Does this mean I can finally buy the Motorhead vodka?

Anything that will help the poor bastards.

I've ordered beer from Belgium a few times now with no problems. Trappist Westvleteren 12 is something every beer lover needs to try.

I do some homebrew, and I wouldn't mind being able to ship some to out of state friends.

I can order certain liquors from like... New Jersey or California or something and end up paying less than I would at the local state run booze depot. Faster delivery too. Totally asinine.

Bonus: I can leave it at the FedEx shipping center for weeks until I feel like picking it up at midnight or so.

Bonus bonus: Online retailers actually list their farking inventory and pricing along with these things called 'pictures'. You can even communicate with actual employees via electronic means!

Wait, UPS ships booze? I thought only Fedex ground did that.

Doesn't change much. The USPS would just be doing something UPS and Fedex have been doing for years.

The only plus is that there will be another type of notice that you may not get because the mail carrier mixed it with the junk mail and you didn't see it as you tossed the junk mail.

I can't wait to see how the USPS handles liquor shipments.


/My mail man hates my apartment complex (or at least me) for some reason
//Reserved
///Reserved

Satanic_Hamster: Wait, UPS ships booze? I thought only Fedex ground did that.

UPS definitely does. I ordered beer from Rogue a week ago and it came UPS.

Only 14 states accept wine from out-of-state retailers.

Not exactly accurate...


THE DIRECT SHIP SHAPE: States in dark brown are currently available for direct to consumer shipments. States in light brown either prohibit shipments altogether or are not accessible by common carrier because of complex requirements. [Map courtesy of Family Winemakers of California]

Personally, I think Congress should just say, "Interstate Commerce Clause, motherfarkers," and allow interstate shipments of alcohol anywhere in the U.S. by common carrier with a signature and ID check on delivery, with the exception of where all alcohol sales are banned (e.g. dry counties, Indian reservations) to comply with the 21st Amendment. Of course, the state-owned wholesaling monopolies would shiat bricks bottles, so it'll never happen...

Will be a shame because in KY we still can't get it shipped by state statute.

GiveBerkez: Will be a shame because in KY we still can't get it shipped by state statute.

*Insert your favorite 'KY = personal lubricant' joke here*

You want to save the USPS? Raise the postage for bulk mail. Direct marketers would biatch, but fark them, nobody wants that shiat.

Satanic_Hamster: Wait, UPS ships booze? I thought only Fedex ground did that.

Yep. CSB time.

I'm friends with my 10th grade English teacher on Facebook. She's not even ten years older than me, so we get along well now that our school relationship is over. Well, when my 21st birthday rolled around a couple years ago, I sent out invites on Facebook for the house party we were having. Naturally, she declined.

Well, the morning of my 21st comes along and the first thing I hear is a knock at the door. I open it up and there's the UPS guy with this huge box. I sign for it, take it inside and open up the attached card.

"Collin, Sorry I couldn't make it to your birthday party. Hopefully this will make up for it. Happy Birthday. Sincerely, ____".

I cut open the box and, sh*t you not, my high school English teacher had shipped me six assorted bottles of wine for my birthday.

Aquapope: You want to save the USPS? Raise the postage for bulk mail. Direct marketers would biatch, but fark them, nobody wants that shiat.

I would love it. The USPS seems to like the money though. They actively work with the junk mailers. Raising the prices would push some of them out. I doubt they would break even on revenue with the mailers who stayed and paid the higher price. Still, I would love it.

Most of my mail is this crap and I always have to check it as I toss it in case real mail is in there somewhere.

I've shipped homebrew through USPS plenty of times, you just have to be sneaky about it.

So I can ice my friends across the country now? Alright

MasterThief: Only 14 states accept wine from out-of-state retailers.

Not exactly accurate...

