The state of Georgia's lottery is celebrating its 15th year of operation. A tag line in one of their commercials boasts that after 15 years "we've gotten pretty good at giving away money."

I am probably not alone in thinking that giving away money was something the state was good at years before the lottery came along.

What they've actually gotten pretty good at is convincing us to voluntarily hand over our money in addition to the tax dollars we bleed out every April.

The disturbing news of a Leesburg teen launching an 8-month-old baby off an inflatable chair and across a room brought forth a lot of pondering. By the way, the baby is fine.

But, I can't imagine why anyone would think causing a baby to sail across a room and hit the floor would be, not just a good idea, even an idea. Not only did someone conceive the notion, another kid actually filmed it and uploaded it to You Tube.

And speaking of a fool's paradise, it is apparent that we are not mature or responsible enough to be allowed to play with the Internet without supervision. The freedom it implies has convinced idiots everywhere that anything goes.

Just last week, one young man was arrested for trying to sell his vote on Ebay. Apparently, while he knew how to post something for sale on the giant Internet auction site, he didn't know the laws of his own state.

A friend mentioned how it might be educational for our presidential candidates to actually visit a small town and stay long enough to learn about the problems and issues of small town America.

I pointed out that no one in Early County was likely to spend $10,000 to get a picture with a candidate as some folks did this week in Atlanta, so I was guessing we wouldn't be on any candidate's itinerary. Money talks or the candidate walks.

And, speaking of talking, I honestly do not know what news clips political analysts are watching or what written reporting they are reading. I hear these know-italls discussing he said, she saids and I look up the story to get, well, the whole story and it turns out that many of the analysts only pick out the parts of sentences that support their personal opinion.

And, speaking of annoying, the most dangerous living thing on the planet is not a candidate running for office or a political analyst, but the female mosquito. She's thought to be responsible for the deaths of at least 45 billion people over the years.

Interestingly, the male only bites plants and has a louder buzz than the female. I could probably make a comparison here, but I think I'll pass for now.

Have a good week.