The Republican for some reason is making a big deal out of the state’s request that NoPornNorthampton register as a charity. We are not professional fundraisers, so some of the niceties of political action are new to us, but we have no problem with registering with the state if that’s what the law requires. We understand it’s not a big procedure.
Surprising as it may be to some, opposing porn is not nearly as profitable as selling it. The chance that we will actually make money in this campaign is almost certainly less than 1%. The postage alone on our recent open letter to Northampton and Longmeadow amounted to over $5,000. If we break even on that mailing we’ll be thrilled. In the unlikely event there is money left over when this campaign is done, we’d use it for a related purpose, not for our personal needs.
We keep records of all NPN expenses, and donations are kept in a separate bank account from our personal funds. We would be happy to share our NPN expense records and bank statements with donors and the media on request.
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See CBS 3 Springfield’s video segment about the mailing, with comments from NPN’s Jendi Reiter on our motivations.
1) Way to treat your new state with the same respect that Guarino is treating Northampton. Once again- kudos!
2) If I donate can I see your donor list? Because I really want to know who your paymasters are. Which reactionary national groups are paying you to besiege my community with your reactionary, sexist, homophobic nonsense?
It is only because you violated the law that it is being made into a “big deal”.Personally I think it is good that people are aware that you were illegally accepting donations to get your expenses back.You took it upon yourself to start this whole thing so any expenses you you have should not be repaid by the public.If you do register as a charity,how is that going to work?Charities donate the money,you are only doing it to get your money back.Therefor,you are not able to register as a charity.
$5,000!!!! Wow, that’s a lot of money…especially to someone like me who can’t even afford health insurance. It’s nice that you’re so comfortable, but don’t you think there is a better way to spend your money besides mass-mailing slander campaigns?
October is breast cancer awareness month:
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/pp.asp?c=kwKXLdPaE&b=43969
If you are indeed concerned about children:
https://secure2.convio.net/pcaa/site/Donation?ACTION=SHOW_DONATION_OPTIONS&CAMPAIGN_ID=1002
If you’re interested in helping women:
http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/2involved/
Finally, here’s a link that rates dozens of charities–for you, or your readers who really ARE interested in bettering our community:
http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html#animal
It’s not slander if it’s true, and we believe the public has an important interest in knowing precisely what Capital Video sells.
I’m sure many of the causes you mention are worthwhile, but maybe it’s time to say women are important, too. You wouldn’t think this would be controversial in Northampton. Let’s revisit our FAQ:
FAQ: It’s just a porn shop. Why are you so excited? Shouldn’t you devote your attention to more important issues such as homelessness, AIDS and war?
A: We feel that women are important. We feel the health and safety of porn workers are important. We are concerned about the phenomenon of porn addiction, where the victim seeks more and more porn, even to the point of loss of family and problems with the law in some cases. We also feel that in an age when close to half of American marriages end in divorce, with ugly consequences for children, that the infidelity promoted in Capital Video films merits concern.
As for our wars, securing the rights of women in Afghanistan and Iraq appears to be a point of pride for George Bush. He specifically criticizes the Taliban for “public whippings of women”. Does this really sound so different from the Bondage, Domination and Gangbang categories at the Capital Video-affiliated site, AmazingAdult.com? Or consider these images from magazines sold by Capital Video, including one captioned, “Tied to the post, Tracy takes a fearful whipping.” Ironic that we might effectively lose at home what we fight for abroad.
Please tell the community that you feel consensual behaviors are equivalent to a ubiquitous state of terror against women in the most reactionary state in the world. I’m sure the citizens of Hamp can’t wait to hear the nuance of this well-crafted argument.
Please read my actual message. All of the charities I posted links to are *better* and more direct ways to use your five grand to help women than sending out a petty mass-mailing was. I am not suggesting that women are unimportant. I am suggesting that you do something that will actually help them. I am suggesting that you use your money in ways that will have actual effects in actually helping actual women. Women who have breast cancer–women are the ones who get breast cancer, remember?; Women in abusive relationships; underprivelaged children; or, if you don’t like any of those organizations, the charity watchdog group I linked you to has a wide variety of others to choose from.
The fact that you would assume that I think women are unimportant just because I oppose your expensive junk mail is insulting and shows how out of touch with reality you are.
Let’s look at your assumption of “consensual behaviors”. Today’s pornographers seem to have less and less use for this convenient screen around their activities:
“The look in her eyes tells us that she would like this bondage session to be over pretty soon. Forget it, girl!”
Martin Amis, “A rough trade”:
A single issue of Adult Video News (April 2000) yields the following. Last October porno star Vivian Valentine attended the XXX-Treme Adults Only vacation in Mexico sporting the black eye she copped from Jon Dough on Rough Sex (Anabolic Video).
“I have no regrets or bad feelings about it,” she said. Regan Starr who worked on the second film in this “line”, Rough Sex 2, had a different take. “I got the shit kicked out of me,” she said. “I was told before the video–and they said this very proudly, mind you–that in this line most of the girls start crying because they’re hurting so bad…. I couldn’t breathe. I was being hit and choked. I was really upset, and they didn’t stop. They kept filming. You can hear me say, ‘Turn the fucking camera off’, and they kept going.”
The Taliban hurt women in the misguided belief that this will improve their society. America’s pornographers do it for money. Both are bad.
The relative importance of various charities is a judgment call. We put our efforts to where we think they will be most effective. The citizens of Northampton have already convinced Capital Video to suspend their plans to install 20 porn viewing booths at 135 King Street–a significant victory.
Porn is an enormous $56 billion global industry and merits much more scrutiny and concern from the people than it has been getting.
Be careful, Adam–you’re not a charity, remember?
Apparently the state thinks we are. And now let’s return to the issues at hand.