User Comments

1. 

   2/14/08

   footiam

   things like guns,drugs should be banned, maybe knives too!

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2. 

   2/14/08

   ranjith143

   everthing against human activities should be banned

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3. 

   2/14/08

   kdawg68

   So you are in favor of cramming whatever the majority of the nation supports down the throats of Alabama citizens? By your definition then, anything that 51% of the nations population supports should be "law" in each state. Are you sure you want to go down that road? Have you really thought that through?
   
   Since when is modernity defined by the ability to legally purchase sex toys? That's a rather distrubing image of the world, but I find it somewhat laughable coming from someone that hasn't taken the time to even add an avatar to their profile yet. How's about you catch up with the times yourself and update your profile? You know, like the majority of us have?

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4. 

   2/14/08

   thehermit

   I think that kdawg needs to relax a little - it's just a simple question that davet asked.
   I also think that the lawmakers (and citizens) in Alabama need to worry themselves about more important things than whether or not someone's using a vibrator.

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   1. 

      2/14/08

      kdawg68

      Ummm...I was replying to the "simple question" in the article that stated:
      
      "Perhaps it's time to get caught up with, oh, the majority of the country and overturn such a ridiculous law?"
      
      Am I not allowed to reply to that question? Is anything but parroting the sentiments in that statement too defensive?
      
      Also, you apparenty didn't read the article. The discussion is not about whether someone can "use" a vibrator or not, it's about whether you can purchase said vibrator legally within the state of Alabama. The lawmakers in Alabama are not concerned over "use." The ordinance in question does not outlaw the "use" of such devices.
      
      I agree that there are bigger issues, but wouldn't it be fair to say than that someone from Southern California (like the OP), or anyone commenting here not from Alabama should concern themselves with "more important things" than whether folks in Alabama can purchase vibrators legally in Alabama?
      
      Your own logic seems to apply here, yes?
   2. 

      2/14/08

      pointlessbanter

      Dude I am just looking to buy a fake vagina for me to nail... looks like I have to go out of state
   3. 

      2/14/08

      kdawg68

      I think there was a special clause allowing those.
   4. 

      2/14/08

      pointlessbanter

      ROLL TIDE!!!!!!
   5. 

      2/14/08

      kdawg68

      Hells to the Yeahs!
5. 

   2/14/08

   acousticguitarist

   Depends on how mad they are (No offence intened Alabamians)

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6. 

   2/14/08

   robinj

   so you can own a gun and thats okay but you cannot own a vibrator because thats considered a lethal weapon go figure

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7. 

   2/14/08

   davet

   kdawg,
   i'm ordering a special load of decaf for you to celebrate valentine's day. last time i checked...this was a free country and each of us can offer our opinions. if the folks in alabama want to be the only state in the union to ban the sale of sex toys, that's their right. it is also fair for people in the other 49 states, the virgin islands, puerto rico, guam, etc. to comment on that. i've got friends in alabama, love the crimson tide, and would visit again. that being said, maybe they want to revisit this law. if not, get ready border states for some 'bama folks to roll over and pay you a visit.

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   1. 

      2/14/08

      kdawg68

      "...last time I checked this was a free country and each of us can offer our opinions..."
      
      Hooray, we agree on something. So what's the problem? Am I not allowed to have my opinion? I simply disagree with your conclusion and the rationale by which you reached it. I don't see where you think I infringed upon your freedoms? My point has been that your statemnent:
      
      "Perhaps it's time to get caught up with, oh, the majority of the country and overturn such a ridiculous law?"
      
      Is something I disagree with. I think if you thought this through you'd see the iherent danger in such sentiments; especially for someone so concerned with "freedom" that they attempt to portray themselves as a victim of censorship in a discussion they started when someone else disagrees with them.
      
      Consider that by the same logic, the abolition of slavery should have been immediately overturned in 1862, unless you're of the opinon that the "majority of the country" was anti-slave then, which it most assuredly was not. Such logic would have put your fellow countrymen back in bondage legally. See why that's dangerous now?
      
      What's wrong with letting Alabama decide how Alabama will be governed in the trivial matter of allowing sex toy shops? Wouldn't that be the best thing to do in the interest of "freedom?" If the people of Alabama feel their rights are being somehow infringed upon by an inability to purchase blow-up dolls, I suspect they'll make enough noise locally to get the ordinance overturned.
      
      Again, that's my opnion, and the fact that it differs from yours doesn't make you the victim of some 1st ammendment crime. If you start a discussion you have to accept that not everyone will share your sentiments. If that bothers you, then don't start a discussion. After all, "last time I checked, this was a free country."
   2. 

