We would like to address the issue of sexual paraphernalia, which was raised by “paco” in this comment on 9/12/06:
Heart plush spank-her. Gentle or hard..this soft faux fur and leather
covers every mood you and your queen of heart could experience. Glide
the soft delight or make his heart race with the leather side.
Under
the Bed restraint system from Sportsheets. This system sets up in just
minutes without hooks or bedposts. Easy to hide just tuck under the
mattress when not in use. You can restrain your partners arms or legs
from the sides, top or bottom of the bed. And it can be packed up for
those special nights away from home.Products sold at OH MY.Is bondage
OK in your eyes? Maybe not,but for some it is.And if it’s not OK in
your eyes,why then is what OH MY sells ok with you? This is becoming
tiresome and I have noticed that so far the only ones posting here are
FOR the store.Is this the response you have expected? I think not.
We replied on 9/16/06:
paco’s comment that begins “Heart plush
spank-her” focuses on sexual paraphernalia. Most of this could be
considered “dual-use”, that is, it could be used in a loving or
non-loving way. Intention and consent are the keys here, and that’s the
responsibility of the participants. This is completely different from
the movies sold by Capital Video, where the lack of love is palpable.
We have already noted how the principals of Oh My are interested in healing relationships,
so I trust their judgment far more than that of Kenneth Guarino, who
apparently believes that watching films like “Office Slut Gangbang” is
of no more consequence than “selling doughnuts”, and who has so far refused all media inquiries about his plans for Northampton.
By the way, there’s no basis for assuming anonymous comments on the
Internet accurately reflect the views of the citizenry as a whole.
There’s no accountability. For all we know, many of the comments that
are supposedly from different people could be from the same person. It
is even possible that some comments are a kind of “astroturf” paid for
by Capital Video itself, fashioned to simulate authentic grassroots
opinion. We feel that our citizen petition,
which was signed by 687 Northampton residents and 284 non-residents as
of August 17, is much stronger evidence of the true sentiment of the
people. More petitions are coming in every week.
first of let me start by stating that was NOT my comment.That came directly off of OH MY’s website.Secondly,now I think you are grasping at straws as to say that Capitol Video is paying someone to post here.And as far as most people that I have spoken with,non residents signatures are null and void as it does NOT pertain to them in this matter.They do not live here nor do they vote here so their voice means little if anything.Once again you are trying to “misdirect” people with you analogies.Adult videos to doughnuts? And to this day I still can’t figure out how in the world you are judging these movies by the titles.How many mainstream movie titles have nothing to do with the movie? Maybe the movie titles that you keep mentioning here have nothing to do with the movie.I guess in your eyes,bed restraints is a healthy way to heal a relationship.Don’t get me wrong,I love OH MY but I think you are being misguided at your attempts here.
Oh yes,I almost forgot.How do “WE” know that all of those signatures are legit? For all “WE” know,you fabricated a bunch of names on a piece of paper? If you want to look at things from that angle.
Thanks for clarifying the source of your material. It wasn’t clear to us from your original comment.
“Astroturf” is a well-known phenomenon in American politics. To dispel any doubts, perhaps you would care to disclose your true name, address, and whether you are receiving any financial compensation from Capital Video.
As for the non-Northampton signatures, we break out those counts from the Northampton signatures so people can judge for themselves how significant they are. Tourism is certainly important to Northampton (“Walk Into Something Wonderful”). If the Capital Video porn shop might reduce people’s desire to visit here, that’s something residents should be aware of.
As for not actually viewing Capital Video’s movies ourselves, we feel the titles, synopses, and pictures provided at Capital Video’s website tell us plenty about what to expect in them. We are also informed by reports from researchers who have viewed these kinds of films (example). But if people aren’t convinced, by all means go ahead and watch them for yourselves.
Signatures can be verified. In almost all cases, we have the addresses of those who signed, should this become necessary.
Give you my real name and address so your people can harass me as well?I don’t think so.But I assure you that I am NOT being compensated by Capitol Video.I am just one person voicing his opinion.All you need to know is that I am a very well educated person that happens to enjoy adult material.And no,it does not make me violent.In fact it actually enhances my sex life as if that is any of your business.
In your own words “Those signing should be of voting age and residents of Northampton.” Key words here….RESIDENTS OH NORTHAMPTON.Therefor,non resident signatures are null and void.
