There was a legislative committee hearing today pertaining to SB3139, the bill that would allow grocery stores to sell wine. Those in favor of the status quo, restricting wine sales to liquor stores, could not have been more transparent.
While they made some specious rhetoric about concerns about teen drinking, even their spokesman couldn't obscure what their agenda was really about. He pleaded with the committee that if this bill passes, it threatens the sales of 525 liquor stores in Tennessee. For those who have studied economics, you'll recall that this is the textbook definition of a rent-seeking industry, one that pushes for legislation that will give (or preserve) a competitive advantage rather than allowing the free market to serve consumers best.
At least one legislator (I didn't get his name) showed how petty those in the pocket of the liquor industry are prepared to be in this fight. When the speaker on behalf of the grocery stores was clarifying that groceries intended to sell "only wine" and not spirits, the legislator interrupted him to disingenuously ask, "Do you mean to say you intend to sell only wine and stop selling all other products you now sell?"
What? Are you that much of an idiot? No, you're just being ridiculous in order to make a farce of these proceedings.
It's time to give Tennessee consumers the choice and convenience of buying their wine in grocery stores. If that means some liquor stores can't compete and start to lose business, too bad. You probably don't deserve to be in business if you can't survive in the absence of favorable legislation propping you up.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Why is Simon Fuller buying a condo in Nashville?
The one section of the newspaper that probably gets read the least, other than legal notices, is the notice of real estate transactions. But being the geek I am, combined with an interest in real estate and investing, I usually browse to see who's buying and selling which properties and at what price.
One transaction I saw in today's City Paper stood out as very interesting. It was the sale of a $1.4 million penthouse condo at the newly built Adelicia. Unit number 1705 was purchased by Simon Fuller.
Simon Fuller is the creator of American Idol, as well as about a dozen variations of it around the world. He also manages the careers of David and Victoria Beckam, Annie Lenox, and Claudia Schiffer. Time magazine ranks him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
So what is he doing buying a home in Nashville? Who knows, but it can only be a good thing for us.
One transaction I saw in today's City Paper stood out as very interesting. It was the sale of a $1.4 million penthouse condo at the newly built Adelicia. Unit number 1705 was purchased by Simon Fuller.
Simon Fuller is the creator of American Idol, as well as about a dozen variations of it around the world. He also manages the careers of David and Victoria Beckam, Annie Lenox, and Claudia Schiffer. Time magazine ranks him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
So what is he doing buying a home in Nashville? Who knows, but it can only be a good thing for us.
Monday, March 17, 2008
It's Wine Time for Tennessee Grocery Stores
Nearly every year, someone in the Tennessee legislature brings a bill to allow the sale of wine in grocery stores. Just as predictably, the bill is killed soon after due to the outsized influence of Tom "the Golden Goose" Hensley, the powerful lobbyist for the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Tennessee (WSWT).
Hensley has much of the legislature in his pocket. The WSWT doled out nearly $250,000 to the campaigns of TN legislators last year. Let's just call this what it is... bribery. Quid pro quo. Hensley gives out cash and in turn, the beneficiaries of his largess vote his way and parrot his sophistry.
Concerns about teen drinking
Among the most ridiculous argument against allowing wine sales in grocery stores is that it will lead to an increase in underage drinking. Huh? Grocery stores already sell beer. They already require ID for any sales of alcohol. That would not change if they started selling wine.
And honestly, what teenagers are going to try getting their hands on wine, rather than beer or liquor, if they have the means? Let's face it, teens who drink want to get drunk. For $10, their options are A) a bottle of wine that yields about five drinks, B) a case of cheap beer that yields 18-24 drinks, or C) a bottle of vodka that yields about 25 drinks. They would get much more bang for their buck with either beer or liquor, not wine.
It's just not at all plausible that teens who want to drink are going to buy wine. Not at the grocery store, not anywhere. Those who argue otherwise are peddling propaganda to a credulous audience. Even Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said the police have no concerns about increased teen drinking. Nor does Mothers Against Drunk Driving, according tostate Executive Director Laura Dial.
May hurt liquor retailers
The liquor lobby argues that selling wine in grocery stores would make it tough on dedicated wine and spirit shops. Putting aside for a moment that the motorized vehicle probably made it hard on sellers of buggy whips, I think their analysis is wrong.
The consumers who will buy wine at Kroger are not the same people who will buy wine at a liquor store. If anything, putting wine in grocery stores will expand the market, thus the dollars, that TN liquor wholesalers will realize.
Grocery stores are likely to carry mostly mass-market, popular, lower end wines. The kind of wines people want to pick up on a whim while they're getting groceries. The liquor stores will still get the bulk of customers who are looking for something a little better than Mondavi or Yellow Tail, and looking for a knowledgeable wine recommendation.
