And so some of us residents ask ourselves: "The guns, were they legal or illegal?" ------------ Wizard says prostitution thrives where capitalism doesn't. Really? Where. Part of the necessary assumption here is that there are countries where capitalism doesn't "thrive". If it thrives anywhere, I'd say you have to admit it thrives everywhere. Maybe the PEOPLE don't thrive, but that doesn't stop capitalism from thriving. I think the critical thing that determines whether prostitution thrives is whether women have reasonably good economic opportunities. Even the women who end up as addicts aren't that way accidentally. It isn't like pimps wander into suburban middle class homes with rocks to offer teenage girls. The girls they lure are vulnerable girls without effective family protection. They might be from broken homes, or similar situations. Runaways. Throwaways. In any case, if you deal with family stress and lack of opportunity, you will heal the social problem more effective than police sweeps. That DOES require the surrounding society to care. For the most part, ours really doesn't. Now that we have these deficits, we're getting a reminder on that as we see human programs considered less important than tax cuts. ----------------------- Sears washers are made by Whirlpool. We have a model we bought about four years ago. It hasn't caused us a single problem. Ergo, Sears appliances still deserve their reputation. Also, we did shop around, and the price was about the same as anything else brand new. Those who say otherwise will have to provide hard data. Generalities will not suffice. ---------------------- I wish government would stop this practice of "grandfathering" offensive businesses. It encourages stalling the process while starting up businesses so they can be "grandfathered". And why are they never "grandmothered". That's sexism, isn't it?
By the way, if someone's going to operate a brothel, it should be licensed as such, not a "sauna". It is these 17th century laws that lead to this game of deception. Maybe there should be a law against any man paying for sex under any euphemism, including the euphemism called "marriage". Would men support that? Would they support sex, whatever the circumstance, being free? Would they restrain themselves whenever faced with the CHANCE for sex, with a monetary quid pro quo, in the knowledge that the minute they PAY, they'll be game for the prosecutor? I mean, how hard would it be? "Did you have sex? Yes, your honor. Did you pay? Yes, your honor. Well, then I fine you an extra $100." ===== Jim Mork Cooper-Longfellow-Minneapolis (L'Etoile du Nord) --------------- "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power." � Benito Mussolini ... __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
