Coin Toss's Blog

Q. What is the difference between a man buying a lottery ticket and a man fighting with his wife?

A. A man has a chance at winning at the lottery.

Jan 29 '08:

We had some business about 100 miles north of here today. We head out and it's 57 degrees. A couple of hours later we get to where we're going and it's like spring, when we got there the temperature was almost 70. Slight breeze, absolutely "spring training weather". Bear in mind this is near St. Louis, and it's late January.

It took a little longer than we planned on (the sign in procedure had gone computerized- so we sign in on their 'puters, tells us it's a 54 minute wait. OK. About an hour later I went to check the wait time and it says we'd never signed in.) Lovely, so we had sat there for nothing for over an an hour and wound up behind an hour more worth of people.   

So we leave there later than we expected and take I-64 part of the way home. I look in the rear view mirror and here comes a semi just spraying the road like crazy. At first I thought it was a tanker with a leak, but as he got closer it was a regular semi. So we're thinking where has he been.... Temperature is about 61 at this point.

We get off of I-64 and pull into a gas station, the sky looks like the end of the world in one direction, and is clear with a rainbow in another. I'm pumping gas, rain starts coming down and gets blown horizontal by a wind that kicks in. People that work at the gas mart come running out to get the garbage cans so they don't blow away. My wife was inside, and one of the guys from the station went back in and told her, "the heck with those cans, I can replace them, I can't replace me."

By the time I fill up I'm soaked. I pull the car up to a parking spot and go inside and notice that the temperature gauge on the dash now reads 40!

While this is going on, we had the radio on a Catholic station and it's broadcasting a continuous Hail Mary!

With a temperature drop like that we're thinking "Oh boy" (twister) but luckily that didn't happen. We're wondering whether to sit it out for awhile and decide to head home. We're pulling out and the guy from the station comes running out, cell phone in hand, and says, "You said you were heading south....Debbie is on the phone and says there are severe storm warnings and a tornado watch for that area..."

So we head home anyway (now it's close to 3:00 p.m. and we''re thinking, "Storm, or risk the dark and Bambi on the road...") It's obvious it had been raining (where we had been was bone dry all day).

When we get to the town the guy had told us the weather warnings were for, it looked like it had snowed!, but a closer look showed that it was all ice balls and there had been a hail storm. We leave that town and continue south and there's no hail or anything at all, it was like there was a barrage of hail just on that town.

"Tin hat" but interesting:

"Occultists Worship Numbers"

...changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped the creature more than the Creator..." Romans 1:25 This Scripture captures the entire essence of what occultists have been doing for almost 5,000 years.

Today's New Age adherents, who pride themselves so greatly on their sophistication and "spiritual knowledge" worship all sorts of created objects rather than God. Occultists place much faith in the inherent power of numbers.

No plan of action can be carried out without first determining two things:        1. Is the timing of this plan of action in accordance with the astrological lineup of the stars, moons, and planets?        2. Is the timing of this plan of action in accordance with the numbers it will produce? This process is "Divination" and is specifically prohibited by God. (Deut 18:10-11)

Once you understand how occultists think and calculate, you will be able to see occultism in world events. This effort to determine the correct time for an action is carried out to precise days and times. A good example is the suicide of Adolf Hitler. Hitler chose the date, April 30, 1945, because it was the first day of the Pagan Spring Holy Days. He chose 3:30p.m. because, according to occult doctrine, this combination of three's presented to him the most favorable time to depart this life and reenter the reincarnation cycle. Note the triple 3's present here, April 30 as the first three, 3 o'clock in the afternoon as the second three, and 30 minutes past the hour is the final three. Hitler was engaging in typical occult behavior by arranging the timing of his death in a very precise, numeric manner. Hitler wanted to exit this life in such a proper time that he could come back quickly, as the real Anti-Christ.   

