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Viewpoints: No grocery wine before it's time
From Mike Morrow's Nashville Political Buzz Examiner:
If you buy more than a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread from your local grocer, chances are your long receipt will lobby you on the wine issue.
“Where’s the Wine?” the receipt asks in bold letters. “If you would like to be able to purchase wine while you shop, let your voice be heard" [at] www.redwhiteandfood.com
At least that’s the result from recent purchases at Kroger. The heavily lobbied wine sales issue has gotten far more talk than action in recent years, however, and based on comments from Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) this week, it would appear the status is not about to change.
“I’m not sure that the wine and grocery store issue is going to be as big as what some people would anticipate this year, because it’s an election year,” Ketron said. “You might see that next year.”
Send comments and letters via email to editor@nashvillecitypaper.com
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Only in a forward thinking state like Tenn. do you see NO wine in a grocery store but DOES have guns in a bar. Makes total sense.
Good morning.
It use to be a law that you could not but beer at your locale bar or pub after 1 am, but you could drank mixed drinks until 2 am. I'm not sure if these times are correct it has been some time since I wonder into a bar, but you undersdtand how silly the laws can be.
s/h/b buy beer not but beer
Nemo: Once you stop sleep walking and typing, please explain what you just posted.
Who is sleep walking. lol
At one time you could not buy beer after 1 am, but could have the hard stuff until 3 am. I'm not sure of the correct time, because I am thirty years behind the time on bar closings.
Does that help, Paul?
I won't be voting for anyone that opposes the sale of wine in grocery stores.
The current liquor laws around here are ridiculous & antiquated.
Not allowing alcohol sales during certain times on certain days makes no sense.
Anyone over 21 should be able to buy alcohol at any time on any day.
Good morning, Nashville!
Wine sales in grocery stores is a perennial voter issue in the Empire State. We produce world class wines here, but they are eavailable only in licensed liquor stores. The grocery store trade groups lobby for reform. the liquor stores lobby for the status quo. The politicians milk the issue for campaign cash every time it pops up.
I'm guesing that a similar dynamic operates in the Volunteer State. Since TN is in the Bible Belt, I assume that the religious lobbies are also pressuring lawmakers to maintain the status quo. Christ may have made wine out of water, but in Tennessee, they'd haul him off to jail for a stunt like that.
I see where the TN state legislature is designing the Bible Study curriculum for your public high schools. You poor bastards. Bigoted Jesus freaks are shoving their ideas of morality down your freakin' throats...and nobody is gagging.
Tennessee should change its nickname to the Deep Throat State.
The Bible course will be an elective, Loner. As long as they present it for what it is, a work of fiction, I can live with it.
House, you do know, by your last post, you will be going straight to Hell. No loopholes, no "mitigating circumstances", and no last minute reprieve. I'll be right behind you.
Loner - Most politicians don't have to fret about that. They get all these "I'll scratch your back" deals. A councilman I know, has a basement that looks like a liquor store, he even had the shelves put in, and loves to brag about it being gifts. Bribes are well & good in TN! He also goes to Church on Sundays!
TN is ridiculous. These legislators are complete morons, as are most of their constituents. I guess it's a match made in regressive heaven.
By: house_of_pain on 1/29/10 at 6:35
The Bible course will be an elective, Loner. As long as they present it for what it is, a work of fiction, I can live with it.
Year House, it's a work of fiction. I especially think the 10 commandments are. No one believes that "do not kill" stuff. Our prisons are full of the folks who proved that part to be a lie. And don't tell the "believers" in places like Haiti that the bible is real and that God is not a myth. Some of them really believe they survived because of God and their strong belief in Him and the Bible.
I agree with you that any course on the Bible should be an elective. But honestly, I don't think it's a work of fiction.
But back to the topic: Alcohol in grocery stores. Of course that would be O.K. My only concern is that minors can't sell it, so they couldn't have their after school jobs as checkers. The grocery stores would have to up their prices so they could pay adults more money to work there. The increase in drinking and driving might be marginal since it's already rampant in TN (and other states). But overall, why not?
'Tennessee should change its nickname to the Deep Throat State."
How can I get that throat treatment???
By: gdiafante on 1/29/10 at 7:18
TN is ridiculous. These legislators are complete morons, as are most of their constituents. I guess it's a match made in regressive heaven.