Hope is ahead
The WSWT maintains that the system as it is works well and that consumers are happy. That is clearly a denial of reality. Several TN newspapers, such as the Nashville Scene, the Kingsport Times-News, the Tri-Cities Herald Courier, and the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle have chimed in with editorials. Comments from readers have reflected the overwhelming desire of consumers for change.
Thankfully, it looks like this year, consumers might actually stand a chance of getting their way. With the introduction of Senate Bill 3139 and the (finally) organized grassroots efforts of the TN Grocers Association, consumers may soon be able to pick up a bottle of bubbly along with their bread.
The grocers association has started their own website, www.redwhiteandfood.com where TN residents can read about the issues and contact their legislators. And nearly everyone agrees, this issue is one that's coming to a head, sooner or later. If enough TN residents care about the issue and contact their legislators in support of change, this could be the year.
Hensley has much of the legislature in his pocket. The WSWT doled out nearly $250,000 to the campaigns of TN legislators last year. Let's just call this what it is... bribery. Quid pro quo. Hensley gives out cash and in turn, the beneficiaries of his largess vote his way and parrot his sophistry.
Concerns about teen drinking
Among the most ridiculous argument against allowing wine sales in grocery stores is that it will lead to an increase in underage drinking. Huh? Grocery stores already sell beer. They already require ID for any sales of alcohol. That would not change if they started selling wine.
And honestly, what teenagers are going to try getting their hands on wine, rather than beer or liquor, if they have the means? Let's face it, teens who drink want to get drunk. For $10, their options are A) a bottle of wine that yields about five drinks, B) a case of cheap beer that yields 18-24 drinks, or C) a bottle of vodka that yields about 25 drinks. They would get much more bang for their buck with either beer or liquor, not wine.
It's just not at all plausible that teens who want to drink are going to buy wine. Not at the grocery store, not anywhere. Those who argue otherwise are peddling propaganda to a credulous audience. Even Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said the police have no concerns about increased teen drinking. Nor does Mothers Against Drunk Driving, according tostate Executive Director Laura Dial.
May hurt liquor retailers
The liquor lobby argues that selling wine in grocery stores would make it tough on dedicated wine and spirit shops. Putting aside for a moment that the motorized vehicle probably made it hard on sellers of buggy whips, I think their analysis is wrong.
The consumers who will buy wine at Kroger are not the same people who will buy wine at a liquor store. If anything, putting wine in grocery stores will expand the market, thus the dollars, that TN liquor wholesalers will realize.
Grocery stores are likely to carry mostly mass-market, popular, lower end wines. The kind of wines people want to pick up on a whim while they're getting groceries. The liquor stores will still get the bulk of customers who are looking for something a little better than Mondavi or Yellow Tail, and looking for a knowledgeable wine recommendation.
Hope is ahead
The WSWT maintains that the system as it is works well and that consumers are happy. That is clearly a denial of reality. Several TN newspapers, such as the Nashville Scene, the Kingsport Times-News, the Tri-Cities Herald Courier, and the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle have chimed in with editorials. Comments from readers have reflected the overwhelming desire of consumers for change.
Thankfully, it looks like this year, consumers might actually stand a chance of getting their way. With the introduction of Senate Bill 3139 and the (finally) organized grassroots efforts of the TN Grocers Association, consumers may soon be able to pick up a bottle of bubbly along with their bread.
The grocers association has started their own website, www.redwhiteandfood.com where TN residents can read about the issues and contact their legislators. And nearly everyone agrees, this issue is one that's coming to a head, sooner or later. If enough TN residents care about the issue and contact their legislators in support of change, this could be the year.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Eric Crafton's Messiah Complex
Metro Councilman Eric Crafton seems to think he is the answer to Nashville's troubled public school system, so he's "seriously considering" running for the District 9 School board seat now held by board Chairwoman Marsha Warden.
Crafton has said he's had many people urge him to make the run for the school board. No doubt this includes many of his current constituents. But not for the reasons he might think. By law, he would have to resign his Council seat as soon as he becomes a candidate for the school board. One can envision there are some residents of Bellevue planning "Crafton for School Board" fundraisers right now.
Crafton is a cocksure, curmudgeonly conservative who is a little too transparent in showing just how little he regards the opinions and ideas of others and how highly he regards his own ideas. He has quipped that the current school board worries too much about vending machines in the schools and standard school attire than about teaching kids to read and write.
We all might take Crafton's desire to serve the school a little more seriously if his own daughter wasn't enrolled in private school, and if Crafton didn't have a record of denying needed funding to the public schools.
