Letters

Aug. 29, 2010

Beer Sacks idea
John R. Joslyn has missed the point in his Aug. 16 letter. The GearBox article about the Wine Rack, featuring a young woman displaying the gag gift — and a lot more, is offensive.
The function of the gag gift is irrelevant.
Wine Rack is another dose of lowbrow sexist entertainment. The photograph of the busty young woman wearing the ridiculous contraption belongs in a men’s magazine.
And our culture feels like men’s magazine.
These images are blasted at us 24/7: from pole dancing kits for 10 year olds, to sexualizing female athletes — including minors, to beer ads, or pornified Reebok ads. Wine Rack joins ranks.
Let’s do a gender switch on the gag gift, Wine Rack.
The gag gift for men is called Beer Sacks, and it wraps around a man’s testicles and penis. It allows him to have alcoholic beverages —like his favorite IPA —anytime, anywhere. No fussy laws are going to keep him from getting buzzed.
Next:
Northern Express hires a very young, handsome male model. The photo will focus on the giggling man’s testicles that are peeking out of his short-shorts with a sexy shot of his bulge. He’ll be taking a long, yummy sip of his favorite beer, sneakily concealed you know where, and give the photographer that coy, bad-boy smile that only a naughty man can give.
Warning! Wearing Beer Sacks may increase the size of your bulge — a pro or a con— depending on your point of view.
Can you imagine?
No, of course not.
Northern Express: Please respect your readership. The Wine Rack is in very bad taste.

Brigita Gumsey • Cedar

No to the mosque
This letter is to respond to Stephen Tuttle’s recent editorial on the Ground Zero mosque.
Perhaps Mr. Tuttle should go to Dearborn and live there for a week or so before he makes statements about Muslims and why he thinks the mosque should be built at the proposed site. I have not lived among Muslims, but people close to me have, and I know that to say their intentions have merit is misguided.
The war on Christianity by Islam is so enormous in scope that it is impossible to explain here without trivializing it. Some will say that it is the radical Muslims, not the moderate Muslims, that are the problem. Not so. Moderate Muslims are dangerous to a free society because, out of fear, they accept everything their extremist counterparts and imams say. Moderate Muslims are dangerous to a free society because they reject anyone or any faith that are not Muslim. Moderate Muslims are dangerous to a free society because they are devoted to Islam first and everyone else second - they would die for Islam before they would die for America. Moderate Muslims are dangerous to a free society because they only accept Islam in their lives and nothing else. They reject our customs and laws and exist in America to establish Sharia law. Period.
They will not stop until Islam is the dominant religion on earth. Good luck.
Why, then, if Islam doesn’t conform to our American way of life, should we allow them to build an Islamic mosque and cultural center in the shadow of the greatest act of terror ever perpetrated on our homeland? Indeed, the fact that they, as supposedly responsible Americans, have not respected our wishes to not build it there, speaks volumes. This is not about “rights” or “freedom of religion.” It is about American pride and integrity and respect for our country and those who died there.
The mosque cannot be built at the proposed site.

Bob Jones • Glen Arbor

Truancy problems
Educating our young is important for the future of our community and for Michigan. Truancy is a problem for all of us. It isn’t just a school problem.
Abraham Lincoln once said:
“Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. That every man may receive at least, a moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own and other countries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions, appears to be an object of vital importance....” March 9, 1832.
Often students with attendance problems are from at-risk families. They bring their family problems to school. Truancy may be a sign of other problems on the horizon for a child.
Students who become truant and later drop out put themselves at a long-term disadvantage. High-school dropouts are 2.5 times more likely to be on welfare than high school graduates. High-school dropouts who are employed earn much lower salaries. Too often, students who become truant and eventually drop out of high school set themselves up for a life of struggle. (U.S. Department of Education).
In Michigan, school is mandatory for all kids ages 6 to 16. For kids who turn 11 after December 1, 2009, or who entered the 6th grade in 2009, or later, school is mandatory until age 18.
Failure to comply with mandatory schooling can subject a parent or guardian to criminal prosecution, and if convicted, to punishment by a minimum of two days and up to 90 days in jail or a fine, or both.
Recently, in People v Topous (85th District Court for Benzie County No. 10-081-SM), my office charged a mother with truancy for failing to send her son to school. She was convicted by a jury, sentenced by the court to seven days in jail, and ordered to pay $1,303.
So, let’s encourage parents and guardians to get their kids to school this coming school year.

John Daugherty
Benzie County Prosecuting Attorney