[i.imgur.com image 400x251]
THE DIRECT SHIP SHAPE: States in dark brown are currently available for direct to consumer shipments. States in light brown either prohibit shipments altogether or are not accessible by common carrier because of complex requirements. [Map courtesy of Family Winemakers of California]

Personally, I think Congress should just say, "Interstate Commerce Clause, motherfarkers," and allow interstate shipments of alcohol anywhere in the U.S. by common carrier with a signature and ID check on delivery, with the exception of where all alcohol sales are banned (e.g. dry counties, Indian reservations) to comply with the 21st Amendment. Of course, the state-owned wholesaling monopolies would shiat bricks bottles, so it'll never happen...

That's not exactly accurate either; New Jersey allows direct wine shipments.

Aquapope: You want to save the USPS? Raise the postage for bulk mail. Direct marketers would biatch, but fark them, nobody wants that shiat.

Or you could, you know, not force them to pre-fund 75 years worth of pensions.

MasterThief: Only 14 states accept wine from out-of-state retailers.

Not exactly accurate...


THE DIRECT SHIP SHAPE: States in dark brown are currently available for direct to consumer shipments. States in light brown either prohibit shipments altogether or are not accessible by common carrier because of complex requirements. [Map courtesy of Family Winemakers of California]

Personally, I think Congress should just say, "Interstate Commerce Clause, motherfarkers," and allow interstate shipments of alcohol anywhere in the U.S. by common carrier with a signature and ID check on delivery, with the exception of where all alcohol sales are banned (e.g. dry counties, Indian reservations) to comply with the 21st Amendment. Of course, the state-owned wholesaling monopolies would shiat bricks bottles, so it'll never happen...

The second part of the 21st Amendment was intended to give states more control over alcohol shipments than they have over other goods. It was the cost of repeal.

Bet they still make more from people shipping marijuana.

this thinking, similar to if one rat stays behind then the ship won't sink. rat stay, rat die. ship still sink. usps has no floatation device. fins are circling.

IIRC here in Texas, there's an oddity that out-of-state mfgs can simply mail to you.

However, IN-STATE mfgs can't ship in-state. They MUST use a "distributor". This step is highly restrictive, expensive, and serves no apparent purpose, it's archaic. Why not just certify yourself as a distributor? Ain't gonna happen. That's an archaic, insanely bureaucratic process and the distributors are a mafia-like bunch who basically own mfgs and retailers alike. I bet you could spend 5 years just on "research" trying to figure out how you could hypothetically BECOME a distributor.

Texas is famous now for its brewpubs, where they make craft beer on site. Which is delightful, but a legal pretzel you wouldn't believe. The restaurant and the brewery must be two separate businesses who can't touch one another, and there's this strange, complicated ritual of how the beer gets handed from the brewery to the restaurant. And they can't sell out to retail stores. Which is farking insane, an economy runs on business doing business.

In 2006 people sued over Texas' "3-tier Distribution System", and 'won', but reality is a bit more complicated than that, and the system STILL stands today.

flynn80: Bet they still make more from people shipping marijuana.

Heh. That's Fedex. When they had a fire and emergency landing back in 1996 investigators found so much weed on board they actually had to address rumors (false ones) that improperly packaged marijuana could spontaneously combust.

fusillade762: Or you could, you know, not force them to pre-fund 75 years worth of pensions.

Yeah, I forgot about that. Whose idea was that, Fedex?

9beers: I've ordered beer from Belgium a few times now with no problems. Trappist Westvleteren 12 is something every beer lover needs to try.

I did a trip to Watou to visit them. Soooooooo food.

gideon: 9beers: I've ordered beer from Belgium a few times now with no problems. Trappist Westvleteren 12 is something every beer lover needs to try.

I did a trip to Watou to visit them. Soooooooo food.

Food=good. Stupid autocorrect

It's a great platitude, but alcohol laws are on a state by state basis. You can't freely mail alcohol without the locals getting their taste of the action. That taste is the profit you seek. It's already gone.

gideon: gideon: 9beers: I've ordered beer from Belgium a few times now with no problems. Trappist Westvleteren 12 is something every beer lover needs to try.

