Re: What would make you believe?

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 23:24:42 -0600, Michael Ash <mike@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>John Schilling <schillin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> If I *win*, I'm going to have to put a whole lot of thought into what
>> comes next.  The lottery people can live with the suspense (this is the
>> sort of purchase I'd normally make with cash, and I'd make certain of
>> it this time).

>Keep in mind that winning the lottery is, more or less by definition, not

>so unusual that it means something. *Somebody* wins these things, and I 
>bet there are a lot of winners whose inspiration was weirder than having
a 
>crazy person show up at their door in the morning spouting the numbers.

It's not the wierdness that matters, it's the danger.  Anything that 
produces advance knowledge of actual winning lottery numbers, should
be presumed dangerous unless proven otherwise.  The harmless wierdos
will be giving out *losing* numbers, and we've already moved beyond
that sub-scenario here.

If it actually is a winning ticket, the most likely scenario is that
it's part of someone else's lottery-rigging scheme - maybe a field test,
to see if the normal post-win scrutiny actually will reveal the clever
hack in the system.


>This would also make me very cautious about collecting or using my 
>winnings, since they would effectively be ill-gotten. Some consideration 
>might need to be given as to the most effective way to ensure that nobody

>finds out I even bought a ticket.

Precisely.  Pay cash, don't go to a store where you'll be recognized,
and if you win, first thing you do is hire a lawyer.


-- 
*John Schilling                    * "Anything worth doing,         *
*Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP       *  is worth doing for money"     *
*Chief Scientist & General Partner *    -13th Rule of Acquisition   *
*White Elephant Research, LLC      * "There is no substitute        *
*John.Schilling@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
     *  for success"                  *
*661-951-9107 or 661-275-6795      *    -58th Rule of Acquisition   *