thursday in Portsmouth District Court, where a judge set bail at $25,000.


I don't suppose there's much harm in playing every now and again for a few minutes of entertainment....and a trip to Vegas can be a welcome break from the tedium of our daily lives. But I can also tell when folks around here have received their checks for the week. Try standing in line to buy a tank of gas behind a half dozen people buying cigarettes and scratch tickets. It's sad to watch.



 

2 comments (Latest Comment: 10/03/2010 14:28:15 by velveeta jones)
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