Good list. I agree with all the points except the lottery one. Part of the money you spend in the UK on a National Lottery ticket goes to charity and good causes. It can also be fun to do the lottery, as long as you don't take it to seriously and realise the poor odds of winning

Are you people insane. I've read 3 people that said Las Vegas proves gambling pays because of the big rollers (look at the post above this) If they were doing well Vegas wouldn't even exist. These people ALWAYS lose money. Maybe not the first time but eventually, ALWAYS.

20-Anyone who says that there is not a single musical they find even a smigen of enjoyment out of is a liar. There's a musical for everyone.

i think i've had too large a dose of this blog... and there are too many humans and not enough animals...

You're right, I probably would save the animal first, because humans are greedy, selfish, and worse than animals. It's amazing to see some of the garbage that walks on this earth. The majority of people for the most part don't give a sh*t about the enviroment or anything else that lives on this planet. Who is anybody to say that some pathetic human life is worth more than any animals? Man would drive a species of any animal to extinction if it meant building a housing track to put a few dollars in their pocket & that my friend is what's truly sad.

With all the laws in their favor, the majority of the time it takes a concerted effort on the part of the non-smoker for the two to be in close proximity. We both know the boundaries of our territory, and if you cross them willingly you have nothing to complain about. BS you don't want to cause a scene, you love doing that. I don't know how many times I've been outside of a building at the designated smoking area, getting my fix of Vitamin N, when some goody-two-shoes non-smoker has to make some worn-out, predictable comment or cough like they've instantly developed a lung tumor. Yeah, I know smoking might kill me, but you gotta die of something and I hate surprises.

I'm sick of those higher-than-thou people who like to talk about how the lottery is a "tax on the poor" or a "waste of money" or "mathematically inconceivable odds." Here's one example I found online:

Glenn Blaylock: State lotteries are nothing more than taxes on the mathematically challenged and the poor. The mathematically challenged play the lottery because they don't realize that they can step into just about any casino and get much better odds. They are taxes on the poor because the rich already have their fortunes. So, they don't see any point in wasting their money on something that has such long odds of paying off.

Abbyguy: That's the way I see it too. It seems the people that can't afford to play are always the ones that do.

But these so-called intellectuals do not understand why people play the lottery, the only thing they ever talk about is why they (themselves) don't play the lottery. For the criticizers, money is generally about rates of return and mathematical odds, and they call lottery players stupid for taking a longshot with their money.

The problem lies in the fact that when you are buying a lottery ticket, you're not just buying a mathematical chance of winning, you're also buying hope. For someone who is wealthy, without the problems of paying for food, rent, auto, etc., playing the lottery is just a waste of money. For someone who is relatively poor, playing the lottery is their shot at striking it rich and escaping financial problems forever. Yes it's true they could, on average, make more money by investing that dollar in the stock market or some other conservative investment, but by that strategy the person now has ZERO chance of striking it rich. A dollar in the stock market will never become millions of dollars. At best, it will be two or three dollars in a couple years and the person will still have financial problems.

Furthermore, when you look at why some middle-class or wealthy people play the lottery, there's a social benefit (think office pools) and entertainment value to a lottery ticket, further increasing its value.

This is roughly the equation you can use to determine whether someone will buy a lottery ticket:

(the value of having a chance of escaping a low-income life) + (social benefits) + (entertainment value) + (actual expected payoff)

The first three terms are completely subjective, which is why some people play the lottery and others don't. The sum of the equation is the price someone will pay for a lottery ticket. Consider the following people, of course the numbers used are examples and may radically change from person to person:

Poverty-stricken person:
(1.1) + (0) + (.1) + (.6) = 1.8
This 1.8 means this person would pay $1.80 for the same lottery ticket that they can currently buy at $1.00. If the price for a lottery ticket were $1.81, he/she would not play.

Office-pool participant:
(.1) + (.5) + (.1) + (.6) = 1.3
This office worker is really only playing the lottery because all his/her coworkers are doing the same thing and he/she doesn't want to be left out. If his/her coworkers stopped playing the lottery, he/she would too as the equation would now yield a result of 0.8 - less than the price of a one dollar lottery ticket.

Wealthy gas station customer on the way home from work:
(0) + (0) + (.5) + (.6) = 1.1
Here's someone who doesn't need the money, but decided it would be fun to fill out a lottery ticket on a whim. If the price for the lottery ticket had been $1.11, he/she would not play.

A different wealthy gas station customer on the way home from work:
(0) + (0) + (.3) + (.6) = 0.9
Here's someone who doesn't need the money, and decided not to fill out a lottery ticket because he/she doesn't find it that entertaining. If the price for the lottery ticket had been 90 cents, he/she would play.

Economist/Lottery Skeptic:
(.1) + (0) + (-.7) + (.6) = 0
Here's a lottery skeptic that actually gets entertainment (satisfaction) by not playing the lottery because it makes them feel smart. They would only play the lottery if it was free.

It's important to note two things:
- Although we've used an unchanging 60 cents as the expected return on a lottery ticket, in actuality this number is subjective as well. Someone bad at math might think the number is much higher or lower, which can influence their decision greatly.
- Above I used the Economist example to illustrate someone who would play the lottery only if it was free, but in actuality if the lottery was free, nobody would play because there would be no jackpot. A better rationalization of the concept is that the Economist would only play the lottery if someone gave him a free ticket for the same lottery that cost everyone else $1.

In summary, all lottery players receive an expected return greater than the value of the dollar they spend on a ticket; however, the expected return is not always an economic one.

RE: number 4 - please - don't be overly polite. TELL ME if it bothers you. This kind of thing is as bad as 2 people locked at a stop sign waving each other on. I'm in California - previously from Colorado and Arizona (where smoking restrictions abound - and that's FINE WITH ME) and smoking is my last (and eventually vanishing) vice. Don't be an ass about it, but a polite comment is no big deal. Really.

