Posted on 11/19/2001 12:38:13 PM PST by Stand Watch Listen
Daytona Beach, Florida (CNSNews.com) - Several adult-oriented businesses are embroiled in a bitter feud with Daytona Beach, Fla. officials who have ordered them to shut down or pay a hefty price.
Three adult stores, XTC Adult Supercenter, The Banned Bookstore and House of Leather were warned to cease offering sexually explicit merchandise or they would be fined $1,000 a day. Four adult clubs have been given a harsher ultimatum -- cease and desist altogether or be fined up to $5,000 a day.
The dispute landed in federal court over the summer, with the businesses suing the city over ordinances which control where such adult-oriented businesses can be placed. Late last month, a federal judge ruled the city could not shut the businesses down, but could levy fines as it saw fit. City officials recently began issuing notices warning about the fines, which are scheduled to take effect this week.
"All they have to do is shut down to avoid the fines,'' said Mayor Baron H. Asher.
The business owners, however, are adamant in their refusal to comply. "The deadline is bogus," said Mike Piscitelli, an associate with Ellenton Video Inc., which owns the XTC. "We're aware of their ultimatum and we know that they can issue citations up to $5,000 a day. However we are absolutely never leaving this location, under any circumstances or conditions.''
Ron Krenn, owner of Molly Brown's I and Molly Brown's II, a bikini dancing club and a nude dancing club respectively, echoed those sentiments.
"We're staying open no matter what," he said. "This whole thing is a circus show. They think they're going to fine us out of business, but we're not going anywhere."
Krenn said city officials have gone as far as fabricating violations to drive him out of business. Molly Brown's I was issued a $2,500 fine for one its female entertainers showing too much skin.
But Asher denied the fine was trumped up and said the city intends to fight until the end.
"We don't intend to back off one iota," Asher said. "We are going to rigidly enforce our zoning ordinances and land-development codes. Period. Exclamation point."
Asher added that if inspectors can prove the adult clubs, which include two others named The Pink Pony and Lollipops, remained open between the time of the first fine until the code board's December meeting, each will face a $100,000 fine.
Why do you propose using the power of government instead of citizen activism such as boycotts and picketing? Better yet, why not collect enough money to buy out the store owner and replace the porn shop with something more befitting your standards?
So.....according to you, I could open up a porn shop in my community, but as long as I made enough money.......perhaps from a few patrons in my town, and patrons from OTHER communities, he would have a right to stay in business. *****That's NO community standards at all, is it?***** Sorry, but the law is the side of community standards.
And, lest you forget, it is the "community" standards, as set by those in elected office or those appointed by elected officials.....not "my" standards.
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Oakland's last retail gun store closes, owner blames anti-gun laws
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The owner of the last retail gun store in Oakland reluctantly planned to close up shop Saturday, and she blamed this city's gun tax for forcing her early retirement. Mara Siegle said paying $24 for every $1,000 gross is making her close the business her family has run for 57 years.
The tax is one of a number of laws Oakland has passed in recent years to curb the availability of guns. The city was one of the first to ban "Saturday night specials," or junk guns, and to require locks be provided with each gun sold. It also has prohibited firearms dealers from operating near daycare centers, schools, churches or in residential areas, required dealers to carry a minimum of $1 million in liability insurance and to keep records of all ammunition sales, and prohibited minors and felons in gun stores. Proponents credit the tough laws with the decline in gun deaths in the city since 1995, when guns were used in 109 of Oakland's 153 murders. In 1999, 47 of 68 murders involved guns.
But Siegle, whose shop sold handguns, hunting rifles and ammunition, says the laws are forcing people out of business.
"All they're doing is making it harder for the honest, legal, law-abiding citizens to go through the legal process," she said.
Oakland's laws are stricter than state or federal restrictions, but vice mayor Henry Chang said their aim is not to close gun shops.
"There's too much gun violence in the flatlands, and we have to think of ways to cure this," he said. With Siegle's shop closing, the only stores with federal and local licenses to sell guns in Oakland are four pawn shops. Another store sells only to police. By comparison, San Francisco has one gun store and one auction house with federal licenses to sell guns. San Jose has 14 federally licensed gun stores.
But, since the liberals in this country believe the constitution is fluid rather than stactic, I'm sure we can expect much more of this type of thing. :(
Do you see the parallel between what these folks have done and what you propose? Both of you think what you're doing is for a higher purpose (that's admirable), but in using government to achieve your ends you engage in a wrestling match to appropriate power for your agenda. If you can't decisively win that wrestling match, you will likely find yourself in an unenviable position.
Now, we have no moral code. Do you really think the folks over at Berkeley (liberal, morally and politically), could have won WWII? haha Our society is breaking down because our moral fiber has broken down. Expect MORE stupid laws, not less.
Surely you can see that not everyone's standards are in line with yours. In fact, some folks likely believe exactly the opposite of people like ourselves (I have never frequented the establishments in question here), and would fight to legislate their morality. I would sooner leave it to the free market, which I believe is far more reliable in effecting changes according to the true beliefs of the populace.
You're right. So why would you give them the means by which to tear down all that you've built in short order? Because when those people manage to get elected to office, they will. And they'll use as a precedent actions such as the one you're proposing on this thread. If you believe in the essential goodness of the majority of Americans (and I do) why not let the free market dictate what happens? Feel free to influence it by boycotts, pickets, or buying the property and marketing something more wholesome.
I don't have to give them any ammunition. It's already there. The majority can now choose to vote themselves half of your paycheck because they have no greatness, no morality. Too many would just as easily sit on their rears, watch their porn, and take a check from Uncle Sam.
Duty, honor, courage, civic responsibility, personal responsibily, MORALITY........they all go hand in hand. Our nation, as the founding fathers envisioned it, is on it's last legs without a major change in the character of its people.
Morals in this country declined rapidly when the libertarians managed to stop the practice of drowning witches. I guess we'll have to start that again if we are going to restore morality to this country.
What is bannig? FYI: The burden of proof is on the porn defenders.
Woman-beaters and child molesters may generally use porn, but they also generally eat, drink and go to the john. Equally,
Am I sparring with a child?
What is bannig? FYI: The burden of proof is on the porn defenders.
It's a typo, for which my apologies, particularly if it impaired your understanding of what I wrote. Did it? You say that the burden of proof is on the porn defenders. I say it's not and I say that my position makes more sense: it is reasonable that those seeking to put a legal restriction in place should be able to support their position with evidence.
Am I sparring with a child?
No. Am I sparring with a drooling imbecile who doesn't know the meaning of "reductio ad absurdum"?
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