Beat him when he's down

Or take advantage of the disadvantaged...

Why does it strike me that the Lottery, paycheck Loans, and the like are simply more ways to keep poor or uneducated people poor? Take paycheck loans for example. Presumably the only reason someone would consider such a loan is if they were in rather desparate need. Yet the loan rates are usary at best. For example, a quick Google search yields MyCashNow who's banner claims "Quick and Affordable Payday Loans" and "Helping People Live Their Lives". Yet when you check their rates, they charge $18.62 per $100 financed for a 7-14 day loan. That works out to an APR (annual percentage rate) of almost 450%!!! And others have even higher rates. How is it legal to charge someone 450% interest?

And if the Lottery isn't a poor tax, I don't know what is. The expected payout of the lottery is 3-5 times worse than the expected payout at a casino. Casinos are regulated by law to payout a certain amount. For example, in many casinos the slot machines are required to payout around 90% on their slot machines. This means that over a long period of time, you'll win roughly 90 cents for every dollar played, i.e., you WILL lose money but only 10 cents on the dollar. The lotteries on the other hand generally only payout 40-60 cents on the dollar (In Search of a Fair Bet in the Lottery). This makes the average lottery about the worst bet someone can make.

Actually maybe all of this is part of the gotta have it now mentality that seems to be sweeping the country (world?)...

Spammers rot in ...

I love it. I make a couple of initial posts and then not come back for quite a while. When I do come back, the only comment is by some moron spamming my blog for a mortgage! Get a life moron. What idiot is going to trust a spammer for a mortgage? Guess I need to turn on word verification.