G, where exactly do you fit in, if most of us "constitutents" are morons? Does that put you in the almighty "smarter than thou" section?
People who go into politics are always targets. People who speak out and try to make things better are always targets. And the ones shooting off the most rounds are the lacky loo's sitting at home, watching t.v. and hating everyone and everything that everyone does.
ISorry boys, but we part company on this issue. I'm not OK with any Judeo-Christian proselytizing in public schools, on the public's dime. Yes, I am a secular humanist who believes in the efficacy and necessity of seperation of church matters from matters of state.
Consider this, if the Quran was being studied in the TN public schools, on the tapayer's dime, elective course or not, we would hear hyped-up, howling outrage all across the Volunteer State.
I put a couple of caustic comments on the comment board for the Bible Study story. Maybe we can use that board to discuss creeping theocracy in the USA.
As for wine, I say put it on the grocer's shelves...good wine and good food complement each other, it's a good fit, IMO.
I wonder how the North has dealt with that serious problem, Sid. Oh, that's right, it's not a problem.
The Bible is a third history, a third self-help and a third fiction, and completely archaic.
sid said:
" Of course that would be O.K. My only concern is that minors can't sell it, so they couldn't have their after school jobs as checkers. The grocery stores would have to up their prices so they could pay adults more money to work there."
Sorry, not true. I have gone to grocery stores to buy beer, the clerk is underage, the clerk just calls a manager who comes over, rings up only the beer, then the clerk does the rest.
IMHO beer, wine and liquor should be sold anytime the store is open, on any day.
Of course the legislature is putting off acting on allowing wine in grocer'y stores. They don't want the voters to know they are in bed with the liquor lobby so soon after they have been in bed with the gun lobby!!
But honestly, some part of the guns in bars issue makes sence... do you suppose it could be God's effort to rid the gene pool of idiots???
Oh wait, I can find anything about that in that work of historical fiction that all the rednecks quote...
My Baptist minister brother-in-law gets a blank look on his face g when I tell him Jesus turned wine into water! Wonder if it was red or white?
We do have the ability to vote them out, do we not????
By: bfra on 1/29/10 at 4:29
My councilman assured me he was against this ego shrine and then voted for it. He, as of the next day, was assured, I will never vote for him again or support him in any way.
bfra, I see what you mean now. I'll undo my other post by saying "I'm sorry".
"G" after reading bfra's post (above) on another issue, I must retract my retort to you. They are morons based on the story about the budget.
And Kosh, I think you're right. I had not thought of that part.
Loner, how bad could it be if someone decided not to kill, not to do drugs, not to steal, not to harm children because of a belief in God? How bad could it turn out if people loved God and lived in a wholesome way of "do unto others as you'd have them do unto you" and the "do" was good and not evil?
How bad could that be? A simple answer would help me see your point of view. A little God goes a long way for some people.
Offering secondary school, academic credit for Bible Study is analogous to giving academic credit for studying Grimm's fairy tales or watching old cartoons. I dare say that watching the Three Stooges for school credit makes slightly more sense than giving academic credits for reading the Bible.
From the first page to the last page, the Bible is nothing more than ancient Hebrew folktales (the OT) and heretical Judaism (the NT). Why would the TN legislature want to promote the reading of grisly fairy tales and war-mongering myths?
By: gdiafante on 1/29/10 at 7:30
I wonder how the North has dealt with that serious problem, Sid. Oh, that's right, it's not a problem.
I"m not following you here G. "serious problem". Do you mean the moron politicians, the beer on Sunday or the No God today policy? Serious question; answer appreciated!
Well, Loner, it's OK to teach the bible. People are smart enough to make up their own minds once they have ALL sides of the story. So since we promote secularism, let's also have a little Bible to balance out the equation.
You make a pretty strong point there, Loner. Care to run for office down here?
To sidneyames:
People who go into politics MAKE themselves targets when they do not act upon their constituents wishes.
The constituents did not want guns in bars....
The constitutents do want wine in grocery stores...
The representative from my district has sponsored just one piece of legislation in all her many years as a representative. She sponsors "atta boys" for all kinds of stupid stuff. And that one piece of legislation... well it had to do with not allowing anyone to look at the cooked books for expenses from her so called office... The abandoned shed with no electricity on a piece of property that she owns... and that, my friends is what is governing the great state of Tennessee... and guess what, it is our own falt as we don't vote them out...
