THE DINNER


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THE BUS

JAGER BOMBS 20 AT A TIME PLEASE?


THE END

WE WERE READY BUT HAPPY IT DID NOT RAIN AS MUCH AS PREDICTED!
WATCHING THE RIVER RISE

BOAT GOING DOWN THE ROAD

EAST OF WATERSTREET PUB

HARLEY AND ZACK THIS MORNING

HENRY DECIDES ITS TIME FOR A BEER

POWER PLANT

ANY ONE MISSING A TREE?


THE FLOOD ON THE ILLINOIS WAS NOT NEAR AS BAD AS THEY EXPECTED.

HENRY FINDS A PROBLEM, WHAT A WATCH DOG!

HERE COMES THE FLOOD

PROBLEMS NORTH OF TRACKS

CLEAN UP SUNDAY MORNING


HENRY INSPECTS THE DAMMAGE


THE PHOTOGRAPHER

SUNDAY AUG 19 WE HAD A HUGE WATERFALL ON THE ILLINOIS RIVER. IN THIS PART OF TOWN THE SANITATION SEWER AND STORM SEWER MERGE

LEFT TO RIGHT BRANDI JESTER AUTUM SECOND PICTURE IS THE WHOLE CREW, GOD HELP US.

BROOKE WORKS TUES AND SUNDAY NIGHTS AND SAT DAYS

JESSICA BROUGHT IT TO MY ATTENTION THAT SHE HAS BEEN WORKING HERE FOR MONTHS AND NOT ON MY WEB SITE, HERE SHE IS WED AND FRI NIGHT.

WE ARE NOW HAVING LIVE ENTERTAINMENT IN PERU ILLINOIS BANDS AND MUSIC ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHTS ON THE HISTORIC ILLINOIS RIVER 5 MILES FROM GRAND BEAR LODGE UTICA ILLINOIS AND STARVED ROCK LODGE UTICA ILLINOIS.

JEROME STANDS AN EGG ON ITS END TODAY THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING. IT IS SAID THAT THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING AND THE FIRST DAY OF FALL YOU CAN STAND AN EGG ON ITS END.

DEWEY ROCKED THE HOUSE WITH 240 FRIENDS IN OUR NEW BAND ROOM, ROAD ANGEL IS HERE ON THE 16TH OF MARCH AND THE CRAIGS ON THE 17TH FOR ST PATRICKS DAY. DEWEY WILL BE PLAYING HERE THROUGH THE SPRING AND SUMMER.
BEST PICTURE EVER OF SMURv

photo from 1935 depicting the son of Prohibition Sleuth , Joseph Einstein as he drinks a legal toast to a bride and groom

Prohibition in the United States

National Prohibition
The Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed nationwide prohibition, explicitly gives states the right to restrict or ban the purchase and sale of alcohol; this has led to a patchwork of laws, in which alcohol may be legally sold in some but not all towns or counties within a particular state. After the repeal of the national constitutional amendment, some states continued to enforce prohibition laws; Oklahoma, Kansas, and Mississippi are still \"dry\" (04-2006). Mississippi, which had made alcohol illegal in 1907, was the last state to repeal prohibition, in 1966. While Mississippi is not totally \"dry\" there are still some dry counties and communities in the state (mainly in the South), in practice this now means little more than that people wishing to buy alcohol must travel some distance to do so and bars are not allowed in the prohibiting jurisdiction.

\"Prohibition enforced,\" as illustrated by a USPS stamp.In the United States, Prohibition was accomplished by means of the Eighteenth Amendment to the national Constitution (ratified January 16, 1919) and the Volstead Act (passed October 28, 1919). Prohibition began on January 16, 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect. Federal Prohibition agents (police) were given the task of enforcing the law.

Prohibition also referred to that part of the Temperance movement which wanted to make alcohol illegal. These groups brought about much change even prior to national prohibition. By 1905, three American states had already outlawed alcohol; by 1912, it was up to nine states; and, by 1916, legal prohibition was already in effect in 26 of the 48 states.

Even though the sale of alcohol was illegal, alcoholic drinks were still widely available at \"speakeasies\" and other underground drinking establishments. Speakeasies gained their name from the fact that a patron had to \"speak easy\" and convince the doorman to let them in. His job was to keep out those who looked like they were \"dry\" agents. Agents had no forced-entry rights at all, and so could not break into an establishment if the doorman refused them entry. Many people also kept private bars to serve their guests. Large quantities of alcohol were smuggled in from Canada, overland and via the Great Lakes, and from the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. Additional alcohol was delivered from Rum Row off the US East Coast.

Legal and illegal home brewing was popular during Prohibition. Limited amounts of wine and hard cider were permitted to be made at home. Some commercial wine was still produced in the U.S., but was only available through government warehouses for use in religious ceremonies, particularly for communion in Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Episcopal churches and in some Jewish ceremonies. \"Malt and hop\" stores popped up across the country and some former breweries turned to selling malt extract syrup, ostensibly for baking and \"beverage\" purposes.

A \"Medicinal Alcohol\" formWhiskey was available by prescription from medical doctors. The labels clearly warned that it was strictly for medicinal purposes and any other uses were illegal, but even so doctors freely wrote prescriptions and druggists filled them without question, and the number of \"patients\" increased dramatically. Authorities never tried to restrict this practice, which was the way many people got their booze: Over a million gallons were consumed per year through freely given prescriptions.