      2/14/08

      libdrone

      @kdawg68
      
      I was referring to April's justification in her post here, rather than the Alabama government's justification which I have not read or examined. That said, perhaps you are right that these decisions are best left to the individual states. Certainly I would never want to live in the sort of community April seems to be calling for and perhaps she would find my community and its mores equally distasteful.
      
      sorry, bad placement. was trying to place this below your later response
8. 

   2/14/08

   Aprilfreelance

   I live in Alabama, and there was a sex toy shop about 15 miles from me for years. That is until a group of teenagers and 20-year-olds thought it would be fun to rob the place, shot and killed two people and injured another. It was the worst crime in this area in almost 20 years.
   
   I see no need for a law allowing the shops. Frankly, if people want to spend their money on that kind of thing, I have no problem with the taxes going to another state.

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   1. 

      2/14/08

      libdrone

      If it had been a grocery store in your neighborhood that had been robbed and the site of two murders, would you advocate that people be required to go out of state to purchase food? Robbery and murder and terrible crimes but it seems to me disingenuous to associate these crimes with the sale of harmless products and to use that association as the justification for banning the harmless products.
   2. 

      2/14/08

      Aprilfreelance

      Pornography is NOT harmless.
   3. 

      2/14/08

      kdawg68

      Actually the justification that was used has nothing to do with this crime. The courts found that the state government has a responsibility to it's citizens to uphold decency - this is the reason you don't see strip clubs next door to public schools in "most" places (no doubt they exist somewhere).
      
      Was it far reaching? Probably so. The point is that almost no one in Alabama is complaining. That would be majority rule of those that are self-governing. A few people have tried to complain that they needed sex toys to help with sexually related complications and disabilities, but the U.S. court of appeals ruled that the state's right to protect decency outweighed and that the citizens complaining were free to purchase the items elsewhere and that no one was denying them the right to use the products.
      
      So, again, long story short, live and let live. After all, I doubt Californians want the rest of the country poking in the next time they debate removing "mom and dad" from textbooks, do they (aka SB 1437)?
   4. 

      2/14/08

      Unfettered

      kdawg: You seem to be implying that the majority should always win.
   5. 

      2/14/08

      suburbqueen

      The sad truth is the majority shouldn't always win, but usually does.
   6. 

      2/14/08

      kdawg68

      Nah, what I said was (in my best John-Cougar voice):
      
      "Well I fight authority, authority always wins!!"
   7. 

      2/14/08

      debbit

      lol
   8. 

      2/14/08

      debbit

      now your bible belt conservatism is showing. The shops exist, whether we like it or not. We cannot legislate morality. You don't have to go to them or support them. But they have a right to exist. How they sell their wares is somewhat questionable. But...life is not one big sunday Sermon. I lived in Bama all my life until recently. I now live in Mississippi (say it fast), but things in MS aren't that much different. Except of course Ms allows gambling at casinos. So yanno...live and let live. Folks are killed on city streets for all kinds of reasons, every day. The slippery slope is when you start blaming one person or group of persons or one business or group of businesses for the ills of the world. It just ain't so.
9. 

   2/14/08

   mitch972

   I thought it was illegal there already.

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10. 

    2/14/08

    debbit

    That's one of those ummm "little known" wacky laws in Alabama. And if you want it to change (this from a lifelong bama resident) you're gonna have to get the Governor out from behind the pulpit on Sunday. It's an old law on the books, yet there are adult shops in Alabama, they sell toys as novelties. go figure. some are quite novel. (pardon the pun). Sweet home Alabama.

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    1. 

       2/14/08

       kdawg68

       Awe man, you should've ended with "...and the Governor's true!"
       
       Isn't this from around the late 90's? I can't remember if it goes back further and is a Wallace legacy?
11. 

    2/14/08

    debbit

    make it the late 70's and early 80's and it IS a reference to George Wallace. ;-)

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12. 

    2/14/08

    davet

    kdawg,
    you certainly are entitled to your opinion....why be on here if not? i'm simply saying with the decaf remark that you seemed a little wound up and worried about whether or not i had an avatar on here (what the heck does that have to do with the original conversation i started?). IN MY OPINION, folks in alabama are out of step with the rest of the country. many folks in this country are always talking about how government should stay out of their lives, etc. if someone wants to sell sex toys in alabama and pay their fare share of taxes to the state, why shouldn't they? no one is forcing people into the stores. much like i use my remote on the tv or change the radio when something is on i don't like, folks that don't want such type shops in alabama don't have to shop there. i'm all for people having guns to protect themselves, but if gun shops are legal, why not a shop selling sex toys? i'm guessing the sex toys won't kill anyone....well, unless someone puts it in the wrong way...then we may have a problem.

