RSS07/05/09 Letters to the Editor
Yakima Herald-Republic
Amen jketch
I amm tired of people like Mayor Dave and Linda trying to make moral decisions for me. I respect their right to have opinions, but do not try to force them on me.
Just put on your buurqa and go about your life
Places with scantily dressed women have always attracted the disdain from outraged bible-thumpers, mostly women, from the saloon days to the present. Fact is, men (and women) are drawn to displays of feminine charm...and most places of business use this draw to fatten up their bottom line. Guess what? Its natural! From Cosmopolitan mag to Levis to coffee shops. Leave them alone, and pay attention to the REAL problems facing Yakima. Do I have to list them? The Mayor doesn't get it, so I'd start with him.
Report ViolationOn Mr. Pratt's comments, while your are at it with eliminating fraudulent embezzlers why don't you keep going by adding Tribal governments and any other special interest group that only helps specific ethnicities instead of all Americans.
Report ViolationYo Farmer. Truer words never spoken. Someday, the "silent majority" will get sick and tired of footing the blame and will demand their piece of the pie.
Report ViolationYeah - while we're at it let's get rid of agricultural subsidies that only benefit a certain demographic in our society - you grow it or raise it and we'll buy it - don't and we won't and you don't get federal $$ to make up for it. As someone I respect always says - nothing is 100%.
Report Violationoh, and can we please get rid of tax exemptions for families with children - if you can't afford them, don't have them. Nothing is 100%
Report ViolationYakRob, I'll do you one better...
Just get rid of the 'income tax' altogether. Then, it would level the playing field. Corporations already pay taxes, it doesn't make sense for the people to have to pay also... especially since the Constitution states that the federal gov't doesn't have the authority to take money directly from the people as it is doing, it's supposed to bill the states and have them come up with the money (which would give the states an opportunity to say 'no' too).
I think it's funny that when a story comes out that our mayor is addressing something he see's as morally degrading in our city, so many people are quick to jump on him and say "aren't there more important things to be concerned about!!!". I am positive that over the last few months our mayor and city council have addressed multiple issues concerning our city. Not all make the news, but girls in lingerie will ALWAYS MAKE THE NEWS!!!! To say our mayor is turning a blind eye to what you see as the "real issues" of Yakima is ridiculous. You call those who stand up for traditional values "hypocrites" or even
compare them to Islamic terrorists, but you refuse to see that with a sliding moral standard are city will not become a safer place.
Johnnymoss - morality is subjective. If you and I differ on allowable public skin exposure, why should you get to decide? That's the problem - who gets to decide? Surely, rather than concentrating on a "minimal" impact moral issue, we should concentrate on more destructive issues such as teenagers getting pregnant and shooting each other with guns. Or we could try to come together to tackle domestic violence and child abuse issues. Don't you think these items warrant more of our energy than a private business that you have a choice to partonize or not?
Report ViolationThe use of sex in advertising and money making in todays society is a major contributor to teen pregnancy. It tells kids from an early age that sex as a teen is inevitable, but as long as you "control it" and protect yourself when you do it, then there are no negative results. The use of lingerie, which is designed by it's manufacturer to induce a sexual reaction, as a "uniform" for a barista is a step towards allowing more explicit "adult" themed businesses in Yakima. When these types businesses open in a community it is proven that they attract a certain type of person, which in turn raises the level of prostitution, drugs and gangs in that community. How can't we expect our kids to not get pregnant or stay out of gangs if we allow our city to move in the direction of moral ambiguity. If we do not set a moral standard for them, then we are at fault when our children do not live up to ours.
There are more important issues in Yakima than these sexpresso bars, but that does not negate the negative impact these stands could have on our community. The city council and our mayor should not be reprimanded for their concern.
JohnnyMoss wrote:
"The use of sex in advertising and money making in todays society is a major contributor to teen pregnancy."
Lack of supervision by a parent and a lack of education about birth control are the major contributors to teen pregnancy today.
As WSUJC210 stated here a couple of weeks ago, there were more unwed teen pregnancies in the 1950's then there are today. Back then, the teens got married or went to live in a "home." Since WSUJC210 is a stickler about facts, you can be 99.999% sure she is correct (Nothing in life is 100%...).
"The use of lingerie, which is designed by it's manufacturer to induce a sexual reaction..."
And the last time I put on lingerie for my husband, he laughed until he cried...
"When these types businesses open in a community it is proven that they attract a certain type of person, which in turn raises the level of prostitution, drugs and gangs in that community."
Lets see... I'm a born again Christian, college graduate, 19 year youth volunteer, mother of two girls that work with kids, married 30 years...and I shop at Eve's Garden! I guess I'm one of those "certain type of persons."
Moral standards begin at home. I can guarentee you your dauther won't be a prostitute or your son a gang member if you are an involved parent that actually values your child more than a new car or some other materialistic trinket that requires you to work while you pay someone else to raise your child.
Actually Mom, thats not QUITE the statistic. There were more teen pregnancies during the 1950s, but not more unwed teen pregnancies.
Report ViolationThanks for the correction, WSUJC210. I wasn't quite sure of the stats, only that there were more teens getting pregnant in the 1950's as now.
I know my grandmother was pregnant when she got married in the late 1920's...and my husband's grandmother denied until the day she died that her parents had to get married in the 1890's. But marriage, birth, and baptismal certificates don't lie...
