I hope to use my winnings to buy my Bentley. And a Porsche. And a Lotus And build a hot rod.
Gee…is that all…lol
You’re ALL wrong about the lottery. The lottery is just another tax on the poor.
You're ALL wrong about the lottery. The lottery is just another tax on the poor.
It’s a tax on the Mathematically challenged. Unfortunately many are poor.
A few years ago a young soldier, single and under 25, won a Lamborghini in a lottery. He soon learned that the insurance alone was $12,500 per year. So, he drove it around the block and sold it for around $200,000 and bought a new Toyota MR2. He invested the rest.
So, he drove it around the block and sold it for around $200,000 and bought a new Toyota MR2. He invested the rest.
I guess because he never registered he didn’t have to pay the income tax on the Lambo. Good thing…the tax would be more then the $200,000 he sold it for.
oldtimer 11: “State sponsored gambling is a tax on the mathematically illiterate.” I have been saying practically the same thing (“people who are bad at math”) since it started here in the mid 1980s. I am stealing your much more eloquent version. I am severely gambling luck challenged. With even odds I will typically lose 90% of the time. I was acquainted with a man who owned an automotive machine shop co-located with an automotive parts store who actually won the state megabucks. He walked to the nearby 7/11 to buy a soda. When paying for it he said he experienced a very strange overwhelming compulsion to buy lottery tickets. He had never bought a ticket and had to ask the clerk how it worked. He had $33 left after paying for his drink and purchased that many tickets. He won $3.6 million. Being a regular working guy he paid off his debts and created a scholarship at a local community college for their automotive technician program. He then continued operating his business for 20+ years until retiring a few years ago. The last time I bought a lottery ticket was when powerball was over $500 million. True to my “luck” my ticket did not have one number that was drawn. I think I will buy a ticket tomorrow just to see if I can repeat that.
Hey, the lottery is the only cheap thrill I have left and my only remaining vice!
People who mortgage their houses to buy more tickets because the pot got big are perhaps mathematically illiterate (at least they’ve never studied stat!) but for millions of us it’s just a cheap dream. Dreaming is downright healthy as long as you don’t get it confused with reality! :lol:
Won the lottery one night in my sleep ,pretty satisfying ,till I woke up . You really have no chance of winning the blasted thing ,instead take the money and start the $1 a week ,$2 next wk , deal at the end of 52 wks you have a nice chunk of change ,that actually doesnt seem to be that much of a burden on the average wage earner .
Naw, that’s no fun! The lottery is an entertainment expense. Perhaps the cheapest one you’ll ever find. The key is to NOT think it’s a retirement plan, or mortgage the house thinking you’re going to win, or buy a Bentley on credit because you think your “ship is about to come in”.
The lottery itself isn’t the problem. People who spend money they can’t afford on it are the same people who play the horses, or the dogs, or the one-armed bandits, or find other ways to gamble away everything they have. Eliminating the lottery would not stop these people from going broke. It would only prevent those like myself who like a cheap thrill once in a while from having one.
I’ve played dogs and one arm bandits. They’re fun, but I only bring in what I can afford to spend on an evening’s entertainment, and if that disappears I go to dinner. And I have absolutely zero interest in going to dog races or to a casino by myself. Done properly, it’s a fun night out with a ladyfriend or with friends. I don’t do it for the money, I do it for the fun. And if I should happen to win some money, all the better. Same with lottery tickets.
If perchance I SHOULD happen to win the lottery this weekend I’m going to take the liberty to say “naw-naw, na-na naw!” 
Then I’m going to buy my Bentley… et. al.
The Tennessee state lottery funds a scholarship program that provides every Tennessee college student with a B average, $1000/semester toward their tuition in a Tennessee State college. Immediately the tuition in all Tennessee State colleges went up by $1000/semester.
@B.L.E does the BD5 qualify for light sport or do you have to get a full-fledged PPL?
