Most hotel operators told us they are concerned about drawing attention to their pools, worried their lifts or plans may not be in compliance.  The ADA could slap a violator with up to a $55,000 fine.  Private lawsuits could be even more.

An article on USA Today noted that at the 11th hour, the U.S. Justice Department granted the hotel industry a 60-day stay on the law due to threats of closing down swimming pools.

The problem of weapons legally sold to Mexico – then diverted to violent cartels – is becoming more urgent. That’s because the U.S. has quietly authorized a massive escalation in the number of guns sold to Mexico through “direct commercial sales.” It’s a way foreign countries can acquire firearms faster and with less disclosure than going through the Pentagon.

Here’s how it works: A foreign government fills out an application to buy weapons from private gun manufacturers in the U.S. Then the State Department decides whether to approve.

And it did approve 2,476 guns to be sold to Mexico in 2006. In 2009, that number was up nearly 10 times, to 18,709. The State Department has since stopped disclosing numbers of guns it approves, and wouldn’t give CBS News figures for 2010 or 2011.

Further down the article comes this intriguing quote:

“These sales by the industry actually support U.S. national security interests,” Keane told Attkisson. “If they didn’t, the State Department wouldn’t allow them.”

Larry Keane, interestingly enough, is a lobbyist for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and he’s advocating for and speaking on behalf of gun sales to foreign countries brokered by the U.S. government.

According to Investors.com, emails that were obtained by CSB show that “ATF officials discussed using the deliberate transfer of weapons to Mexican drug cartels to justify a new gun regulation known as “Demand Letter 3.’” Remember that shortly after Obama was elected, his administration, led by gun control pusher Rahm Emanuel, started circulating the falsehoods about the “problem” of illegal guns being funneled to Mexico to fuel the drug violence [See this propaganda piece, "GAO Ties US Guns to Mexico Violence," in the June 18, 2009 WSJ].

Despite the incomplete data, GAO investigators conclude that the U.S., and in particular the Southwest border states of Texas, California and Arizona, are the source of most weapons trafficked into Mexico.

I blogged about it here. That was the beginning of another new chapter in the war on peaceful American gun owners. The U.S. government pushes drugs across the border, strategically sells guns to the military {gangs}, creates and exacerbates the violence, and then it uses and magnifies the crisis it has created as a tool for pushing its anti-gun, anti-freedom agenda here in the United States.

Shopper stress was linked more to line length than concerns about missing out on deals.

“The data shows the highest stress level occurred while shoppers were waiting for the store to open,” Ross said. “Once the store was open, shoppers were really happy — until they had to wait in the checkout line.

The masses of trained monkeys are surely well-suited to becoming devoted slaves with their priorities in good order. After all, why should the corn-fed subjects be concerned with such minuscule tidbits such as detainment in military prisons without charges or trial?

What a nation of zombie idiots.

In 2008, I had blogged about a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan that declared it unconstitutional to prohibit out-of-state retailers from selling wine to Michigan consumers. In October 2008, The Wine Spectator ran a nice piece explaining the history of the fight over wine shipping in Michigan, and the overall implications of the ruling. Immediately, wine anarchy (or rather, the lack of totalitarian laws) ensued, and I was able to receive shipments from online retailers such as Wine.com.

“We’re already serving Michigan customers,” said Wine.com CEO Rich Bergsund after the ruling was handed down. That Michigan residents can now legally receive wine shipments from out-of-state retailers is “absolutely our interpretation [of the ruling]. This is a federal court finding that it’s unconstitutional to treat outside retailers differently from in-state retailers on direct shipping,” he said. (Wine.com is one of the few online retailers that does set up a brick-and-mortar warehouse in many of the states to which it ships, though it did not ship to Michigan residents prior to the Sept. 30 ruling.)

Shortly thereafter, Governor Granholm, whose political coffers were being filled by such powerful lobbies as the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association, immediately signed a law prohibiting out-of-state retailers from shipping wine directly to consumers, and the law specifically banned UPS and FedEx, and other third-party delivery services, from shipping this wine. Online sellers, such as Wine.com, immediately discontinued doing business with Michigan residents. Wine.com writes that:

States have been mixed on the issue of direct shipping of wine to consumers by retailers. While 30 states currently allow out-of-state wineries to ship to their residents, only 15 states allow the same from out-of-state retailers. Wine.com ships to 80% of the U.S. population by maintaining a network of licensed, in-state stores in order to comply with state laws. But in Michigan, not even an in-state store would help, because the company uses UPS and FedEx to deliver its wine.

The reason is always the same – the laws are to protect the poor children who would be victimized by free trade in wine.

“if hundreds of thousands of unregulated out-of-state retailers are permitted to ship beer and wine to Michigan residents, there’s a likelihood that alcohol will be delivered to underage customers.”
Ken Wozniak, Director of Executive Services, Michigan Liquor control commission.

This is in spite of the fact that shippers require an adult to be present and sign for the package.

Back in October 2010, I went to Pasa Robles, California and had a chance to visit one of my favorite wineries for the first time – Four Vines Winery. Prior to my visit, I had blogged about the origin of its Anarchy wine. Four Vines also makes a fantastic Heretic wine (Petite Sirah), as well as a wine called Monarchy, a Petite Verdot, Malbec, and Tempranillo blend. Things have changed, recently, with a change of ownership to Cypher Winery, but still, the winery makes the same terrific wine. So last fall, I joined the winery’s wine club.

Just a few weeks ago, I cancelled my wine membership with Four Vines, now Cypher Winery, and of course, the folks selling the wine wanted to know why they are losing a customer. My first reason is that it is just too expensive with shipping costs. I can buy it for much less locally because I am right near the #1 wine retailer in Michigan – Champane’s in Warren – where the prices are amazingly low and I am buds with the wine buyer. In my return email to the winery, I noted that I will continue to buy the wine, especially the Anarchy wine (I now have Butler Shaffer hooked on this, by the way).

But mostly, I noted in my email that it is too frustrating for one who works a lot of hours to receive wine via shipment. Because an adult signature is required, and because no one is ever home when they try to ship, we (me and UPS) play cat-and-mouse until I call and arrange to have the package kept at the depot, then I have to wait until a Saturday to make the long drive to pick it up at the depot. Funny how I can order all the liquid sugar in a bottle, donuts, chips, onions rings, and processed chemicals-in-a-box that I want (if I wanted) and eat it all in public on a street corner, but I am stigmatized and harassed and taxed and impeded from buying a fresh, made-from-nature, healthy, and fermented beverage to enjoy in the privacy of my own home. By requiring signatures, the government nannies and their prohibition state make it far too difficult for one to order wine. So I am no longer getting any wine club memberships. And this is exactly what I told the winery was my main reason for cutting off their quarterly deliveries.

As usual, our totalitarian government/regulatory state is so beneficial for the business environment.