Face it, teens getting pregnant has been around since the beginning of human kind. Women serving coffee in lingerie isn't the cause. Lack of parent involvement and education are.
SciPhiMom,
In the 1950's, according to the CDC, the teen pregnancy rate hit it's highest at nearly 100 per every 1000 pregnancies. The CDC also states that in the 1950's around 10-12% of those were to unmarried couples. In the 2000's the teen pregnancy rate is in the 50-60 per every 1000 pregnancies range, BUT 80% of those were to unmarried couples.
The change in percentage of married vs. unmarried is the concerning part. This change shows how the use of sex in advertising and money making has created a view in teens that sex is a recreational activity.
I don't have a problem with you buying lingerie or with lingerie stores. I do have a problem with the door being opened for strip clubs or topless bars, these are the "Adult Themed" businesses I am referring to. Lingerie is made for the bedroom, not the Espresso Bar.
I do agree that morals start at home, but that does not mean that we should not have a standard in our city.
Johnnymoss,
With 40% of all births to unwed mothers, I agree with you. The conservatives are in such a tizzy over gay marriage, but not the endangerment of heterosexual marriage. Why not?
So many conservatives that voice their opinions on this site are all over gay marriage, but they don't speak out on unwed motherhood. Is it because they have illegitamate children/grandchildren?
I know I'm tired of my tax dollars going to support the Earned Income Tax Credit for Head of Household With Dependent Children in which the dad is living in the household, but not getting married because mom and dad want that $3,000 per kid tax credit. We pay them not to get married. Do away with this tax credit.
As far as setting a moral standard for Yakima, I can only ask, who's standards?
johnnymoss wrote:
"This change shows how the use of sex in advertising and money making has created a view in teens that sex is a recreational activity."
Interesting conclusion, but where's the causal link? Hasn't teenage sex always been a recreational activity? Isn't all sex outside marriage a recreational activity? What about us 50 ers, it sure ain't for procreation.
That should read 50-plusers. (I know it's not a word, but you get the idea.)
Report ViolationMaybe an attorney will file for a temporary restraining order and lawsuit against the city resulting in the closure of the city pools for violation of the Redler-Cleavage of the Buttocks Act. Close the river and ponds along the Greenway too. Then stand back and watch the outrage. There will be a riot for sure. Then the attorney can ask for his fees to be paid. The David Edler Memorial Regional Aquatic Center can't be built either. Check Mate!
Reading all the comments in regards to the City Council and their part in the issues of what is priority to the City are all good. But I still say girls dressed in skimpy outfits is a low priority compared to the safety of our children and the citizens of Yakima. Someone made the comment in here that it all starts at home. That's 100% correct. If you fail to be a parent and take charge of your kids and be accountable for their actions, then shame on you. I have no issues with the Mayor and Council because it's a thankless posistion. No one makes Mayor Edler go to these coffee shops he has issues with, so why should they be punished along with everyone else that wants to go there. Sex does sell, it's been that way forever and will never change. To tie that in with gangs is rediculous. How many gangs do you see hanging at the espresso bar? 0. How many terrorist do you see at the espresso bar? 0. Someone else commented on attorneys suing the City for swimming pool skimpy wear, people at the river in bakini's. That's true, someone will complain because they to will be targeted for the violation and everyone should be held to the new ordinance. Everyone should be held to it just to make that point. Society accepts the selling of sex. When you talk about topless dancers and bars in such, your talking about something different, not espresso bars. I myself would complain of that because it would attract drugs and alcohol problems, gang activity, fights and more shootings. Prioritys need to change for Yakima because I really dont care about a closed door meeting which should have bee made public. Or stupid stuff that an attorney wants to make a name for himself and have the City pay his attorney fees for the finding. It was the tax payers that paid this bill. Who cares that an attornet made a point that the City was wrong in what they did. If there own attorney Zais was on the ball with his many years of experience, he should have caught that. It doesn't matter because even if this so called meeting was made public it would still have the same outcome. The Council makes the decisions, not the public. In a public meeting the Council doesn't even have to allow public comment if they don't want. The meetings are for conducting City business. Public comments are just that, comments. Council makes the decisions. But I'm sorry to say a lot of the issues lately have been bogus and of no importance. The City needs to prioritize and stop waisting tax payer money. And as long as I can remember, the police department has never ever sued the Chief of Police 9 different times. There's a problem here, is it the Chief? or is it to much of a power play with the Police guild and the Chief's posistion. The City needs to move on. And regards to the Chief and his crime analys about a curphew, you cant use stats to a crime that was detered by the curphew. It wouldn't exist and there is no way to track a crime that didn't happen. When Yakima had a curphew it was a great tool for cops to use. Wake up.
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I think Yakima has BIGGER BIGGER issues than half dressed woman in a coffee shop. You don't like it, don't go there. It's a simple solution. If it bothers you, don't look in that direction, but really if it bothered you, you wouldn't be looking in that direction anyways. Get real. I am more concerned with the safety of our children and our citizens in Yakima. This God bless crapp doesn't do anything for me, good luck with that one. Gos bless you as a bullit goes flying by your head. And I'm sure if you went to the Mayor's church that's a big topic of girl's in bakini's. Who cares, go by the Franklin pool and shut them down as well would you. Get real. Oh and your neighbor in the bakini, lets lock her up to. Reality is no one really cares about a coffee shop with half naked women in them. I take that back, there are a few. The hipocrits that is.
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