THE SIX SACRED NUMBERS     

1. Three (3) is the first sacred number, the first perfect number (Westcott, p. 41). Three represents the Pagan Trinity." (Westcott, p. 37). It is represented geo-metrically in the triangle, and spiritually as the Third Eye Of Hinduism. Occultists will multiply and add three to other sacred numbers to create new numbers. However, they also group threes in two's and threes, because they believe in the principle of "intensification", i.e., that greater power is achieved when a sacred number is grouped. In the case of three, greater intensification is achieved when it is shown as 33, or 333. 333 + 333 equals 666. Occultists have used 333 as the hidden symbol by which they present the more offensive number 666. When the details of an event are so arranged as to contain certain sacred occult numbers or numeric combinations, this is literally an occult signature on the event. Mathematically, 666 can be created when three pairs of threes are added. Thus, (3+3) + (3+3) + (3+3) = 666. Now, eliminate the parentheses and the plus sign, and you have 33 space, 33 space, 33, representing the number 666.     

2. Six (6) is the next sacred number, representing the number of the soul of man (Westcott, p. 66). This shows the omnipotent power of God, as this belief parallels Revelation 13:18, where God assigns 666 to man and to the beast. Six is also believed to be "all-sufficient". This parallels      Biblical teaching, which states that man's great sin is pride in himself.

      3. Seven (7) is a sacred number. Van Buren calls 7 "one of the most sacred of all the numbers...the Invisible Centre, the Spirit of everything". (p. 39) Since multiplication of seven creates an even more powerful sacred number, we should not be surprised that 3x7, or 21, is considered powerful .      Thus, when Adam Weishaupt formed the Masters of the Illuminati, he arranged the timing of the event by arranging the numbers in a manner which would add to powerful numbers. He chose May 1, because May, month #5, added to the first day, equals 6. Weishaupt chose 1776, because the four numbers of this year add up to 21 (1+7+7+6 = 21). Further, the number 6 + 21 = 27, another number of power, because it is formed by the multiplication of 3x9. This date was very carefully chosen by Weishaupt; he believed the greatest Plan is doomed to failure if it is not carried out in the most numerically advantageous time.     

4. Nine (9) is sacred because it is the "first cube of an odd number (3)", (Van Buren, p.40-41)      The triple nine (999) is utilized to represent 666, because it is simply the inversion of 666.     

5. Eleven (11) is a sacred number. When eleven is multiplied by the perfect number 3, the number 33 is produced, a number of tremendous occult importance. In 1933, Adolf Hitler and President Franklin Roosevelt came to power. Both these men were committed to the establishment of the New World Order, and their actions impacted humanity greatly. It was also in 1933 that the First Humanist Manifesto was issued. Do you see how Satan manipulated world history to produce three New World Order events in 1933? Thus, a powerful 333 served as a framework for world events in that year.     

6. Thirteen (13) is deemed sacred. It was also no accident that Hitler chose the year 1939 to begin World War II, because 39 is formed by the multiplication of 13x3. Thus, you can see how human history has been shaped by the occult belief in the power of numbers. We have provided much detail as to how history has been shaped by this belief in the power of numbers. You can get this information in our Cutting Edge Radio Program dated May 9, 1992, entitled, "33 33 33 = 666 New Age Numerology".       

An Occult signature to current events

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in a public square which had been home to a Masonic Lodge and which has an obelisk in its center. November is Month #11 and the day of the murder was the 22nd. Numbers 11 and 22 are sacred primary occult numbers.

President Ronald Reagan was nearly assassinated on March 30, 1981, at 3:30p.m. March is the third month (first 3), and 3:30p.m. provides the other two three's (33), producing a 333. Reagan was not the New World Order candidate; George Bush was their candidate. Had Reagan been killed, Bush would have assumed the Presidency at the planned moment in history. As it was, Reagan's policies continually turned to the center and then the left, until he was clearly enabling the New World Order to proceed full-speed ahead.

At the close of business on April 29, 1992, the Dow Jones Average closed at 3333!! Gold also closed at $337 an ounce. Therefore, at the opening bell on April 30, the Dow Jones Average began business at 3333 and gold began at $337 per ounce!! Do you see that we have three sets of 33's here? Remember, the number, 666, is very often hidden within numbers 33 space, 33 space, 33. Occultists throughout the world would interpret this data as representing 666 as the world began to pass through the 66-day period, from April 30 to July 4, 1992.