I've met my quota for today; no more posting for me. I"m off to buy some wine for the weekend and beer for my dogs.
I'd vote yes if they put the grocery store sales on the ballot. Why don't ya'll get up a petition or something like that. Let's show 'em; we can drink when and where and as much as we want to (or in some cases "need" to).
Have a great weekend.
sid, go to the Red, White, & Food website if you support the cause.
Sid, all you have to do is look at some of the really stupid laws proposed...guns in bars...attempted public financing for a "bible theme park" etc. This state is ass backward, always has been. I guess that's part of it's "Southern charm"...lol
I've always thought that eventually it has to move into the 21st century...right?
Um, you can't buy alcohol this early...God will get you for that.
"Lighten up, people...it's 5:00 somewhere."
-God
By: njmccune on 1/29/10 at 7:46
To sidneyames: The representative from my district has sponsored just one piece of legislation in all her many years as a representative. She sponsors "atta boys" for all kinds of stupid stuff. And that one piece of legislation... well it had to do with not allowing anyone to look at the cooked books for expenses from her so called office... The abandoned shed with no electricity on a piece of property that she owns... and that, my friends is what is governing the great state of Tennessee... and guess what, it is our own falt as we don't vote them out...
I have to respond to this, even though I said "no more today". My city councilman works very hard (2nd term) for our community. We have many people who attend his community meetings and who support him. I may not always agree with his votes, but I am in total agreement with his process of allowing the community to guide him and his conscience on voting. I think he voted yes for convention center. I don't agree with him on that,but I agree with him on 90% of the rest of his term.
I also am totally aware of some of the inappropriate pressure put on council members by certain people (aka mayor). I think the dean machine is the problem. He's steam rolling and bank rolling as we speak. I admit: I'm guilty: I voted for karl marx dean and want my campaign contribution back. I'm sorry. It was probably my vote that caused this whole mess. I'll have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life.
But my councilman is awesome, honest and for the people (most of the time).
njmccune, welcome to the board. I concur with your cogent analysis.
Sid, don't be so naive and/or gullible, the fear of God has not kept the believers from sinning. Sinners and Saints rationalize their actions, they delude themselves into thinking that the ends justify the means. They do an end run around the dogma.
Speaking of Saints. The CNN story about Pope John Paul ll sleeping "naked on the floor" after engaging in ritualized self-flagellation contained a translation error.
It seems that the original Italian text says that the Pope slept "on a bare floor", not "bare on the floor". The rest of the story, however remains the same. He used a favorite leather belt, the story claims, to whip his own @ss, and he took the Strap of Righteousness, along with his other Papal paraphernalia, on his Papal trips.
Will the Vatican sue CNN for defaming his Holiness? Stay tuned.
By: gdiafante on 1/29/10 at 7:51
Sid, all you have to do is look at some of the really stupid laws proposed...guns in bars...attempted public financing for a "bible theme park" etc. This state is ass backward, always has been. I guess that's part of it's "Southern charm"...lol
I've always thought that eventually it has to move into the 21st century...right?
G, is that why you moved here from the "great" north, or "lovely" pacific coast? LMAO.
I hate california; I hate NY city; I love the south. It's so homey! It's so lovely! It's so gonna freeze over today (maybe) cause they closed schools for a rain drop! I was not born here G, but I am gonna die here!
By: house_of_pain on 1/29/10 at 7:55
"Lighten up, people...it's 5:00 somewhere."
-God
Ohhhhhhhhh house; I love Alan and Jimmie and you're so right. It's 5 o'clock somewhere. That song is so awesome.
And when you said -"God", were you serious? Cause he's right there for you.
I was born here, moved to PA, then CT, then when I got out of the Marines, I came back here for college. I then moved to Iowa and moved back here because of my wife. Even though she's from Iowa, she wanted to live here. So we're here.
And I remind her about that every day.
Let me clarify this G; I was born in San Diego and went back for 5 years as an adult. Hated it.
I'm just a southern belle. My friend who was from NY used to make fun of me. I told her that I prefer being a southern belle over being a "northern ding-a-ling" any day.
Her daddy was rich; sent her a new fur coat every season (he was a Geoffrey Beane furrier) and she sold them to support her skanky, out of work boy friend(s). Her daddy was a dummy! She never appreciated him; just used him for fur coats.