No it doesn’t qualify as a light sport, not with retractable landing gear and a 67 mph stall speed. Not to mention a max speed higher than 138 mph and in the case of the turboprop version, a variable pitch prop.
Here’s the requirements for “light sport” aircraft. A category of planes that are too big and fast to qualify as ultralights, but still slower and lighter than the typical general aviation airplane.
Max. Gross Takeoff Weight: 1,320 lbs (600 kg) or 1,430 lbs for seaplanes (650 kg)
Max. Stall Speed: 51 mph / 45 knots CAS
Max. Speed in Level Flight (at sea level at standard temperature):138 mph / 120 knots CAS
Seats: Two (max.)
Engines / Motors: One (max. if powered.)
Propeller: Fixed-pitch or ground adjustable
Cabin: Unpressurized
Fixed-pitch, semi-rigid, teetering, two-blade rotor system, if a gyroplane.
Landing Gear: Fixed (except for seaplanes and gliders)
At a local air show some years back the Coors Silver Bullet put on a performance and it was pretty neat to see that thing zip by in a blur at low altitude.
That being said, there’s no stunt pilots I like to watch more than Sean Tucker and now retired Bob Hoover. Those guys are artists in the air.
Digressing again but I could point out that it’s wheels on asphalt…
Dreaming is downright healthy as long as you don't get it confused with reality
People who buy one ticket every now and then…that’s just fun for them…the ones that actually think the only way they can get ahead in life and spend $20/week on lottery tickets are just plain stupid. 99.999999999% of them would be better off if they put that $20 in a savings account every week.
I thought Minnesota was pretty clean but there is a current cloud over the director right now and what he was up to. A lot of money in it and pretty tempting to tamper with.
Illinois though is another case. One of a handful of states that is really in terrible terrible financial shape. A deficit of billions and no budget yet because of politics. So they need to defer paying lottery winners if its over something like $600 due to no budget being passed, last I heard. The thing is if you are running a deficit you have stop and plug the holes at some point and they just don’t seem to be able to do it.
Lets hear it for the Vols ! .
@MikeInNH Years ago my wife won a car by buying a 50 cent lottery ticket. The car had a stick she could not master, so she sold the car. But she has been buying lottery tickets ever since. It’s all for a good cause, but the money is not tax deductible.
The last thing we won was a luxury weekend in the presidential suite at a 4 Seasons Hotel, all inclusive. Not hard to take; even the champagne was very good. The whirlpool bath was big enough for 4, but I digress!
“The Tennessee state lottery funds a scholarship program that provides every Tennessee college student with a B average, $1000/semester toward their tuition in a Tennessee State college. Immediately the tuition in all Tennessee State colleges went up by $1000/semester.”
That’s a shocker…not. Just like when the government started giving huge loans to college bound students, loans they couldn’t afford, tuition has been skyrocketing ever since. Universities look like the Taj Mahal and professors make huge salaries while assistants teach the classes.
CSA
Universities look like the Taj Mahal and professors make huge salaries while assistants teach the classes.
I suggest you do some research before you make statements like that. MOST college teachers/professors are part-time. On average 70% of your professors are part time…and you can NOT make a living on that salary. The average salary is $31k with ZERO benefits. You can get more pay/benefits working at Home Depot.
The very top pay of full time professors for some fields like Engineering and Computer Science is usually LOWER then the private sector…in many cases much lower. The top elite colleges (Ivy League, MIT, Duke…etc)…the engineering and CS professors also do a lot of research and get research grants for added income. These grants are from outside sources (aka private sector).
As for assistants teaching classes…that’s true for your 100 classes (Freshman)…but once you get into the 200 and up…it’s a professor. And trust me…many assistants are much better teachers then the full-time Professors.
College has become the socially acceptable place for semi affluent families to keep their semi adult children housed and occupied during the economic downturn. It would be socially devastating to have a 20 year old living at home while working part time at McD’s.