I’m sorry you are declining to take this opportunity to bolster your credibility. If you perceive that hearing facts and other people’s opinions is harassment, I guess we can’t help you.
We have certainly received our share of harassment and personal attacks from porn advocates. However, since these actions are meritless, they don’t bother us that much. I guess your commitment to your cause just isn’t that strong.
It’s true that we are actively seeking signatures from residents of Northampton. However, we found it interesting that non-residents wanted to sign as well, so we opted to accommodate them. You may call their signatures “null and void”, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the implications.
We have been careful to keep the Northampton and non-Northampton counts separate so there will be no confusion of the two.
Rather than denying or ignoring that many people clearly object to the porn shop and want regulation of sexually oriented businesses, how about trying to address that fact?
Just as you are denying and ignoring that many people don’t care one way or the other about the Adult Boutique and that many people actually would like to see it move into town.Which is quite evident by your measly amount of signatures from a town of 30,000.Those non residents signatures mean nothing.They do not live here,vote here,or pay taxes here.It’s fine that they wanted to sign the petition but in the end tally,they mean nothing.i also noticed that you had nothing to say about using the term Nazism.That was extremely uncalled for when you used that term.The only response that I saw regarding the use of that term was something in regards to doing a search for that type of material.The response did not defend your reasoning behind using it.
paco, it would appear to me that the verifiable evidence of large numbers of people objecting to the porn shop is much stronger than evidence of people supporting it. To me, hundreds of signatures with addresses beat a few dozen Internet posts any day. 582 Northampton residents signed our petition within the first 11 days of its circulation (July 10-20). City officials and long-time residents tell me that’s quite unusual and indicative of strong public sentiment on this issue.
Non-residents may not vote here, but there sure spend money here. I thought you pro-porn folks were concerned about protecting business activity in the city.
As for the “Nazism” issue, we feel that’s been satisfactorily addressed by this comment.
So,you mean to tell me that a few hundred signatures outweighs the the remaining thousands that obviously don’t mind that the Adult Boutique opens? If they had wanted to sign the petition,but as you can see,they haven’t. Which to me signifies that they are having their say.You say that you want to regulate such businesses but at the same time you are trying to get it stopped with the signs stating….”No porn here,No porn anywhere”…..aren’t you contradicting yourself? You can’t have it both ways. And as far as your use of the term “Nazism”,that response was a lame attempt at defending yourself.I did do the search that was suggested and really didn’t find too much to back your position. I have read up on activists and their tactics and you are really “going by the book” so to speak. You are trying to sway intelligent people in this city to see things your way. Isn’t that what the “Nazis” did? When the Adult Boutique opens,I am sure it will be well regulated as is any other business.
paco, you have no basis for presuming to know the mind of those who haven’t yet signed our petition. I have heard from several people that there is a great deal of ‘quiet support’ for our position but many people would rather not become targets of the personal attacks, hostility and double-talk that have come in copious quantities from the pro-porn advocates.
Getting a few modest, court-approved zoning and health laws are some of our goals, but more important is educating people so they practice self-restraint. I see no inconsistency.
As for your casual assumptions about the regulation of the Adult Boutique, please tell me exactly how it will be regulated under current law, and how that will address the many concerns we have raised on this blog.
As for accusations that we are Nazis or fascists–these are not worth discussing. Another common smokescreen puffed out by anonymous Internet debaters.
Let me see if I have this correct.Your “silent support” is more important than “silent support” on the other side of this issue. Could you explain to me how exactly that works? As far as regulations are concerned,you seem smart enough to figure that out.I have. Also,I made no accusations what so ever.You only assumed that is what I meant. I only made a comparison. And for the record,YOU are the people that started to use that term in your flyers.
I myself don’t attach great importance to undocumented evidence of ‘quiet support’, but I relayed the information that has come to me because it was relevant to your speculations about the mind of Northampton.
Obviously we find Northampton’s current zoning and health regulations not quite adequate to the challenge or we wouldn’t be advocating for change. It would appear the city council agrees with us at least in part. They have begun considering proposals to make Northampton’s adult use zoning a bit stronger.
As for accusations of us being Nazis and Fascists, we’ve seen plenty of that from some of the porn advocates at MassLive’s Northampton forum. That also seemed relevant for me to mention.