By: gdiafante on 1/29/10 at 8:03
I was born here, moved to PA, then CT, then when I got out of the Marines, I came back here for college. I then moved to Iowa and moved back here because of my wife. Even though she's from Iowa, she wanted to live here. So we're here.
And I remind her about that every day.
G, and I bet she loves you "in spite of you". My husband is from Maine and would rather be in New Mexico or Montana trekking around the hills looking for elk horns. BUT he loves me so much, he followed me here to Moozik City.
Sempi fi! (did I spell that right?). Thanks for the service to this great country and especially to Tennessee (we need it)!
By: Loner on 1/29/10 at 7:57
njmccune, welcome to the board. I concur with your cogent analysis.
Sid, don't be so naive and/or gullible, the fear of God has not kept the believers from sinning.
Loner, God has kept me out of trouble many times. When I was younger, I used to say "I'm one step ahead of, or one step behind danger at all times -- and God is with me".
I am a true believer in God and you can be a non-believer if you choose. It's not up to me to convince you of anything. I just live my life the best way I know how. And so do you.
Oh and I just don't happen to hate "non-believers" as much as they "hate" believers.
By: Kosh III on 1/29/10 at 7:27
How can I get that throat treatment???
k3 - probably in that gay piano bar you told us about :)
Morning all - I see our 8 inches of snow has showed up as usual :)
Capt - You let d7 beat you on the post this morning? Too D@#@ early both of you!
Remember the early bird getting the worm only proves the worm should have stayed in bed! :)
Oh my gosh! 15 posts (16 counting this one). I'm doomed! It's only 8:10 a.m. I'm going to my posters' annonymous meeting now.
Run for office in TN? House, you mean pull a Harold Ford Junior, in reverse? No thanks. My chances of success would be as slim as Junior's, probably slimmer, he's young and good looking, I'm old and gnarly.....Palin and Scott Brown are proof that looks are more important than ideas. Americans want glamor and glitz not fundamental reform.
I like your Rep. Cohen. There's a guy who ought to run for TN Governor. He is sharp, honest, focused and reform-minded. Yes, he's Jewish; now call me anti-Semitic.
Sid, it's "Semper Fi".
She complains about TN too, but she's happy with her career. Mine allows me to pretty much do it from wherever, so if she said she wanted to move back to Iowa tomorrow, I'd go along with it.
One day we will, I don't doubt that. Until that day, a man can dream...
sid
anonymous :)
By: gdiafante on 1/29/10 at 8:16
Sid, it's "Semper Fi". She complains about TN too, but she's happy with her career. Mine allows me to pretty much do it from wherever, so if she said she wanted to move back to Iowa tomorrow, I'd go along with it. One day we will, I don't doubt that. Until that day, a man can dream...
G, thanks for the spell check.
Regarding "a man can dream" -- maybe at your house, but I'm so mean that if I notice a smile on my husband's face in the middle of the night, I hit him over the head with a pillow. There will be "no dreams on my watch". LMAO
And DustyU, good a.m. to you Mr. Cheerful. Oh my gosh, I"ve out posted myself. I have to get help for this problem!
By: sidneyames on 1/29/10 at 8:23
And DustyU, good a.m. to you Mr. Cheerful. Oh my gosh, I"ve out posted myself. I have to get help for this problem!
Cheerful because I didn't get up until 7:45 :)
Yes sid you obviously have a post-it addiction :)
Sid, non-nelievers don't generally "hate" believers, as you claim. They fear believers and with good reason . Believers have started and waged countless wars and conflicts. Believers have sparked murderous uprisings, bloody insurgencies and horrific riots. Believers have conducted witch hunts and Inquisitions, yes, even the Nazi army had its chaplains.
As a civilizing influence, religion is highly over-rated.
As a tool to advance mankind's understanding of the universe, religion is actually counter-productive.
On balance, religion has been and will remain more harmful to mankind than it is beneficial. We keep on believing, because we are addicted, as a species, to faith. Sadly, our faith is often misplaced, but it gets the fear monkey off our back.
Loner's right. Evangelicals creep me out.
well said, Loner. i don't "hate" believers. i fear them and they confuse me because of their lack of rationalism. hate, no. pity? yes.