This sounds very much like a UK hang-up - the whole polite-dancing to death deal. Well that and the "football" comment. The fact that the celeb in question isn't a perposterone steroid gorrila 18 times the size of a normal person (or only .75 times the size of a Samoan - perhaps) tells me which side of the planet "football" is being used to describe a sport.

regarding peta, no offence but I am one of those people, the animal did nothing to cause its death, while I am sure you did.

I just have to say this, "_everyone_ said this @ their 'rents funeral?" I am 25 yo my mother beat me unmercifully I WILL dance, pissing, on her grave. I mean no offence but come on.
what about daughters molested by thier fathers?

Smoking doesn't bother me and I'm not a smoker...

PS

RON PAUL

Do you sweat pretension or just bath in it this morning?

Good list.

#13 - "The Lottery is a tax on those who can't do math"

#7 - I somewhat disagree with this one. Democrats won big in 2006 by making a lot of promises, none of which they have delivered on. 0% chance for a Republican to win - no. But it is slim.

#6 - Totally. But maybe that's just because I'm getting old (31), and I can't stand all these young whipper-snappers.

#4 - Smoking does bother me. But what bothers me MORE are the non-smokers who get all OFFENDED by it.

#3 - We don't love bad people, but they are fascinating. It is this way because it is the opposite of our true nature. And we don't love Lindsay Lohan because she's bad, we love her because she's an idiot. =)

Great list. Nice work.

RE: the smoking near a non-smoker...I don't like when someone lights up and blows it in my face, and I smoke. I don't do that to people. If I am with a friend who doesn't smoke, I ask if it will bother them. If it does, I simply don't smoke. It's not an issue of Smokers being inconsiderate, it's more an issue of Inconsiderate people smoking with complete disregard to everyone around them. And there are plenty of inconsiderate people who don't smoke. Just my opinion as well.

I disagree with point 5. I would say it is completely circumstantial. If there was a guy who was a piece of shit criminal, and he had a puppy he was beating, and his house caught on fire, I would save the puppy first without hesitation. I don't even know if I would try to save the guy. People don't change, animals can and will.

The war on drugs is over. The government lost.

I totally disagree with #2... David Beckham hot? I don't think so.

i have to say that i disagree with at least 12 of these. and i'm not just not admitting it, some of them are just completely wrong. cant believe you got so many diggs.

#7 will not be true if Ron Paul gets the nomination. He'll get a lot of the independent vote, but he won't lose the Republican base there's no way they would vote for Hillary.

There are people who make money on gambling -- they either own casinos, work at casinos, or play poker.

Even creative people copy and remix - they just do it in more, less obvious ways.

All ideas are just combinations of other ideas.

After reading this, count me in on the list of people who would save an animal's life over yours.

To anonymous who won the lottery -

It's a good thing you posted as anonymous, so the world wouldn't know how much of an idiot you are.

You should count your blessings that you won the lottery and just shut up. Obviously, for whatever reason, God has seen to bless you with a financial windfall, even though you don't have the intellect to deserve it.

The lottery is not an investment. There is no payoff unless you win, and the odds of doing so are astronomical. Most people will spend their whole life buying lottery tickets and never win anything.

It's a shame that you are such an idiot you would post that the lottery is an investment.

But it's a tragedy that there are people out there who will actually believe you.

I absolutely loved your list. Started my Sunday with a laugh.#15 & #7 in particular elicited an out loud laugh. I dont wholly agree with all of them, but as you said, its your opinion. A line in your entry which some people appear to have overlooked(is that one word or two..anyway).

I think I found people's angry comments even more humorous not only because they cant seem to understand the word "opinion" (did they stop teaching that in school? Hmm) but also because I think it further proves the point Wolly was making about all the a**holes in the world.

Thanks!
Lucy

To anonymous, where have you been living where you don't hear about people taking stands against abortion?? And how is it crazy to try to save dolphins??

I agree with the gambling to a degree. Some people really have reached wealth gambling, but mainly it's just a waste of resources.

I agree with most of these statements but there are some questionable statements made and I do not agree with numbers 4, 5, 11, and 13.

In number 13 the argument is that only gambling is left to the poor and uneducated. I strongly disagree as you could visit Las Vegas and watch people play Roulette or Baccarat at the Wynn for 15,000 dollars a hand all night long. There is a Ferrari dealership in the lobby. In fact the entire town is build on V.I.P treatment to customers that lay down extremely large amounts of money at the table. To make the money they have to be good at something and they aren't always losing.

For number 11 I have to again disagree as I live here on the east coast and I see some nasty looking people getting jobs. I didn't have one good looking professor in college or in school. I've never had an attractive lawyer or doctor and to be honest I don't see that many pretty people in my area at all.

Number 5 is very questionable. Some countries have populations over 1 billion people while other countries have such heavy industrial use that they simply kill all the natural wildlife. The fact is that governments have always protected human lives more than the environment or natural wildlife. However after over 200 years of heavy industrialization countries around the world are seeing droughts, wildfires, starvation, global warming, and the destruction of natural habitats. The backlash for our previous way of thinking is effectively hitting us now whether we admit to it or not.

Lastly, number four, is simply an opinion that is your own. I don't smoke and I could not care less if a person next to me or the table across from me lights a cigarette. The fact that personal rights are being taken away should be more bothersome than the chance of second hand smoke cancer which you may or may not get. What you are definitely getting is an invasion of your privacy and handcuffs around your liberty. Some people in Texas can't even smoke in their own houses.

Whats next? Telling everyone what they should wear on certain days and what they should eat? Should be totally become a communist country that is obsessed with government dictation of right vs. wrong?