An article in the Sun Chronicle on May 3, 1992, reported that the Stock Market was over-valued by 66%!!! Events on this critical date abound in threes and sixes.

"There are 66 days between April 30 and July 4 of every year. April 30-May 1 is the Satanic two-day celebration called Beltaine. In 1776, the United States of America issued her Declaration of Independence precisely 66 days after the beginning of Beltaine that year. Adam Weishaupt declared his Masters of the Illuminati on the second day of Beltaine. Thus, both the founding of the Satanic Masters of the Illuminati and the United States were centered around Beltaine."

Found an old article, clipping from July 31 1990 Examiner:

Not sure of the original source or anything else, but here goes:

Aries

Lucky Day: Tuesday

Lucky Hour: Between 4 and 5 p.m.

Luckiest Numbers: 6 14 21 34 41 43

Taurus

Lucky Day: Friday

Lucky Hour: Between 2 and 3 p.m.

Luckiest Numbers: 8 10 12 29 31 45

Gemini

Lucky Day: Wednesday

Luckiest Hour: Between 7 and 8 p.m

Luckiest Numbers: 2 7 15 29 32 44

Cancer

Lucky Day: Saturday

Luckiest Hour: Between 5 and 6 p.m.

Luckiest Numbers: 1 8 16 19 33 38

Leo

Lucky Day: Sunday

Lucky Hour: Between 1 and 2 p.m.

Luckiest Numbers: 5 15 18 23 41 43

Virgo

Lucky Day: Monday

Lucky Hour: Between noon and 1 p.mp

Luckiest Numbers: 4 6 12 25 27 39

Libra

Lucky Day: Tuesday

Lucky Hour: Between 7 and 8 p.m.

Luckiest Numbers: 6 16 26 30 40 46

Scorpio

Lucky Day: Thursday

Lucky Hour: Between 3 and 4 p.m.

Luckiest Numbers: 3 9 13 27 35 45

Sagittarius

Lucky Day: Wednesday

Lucky Hour: Between 2 and 3 p.m.

Luckiest Numbers: 13 17 19 29 39 49

Capricorn

Lucky Day: Saturday

Lucky Hour: Between 6 and 7 p.m.

Luckiest Numbers: 2 5 18 23 24 31

Aquarius

Lucky Day: Sunday

Lucky Hour: Between 5 and 6 p.m.

Luckiest Numbers: 12 21 20 34 38 40

Pisces

Lucky Day: Monday

Lucky Hour: Between 4 and 5 p.m.

Luckiest Numbers: 1 16 27 38 43 44

Good Luck all

 Percentage of wagers returned as prizes to gamblers in Nevada in 2007, by game:

Slot machines 93.9%

Sports Betting 92.9%

Baccarat 87.3%

Blackjack 87.3%

Craps 86.5%

Horse Racing 83.0%

Roulette 81.3%

USA Today

___________________________________________

I would love to see a similar breakdown for any state with a lottery, game by game.

Iran's Ayatollah: West Abuses Women, Islam Honors Them
By Terence P. Jeffrey
CNSNews.com Editor in Chief
January 14, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who rules over a nation where men are allowed to have four permanent wives and as many "temporary" wives as they like, declared in a recent lecture to Iranian students that Iran honors women, while the West abuses them.

The ayatollah said one indication of this is that women in Iran are forced to wear the hijab -- clothing that covers much or all of a woman's head, face and body -- while women in the West are not forced to wear it.

In the West's "sensationalism concerning women's affairs, they blame us by saying: You have made hijab compulsory," the ayatollah said in a January 3 lecture to a conference of Iranian students. "They themselves have made lack of hijab compulsory."

Khamenei, whose remarks were broadcast on Iranian national television and translated by the BBC, may have been alluding to a controversial 2004 French law that banned wearing "conspicuous" religious symbols in French schools. The ban encompassed large Christian crosses and Jewish yarmulkes, but was understood to be targeted at female Islamic clothing, such as the hijab.

