The whole "dry county" thing along the south half of the trail

[rafe]

Alcohol is a scourge of society.

What are the others?

[tha]

Until now?

You're moving back to Georgia because you like it's laws? Which would those be that are different than NY's or CA's?

Thanks for asking, Sly. I am an avid shooter. The gun laws in CA and NY, particularly NYC, are draconian and getting worse. Like I said earlier, it's just something I enjoy. In addition to the laws, I also simply feel comfortable in the South. That surprised me when I realized it a couple of years ago after several family members died. The AT actually played an important part in that. When I was a kid, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I used to spend a great deal of time in the Dahlonega, Amicalola Falls, Hiawassee, Blairsville, etc. areas, especially hiking and camping around there. Vogel State Park and Lake Winfield Scott were for years the only places we could afford to go for vacation. Now, I miss it. Can't wait for my thru in March of '08. Been talking about it for 275 years, or so it seems. Also, I have honestly never experienced many of the things described in this thread. I don't say they don't exist; I've just never seen them. To each his own, right?

[Sly]

Thanks for the reply tha. I agree the some of the gun laws can be draconian, especially since they're supposed to be a right guaranteed under the 2nd Amendment.

[Desert Lobster]

Aren't liberals mostly Democrats and if so, why is it that Democrats are for gun control? I would think that the liberal position would be protecting the rights of gun owners.

[Sly]

Yeah, you would think. Lots of major metropolitan police chiefs also back gun control so it's not just a partisan issue.

[Lone Wolf]

Thanks for asking, Sly. I am an avid shooter. The gun laws in CA and NY, particularly NYC, are draconian and getting worse. Like I said earlier, it's just something I enjoy.

Move to Vermont. You can carry concealed without a permit. In your vehicle too.
www.packing.org

[Jim Adams]

Those dry counties have the right idea. Alcohol is a scourge of society. Drinking results in lost productivity, failed marriages, auto accidents, liver disease, premature senility, people acting stupid generally, and on and on. You should be glad for your time in those dry counties, maybe it will give you a glimpse at wholesome living.

So closed minded!!!
That's like saying that hiking should be outlawed because it can lead to bad knees and knee replacements.
It is the same with everything in life.
Guns don't kill, people using them irresponsibly do.
Alcohol doesn't kill, people using it irresponsibly do.
Local laws may not project my beliefs but those beliefs of a select few.

geek

[Lone Wolf]

A fork made Rosie O'Donnell a big fat cow

[rafe]

A fork made Rosie O'Donnell a big fat cow

What's Limbaugh's excuse?

[Bravo]

Those dry counties have the right idea. Alcohol is a scourge of society. Drinking results in lost productivity, failed marriages, auto accidents, liver disease, premature senility, people acting stupid generally, and on and on. You should be glad for your time in those dry counties, maybe it will give you a glimpse at wholesome living.

Whoa. Take out auto accidents and liver disease and that sounds like long distance hiking to me. Marriages have been broken. It causes premature senility in some(or is that just trail weirdness). Lots of hikers act stupid just read WB.

Wholesome living I guess can be nice but most great stories come from the left hand path.

[Peaks]

Different communities, different rules.

I, coming in here late.

Here in Massachusetts, it's package stores. Well, in last November's election, there was a ballot question that would have allowed grocery stores to sell beer and wine. Sounded like a no-brainer to me. But the lobby for the package store painted a picture of selling booze at convience stores and gas stations, thus, more DWI, and less control over selling booze to minors. Needless to say, the ballot question got defeated.

Meanwhile, many times we have stopped at the state stores in rest areas along I-93 in New Hampshire and bought booze. Go figure.

[moxie]

Move to Vermont. You can carry concealed without a permit. In your vehicle too.
www.packing.org

Lone Wolf is right on. In Vermont if you plan to go to Canada where they have strict gun laws you can check your handgun at any State Police station and they will hold it until you return to VT. Maine does have a concealed weapons permit but the law says a permit cannot be denied to any citizen not convicted of a felony. However in Maine, permit or not, it is legal to carry a weapon anywhere if it is not concealed so strap on the old 44 magnum and go to Walmart or a movie. The store or theater may object but it is perfectly legal. Rural is rural, urban is different. in the north or in the south. By the way Lobster, have you ever known a liberal Maine political leader, (Ed Muskie. George Mitchel, etc.) favor any type of gun registration or control? Dont try to blame the liberals, it's strictly an urban rural thing.

