Public Drinking (or, Yet Another Example of the Nanny State)

[ntm1972]

It's a beautiful afternoon outside, and I've got cabin fever, so I'm about to head out to a local park with a small lake. I'm thinking to myself "Hey, man, grab a couple of beers from the fridge on your way out!", but then I stop myself, saying

"Wait a minute. Is drinking in public allowed in Maryland?"

Turns out it's not. See this link for a state-by-state breakdown:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/1 ... 53212.html

Here's a link dealing with Maryland's laws regarding public intoxication:

http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/re ... n-laws.htm

From the second website:

In Maryland, public intoxication means being intoxicated or drinking alcoholic beverages in public, and either endangering the safety of a person or property, or causing a public disturbance.

So, per the boldfaced portions, I could be quietly sipping a beer in a corner of the park when Officer Doofus walks by, nails me for drinking an alcoholic beverage, and then says to the magistrate that I was causing a public disturbance because I looked at him the wrong way.

I still fondly remember an evening in July 2010 when, while studying Spanish at a school in Quito, our language group packed a chiva ass to crotch and then spent the next two hours taking a tour of the city, hanging off the sides, laughing and hollering and downing canelazo and caipirinha. What the hell were we thinking? We should have all boarded an enclosed bus instead, sitting as far apart from each other as we could, giving each other dirty looks and sipping Evian during our city tour.

Got... to... get... OUT of this damned country, and this time STAY THE HELL OUT.

/end{rant}

[Ghost]

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[ntm1972]

Americans have a shockingly low number of day-to-day small, personal freedoms than most of the rest of the world. One thing I've noticed is the lack of traffic law enforcement in many countries (a good thing since government shouldn't be committing extortion) and lack of good driving. A lot of intersections in Asia are free-for-alls. And yet there don't seem to be any more accidents than in the U.S. So what we can take from this is that the government's reasons for traffic laws, safety, is not enhanced by having the laws and enforcing them. It's extortion with a logical sounding reason behind it. Even though it's BS. I hate driving anyway, and don't plan to do much anymore. And I'm never going to pay a traffic ticket ever again. They go in the trash from here on out.

Your mention of intersections in Asia brings a smile to my face. Crossing the road in Kuala Lumpur was always an adventure. It was like a real-life version of the old video game Frogger: One wrong move and you've had it. Of course, what made it even more fun was that in Malaysia, they adhere to the British rules of the road, so you had to keep adjusting your thinking to accommodate this.

In most of the rest of the world, an adult is treated as such, with all the risks and rewards that entails.

I like that - and I miss it. But I don't intend to miss it for any longer than I have to.

[Renata]

You know how the US military & NATO like to enter into a country & say, 'There's no democracy here!' ... I LOL at that statement now. The US has so many laws, bans & is unfortunately so politically correct that the word Democracy there has no meaning anymore.

Meaning of Democracy
A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation.

Does that decribe the USA?

[Ghost]

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[Anatoll]

Hello,

I would not allow alcohol in the nation if I was Emperor of it. I think it is wrong.


{(Out of the frigid ice to the North that no man had ever laid foot on, evil in the form of a man called Agahnim came, and together with the Ball-And-Chain Trooper and his faithful Master Sword, Link repulsed him and the IMPRISONING WAR was ended, to become the things of legend!)} - The evil that is the purest evil possible is feminism and it must be pushed back into its keep!

[Ghost]

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[Anatoll]

So personal opinion should be the basis of a country's laws?

Hello,

I think my personal opinion is right. What men think is correct gets made into law.

[Ghost]

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[Anatoll]

So personal opinion should be the basis of a country's laws?

Hello,

I think my personal opinion is right. What men think is correct gets made into law.

So that's a "yes."

Hello,

YES!

What one thinks is right is what forms a man's personal opinions. Of course, there is always an objective truth to many things as well. Alcohol shouldn't be allowed. It does more harm than good and if it is allowed, should be strictly regulated. One can go into any petrol-station {(gas-station)} in U.S.A. here and buy it. That is stupid!

[Cornfed]

What one thinks is right is what forms a man's personal opinions. Of course, there is always an objective truth to many things as well. Alcohol shouldn't be allowed.

Historically, white men have been somewhat drunk almost all the time. The idea of universal sobriety is a peculiar cult.

[Ghost]

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[Anatol]

So personal opinion should be the basis of a country's laws?

Hello,

I think my personal opinion is right. What men think is correct gets made into law.

So that's a "yes."

Hello,

YES!

What one thinks is right is what forms a man's personal opinions. Of course, there is always an objective truth to many things as well. Alcohol shouldn't be allowed. It does more harm than good and if it is allowed, should be strictly regulated. One can go into any petrol-station {(gas-station)} in U.S.A. here and buy it. That is stupid!

In Asia, alcohol is everywhere and people drink constantly. They do it publicly, at home. I've seen it at work and even while driving. And their driving is a disaster. And yet they don't appear to have any more traffic accidents than the U.S. does.

Better to base a country's laws on principles and not mere opinion.

Hello,

No cursing, Sir! I warn you a second time, Sir! I know MANY attorneys and these men are trained-killers in the court system!!!!!!

The principle is that drinking alcohol is bad for one's health and also makes men act strangely in public. Similar to what d*ugs do. In Madrid when I was there in the 'mid 1980s, there was an unspoken law {(akin to a social more/norm)} that if alcohol was to be distributed, it should be sold discreetly. How that changed within 10 years!

I HATE feminism!!! {(Spits on it!!!!)}


{(Out of the frigid ice to the North that no man had ever laid foot on, evil in the form of a man called Agahnim came, and together with the Ball-And-Chain Trooper and his faithful Master Sword, Link repulsed him and the IMPRISONING WAR was ended, to become the things of legend!)} - The evil that is the purest evil possible is feminism and it must be pushed back into its keep!

[Ghost]

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[Anatol]

Societies that allow public drinking/intoxication seem better socially than ones that don't allow it. Perhaps that's because it is a reasonable outlet and doesn't cause harm. The U.S. heavily regulates alcohol not for health or safety, but for taxation and increasing state power. Banning or otherwise trying to limit alcohol does not work. Societies are just fine with alcohol present.

Hello,

You are obviously a madman. Age, combined with drink, has made you completely senile.

And I HATE feminism!!!!!!!!! {(Spits on it!)}



{(Out of the frigid ice to the North that no man had ever laid foot on, evil in the form of a man called Agahnim came, and together with the Ball-And-Chain Trooper and his faithful Master Sword, Link repulsed him and the IMPRISONING WAR was ended, to become the things of legend!)} - The evil that is the purest evil possible is feminism and it must be pushed back into its keep!