In October 2006, then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair caused a stir when he advocated that Muslim women in Great Britain should voluntarily decline to wear veils. "No one wants to say that people don't have the right to do it," Blair said. "That is to take it too far. But I think we need to confront this issue about how we integrate people properly into our society."

Khamenei told the Iranian students' conference that in the Iranian vision of Islam, it was determined that poor women should be compelled to cover their entire bodies and faces in order to honor them and make their dress conform to the style adopted by aristocratic women. This policy, he said, logically followed from the conclusion that men have an "inborn desire for sexual violence."

In ancient Iran, aristocratic women used to wear hijab," he said. "Women from lower classes did not bother. But when Islam came, it rejected such instances of discrimination. It said that all women must wear the hijab. In other words, it wanted to honor all women. This is what Islam says. Now, they [in the West] behave as if we are doing something wrong and they are doing the right thing! No, they are in the wrong. They must answer why they have been treating women like a commodity in order to gratify their own lust.

"I received some statistics yesterday," the ayatollah continued. "According to those statistics, one third of women in the world are beaten and battered by men. In my opinion, this is very heart-rending; it makes one tearful. And these instances of abuse mainly happen in the industrial countries of the West. This stems from men's inborn desire for sexual violence.

"In their sensationalism concerning women's affairs," he continued, "they blame us by saying: You have made hijab compulsory. They themselves have made lack of hijab compulsory. They do not allow girl students to enter university, if they wear a headscarf. Yet they have the audacity to question us by saying: Why have you made hijab compulsory?"

Wearing the hijab, he said in answering his own question, "is aimed at honoring women, whereas that [the practices of the West] aim to abuse and insult women."

As evidence for this argument, the ayatollah told the Iranian students to consider the way women are used in Western advertising. "They have exploited women as a tool to sell various products," he said.

"In effect, they have been treating women like a commodity, like another of their products. If you were to look at the magazines, which are published in the West, you would see that they advertise a commodity for sale next to the naked picture of a woman. Can you imagine a bigger insult to women? They [the West] must be answerable [not Islam]," he said.

"Giving the hijab amounts to honoring the person who wears it. A woman's hijab is a symbol of respect for her."

According to the March 2007 State Department report on human rights practices in Iran, a woman can be whipped in Iran for not wearing the hijab. "The penal code provides that if a woman appears in public without the appropriate Islamic covering (hijab), she can be sentenced to lashings and/or fined," said the report.

Under Iran's Islamic code, a man may marry four regular wives and innumerable temporary wives. "Prostitution is illegal, but sigheh, or temporary marriage, is legal," said the State Department report.

"The country's Islamic law permits a man to have up to four wives and an unlimited number of temporary partnerships, based on a Shi'a custom in which a woman may become the wife of a Muslim male after a simple religious ceremony and a civil contract outlining the union's conditions. Temporary marriages may last for any length of time and are used sometimes by prostitutes. Such wives are not granted rights associated with traditional marriage."

Also a woman's testimony is not considered equal to a man's in Ayatollah Khamenei's Iran. Nor is a crime committed against a woman considered as egregious as a crime committed against a man. Nor can a woman leave the country without a permission slip from her husband.

"The testimony of two women equates with that of one man," says the State Department report. "The blood money paid to the family of a female crime victim is half the sum paid for a man. A married woman must obtain the written consent of her husband before traveling outside the country."

As Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei has direct command over Iran's armed force and indirect control over its internal security forces, the State Department says.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200801/CUL20080114a.html

Although Prentice Mulford was one of the earliest pioneers of the New Thought teaching, he is still comparatively little known or read, chiefly on account of the high price of the six volumes known as "The White Cross Library," in which form are published his essays in America.