How can Crafton now claim to be part of the solution (or THE solution) when for so long he's been part of the problem?
I do hope he runs for the School Board though. The best case scenario is that he resigns from Metro Council and is defeated for School Board. Then, for a while anyway, Nashville will have a brief respite from Mr. Crafton in public office.
And for what it's worth, I've always thought Eric Crafton bears an unsettling resemblance to the infamous Rev. Jim Jones. Creepy.
Crafton has said he's had many people urge him to make the run for the school board. No doubt this includes many of his current constituents. But not for the reasons he might think. By law, he would have to resign his Council seat as soon as he becomes a candidate for the school board. One can envision there are some residents of Bellevue planning "Crafton for School Board" fundraisers right now.
Crafton is a cocksure, curmudgeonly conservative who is a little too transparent in showing just how little he regards the opinions and ideas of others and how highly he regards his own ideas. He has quipped that the current school board worries too much about vending machines in the schools and standard school attire than about teaching kids to read and write.
We all might take Crafton's desire to serve the school a little more seriously if his own daughter wasn't enrolled in private school, and if Crafton didn't have a record of denying needed funding to the public schools.
How can Crafton now claim to be part of the solution (or THE solution) when for so long he's been part of the problem?
I do hope he runs for the School Board though. The best case scenario is that he resigns from Metro Council and is defeated for School Board. Then, for a while anyway, Nashville will have a brief respite from Mr. Crafton in public office.
And for what it's worth, I've always thought Eric Crafton bears an unsettling resemblance to the infamous Rev. Jim Jones. Creepy.
Tolerance - a nascent notion in Nashville
My favorite wine store in Nashville is Midtown Wine and Spirits on Church St. The store is huge, their selection is broader than any other store in town, and their staff really do make good suggestions.
Yesterday I realized I was down to the last bottle of my current favorite red wine, Casillero del Diablo Carmenere. Midtown carries it at a good price, so I headed down there quickly before they closed.
For those not familiar with this part of town, this little one or two block area of Church St. is the emerging gay district in Nashville. There are a couple of very popular nightclubs here. It gets very busy on a Saturday night. And close to closing time, Midtown Wine's parking lot was already full.
I did manage to find a spot on the street though. As I was parallel parking, a car drove nearly right up to the side of my car (despite that this is a two lane street and the lane to the left was empty), and laid on the horn while the passenger rolled down the window and yelled, "Move your ass, you fucking faggot."
Was this car so inconvenienced by my attempt to park? Was I blocking traffic and not allowing him to pass? No, not at all. He simply thought I was one of those queers going to the gay nightclub and wanted to express his redneck right to gay bash.
It makes me wonder... if this happened while I was just quickly running into the liquor store, how often does this happen? Is this what the patrons of the gay clubs on Church St. are subjected to every night? Sadly, probably so.
I just don't get the fear and ignorance that drives discrimination and hostility toward others who might be "different", whether that's race, religion, or sexual orientation. It really comes down to an insecurity on the part of those who discriminate.
Sometimes I like to think Nashville is a pretty tolerant and progressive city. But then, sometimes I get a dose of reality like this. I do think, and hope, this kind of ignorance is diminishing. But any incidence like this is one too many.
Yesterday I realized I was down to the last bottle of my current favorite red wine, Casillero del Diablo Carmenere. Midtown carries it at a good price, so I headed down there quickly before they closed.
For those not familiar with this part of town, this little one or two block area of Church St. is the emerging gay district in Nashville. There are a couple of very popular nightclubs here. It gets very busy on a Saturday night. And close to closing time, Midtown Wine's parking lot was already full.
I did manage to find a spot on the street though. As I was parallel parking, a car drove nearly right up to the side of my car (despite that this is a two lane street and the lane to the left was empty), and laid on the horn while the passenger rolled down the window and yelled, "Move your ass, you fucking faggot."
Was this car so inconvenienced by my attempt to park? Was I blocking traffic and not allowing him to pass? No, not at all. He simply thought I was one of those queers going to the gay nightclub and wanted to express his redneck right to gay bash.
It makes me wonder... if this happened while I was just quickly running into the liquor store, how often does this happen? Is this what the patrons of the gay clubs on Church St. are subjected to every night? Sadly, probably so.
I just don't get the fear and ignorance that drives discrimination and hostility toward others who might be "different", whether that's race, religion, or sexual orientation. It really comes down to an insecurity on the part of those who discriminate.
