Grocery Store Yarns: Of Course I'll Get Fired And Sell Beer To You

[crazylegs]

Nope. Plenty of muni's here in the States have open container laws. Probably some state level legislation too.

Some towns in the UK have enacted bylaws that prevent you from possessing alcohol if you're acting in an anti-social manner.

[KiaKat]

It's the transport across state lines which is illegal under PA law.

Now, technically, that, as well as all the other alcohol transport/shipping laws have been declared unconstitutional by the SCOTUS, in the 2005 landmark case Granholm v Heald, under the interstate commerce clause.

It continues to amuse and frustrate me on a nearly-daily basis that most states haven't changed their laws to comply.

[taxguykarl]

In Chicago there are dry precincts. Not the entire city mind you, just precincts.

[mhkohne]

That's fucked up. And yet another reason not to live in PA.

Aww, come on. We've got Centralia, PA. Where else can you find an underground fire that's been burning since the 60's?

(I'm not helping, am I?)

[Shalom]

It continues to amuse and frustrate me on a nearly-daily basis that most states haven't changed their laws to comply.

If I understand it correctly, even an unconstitutional law will stand on the books until someone challenges it in court (probably by deliberately getting himself arrested and charged under it), and the court declares it as such. For a law that brings in as much revenue to the state as this one does, they'll probably fight it all the way up to the SCOTUS again. Who will promptly smack them down, saying "We told you this already", but in the meantime they've got all that additional revenue.

It's like the patent wars in my own line of business: when some generic drugs first hit the market, the makers of the brand-name stuff will sue to keep it off the market. The suits all turn out to be groundless, but every day they delay the launch of the generic meant X more millions of dollars of profit, making it worthwhile to spend the money on a lawsuit they knew they couldn't win.

Aww, come on. We've got Centralia, PA. Where else can you find an underground fire that's been burning since the 60's?

I've always wondered about that. How come they can't put that out? Find and block all the vents leading into the mine, eventually it'll fill with CO₂ and go out by itself. Or divert a river into it, or something.

Heck, even run a few pipes down through the mine and get free hot water for the town or something. Letting it just go on turning coal into carbon dioxide unchecked seems kind of wasteful to me.

[mhkohne]

I've always wondered about that. How come they can't put that out? Find and block all the vents leading into the mine, eventually it'll fill with CO₂ and go out by itself. Or divert a river into it, or something.

Heck, even run a few pipes down through the mine and get free hot water for the town or something. Letting it just go on turning coal into carbon dioxide unchecked seems kind of wasteful to me.

Can't safely live there due to occasional sinkholes and cracks in the earth belching carbon monoxide.
Can't really seal it up - too much mine, too many open pits, too many sinkholes, etc.
Basically, it's just too darn big to control

[Ophbalance]

And I find it amusing and sad that having lived about 20 minutes from there (Minersville) for almost a decade, I still had no compelling desire to ever visit the everlasting fire. We've also got Knobels, Kennywood, Hershey for amusement parks! And Yeungling, that has to count for something .

[Victory Sabre]

And Yeungling, that has to count for something .

Well, yes it does, however, it wouldn't be anything close enough for me to live there. I can also get it in Florida, NC and SC (and other States, of course).

Here in the frozen (well, now waterlogged) tundra that is Minnesota, Liquor stores are required to be closed Sunday.

Since I go out of State on a fairly regular basis, all of my beer in my fridge is from Iowa and Wisconsin. If you've read the CS booze thread, I've reviewed many of the nummy offerings.

I think I've tasted it. It's called "gin."

I though it was called Jagermeister, because my beloved gin doesn't taste like that.

[Jester]

Some towns in the UK have enacted bylaws that prevent you from possessing alcohol if you're acting in an anti-social manner.

Wouldn't that apply to pretty much all soccer matches? Hell, wouldn't that apply to pretty much all soccer FANS?

In Chicago there are dry precincts. Not the entire city mind you, just precincts.

That is odd, since I've drank in parts of Chicago (or the Chicago area, don't remember which) where bars could be open as late as 4 am.

Aww, come on. We've got Centralia, PA. Where else can you find an underground fire that's been burning since the 60's?

(I'm not helping, am I?)

Not particularly. Remember, they based a horror-themed video game on that, upon which they based a horror movie.

Well, yes it does, however, it wouldn't be anything close enough for me to live there. I can also get it in Florida, NC and SC (and other States, of course).

The reason Yuengling is so easy to get, and so prevalent, in Florida (and presumably why it is easy to get in nearby states) is because of something many Pennsylvania and other Northern Yunegling fans are usually unaware of: the fact that about 20 years ago, Yuengling took over an old Stroh's brewery in Tampa and started brewing Yuengling there. So, technically speaking, Yuengling is a local beer down here in Florida.

Yes, really.

I though it was called Jagermeister, because my beloved gin doesn't taste like that.

I'd rather drink 10 shots of Jäger than have a single gin drink.

Yes, REALLY.

[Cia]

I guess my hauling a gift of two coolers worth of beer from my sister in Texas to my dad in South Dakota might be interesting as I'm coming back through Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa.

[Argabarga]

I've always wondered about that. How come they can't put that out? Find and block all the vents leading into the mine, eventually it'll fill with CO₂ and go out by itself. Or divert a river into it, or something.

Heck, even run a few pipes down through the mine and get free hot water for the town or something. Letting it just go on turning coal into carbon dioxide unchecked seems kind of wasteful to me.

Having been to Centralia to check it out first hand, the answer to that is easy. It's impossible to find every single hole in the ground that it's drawing air from. There is no river in that particular valley. At this point, it's burned well beyond the boundaries of the original mine, the whole COAL SEAM underground is on fire, and it's simply impossible to find every place in the landscape from pinhead-sized to mine-shaft sized that air could get in through and seal it off. You cannot smother a mine fire. The only way to put them out is to dig them up hose them down, and then turn them over like putting out a campfire pit.

And at this point, the amount of land that would have to be dug up would require expenditure of BILLIONS, on an economically depressed area, that's already been abandoned. (when I was there in 2005, only 3 houses remained) So, economics dictates that the cost-effective solution is to let it burn itself out. That will take several hundred years, but, ultimately, the fire cannot spread due to natural underground firebreaks (springs, non-flammable rock formations, etc.) to endanger any other towns. The main reason the town had to be abandoned was twofold, one, the ground started subsiding, swallowing up people and property and two, carbon monoxide poisoning as all that burning gas entered homes through the basements.

[crazylegs]

Wouldn't that apply to pretty much all soccer matches? Hell, wouldn't that apply to pretty much all soccer FANS?

Actually, no. With the introduction of football banning orders, dry football trains, improved policing techniques and improved intelligence (and other things as well) it's very rare in the UK to have the issues we had in the late eighties and early nineties.

[raudf]

I guess my hauling a gift of two coolers worth of beer from my sister in Texas to my dad in South Dakota might be interesting as I'm coming back through Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa.

As long as it's sealed, not within reach of the driver's seat, and you aren't drunk off your butt while driving, Arkansas isn't going to care if you're transporting booze.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Aww, come on. We've got Centralia, PA. Where else can you find an underground fire that's been burning since the 60's?

(I'm not helping, am I?)

So that's what causing all of the global warming! We'll never stop global warming until that fire is put out.

[Deserted]

Y'all might be interested to know that here in Desert Hell, the open container law specifically does not apply to passengers in taxis.