Prentice Mulford was born in Sag Harbor, Long Island, USA in 1834. He was described as the strangest of men. He envisioned the airplane and radio and prophesized mental telepathy and practiced it. At 22 Prentice sailed to California. In Jamestown, California he was a gold miner, cook, school teacher, lecturer and observer of human nature, but made his fortune not from gold but by his interesting and imaginative articles and books. He was a fixture in San Francisco literary circles with the likes of Twain, Harte, and the Bohemian set in the 1860's. He wrote dozens of humorous short stories for the Overland Monthly, Golden Era, Californian, and other local journals. He referred to himself as "Dogberry".

In 1865 he became interested in mental and spiritual phenomena and lived in an old whaleboat cruising San Francisco Bay. After returning from a trip abroad, Prentice Mulford lived for the next 17 years as a hermit in the swamps of Passaic, New Jersey. It was there he wrote some of his finest works on mental/spiritual laws including his "The White Cross Library" dealing in the topic Thought Currents and How to Use Them.

His essays embody a particular philosophy, and represent a peculiar phase of insight into the mystery which surrounds man. The essays were the work, as the insight was the gift, of a man who owed nothing to books, perhaps not much to what is ordinarily meant by observation, and everything or nearly everything to reflection nourished by contact with nature. To many his thoughts may seem but dreams; to others they are priceless truths.

That he was a wise teacher and no dogmatist is apparent from his own words "In the spiritual life every person is his or her own discoverer, and you need not grieve if your discoveries are not believed in by others. It is your business to push on, find more and increase your own individual happiness."

To him, at any rate, is due the credit of having been a pioneer in the thought that is now influencing people throughout the world, and his influence is very apparent in the writings of all the teachers of the same school that have followed him.

At age 57, Mulford decided to return to Sag Harbor and write about Long Island after the Gold Rush but he passed away peacefully, without any apparent illness or pain, alone in his boat en route. After 30 years in an unmarked grave, Mulford's body was taken to Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor where a large stone was placed on his grave with these words, "Thoughts are Things".

Consider: Subject:
Are we that stupid?

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year. http://tinyurl.com/zob77 http://tinyurl.com/zob77%20>

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers. http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html   

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroine and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.com/t9sht http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period." http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf...ortation.pd>

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States ". http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A  YEAR

Are we THAT stupid??? If this doesn't bother you then just delete the message. If, on the other hand, if it does raise the hair on the back of your neck, I hope you forward it to every legal resident in the country including every representative in Washington, D.C. - five times a week for as long as it takes to restore some semblance of intelligence in our policies and enforcement thereof.

(Get a hanky out, but this one is good....)

Subject:

THE OLD MAN AND THE DOG

by Catherine Moore

"Watch out! You nearly broad sided that car!" My father yelled at me. "Can't you do anything right?"

Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another battle.

"I saw the car, Dad. Please don't yell at me when I'm driving." My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt.

Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts. Dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of distant thunder seemed to echo my inner turmoil.

What could I do about him?

Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington and Oregon . He had enjoyed being outdoors and had reveled in pitting his strength against the forces of nature. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and had placed often. The shelves in his house were filled with trophies that attested to his prowess.

The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn't lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn't do something he had done as a younger man.

Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital while a paramedic administered CPR to keep blood and oxygen flowing. At the hospital, Dad was rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he survived.

But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. He obstinately refused to follow doctor's orders. Suggestions and offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm and insults. The number of visitors thinned, then finally stopped altogether. Dad was left alone.

My husband, Dick, and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. It seemed nothing was satisfactory. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated and moody. Soon I was taking my pent-up anger out on Dick. We began to bicker and argue. Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and explained the situation. The clergyman set up weekly counseling appointments for us. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad's troubled mind. But the months wore on and God was silent. Something had to be done and it was up to me to do it.

The next day I sat down with the phone book and methodically called each of the mental health clinic s listed in the Yellow Pages. I explained my problem to each of the sympathetic voices that answered. In vain. Just when I was giving up hope, one of the voices suddenly exclaimed, "I just read something that might help you! Let me go get the article." I listened as she read. The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibility for a dog.