I did a trip to Watou to visit them. Soooooooo food.

Food=good. Stupid autocorrect

You use that word, I do not think it does what you think it does.

Oznog: Texas is famous now for its brewpubs, where they make craft beer on site. Which is delightful, but a legal pretzel you wouldn't believe. The restaurant and the brewery must be two separate businesses who can't touch one another, and there's this strange, complicated ritual of how the beer gets handed from the brewery to the restaurant. And they can't sell out to retail stores. Which is farking insane, an economy runs on business doing business.

What, you thought "get the government out of my business" applied to regular people?

Would be nice to be able to mail wine gifts instead of having to pay extra to the liquor store.

I thought mebe Kennedy had somethig to do with this

evil saltine: Oznog: Texas is famous now for its brewpubs, where they make craft beer on site. Which is delightful, but a legal pretzel you wouldn't believe. The restaurant and the brewery must be two separate businesses who can't touch one another, and there's this strange, complicated ritual of how the beer gets handed from the brewery to the restaurant. And they can't sell out to retail stores. Which is farking insane, an economy runs on business doing business.

What, you thought "get the government out of my business" applied to regular people?

It has nothing to do with government. It has everything to do with the distributors who have complete control of the liquor shipping business. During the prohibition, the alcohol distributors realized that the prohibition was eventually going to fizzle out. But, if they're smart, they'll have laws written in their favor so that only certain businesses can be distributors and only they can ship booze from one place to another.

We have a place here in the SF Bay Area, Hangar One distillery. They make hard alcohol (hence, the distillery). Because it's hard alcohol, they have to ship all their booze to wherever. The front tasting room, when they run low, can't walk into the back distillery section of the business, pull a bottle out of a carton, and walk it back to the tasting room. They would have to order it and have the shipping company pick it up in the back and drive it around to the front to deliver it. The shipping companies make a mint because they're the "bottleneck" to the whole business. By law, they're the only ones allowed to handle any shipping. And they can then charge whatever the heck fee.

Hopefully, if this law is passed (unlikely, since the shippers have the congress by the balls), the distillery can mail the booze to the front tasting room. The cost would be substantially less, though.

Aquapope: fusillade762: Or you could, you know, not force them to pre-fund 75 years worth of pensions.

Yeah, I forgot about that. Whose idea was that, Fedex?

RW GOP Congress critters.

KaisertheCoyote: Does this mean I can finally buy the Motorhead vodka?

Maybe you can get Dan Ayckroyd's Crystal Skull stuff.

I've been ordering whiskeys I cant find from drinkupny.com for years...

fusillade762: Or you could, you know, not force them to pre-fund 75 years worth of pensions.

Yeah, I forgot about that. Whose idea was that, Fedex?

RW GOP Congress critters.

CONGRESS JUST APPROVED $11 BILLION TO USPS. WORKED FOR GM, AMIRIGHT?

Aquapope: You want to save the USPS? Raise the postage for bulk mail. Direct marketers would biatch, but fark them, nobody wants that shiat.

You farking moron, do you really think you're the first person to suggest that? It was done twice in the last decade, and resulted in the decline of the mailing business. That's why you're paying ridiculous prices to ship packages now.

Learn how the world works before throwing out stupid ass, kindergarten ideas

fusillade762: Aquapope: You want to save the USPS? Raise the postage for bulk mail. Direct marketers would biatch, but fark them, nobody wants that shiat.

Or you could, you know, not force them to pre-fund 75 years worth of pensions.

Now this is a smart poster.

/whoever decided on this pension funding rule needs to be castrated.

Aquapope: fusillade762: Or you could, you know, not force them to pre-fund 75 years worth of pensions.

Yeah, I forgot about that. Whose idea was that, Fedex?

