Welcome back Lew!

Tomorrow signals the return of Lew to the world of blog writing on  'Why The PLCB Should Be Abolished'. I'd like to thank him for allowing me to hold down the fort, so to speak, while he was off doing some other things.

I'm sure that I'm looking forward as much as the rest of you to his views on the prohibition relic we call the PLCB. I'll still be contributing but the reins will firmly be in Lew's hands once again.

Welcome back!

More on Ontario's "Beer Store"

My colleague (and good friend) Steve Beaumont has -- he claims reluctantly -- taken on the "Beer Store" mess here. I think you'll agree that there are many parallels to our PA-based situation, among them being a ridiculous system, complacent satisfaction, and a simple solution. Take a read; I've got something coming up soon on the similarly ridiculous Swedish government-owned monopoly.

More PLCB blogging

Check out these pages from a blog called tleaves, done by some engagingly clever folks from the Pittsburgh area. Like me, they (or at least one of them) are driven mad by the PLCB. The post title that first caught my eye: It'd Probably Work Better if it Were Run By Drunkards.

But it was this post that let me know I'd found a true kindred spirit, someone who really understood just how messed up the PLCB has made retail liquor in Pennsylvania. Because I, too, had tried to buy a bottle of Luxardo maraschino liqueur at a State Store, and met with the same response: "There's no such thing." Actually, the first response I got was "We don't sell grenadine." Good God.

Good to know at least one other blogger out there is as pissed off as I am.