I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. After I filled out a questionnaire, a uniformed officer led me to the kennels. The odor of disinfectant stung my nostrils as I moved down the row of pens. Each contained five to seven dogs. Long-haired dogs, curly-haired dogs, black dogs, spotted dogs all jumped up, trying to reach me. I studied each one but rejected one after the other for various reasons too big, too small, too much hair. As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the front of the run and sat down. It was a pointer, one of the dog world's aristocrats. But this was a caricature of the breed. Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hipbones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held my attention. Calm and clear, they beheld me unwaveringly. I pointed to the dog. "Can you tell me about him?" The officer looked, then shook his head in puzzlement.

"He's a funny one. Appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would be right down to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we've heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow." He gestured helplessly.

As the words sank in I turned to the man in horror. "You mean you're going to kill him?" "

Ma'am," he said gently, "that's our policy. We don't have room for every unclaimed dog."

I looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eye s awaited my decision. "I'll take him," I said.

I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me. When I reached the house I honked the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch.

"Ta-da! Look what I got for you, Dad!" I said excitedly.

Dad looked, then wrinkled his face in disgust. "If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better specimen than that bag of bones. Keep it! I don't want it" Dad waved his arm scornfully and turned back toward the house.

Anger rose inside me. It squeezed together my throat muscles and pounded into my temples.

"You'd better get used to him, Dad. He's staying!" Dad ignored me. "Did you hear me, Dad?" I screamed. At those words Dad whirled angrily, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowed and blazing with hate.

We stood glaring at each other like duelists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw.

Dad's lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw. Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees hugging the animal.

It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne . Together he and Cheyenne explored the community. They spent long hours walking down dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout. They even started to attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying quietly at his feet.

Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable throughout the next three years. Dad's bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one night I was startled to feel Cheyenne 's cold nose burrowing through our bed covers. He had never before come into our bedroom at night.

I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my father's room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene. But his spirit had left quietly sometime during the night. Two days later my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on. As Dick and I buried him near a favorite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for the help he had given me in restoring Dad's peace of mind.

The morning of Dad's funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made filling the church. The pastor began his eulogy. It was a tribute to both Dad and the dog who had changed his life. And then the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers."   

"I've often thanked God for sending that angel," he said.

For me, the past dropped into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the right article...

Cheyenne 's unexpected appearance at the animal shelter. . .his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father. . and the proximity of their deaths. And suddenly I understood. I knew that God had answered my prayers after all.   

Life is too short for drama & petty things, so laugh hard, love truly and forgive quickly.

Live While You Are Alive.

Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

Forgive now those who made you cry.

You might not get a second time. And if you don't send this to at least 4 people - who cares? But do share this with someone.

Lost time can never be found.

(Putting this here os I'll have it)

2007:

Pick 3  Played $155.50, no hits.

(I'm strictly a $1 straight/box player with an occasional 50 cents straight) 

Pick 4 played $49, no hits.

(Same play as Pick 3, a lot less often)

Little Lotto  ( 5 / 39)

Played $313, won $103, 6 $10 hits (3 of 5), 43 $1 hits (2 of 5)

Lotto (6/ 52)

Played $138, won $9 ($3, 3 times)

Mega Millions

Played $154, won $19

Looking at this, I should stick with Little Lotto, but of course it doesn't offer the allure of multi-millions (although has been over $1 million). and of course Pick 3 and 4 offr the shot at putting a nice little score in your pocket, but I'm only an occassional player of those games.

All totaled that came to just about $2 a day entertainment (subtracting the wins from the total spent), I'm sure that's maybe a wee bit more than some here, and a whole lot less than some here. 

Well, it's a New Year and time to go rip up tickets!

We were watching TLC last night when they showed the lottery programs.

When David Edwards came on my wife said he sounded likedecent guy. I told her people on LP said he was just like Jack Whitaker. She asked why so I looked on the net (couldn't remember exactly what he had done) and found this.

Considering all our threads here about "What would you do if you won $ _ _ _ million", this is well worth reading (my bolding, article on blue background):

David Edwards, another lottery loser

Don McNay

"The world’s original hard luck story and a hard time losing man."