Because Prohibition banned only the manufacture, sale, and transport--but not possession or consumption--of alcohol, some people and institutions who had bought or made liquor prior to the passage of the 18th Amendment were able to continue to serve it throughout the prohibition period legally.

Even prominent citizens and politicians later admitted to having used alcohol during Prohibition. President Harding kept the White House well stocked with bootleg liquor, though, as a Senator, he had voted for Prohibition. This discrepancy between legality and actual practice led to widespread disdain for authority. Some Prohibition agents took bribes to overlook the illegal brewing activities of gangsters. Many problems arose. It had been estimated that six million dollars would be needed to enforce prohibition laws. Over time, however, more people drank illegally and money ended up in gangsters\' pockets. Gangsters would then bribe officials to ignore their illegal activities. The cost of enforcing prohibition laws thus increased. In some cases, the money likely ended up in corrupt Prohibition agencies.

Prohibition also presented lucrative opportunities for organized crime to take over the importation (\"bootlegging\"), manufacture, and distribution of alcoholic beverages. Al Capone, one of the most infamous bootleggers of them all, built his criminal empire largely on profits from illegal alcohol.

With alcohol production largely in the hands of criminals and unregulated clandestine home manufacturers, the quality of the product varied widely. There were many cases of people going blind or suffering from brain damage after drinking \"bathtub gin\" made with industrial alcohol or various poisonous chemicals. One particular notorious incident involved the patent medicine Jamaica ginger, known by its users as \"Jake.\" It had a very high alcohol content and was known to be consumed by those desiring to circumvent the ban on alcohol. The Treasury Department mandated changes in the formulation to make it undrinkable. Unscrupulous vendors then adulterated their Jake with an industrial plasticizer in an attempt to fool government testing. As a result, tens of thousands of victims suffered paralysis of their feet and hands—usually, this paralysis was permanent. Some amateur distillers used old automobile radiators to distill liquor, and the subsequent product was dangerously high in lead salts--which usually led to fatal lead poisoning. Amateur distillation of liquor could be dangerous to the producer as well, since poorly built stills sometimes exploded in flames.

Drug stores that violated prohibition were forced into closure.There were also many alcoholic products that fell just under the legal limit, and yet, with a bit of work, could become the real thing. One particular beverage was called \"near beer,\" because it fell under the 0.5-percent ban, being virtually nonalcoholic. It gave detailed, step-by-step instructions on what the buyer should not (under any circumstances) do with it, for then he or she would have alcohol, and that was illegal. Consumers could simply use the easy-to-follow instructions to make an alcoholic beer.

Mockery of the law took many forms. There were, however, exceptions to this public scorn, such as the activities of Eliot Ness and his elite team of Treasury Agents nicknamed The Untouchables, and the New York City prohibition agent team of Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith, known together as simply Izzy and Moe. For these exceptions, Ness\' honesty and flair for public relations and Izzy and Moe\'s more eccentric, but highly effective, methods with disguises attracted considerable media attention.

The Volstead Act was amended to allow \"3.2 beer\" (3.2 percent alcohol by volume) by passage of the Blaine Act on February 17, 1933. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed later in 1933 with ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5.

Many social problems have been attributed to the Prohibition era. A profitable, often violent, black market for alcohol flourished. Racketeering happened when powerful gangs corrupted law enforcement agencies. Stronger liquor surged in popularity because its potency made it more profitable to smuggle. The cost of enforcing prohibition was high, and the lack of tax revenues on alcohol (some $500 million annually nationwide) affected government coffers. When repeal of prohibition occurred in 1933, following passage of the Twenty-first Amendment, organized crime lost nearly all of its black market alcohol profits, due to competition with low-priced alcohol sales at legal liquor stores. Organized crime later adjusted by selling illegal drugs instead. The black market thrives on the sale of any illegal product. On such points as these, the modern \"War on Drugs\" has been compared to Prohibition, but there is disagreement on the validity of this comparison.

Prohibition had a notable effect on the brewing industry in the United States. When Prohibition ended, only half the breweries that had previously existed reopened. Many small breweries were out of business for good. Because mainly the largest breweries had survived, American beer came to be chided as a characterless, mass-produced commodity. Beer connoisseurs lamented the decreased quality and variety. It was only in the 1980s that craft brewing finally recovered. Fritz Maytag has been credited with jumpstarting the microbrew revolution that awoke brewing from its post-Prohibition doldrums.

HAD THE BBC HERE LAST NIGHT ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF LENNON BEING SHOT
SAW CLINT EASTWOOD AT 2 FOOLS THURSDAY NIGHT

WEDNESDAY THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

DEWEY AND POCAHANTIS

THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY

THE NEW ROOM BEFORE WE GOT BIZZZZY

SECURITY

RANDY AND MANDY OF MAUTINOS TRY TO GET DALE JR TO SWITCH


MR BLONDE HERE FRIDAY BUT THEIR PICS DID NOT TURN OUT
OUR FRIENDS WERE HERE

THE CRAIGS SATURDAY NIGHT

TOP TO BOTTOM, JESS JESS TODD WITEK, PIRATES, 3 OLIVE MARTINI, JAMMIE, CASKET, SMURF

CRUZE POURED THE CONCRETE TODAY FOR OUR NEW ROOM ADDITION