"Out of Place"? Sounds Straight to Me
"Domino's founder backtracks on vision"
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST PALM BEACH - Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan backtracked today from earlier comments that he'd like to see a new town he's bankrolling in southwest Florida be governed by strict Roman Catholic principles, denying access to birth control and pornography.
The town of Ave Maria, about 25 miles east of Naples, is being built around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in four decades, which Monaghan also founded. Both are set to open next year.
"There's a lot of misconceptions about this. I don't really have a vision for the town. I have a vision for the university," Monaghan said today on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I'm not a developer. I'm not a lawyer. I'm just trying to build a world class university."
His comments were in contrast to statements he made last year to a Catholic men's group in Boston, telling the crowd that pornographic magazines won't be sold in town, pharmacies won't carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will carry no X-rated channels. Monaghan said this morning those comments were "out of place."
"The town is open to anybody," Monaghan said. "The university, it's different story. It will be primarily Catholic."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida promised lawsuits if the proposals were to become law.
The town is being developed through a partnership with the Barron Collier Co., an agricultural and real estate firm.
"We're going to be requesting that contraceptives not be sold in the town but we are not going to be restricting," Barron Collier CEO Paul Marinelli said on ABC. "It is not going to be a Catholic town."
Barron Collier and Monaghan will control all the commercial real estate.
"We anticipate there we be synagogues as well as Baptist churches," Marinelli said a few minutes later on NBC's "Today Show." "We do not discriminate against anyone."
He said the town would not restrict residents' access to any cable television programming.
"It's not a restrictive cable station," he said. "We're not trying to create a city with walls around it that isolates from the world."
The town, however, will not have adult bookstores or topless clubs.
Monaghan had refused to comment earlier in the week while his attorneys were reviewing the legal issues of the bans he had proposed last year.
Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist said he saw nothing that violated state law in Monaghan's proposals, saying it would be up to the courts to decide the legalities if a lawsuit was filed.
The community will be set on 5,000 acres with a European-inspired town center. It will encircle a massive church and what planners call the largest crucifix in the nation, standing nearly 65 feet tall. Monaghan has already pledged more than $250 million to the project.
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The hubby commented that a town will spring up next door that is NOTHING BUT topless bars and porno shops.
Eh. Anything worse than a zealot is a zealot who tries to cover his ass with lying. "You never know what the hell sneaky fanatics are up to - they'll stab you in the back. I prefer fanatics to be out in the open and stick to their guns. You can at least respect that."
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Incidentally, the teacher that made the Bush-Hitler comparisons and had students walk out ... Most of the students had actually walked out because the school had put him on 'administrative leave'.
BTW - the TV at my college cafeteria is stuck on FOX News this week. No wonder I didn't hear everything correctly.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST PALM BEACH - Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan backtracked today from earlier comments that he'd like to see a new town he's bankrolling in southwest Florida be governed by strict Roman Catholic principles, denying access to birth control and pornography.
The town of Ave Maria, about 25 miles east of Naples, is being built around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in four decades, which Monaghan also founded. Both are set to open next year.
"There's a lot of misconceptions about this. I don't really have a vision for the town. I have a vision for the university," Monaghan said today on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I'm not a developer. I'm not a lawyer. I'm just trying to build a world class university."
His comments were in contrast to statements he made last year to a Catholic men's group in Boston, telling the crowd that pornographic magazines won't be sold in town, pharmacies won't carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will carry no X-rated channels. Monaghan said this morning those comments were "out of place."
"The town is open to anybody," Monaghan said. "The university, it's different story. It will be primarily Catholic."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida promised lawsuits if the proposals were to become law.
The town is being developed through a partnership with the Barron Collier Co., an agricultural and real estate firm.
"We're going to be requesting that contraceptives not be sold in the town but we are not going to be restricting," Barron Collier CEO Paul Marinelli said on ABC. "It is not going to be a Catholic town."
Barron Collier and Monaghan will control all the commercial real estate.
"We anticipate there we be synagogues as well as Baptist churches," Marinelli said a few minutes later on NBC's "Today Show." "We do not discriminate against anyone."
He said the town would not restrict residents' access to any cable television programming.
"It's not a restrictive cable station," he said. "We're not trying to create a city with walls around it that isolates from the world."
The town, however, will not have adult bookstores or topless clubs.
Monaghan had refused to comment earlier in the week while his attorneys were reviewing the legal issues of the bans he had proposed last year.
Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist said he saw nothing that violated state law in Monaghan's proposals, saying it would be up to the courts to decide the legalities if a lawsuit was filed.
The community will be set on 5,000 acres with a European-inspired town center. It will encircle a massive church and what planners call the largest crucifix in the nation, standing nearly 65 feet tall. Monaghan has already pledged more than $250 million to the project.
* * * * * * * * * *
The hubby commented that a town will spring up next door that is NOTHING BUT topless bars and porno shops.
Eh. Anything worse than a zealot is a zealot who tries to cover his ass with lying. "You never know what the hell sneaky fanatics are up to - they'll stab you in the back. I prefer fanatics to be out in the open and stick to their guns. You can at least respect that."
* * * * * * * * * *
Incidentally, the teacher that made the Bush-Hitler comparisons and had students walk out ... Most of the students had actually walked out because the school had put him on 'administrative leave'.
BTW - the TV at my college cafeteria is stuck on FOX News this week. No wonder I didn't hear everything correctly.