-Jim Croce

In light of increasing media cost consciousness, news outlets can save money by pre-arranging a "fill in the blanks" news story.

It would say:

Powerball winner ______________ is in trouble with the law again. This is the _____ time the jackpot recipient has been arrested.

There are reports that he/she has spent all of their money in _____ years. There have been ______ lawsuits filed against he/she and family members in the past year.

The media should have the story ready. They are going to use it over and over again.

The most recent chance to “fill in the blanks” came from Powerball winner David Edwards, who hails from Ashland, Ky.

Ken Hart at the Ashland Independent newspaper has written a number of articles about Edwards and his wife Shawna.

Edwards won a $41 million Powerball and took home $27 million in August 2001. Six years later, the money was apparently gone.

Edwards was evicted from his $1.2 million home in Palm Beach Garden, Fla., for not paying his association dues. Shortly thereafter, Edwards was evicted from a storage unit that he was apparently living in. The items in storage were auctioned to pay Edward’s storage fees.

His wife was arrested for not paying $17,000 in back child support. She was released and then arrested again. She missed a court date and failed a drug test.

You would think someone who won the lottery would get it right.

About a week after Edwards won the lottery, I watched him on television and predicted that he would run through all the money. He had every red flag for disaster. An out-of-work ex-con, Edwards immediately acquired an entourage and went on a buying spree. He was all over the media, and I remember him saying that he was going to meet with financial advisers.

If I had been Edwards’ financial advisor, I would not put it on my resume.

I’m not sure the best adviser could have kept Edwards from running through the money. There would have been several ways to try. Before Edwards started spending like a drunken sailor, an adviser could have placed some of the money into a trust and some into annuities that would have paid over Edwards lifetime.

It didn’t happen, and Edwards became another “shake your head” kind of story.

I saw Edwards on a show called “The Curse of the Lottery.” The show’s premise was that winning the lottery was a curse, not a blessing.

Receiving a life-changing amount of money is not a curse as long as the receiver takes steps to keep him or herself under control.

Most people have built-in controls on their finances. They work for a paycheck and pay their bills. They have a budget based on a steady amount coming in.

When people get “sudden money” from an inheritance, lottery or other source, they often don’t know how to handle it.

It makes them easy prey to family and friends wanting a “loan” and prey to temptation to spend on unneeded items.

There is a whole economy built around people who let money run through their fingers.

I’ve noted a ton of advertisements aimed at “helping” people spend their tax refunds. A tax refund is not manna from heaven. A refund means that the government took more money out of a person’s paycheck than needed. People should be saving that money for a rainy day instead of blowing it on a trip to Las Vegas.

If people can’t handle a tax refund, imagine what they would do with $27 million.

It is actually easier to handle big money than manage a small amount. With big money, there is a point where all your immediate needs can be met. You can buy a nice house and car and not have any debts. You can go anywhere you want and do what you want.

After that, everything else is just showing off.

It is the showing-off part that gets lottery winners into trouble.

The less flash they have with their money, the less likely they are to be part of a “fill in the blanks” media story.

Edwards is another lottery hard-luck story and a hard-time losing man.

Don McNay is author of the upcoming book, “Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do if you win the Lottery.”

We've had plenty of threads about remaining anonymous or not and some people say they'd want all the publicity they could get.

We've had threads about winning multi - millions and buying fleets of cars and mansions.  

The story above tells us that the less showing off people do with a jackpot win, the more likely they are to keep it.

This should be the mantra of everyone here.

                    Lost a car, found a mess
Prowling the jammed mall lot draws unfriendly attention from security and police.
By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE, Times Staff Writer
Published December 23, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Larry DiSalvo called Saturday the worst shopping day of his life.

Not even close.

There he stood in the Tyrone Square Mall parking lot, surrounded by three police cruisers and mall security. Police had searched and interrogated him. All the while, DiSalvo said, shoppers gawked, perhaps wondering whom he had killed.

The 57-year-old said he was guilty of one thing: forgetfulness. He lost his 1991 Grand Marquis in a sea of 6,000 parked cars.

