Wet-Dry Update

My brother decided that a authentic picture of the state line wet-dry situation needed to mentioned....and provided me this shot. As you can note here....it is in plain daylight, when few if any mortal souls of Bama would pass by this critical road....to taste a bit of beer.

It's best you only stop in darkness....to avoid being seen and identified later by your minister or neighbors.

You are gazing southward, into the heart of Bama, and into a dry county. It's barely a hundred feet or so past those trees on the left where the state line lies. Typically, the "law" stays a about a mile down the road or more....giving you a chance to think you are safe.

The Impending Hurricane

With the potential hurricane heading up toward Virginia's way....I asked about four folks on advice....how to prepare. The logical advice...buy groceries and water. Then came the "other" advice...buy enough beer (my brother the engineer). Then today came more advice "buy beer, bacon, and bread".

I've never been in a hurricane impact area, and I seriously doubt that it comes anywhere near the Virgina coast. Needless to say....I have ordered up a stock of groceries to be delivered....and beer does appear prominently on that list.

So around Friday afternoon....as I emerge from the mighty Pentagon and face the winds...we will see the effects.

WikiLeaks Twist #9

Today, if you pay attention...another twist occurred with this WikiLeaks boss and founder....Julian Assange.

The original charge against him was two rapes. Then the prosecutor revoked the original charges to molestation. It was an odd crime but it wasn't a felony. But then they closed off everything to conduct this investigation.

Most of the media has simply stood by and refused to dig much.

Originally, it kinda looked like some funny bondage stuff was involved but then two things came out today.

First, a senior Swedish prosecutor is reopening the rape investigation against Julian. They won't say much but it looks like the 2nd change was rather quick and folks are starting to ask more questions.

Then you come to comments appearing via Swedish bloggers. Julian had an interesting lifestyle...he flirted and screwed around in an open fashion. He didn't really have any concept of a permanent girlfriend or established relationships. He's not that kind of guy.

So, he had this one-night stand with a young gal in her twenties. She was happy with the deal and things came to a conclusion. By the next weekend, Julian had moved onto Swedish gal #2. She was a political power player in her mid-30s. She had certain perceptions. So after the fun and frolic....Julian let her know that she was just another one-night stand.

Swedish gal #2 wasn't happy. She'd been used, and she likely had a low opinion of Julian now.

So she knows Swedish gal #1, and goes to her. She convinces #1 that Julian is an idiot. Julian is in her mind....a rapist. So they both go and report this.

The original prosecutor hears both reports....and goes toward rape in his report. The next day...the higher authority in the local area jumps in and says this isn't possible. Swedish gal #1 also starts to realize that #2 has an agenda....so things kinda slide backwards with #1.

In Sweden, if you showed intentions of a permanent relationship...and then lied...and you used physical lust in this business....then it could be seen as rape. This hasn't really been a big criminal thing and it appears that folks aren't sure how this would unfold in a real court.

Julian? I'm guessing that he's being kinda uncooperative about this business. He's likely agreed to consenting with the two ladies....and not much else. The authorities are starting to have more women interested in this case and it's likely challenging the ethics of the lawyers involved.

Julian's best direction? Leave Sweden as soon as possible and suggest that the CIA controls the Swedish legal system completely. Then toss up a fake message or two to the Swedish government from the CIA to prove your case. Just my humble advice.

A Wet Dry Situation

As most of you know....I grew up in a dry county (for you from beyond Bama, this means alcohol will not touch your lips in such a county).

This probably saved me and countless other folks in that county from a terrible bit of suffering and such (at least we are told that).

Over the years, inch by inch....there's been this fight underway in Bama within dry counties. Basically, if a town can get the signatures to challenge it's "dryness", then they can run this up for a vote in the next election.

My hometown....which shall be left nameless....has not yet done this. They've been preserved by the Baptists. The amusing thing is that we are at this center point of the local area. If you proceed north by five miles, you reach the state line, and there is an abundance of alcohol via at least two establishments.

It would be an accurate statement to say that both establishments serve a significant number of folks from the dry county to the south (the poor misguided Bama folks).

Past my hometown....by another four miles....is my second hometown, which also remain nameless. Folks there have kinda changed their ways over the past decade. Upper-class houses have gone in and folks with a more worldly prospective have moved in. Frankly, they'd like to consume spirits, booze, and beer in their house or in the local town. They'd rather not drive nine miles and risk getting arrested by the local cops. So they put up a ballot initiative, and got the folks to sign this....and in November....it'll come to a vote. Wet or dry.

Naturally, this has energized the Baptist folks and they've got major notes in the local paper. They've put posters out. They've been talking up the problems with the membership. They've talked long and hard about the terrible problems of alcohol.

There are various folks with a second agenda of getting this passed. If you had permits for pubs and bars....then business would suddenly surge, and these two bars across the state line would lose seventy-five percent of their business. The cops would be happy because they could arrest drunks locally and make tons of money. Folks would come to the state park bar, and consume vast amounts of booze after their boating experience.

So there's this fear....of wickedness coming. You can smell the fear. You can feel the devil at your front door. The best thing to do is vote this down, and ensure that the two bars across the state line continue their business intact, and guys continue the nine-mile drive. Yes, that's the only fair thing you can do.

Luckily, my brother the engineer, is outside of the city limits of this town and can't possibly contribute his vote. Engineers tend to ask questions and start to rationalize the thought process. How many miles are involved in this process? How many pallets of beer would be sold in relationship to the local sales tax? How many cops would be brought onto the local police force to arrest guys and make the city wealthy? How would the city spend all the tax revenue from the booze? Could an Irish pub be brought in with authentic but fake Irish ladies? Could cheap Pabst Blue Ribbon be procured and put on sale at a highly discounted rate? These questions come from a trained mind that spent time in Auburn, which happens to be a wet area, and naturally clouds one's perceptions.

So the weeks are passing now in my old hometown. If this other town goes wet...do you continue to drive to the state line? Or do you now drive to the next Bama town over? Where is your faith and loyalty? This is the problem that folks I grew up with will have shortly have.....if wet is the answer.

Just a humble observation or two from a Bama guy in a throughly wet area of Virginia today.