[Rain Man]

So closed minded!!! That's like saying that hiking should be outlawed because it can lead to bad knees and knee replacements.

Sorry, Geek, but to me you are the one being closed minded. Or is it just wrongly comparing apples and sailboats?

He spoke mostly of things alcohol abuse does to others, while you compare it mostly to things it does to oneself, and conclude it is, therefore, okay.

I don't. Alcohol abuse hurts others on a vast and deep scale, and that is the main reason we need reasonable alcohol laws. I don't mind a discussion about what is reasonable, as long as it's a discussion of apples and apples.

And guns don't impair one's frame of mind nearly the quantity or quality as alcohol does, so that's a bogus comparison, in my opinion.

RainMan

.

[Jim Adams]

Rain Man,
Just venting a little I guess.
I AM a drinker and do enjoy it but I also have been a paramedic for 30 years. Alcohol does do damage on a very large scale, I see it in my job constantly. What makes me mad is that all of these strange laws that everyone is talking about will not change society's view on the situation. The war on drugs is a joke. Our prisons are full of pot smoking "criminals" while I scrape car accident victims off of the highway on their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. DUI! This country is not open minded about this situation at all!
A friend of mine is a doctor of pharmacology and his thoughts on Marijuana are this: How can you get down on a drug that makes teenagers drive slow?
Now being in my profession, although I don't totally agree with his sentiments, I can see his point to a certain extent. I doubt that Marijuana will ever be legal in the USA but alcohol will NEVER be outlawed--the government makes too much money on it!
I AM A DRINKER and enjoy drinking enough to probably end up with some type of liver problem but if alcohol were outlawed my job would be a whole lot easier!

geek

[1Pint]

I AM A DRINKER and enjoy drinking ....

geek

I, too, am a drinker. (Just in case the name didn't tip you off.) I absolutely love trying new beers and will miss the variety and ease of purchase my city life provides.

However, I'm more likely to go into withdrawal from lack of my cherry Pepsi than I am from a few dry counties or those with only crappy Bud, MGD, etc. Lack of a good beer along the trail will be the same as a lack of good coffee... like a mosquito bite of inconvenience compared to the hankering I'll feel for my Pepsi. And I know this from experience - this Fall I was only able to procure 4 Pepsis in the space of 25 days. It was brutal! Coke just doesn't serve the fix.

[Lone Wolf]

only crappy Bud, MGD, etc.

we'll see what you think of "crappy" beer after a couple of weeks on the trail when someone offers you a PBR. your beer snobbery will go out the window.

[khaynie]

we'll see what you think of "crappy" beer after a couple of weeks on the trail when someone offers you a PBR. your beer snobbery will go out the window.

There are only two kinds of beer...Studweiser and free.

[Lone Wolf]

There are only two kinds of beer...Studweiser and free.

OP ain't bad. (other people's)

[The Weasel]

I'm still trying to figure out the advantages of living in the bible belt.

I think there are many; whether they outweigh what some see as the negatives of the extent of the fundamentalist churches in those areas is a matter of personal choice.

Much of the 'bible belt' is in those parts of NC/TN/GA/ALA/MS that are very scenic - the AT is an excellent example - with very low costs of living compared to other parts of the country. There is a less 'hurried' atmosphere to life than in large cities, and, for those who are willing to accept (even it not agree with) the difference in cultures, a very warm and welcoming community life that is very different from urban life.

I recall the story of the farmer leaning on his fence as a man walked by. "How are the people in the town up ahead?" the man asked. "How were they where you just came from" the farmer replied. "Oh, not very nice," said the traveller. "They're the same up ahead," the farmer said. A while later, the farmer was by his fence as another traveller came by, and the same questions. "They were wonderful back there," said the traveller. "They're the same up ahead," the farmer said.

The Weasel

[khaynie]

Yeah, OP is particularly tasty. It's real cheap:-)