But mall security thought he was wandering the parking lot looking for cars to break into.

The result: He's banned from the mall for life.

"They gave me the shopping equivalent of a life term without any parole," the retired real estate agent said. "I'm a mall person. I grew up in malls. I've never in my 57 years on this planet had a problem in a mall.

"Unfortunately," he said, "today my unlucky number came up."

DiSalvo has no apparent criminal record. He said he is an honest Treasure Island resident who has shopped at Tyrone for 14 years without incident. He denied even thinking of breaking into a car.

Tyrone security refused to comment, and mall management did not return calls.

St. Petersburg police said they witnessed no crime, and just issued a trespass warning to DiSalvo at the request of the mall. "It's a decision made by the property owners," said police Sgt. Mark Degan, a shift supervisor. "The officers felt they didn't see any criminal intent," otherwise DiSalvo could have faced arrest.

The day started so encouragingly.

DiSalvo arrived at the mall at 8 a.m. hoping to beat the crowds. He needed to return a piece of jewelry at JCPenney. He found a parking space right away, and hardly gave it a thought as he walked into the mall.

After returning the jewelry he has a receipt to prove it, he wandered a few stores and ate lunch.

DiSalvo dropped a dollar into the Salvation Army pot as he walked out, idly thinking it would bring him good luck.

That's when he looked up and thought, "Oh, my God. I'm lost."

DiSalvo said he wandered one way, then another, peering over cars looking for his white Marquis. After 5 or 10 minutes, mall security drove up. He said he figured they would offer help finding the car.

Instead, DiSalvo said, they told him he had been seen peering into and trying to enter cars. To his astonishment, he said, they told him to leave the property immediately.

Of course, he still hadn't found the car.

So DiSalvo walked across the street to a Kinkos, where he tried to call someone for a ride. That's when police arrived, called by the mall.

The whole thing might have taken an hour. He was repeatedly questioned. Police said they were told he had run away from security. DiSalvo denied it, saying he simply ran across a busy street to avoid heavy traffic.

Degan said mall security informed police they saw DiSalvo trying to break into cars. Someone at Macy's, police were told, saw the same thing.

All nonsense, DiSalvo said.

Police took him back to the mall lot, surrounding him like a common criminal, he said.

Finally, mall security took his picture, he said, and banned him forever, which, DiSalvo added, hurts Sears more than him.

That's where he does most of his shopping.

"If this could happen to me, God forbid, it could happen to your grandmother," DiSalvo said. "It's just ridiculous. I'm as clean as the fresh-driven snow. That's verifiable."

Security did finally find DiSalvo's car. He drove away, never to return.

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/23/Southpinellas/Lost_a_car__found_a_m.shtml

CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR THE DISTURBED

1. Schizophrenia -- Do You Hear What I Hear?

2. Multiple Personality Disorder -- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

3. Dementia -- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

4. Narcissistic -- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

5. Manic - Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....

6. Paranoid -- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me

7. Borderline Personality Disorder -- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

8. Personality Disorder -- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

9. Attention Deficit Disorder -- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?

10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder -- Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle,Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,

_______________________________________

                    Walking Around In Women's Underwear

(Tune of Winter wonderland)

Lacey things, the wife is missing.
Didn't ask, for her permission
I'm wearing her clothes,
her silk panty hose.
Walking around in women's underwear.

In the store, there's a teddy.
With little straps, like spaghetti.
It holds me so tight,
like handcuffs at night.
Walking around in womens underwear

In the office there's a guy named Melvin.
He pretends that I am Murphy Brown.
He'll say "Are you ready?"
I'll say, "Woah man! Lets wait untill the wife is out of town."

Later on, if you wanna,
We can dress, like Madonna.
Put on some eye shade, and join the parade.
Walking around in women's underwear.

Lacey things, missing.
Didn't ask, permission.
Wearing her clothes, silk panty hose.
Walking around in women's underwear.
Walking around in women's underwear.
Walking around in women's underwear.....

If you want to know what G-d thinks of money, look at the people He gives it to..

Yiddish Proverb