Aren't we about half way through the ten year funding period for that? If the post office can make it another five years (a big 'if'), then they'll be freed from that stupid requirement. As long as the GOP isn't in control of Congress at the time and impose additional stupid requirements, the post office will be ok. What we really need to watch out for is once the pension is prefunded, what happens to the money. Don't be surprised if that fund doesn't get raided to pay for someone's pet project.

hbk72777: fusillade762: Aquapope: You want to save the USPS? Raise the postage for bulk mail. Direct marketers would biatch, but fark them, nobody wants that shiat.

Or you could, you know, not force them to pre-fund 75 years worth of pensions.

Now this is a smart poster.

/whoever decided on this pension funding rule needs to be castrated.

Wasn't that Issa?

fusillade762: Or you could, you know, not force them to pre-fund 75 years worth of pensions.

No kidding. That's not how it's done in the business world. You put off paying into them as long as possible, pay as little as possible and if you go bankrupt you dump the plans as fast as possible..

If stupid laws are an impediment to commerce, your government sucks. If having a conscience is an impediment to business, you suck and your business sucks. This is about stupid laws.

quick, tack a rider onto it that raises taxes on millionaires and denies funding to planned parenthood!

Raw_fishFood: I do some homebrew, and I wouldn't mind being able to ship some to out of state friends.

just dont do it through the usps. /fedex doesnt ask questions if you send a bottle and pack it well

Oznog: IIRC here in Texas, there's an oddity that out-of-state mfgs can simply mail to you.

However, IN-STATE mfgs can't ship in-state. They MUST use a "distributor". This step is highly restrictive, expensive, and serves no apparent purpose, it's archaic. Why not just certify yourself as a distributor? Ain't gonna happen. That's an archaic, insanely bureaucratic process and the distributors are a mafia-like bunch who basically own mfgs and retailers alike. I bet you could spend 5 years just on "research" trying to figure out how you could hypothetically BECOME a distributor.

Texas is famous now for its brewpubs, where they make craft beer on site. Which is delightful, but a legal pretzel you wouldn't believe. The restaurant and the brewery must be two separate businesses who can't touch one another, and there's this strange, complicated ritual of how the beer gets handed from the brewery to the restaurant. And they can't sell out to retail stores. Which is farking insane, an economy runs on business doing business.

In 2006 people sued over Texas' "3-tier Distribution System", and 'won', but reality is a bit more complicated than that, and the system STILL stands today.

For years Irving Texas was dry, and they voters tried for years to over-turn it, but was always shot down on election day. We finally won about 2 years ago.

I loved the teetotaling church-ladies who were picketing a supermarket because it was one of the first to sell beer and they were like 'If daddy drinks, he'll come home and beat up mommy.... why do you want that to happen'

I'd be willing to bet that getting a delivery signature is a net loss for the post office.

Good. Maybe soon I can buy my imported absinthe without everyone making believe that it's olive oil.

wildcardjack: I'd be willing to bet that getting a delivery signature is a net loss for the post office.

Not just a signature, I imagine they would have to check ID as well. That's going to change a 5 second dropoff into a 5 minute ordeal.

I'm not sure the mail carriers would bother in every case though. From what I have seen these guys hate getting out of their little postal trucks for any reason whatsoever. I have seen them drive across my front lawn (leaving deep ruts from their heavy-ass truck) just to throw a package on the porch (presumably because it was cold outside).

I'm willing to bet they would make it so that you had to go to the post office to pick it up.

lenfromak: Good. Maybe soon I can buy my imported absinthe without everyone making believe that it's olive oil.

Astor Wines & Spirits in NYC has a decent selection, and can UPS it to you if your state doesn't prohibit direct shipments.

/Loves me some Delaware Phoenix Walton Waters.

Aquapope: fusillade762: Or you could, you know, not force them to pre-fund 75 years worth of pensions.

Yeah, I forgot about that. Whose idea was that, Fedex?

Actually, yes. Fedex and UPS pushed that one through congress. It was very much intended to kill the postal service.