Sometimes I like to think Nashville is a pretty tolerant and progressive city. But then, sometimes I get a dose of reality like this. I do think, and hope, this kind of ignorance is diminishing. But any incidence like this is one too many.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Silly statements of questionable veracity
I often listen to talk radio when I'm driving. I listen to either 99.7 WTN or NPR. This tends to give me both the conservative and liberal perspective. I'm not partial to either, really. My politics are pretty a la carte. I take a side that I think is sensible and pragmatic.
That said, it's pretty clear that conservative talk radio has as its audience a pretty high percentage of total buffoons. At one time I used to listen to Steve Gill's show. He got to be so utterly ridiculous and bombastic I just couldn't take him seriously anymore and stopped listening. It was obvious he wasn't the least bit interested in having a reasonable discussion, only talking over those who disagree with him and making inflammatory uber-conservative remarks that caricature social conservatism. I thought to myself, "Steve Gill is a tool". Then I met him in person and my opinion of him went even lower.
I still sometimes listen to Phil Valentine. I disagree with him more than I agree and I think he often appeals to people who are ignorant, xenophobic, and Christian fundamentalists. But I do think he and Johnny B are entertaining and do sometimes make a point that I agree with. However, some callers are just complete idiots and Phil often agrees with them and affirms their absurd statements.
I was listening the other day and one caller (with a typical hick accent) made the risible assertion that Planned Parenthood and the Ku Klux Klan have the same common goals, to kill as many black babies as possible.
Really? Where do people like this come from?
That said, it's pretty clear that conservative talk radio has as its audience a pretty high percentage of total buffoons. At one time I used to listen to Steve Gill's show. He got to be so utterly ridiculous and bombastic I just couldn't take him seriously anymore and stopped listening. It was obvious he wasn't the least bit interested in having a reasonable discussion, only talking over those who disagree with him and making inflammatory uber-conservative remarks that caricature social conservatism. I thought to myself, "Steve Gill is a tool". Then I met him in person and my opinion of him went even lower.
I still sometimes listen to Phil Valentine. I disagree with him more than I agree and I think he often appeals to people who are ignorant, xenophobic, and Christian fundamentalists. But I do think he and Johnny B are entertaining and do sometimes make a point that I agree with. However, some callers are just complete idiots and Phil often agrees with them and affirms their absurd statements.
I was listening the other day and one caller (with a typical hick accent) made the risible assertion that Planned Parenthood and the Ku Klux Klan have the same common goals, to kill as many black babies as possible.
Really? Where do people like this come from?
Kudos to Liz Garrigan
I have to give kudos to the Nashville Scene's Liz Garrigan for her brutally honest take on the state of Nashville's superficial philanthropy community in her March 6 article, A Note to the Social Oligarchy.
Although I am certainly not part of the moneyed crowd, I often have occasion to be on the periphery of these charity/philanthropy/non-profit functions Garrigan writes about. And what she writes is absolutely true. The same cabal of wealthy donors are invited to every ceremony in town by every charity and non-profit in existence.
The fawning shown by the Directors of Development (a euphemism for "beggar") is often nauseating. I think if I was the one being fawned at so often, I would feel a palpable sneering contempt for the fawners. I hear myself saying, "Cut to the chase, how much are you asking for?" just so they would leave me alone and knock off the chummy patter.
At so many different functions, I see the same notable people, in addition to many of the ambitious and decidedly not camera shy local politicians. For most people attending, it's business. It's an opportunity to see and be seen and keep up relations with people who are important to their business. Ever wonder why Ralph Schultz, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce seems to be at so many of these events?
I guess I'm jaded. I once had the notion that people are charitable out of a sense of benevolence. But really, they wouldn't be there if it wasn't good for business. If it wasn't raising their profile in the community and giving them the chance to network.
Although I am certainly not part of the moneyed crowd, I often have occasion to be on the periphery of these charity/philanthropy/non-profit functions Garrigan writes about. And what she writes is absolutely true. The same cabal of wealthy donors are invited to every ceremony in town by every charity and non-profit in existence.
The fawning shown by the Directors of Development (a euphemism for "beggar") is often nauseating. I think if I was the one being fawned at so often, I would feel a palpable sneering contempt for the fawners. I hear myself saying, "Cut to the chase, how much are you asking for?" just so they would leave me alone and knock off the chummy patter.
At so many different functions, I see the same notable people, in addition to many of the ambitious and decidedly not camera shy local politicians. For most people attending, it's business. It's an opportunity to see and be seen and keep up relations with people who are important to their business. Ever wonder why Ralph Schultz, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce seems to be at so many of these events?
I guess I'm jaded. I once had the notion that people are charitable out of a sense of benevolence. But really, they wouldn't be there if it wasn't good for business. If it wasn't raising their profile in the community and giving them the chance to network.
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