Occupy this, Boston Globe!

Question: If you vote against allowing certain disenfranchised members of society, like RSOs, from being part of the Occupy Movement, what word describes that action? Answer: Hypocrisy.

The media has been romanticized far too much in our society-- the ethical journalist that stops at nothing to get to the facts, telling society the truth instead of what we want to hear. We all know that's bullshit, thanks in large part to the efforts of Faux News and the Howling Ladies Network. With traditional paper-print news media becoming a thing of the past, the few that remain are becoming no different than their TV counterparts.

It all began with a simple feed-good story-- two young lovers who met at Occupy Boston. Aw, how adorable, right? That was, until the gossip-rag posing as a real newspaper The Boston Herald decided to dig up dirt on the featured Occupy couple. It was a gossip-hound's dream--the man in the article was on the public registry and was homeless, the likely result of being on the registry. The Herald took it a step further, contacting the girlfriend and the reporter, who stated it was not an issue, but then took it to a supervisor. The Herald than states:

Jennifer Peter, the Globe’s deputy managing editor for local news, said the paper wouldn’t have run the piece if they’d known Stitham was a sex offender. “We were unaware of his status and would have opted not to do the story had we known,” Peter said in an email last night.

The Poynter Institute Blog (in Florida of all places) wrote another piece on the Globe article, and Craig Silverman does make an interesting point:

So it seems that what the Globe is saying is that, given Stitham’s history, it wouldn’t have written a love story about this couple. Knowing the criminal history ahead of time would have killed the romantic story, but could have led to another narrative. 

So let me get this straight, a person is not allowed to be in love because he is on the list? I guess I should add falling in love to the list I created that registrants are not allowed to do, in addition to the new proposals that keep Registrants from participating in rehab programs funded by federal grants or to lose the benefit of tax breaks for those few people hiring them in Florida. Thank you, Boston Herald!

Of course, it is not enough for the Boston media to drag some poor guy through the mire, the Occupy Boston movement is dividing over whether or not to allow Tier 3 sex offenders to be a part of the movement. It is disappointing to see a movement so fragmented over the disenfranchisement and a system funded by political corruption, but unfortunately there is also a strong extreme feminist (aka Feminazi) presence in the Occupy Movement, and quite frankly, it is alienating many men. Below are comments from women in an Occupy Boston GA as told by the Boston Phoenix:

So on December 27, an Occupier named Sarah Barney brought a proposal to the GA to ban sex offenders. Her proposal generally states that if a member of Occupy Boston is found to be a level-three sex offender (a person convicted of a sexual crime whom the court deems to be at especially high risk for reoffending), the Safety working group would ask them to leave for one week, during which time the GA would vote on whether the accused should be asked to leave Occupy Boston permanently. For Barney, a mother who often brought her five-year-old son to Occupy Boston, the issue was larger than the mutual-aid proposal. "It stemmed from one specific incident, finding out that someone who lived at Dewey Square had gone to jail for nine years for two counts of sexual assault and rape of children under the age of 16," said Barney. Some of people at the GA were opposed to restricting anyone from Occupy Boston based on the state's sex-offender standards. Even Barney said she can agree with these concerns, to an extent. "I do understand where they're coming from," she said. "I don't think the American justice system or the police departments work effectively, and a lot of people get through the cracks. If you're a certain race or economic status, you get away with a lot more. That's one of the reasons I'm at Occupy Boston." That's why Barney limited the proposal to level-three sex offenders. "It's pretty hard to be labeled 'level three' unless you've gone someplace pretty dark, pretty violent, pretty bad," she said.... 

Whether or not Shannon had disclosed his affiliation, Occupy Boston's system of direct democracy means that even a person who had rarely attended Occupy events in the past could come to an assembly and "kidnap it," as Women's Caucus member Ren Jender described it to me the next evening.... "A lot of us have been surprised that for a progressive community, how in line [Occupy Boston] is with the mainstream as far as not taking women seriously, tolerating harassment of women, both verbal and physical," said Jender, who was among the walk-outs. "This is something that has been brewing for a while. . . . Things really are not changing. Once one problem is gone . . . another one appears."

"As it went on, it became really painfully obvious how broken things are and how far we have to go to repair them," Women's Caucus member Ariadne Ross said the next morning. "By the end of the night I was feeling worse than when we started." "The community doesn't have a good way for dealing, through the process, with blocks of that nature," said Ross. "Is it really consensus if eight or nine people can thwart what seemed like the strong will of the whole of Occupy Boston? No, I don't think so. "[It's] the culture of misogyny that prevails in our society at large," she added. "Like it or not, we're a microcosm of that society."

The Feminists are alienating disenfranchised men in general but the propaganda is acidic to say the least. I hate to see this happen but the movement is in too much trouble now to alienate even more members. The bottom line--this event should never have happened. Boy meets girl, they get married, cute story, end of story. Instead we have a shameful even that creates a black cloud over an entire movement.

Below is the Women's Caucus "Womyn's Statement":

The following statement was read by members of the Occupy Boston Women’s Caucus during the General Assembly on Saturday, November 18:

We, the women of Occupy Boston, are here to tell you that two months is far too long to have occupied without a feminist perspective.

Downwardly-mobile middle-class white men are finally realizing what women and people of color have known for too long. Capitalism is destructive. Capitalism oppresses and exploits. If you’re not talking about sexism and racism, you’re not talking about economic justice.

“A few bad apples” can’t exist without a community that condones their attitudes and behaviors. Oppressive language and behavior are an effort to limit our participation and silence our voice.

We chose to disrupt the GA because those with privilege have avoided spaces devoted to anti-oppression, when they are the ones who most need to hear this.

As the 99%, we must actively break down the systems which divide us.

Women have historically been the spine of social justice. We are the 52%, without us, revolution is impossible.

Well, all I can say is they should look at their fellow Occupiers in Portland, OR, that other town with a large liberal crowd on the other side of the country, and learn from them. Says a woman in Portland:

"It doesn't concern me, ‘cause I lived in Southeast Portland where there's one in every corner and every house anyways," Julianne Dunn says. "You never know when you could be attacked wherever you're at. So you have to be aware of your surroundings."

Meh, big deal she says. My fingers are raised and waving in approval. One more for good measure:

"He's registering as the law requires and he's paid his debt to society," said mother Jennifer Alexander, who stopped by the camp with her family on Monday. "There are plenty of registered sex offenders all over these surrounding blocks. It's not a new thing for this area or Portland." 

Live and learn. Portland gets it. Boston doesn't.

THE BOSTON HALL OF SHAME

The Boston Globe, for adding the disclaimer

Boston Herald: Only a step up from the Boston Strangler. This is the best thing you can to a copy of the Boston Herald. Well, besides bird cage liner or toilet tissue.

Jessica Heslam: I don't know which is more yellow-- her hair or her journalism

All this "Womyn" business is dividing the movement. And the 52% bit? I thought this was Boston, NOT South Park.

Way to represent the Women's Caucus, Ren Jenders. I always thought it was Stimpy that was the idiot.

Womyn: "We are the 52%!" Well, since there are only 48% of us who are men, someone either has to double up on the guys or get left out in the cold. These must have been the latter.

Extreme Feminism, aka "Feminazis": Because there is nothing Equal about "Isms"