Mopornnorthampton Returns, Mocks King Street as “Unspoilt Jewel of the Northeast”

Mopornnorthampton, offline for weeks, returned to service in late September. This site, a creation of Jeff Hobbs, Jennifer Ruggieri, and perhaps others, tries to make the King Street porn shop issue a matter of “free speech” and “free trade” with arguments that we address in our FAQ (see on the left).Recently moporn decided to indulge […]

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Valley Advocate: “Erotica: Eden’s Dark Side”

The September 28 Valley Advocate writes about how “Northampton’s understanding of its special local culture is headed for a test…” Northampton has a mix that includes not only mainstream adult consumers of porn, but students–young people discovering their sexuality and experimenting with materials to help them enhance it. It has gays and lesbians, who have […]

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Letter to Gazette: “Protect families, children from porn shop on King St.”

Today’s Gazette publishes a letter to the editor from Lynn Shelley-Sireci of Florence, a parent of three young sons: “…Proponents of this shop are quick to argue that it is the responsibility of parents to monitor what their children see, and if you don’t like it, don’t go in. But what are parents supposed to […]

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“Walk Into Something Wonderful” (explicit language)

Compatible with a Capital Video porn shop at 135 King Street? “I certainly, will be taking other walking routes than I have been for the past 25 years, when going to Stop & Shop, or Foster Farrar, or the bank, rather than have to walk by a big Capital Video Pornography Store on the corner […]

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WWLP Springfield: “Porn Shop Plans in Northampton”

On September 13, WWLP reported on how Capital Video was proceeding with its plans for a porn shop at 135 King Street. …Some locals we spoke with say they hope the planning department doesn’t approve of the plans. Jennifer Seacot said, “I don’t think I like the idea of that not in this area of […]

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“Athens of the Connecticut Valley”

Several arguments on the pro-porn side appear to be as follows: King Street is a write-off and not worth caring about The neighborhoods around 135 King Street are a run-down collection of multi-family homes who shouldn’t expect better NoPornNorthampton has not proven beyond any possible doubt that a Capital Video porn shop at 135 King […]

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Coming Soon Unless You Act: “Use Em’ Abuse Em’ & Lose Em’”

An Open Letter to Barry G. and Annette E. Goldberg of Longmeadow, MADear Mr. and Ms. Goldberg,We are residents of Northampton, concerned that you are about to lease your property at 135 King Street to Kenneth Guarino’s Capital Video Corporation. Mr. Guarino is a major producer and retailer of pornographic material. The proposed site for […]

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Northampton Worth Fighting For: “Greetings from Lesbianville”

Northampton’s long traditions of caring for the vulnerable and advancing the cause of women continue to this day. Leslea Newman writes here for The Advocate in “Greetings from Lesbianville U.S.A.: grrrls, goddesses, and Gloria Steinem! Northampton, Mass., is the Sapphic center of America, tucked away among New England academia”: In 1851 the famed diva Jenny Lind, […]

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Northampton Worth Fighting For: Sojourner Truth

From “Who was Sojourner Truth?” at noho.com:Sojourner Truth came to Northampton in 1843 to live at the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, a utopian community in Florence. Born a slave in upstate New York in approximately 1797, she labored for a succession of five masters until the Fourth of July, 1827, when slavery was […]

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Northampton Worth Fighting For: Smith College

Northampton is the home of Smith College, founded in 1871 with a bequest from Sophia Smith. Smith is the nation’s largest liberal arts college for women.In her will, Sophia Smith wrote:“I hereby make the following provisions for the establishment and maintenance of an Institution for the higher education of young women, with the design to […]

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