Women, Action, Media (WAM!) is in a relationship with the Feds, and it’s complicated. After WAM! issued its ultimatum to Facebook, something smelled something fishy outside of the blatant double standard evident in WAM!’s language. I asked the AVFM forum to help me profile the signatories of WAM!’s open letter to Facebook. I could not have asked for better activists. The members picked up the same rotten scent and volunteered to venture deep down the rabbit hole. We cannot possibly tell you everything we found in one article. More information will be revealed as research continues. For the time being, give our members thanks for being the passionate MHRAs that they are. I would not have seen much evidence without their help. That said, you may want to mentally prepare yourself for their discovery.
But first, some context. WAM! is an initiative of New Words Live Inc, which also goes by “Center for New Words (CNW).”
Our major programs include: – This Is What Women Want, a national speak-out for women to reframe the media and political landscape of the 2008 campaign season and address issues that really matter. -The Women, Action & the Media initiative, which brings together national and international journalists, activists, academics, and others with an interest in amplifying women’s voices in the public media; […]
In FY 2009, New Words Live filed a 990-EZ. Supplemental information on page 13 reads:
“Jaclyn Friedman, Program Director of New Worlds Life, INC at the time of closing, has become the executive director for Women, Action & the Media(WAM!) While the tax exempt application is in process, the fiscal sponsponsor [sic] for WAM! is Peace development Fund.
Jaclyn Friedman is well respected feminist in Looneyville. She praises women for the positive aspects of female sexuality, while passively shaming men for their male sexuality. From her blog Yes means Yes!:
Yes Means Yes is a groundbreaking new look at rape, edited by writer and activist Jaclyn Friedman and Feministing.com founder Jessica Valenti. Through the anthology — and now this blog — we’re trying to move beyond “no means no” to connect the dots between the shaming and co-option of female sexuality in our culture(s) and some of the ways rape is allowed and encouraged to function.
It should come as no surprise that Friedman’s mindset is exactly what would endorse female hate speech as “empowerment” but demonize male speech as “glorification of violence against women.” This is the exact philosophy backing WAM!’s ultimatum.
Jaclyn Friedman is a name you will become much more familiar with, but for now, let’s get back on track to look at Peace Development Fund. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, Peace Development Fund gave WAM! money. Proof of this comes straight from the horse’s mouth on Peace Development Fund’s annual reports. Grantees are one thing, but looking back at the 2012 report, you can also see donors to the fund. On page 10 of the PDF, you will see donors categorized under “Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)/United Way.” The four organizations listed under here are Human and Civil Rights Organizations of America, Partners for a Better World, Peace and Reconciliation Charities and United Way California Capital Region.
This categorization is important. The CFC is a campaign in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that solicits money from workplaces all across the nation. This includes federal agencies.
In 1964, the first “combined” campaigns, officially called “Combined Federal Campaigns, or CFC” were conducted as experiments in six cities, consolidating all drives into one. The result was a substantial increase in contributions, ranging from 20% to 125%, and a highly favorable response within the federal community: agency managers were pleased with having to deal only with a once-a-year effort; federal employees responded with favor to the single solicitation.
By 1971 all campaigns had become “combined.” President Nixon announced on March 3, 1971, that the CFC would be the uniform fundraising method for the federal service. Another major change at the time was the introduction of payroll deduction as a form of charitable contribution. This was made possible only by a truly combined, once-a-year campaign, and greatly increased the size of contributions.
Taxpayer money has been flowing through the veins of government, and a network of feminist organizations, like mosquitoes, suckled for the sisterhood. The paper trail shows WAM! as a recipient of funding from Peace Development Fund, who in turn accepts federal funding. Interestingly, WAM! claims it is independently funded. I suppose this is true if you don’t care about looking beyond WAM!’s immediate friends, and if you are willing to ignore the fact that they have not released a donor list when I asked.
The evidence shows that Uncle “Sugar Daddy” Sam is enabling a network of bigots. These bigots think you hate women because you respect men and boys, and they are taking your money while lying to your face about what good people they are. A cut of your income funds organizations that have the net capacity to scare a large private company like Facebook into sheepishly agreeing with a double standard that is right in front of them. If Facebook can be put in that position, Google can too. It doesn’t matter where you go on the Internet, feminists will follow you, and the giants will hold the door for them. Come next fiscal year, another semi full of Benjamins will dump a bukkake of bucks onto a fund willing to keep the cauldron of hate bubbling. So far the forum has dug up no less than eleven government funded agencies that backed WAM!’s letter, and as I write this, they might have found a few more.
If you are not already pissed off enough to crumble your computer mouse in your quivering grip, you will be when you understand that feminists don’t need to have seats in government to run the country. All feminists need is a culture that is willing to look the other way while they ruffle through the pockets of the people and terrorize the private sector by attacking the revenue streams of even the largest companies. Feminists have TV, and now they want the Internet. Don’t just take my word for it. One of the signatories, Take Back the Tech!, will actually tell you that to your face.
Either do what they say, or they will use your money to keep you from earning more money for them to take.
I have to stop writing. I am going to be sick.
Addendum for clarification: On the statement “The paper trail shows WAM! as a recipient of funding from Peace Development Fund, who in turn accepts federal funding,” it should be noted that I am not talking about direct federal grants to PDF. For the purposes of this article, I am talking about indirect funding from individuals who may be paid by federal agencies (tax dollars) donating out of their own free will. The article is meant to question the ethics of such transactions. Even so, the original statement was stronger than it should have been, so apologies to Peace Development Fund for that error. However, there is still evidence to show that there are signatories like the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation that receive government grants. Additional financial connections to WAM! are to be determined.
