Virginia's new governor talks privatization

Virginia's new governor wants to privatize liquor sales in the Old Dominion State, and he's willing to talk plainly about it; no pussyfooting. More power to him. We need someone like this in PA, eh?

(I dunno about that host guy's leather jacket, though...)

Big anti-PLCB piece in Philadelphia Weekly

The issue of Philadelphia Weekly that came out yesterday features a lengthy anti-PLCB screed by Tom Cowell; nice work. (There was a good editorial on the wine kiosks the day before in the Lebanon Daily News, too.) The blog got some mention (bottom of page 2), but much much more importantly, Cowell had clearly been reading it and getting ideas: the number of stores compared to Chicago, how relatively little money we actually get from a complete monopoly on booze sales, the stupidity of the rebranding scheme, the way the PLCB is really just the tool of the legislature.

Which is exactly why this blog is here, to inspire thought and action. Cowell took it and ran with it, talked to union head Wendell Young, found some more issues (the patronage inherent in the State Store System, for example), and got a new crowd of folks stirred up. I'm very happy to see it happen.

Keep spreading the word. PRIVATIZE IT NOW!

(And if you feel like supporting me in the comments to this piece...feel free, but remember to keep it on track: it's all about abolishing the PLCB and rewriting The Almighty Liquor Code!)

Wino 9000

Okay, it's silly and juvenile, but I'll admit it: I giggled. Take a look at someone who has treated the wine kiosk ideas with exactly what they deserve: derision.

New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of year when we think about how to make ourselves better in the coming year. I'm thinking about how to make this blog better.

Write more Reasons. I haven't written a Reason in months. I will do that.

Get the Winevolk involved. We've barely touched what is possibly the second-worst aspect of the State Store System (after what they've done with bourbon): the wine selection. Plenty of room to rip 'em a hole: signage, storage, selection, selling...just to name a few.

Beat up The Almighty Liquor Code. Pennsylvania could be made a lot more pleasant place to enjoy a drink -- not get all liquored up, but enjoy a drink -- if certain ridiculous things were added to and subtracted from The Almighty Liquor Code. Make more suggestions on that.

Get the mainstream media more involved. Letters to the editor, e-mails to reporters, call-ins to radio shows. Get everyone up to speed on just how dopey this system is.

Get some video going on. You know what I mean: video of those wine kiosks in operation, right here on the blog. I'm gonna be a vidstar!

Bring the beer. Though I continue to complain about the State Store System, we all know that this state's kinda messed up on beer, too (and it ain't just the case law). Beer gets more attention.

That should do. Happy New Year, Pennsylvania!

Pocono Record has it right...

Oh, yeah, brother: preach it:

...the wine kiosks smack more than a little of Big Brother. Without a live person monitoring wine purchases, consumers will face some pretty intrusive procedures before they can walk out of the supermarket with a bottle of cabernet to go with their steak au poivre.

The editorialist at the Pocono Record puts their finger right on the wine kiosk problem. When you buy a bottle of wine at a private store in New Jersey/New York/Delaware/Maryland/etc., that's all you buy: a bottle of wine, and you walk away. When you buy a bottle of wine from one of these Wine-O-Mats, you buy a lot more: you buy a breathalyzer test, you buy an ID scan linked to what you bought (and how much you bought), you buy the knowledge of how much wine you buy over a year, and -- at least, according to the head of the PLCB's employees' union -- you buy an etched code on the bottle that links it to you...and all of that goes on your permanent record.

Is that what you want from your government? Big Brother literally looking out at you from some ridiculous wine-vending machine, sniffing your breath and taking your picture just so you can get a bottle of Yellow Tail (because I'm sure there will be Yellow Tail in these things, they've got a whole section of their own in the stores)? I mean, I'm not a huge fan of the Patriot Act, but at least I can understand why the government might want to listen on phone lines to pick up terrorist activity...why the hell do they want to keep a record of which bottle of wine I bought? What damned business is it of theirs?

It might be time to throw some bottles of wine in the Philadelphia harbor...

"How to Avoid Selling Wine in Pennsylvania"

Nicely done piece on the "wine kiosks" at Vinography; go have a look.

Here's how it starts:

So if you had a bunch of grocery stores, and those grocery stores sold wine, but you didn't really want people to buy any wine, what would you do?


One of the things you might consider doing would be to lock all the wine away in cabinets, so that people couldn't touch the bottles.

And it goes on in that vein, brilliantly. Seriously, folks, as the commenters to the post say: why aren't Pennsylvanians more insulted by this?

17% expansion in number of State Stores in 2010!

The PLCB is planning to expand the number of State Stores from 620-ish to over 700 in 2010!

Holy crap! Really?

No, not really. It's that stupid wine kiosk idea again, and it's almost here, despite its obvious stupidity and iffy ethical status of the contract (not that "iffy ethics" should surprise anyone in this context). And according to the PLCB...each one is a Store.

"What we are proposing is a wine kiosk. This counts as a wine and spirits store. It will be within the store. There will be 100 of them around the state. They will have some of our most popular wines," said Nick Hays, PLCB spokesman.

So...what about all the worry that "more outlets means more problem drinking"? Well, once again, that only applies to a projected increase in privatized stores, not when it's the good old PLCB. Are you surprised?

Wine kiosks. God help us.