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    1. 

       2/14/08

       debbit

       lol dave you're right. The whole point I was trying to make above was what you said more succintly. However, the law, as was questioned, is not really enforced. As I said, the merchants who sell the items have figured a way around the issue so to speak. Whoo hoo for whips and chains. Get them at your local tack shop.
13. 

    2/14/08

    davet

    debbit,
    the irony here is that some of these exact lawmakers are probably the ones using the items at home, lol. i used to be a regular church attendee years ago and then stopped (except for christmas eve - i'm hypocritical i admit). point is, you'd go to church and supposedly be forgiven of your sins all week in an hour, then go home and start all over - and you know the pastors were guilty too! i'd say as long as sex toy shops, strip clubs, etc. are not anywhere located near schools, churches, libraries, etc. there is no reason not to allow someone to have one as long as they pay taxes, maintain the upkeep of the place. here in san diego, there is a section where a number of strip clubs are. if you're not interested in going in them, drive on by. if you are, you have the right to.

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14. 

    2/14/08

    debbit

    you're right. Its only when folks bring these antiquated laws to light that the south in general and bama specifically gets hammered. We have our share of strip clubs, sex shops and other assorted so called "blue" district things. Not everyone in Bama is so far behind the times. It is the case however, that wacky laws exist in every state, I posted not long ago about these and others
    www.lagniappemarketing.net/2008/01/17/oh-those-wacky-unknown-laws/
    If you need a good laugh take a read.

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    1. 

       2/14/08

       libdrone

       great post. was a pleasure to discover your blog
15. 

    2/14/08

    davet

    i know this topic always creates a firestorm....but a ban on driving with cell phone in hand should be the law in all 50 states unless it is an emergency. i've already told my girlfriend to get bail money ready for me because i will wind up in jail if someone hits my car while yacking away on their phone. and i especially don't want my car being hit on the way to or from one of those sex toy shops, lol.

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16. 

    2/14/08

    debbit

    lolol that's why God invented blue tooth technology. That way you can talk to your friends While you are in the sex shop, and get their opinion on the toys you're buying.

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    1. 

       2/14/08

       sweat1951

       I live in Alabama and I agree with everything you've said. But, I can't stop enjoying this one, "Stars fell on Alabama and knocked it into the 18th century"
17. 

    2/14/08

    davet

    i say we flood the state of alabama with sex toys for christmas this year! the law banning such toys in alabama would be a great question too for the presidential candidates....hmmmm....

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18. 

    2/14/08

    debbit

    rotflmao...okies you first!

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19. 

    2/14/08

    aningeniousname

    All this fuss over a piece of plastic and two batteries.

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    1. 

       2/14/08

       Anniepooh

       You could kill someone with one of those, y'know. :-D
20. 

    2/14/08

    acousticguitarist

    Realistically, when people replace humans with objects maybe somethings gone a bit skewiff.

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21. 

    2/14/08

    voodooKobra

    God dammit! There goes my "Alabama - the only state that markets sex toys as 'fun for the whole family!'" joke.

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    1. 

       2/14/08

       acousticguitarist

       is there something strange in the water?
    2. 

       2/14/08

       debbit

       And the profanity can be done without
22. 

    2/14/08

    davet

    i wonder how many alabama residents were driving around today wishing they had a 'toy' shop to go to and buy something for valentine's day....
    
    
    voodookobra - perhaps 'stars fell on dixie' can be replaced on the license plates in 'bama with something else related to this subject???

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    1. 

       2/14/08

       debbit

       Stars fell on Alabama and knocked it into the 18th century
23. 

    2/14/08

    davet

    how about license plates with...'stars fell on alabama and made us more vibrator...i mean vibrant'

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24. 

    2/14/08

    CaptainCraft

    I believe that it's a state rights issue and not for the rest of the country to decide what should or should not be legal in another state.

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25. 

    2/15/08

    davet

    c. craft,
    it just seems like alabama is a little out of touch with the rest of the country. if say 49 of 50 states thinks sex toy shops should be allowed, doesn't that seem like somewhat of a trend? it is almost like alabama is crying out....we're out of touch with the rest of the country. sort of like when mondale ran against reagan in '84 and managed to win one state - his home state of minnesota. just seems like alabama isn't sexy enough for the rest of the country.
    
    
    newsblip.blogspot.com/

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26. 

    12/27/08

    KittyKat53

    well they can claim hysteria and get their pocket rockets with doc's script.
    
    funny thing is the state attorneys office wanted everyone to mail in their toys, now we really know why there is a ban.

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