The U.S.'s annual "Green Card diversity lottery" is happening online now, runs through oct 28. Congress approved the lottery program in 1990 as a way of diversifying the immigrant population, to help correct the current immigration system based on family members sponsoring relatives who then sponsor more relatives and so on...

The idea behind the lottery is that any person living in any country that hasn't already flooded the US with immigrants can enter the lottery via filling out a form on the state departments website. http://www.us-immigration.org/register.htm. 55,000 lucky winners will be chosen by a random computer drawing from an expected 6.5 million applicants.

Although the lottery was set up to be easy to enter, a whole little web-based industry has grown up around it, with slews of sites like http://www.usa-green-card.com/usagreencard.htm ("Our extensive experience sets us apart from all other lottery services!") charging 40-100 bucks to help people fill out the form properly.

Story? I'd talk to lottery applicants, form processors, and someone from the immigration department. The lottery isn't well-known in the U.S. but it's a huge deal outside of this country. People swap hints on how to win, buy good luck lottery charms to influence the computer, etc. No one seems to believe it's random.

BTW, that Egyptian guy who went on a shooting spree at LA airport a few months back? He got his green card by being one of the lucky winners of last years' diversity lottery.