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Is A Voice for Men using phony death threats as an excuse to smear feminists and raise a quick $25k? Here’s what we DON’T know so far. [UPDATE: Hotel still not talking]

Adjusted for inflation, those 5 cent fears are now worth $25,000
Adjusted for inflation, those 5 cent fears are now worth $25,000

Is A Voice for Men using phony “death threats” allegedly directed at those planning to attend its upcoming “Men’s Issues” conference in Detroit, as well as upon employees and guests of the hotel where it’s scheduled to be held, as an excuse to smear feminists and raise a quick $25,000 in donations from readers and possibly even from a handful of gullible feminists?

As incredible as that sounds, that’s what some people I respect are saying. Despite AVFM’s history of lying about alleged feminist threats – you may recall John Hembling’s infamous confrontation with an imaginary mob of 20-30 feminists brandishing boxcutters – I’m not willing to go that far.

But there’s a lot about the story that makes no sense, and some big questions that need convincing answers.

1) The Doubletree Fort Shelby hotel has not confirmed that the letter Paul Elam posted on his site several days ago, and which he has now removed, actually came from them. The letter is, so far, the only evidence that there were any threats.

Hotel management needs to confirm whether or not they sent this letter to Elam.

2) Both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press spoke to Detroit Police spokesman Adam Madera, who told them that the police had not received any reports of death threats from the hotel. He told both papers that hotel staff had asked about hiring off-duty officers for security but hadn’t specified why.

Hotel management needs to confirm either that 1) they got death threats and didn’t report them or 2) that they got no such threats. They should also confirm whether their calls about off-duty police officers were related to the “Men’s Issues” conference.

There are a few other clues that support the “hoax” theory, though they’re far from definitive:

Several people who have allegedly contacted the hotel to ask about the threat say that the managers they spoke to knew nothing about the threats. Even if these reports are true, this may not be significant; managers may not have been told about threats related to a conference many weeks off.

The Detroit News also spoke to the owner of the hotel, and he said he was unaware of any threats. That may not be significant either; he may simply be out of the loop.

Essentially, we’re waiting for the Doubletree Fort Shelby management to answer these questions. If you look at the news coverage so far you’ll notice that the hotel staffers who can answer these questions don’t seem to be answering their phones or returning calls. I left a message for them today as well. No reply yet.

The other bits of evidence we’re waiting for? Well, the letter Elam claims he got from hotel management says that he and the other conference organizers need to send the hotel proof that they’ve hired the required number of Detroit police officers to handle security, as well as proof that they have also paid for at least $2 million in liability insurance. They have to have this done by the 6th.

In light of all the questions still swirling around, I think people are going to want to see this proof too.

It may be that the hotel comes forward and confirms that the letter was real, that the threats were real, and that indeed A Voice for Men does have to shell out $25,000 for extra security. It may even be the case that it was a feminist or a group of feminists making the threats. But we don’t know. And right now the people who do know are either not talking — or they have pretty much no credibility. Let’s hope the silence ends soon, because there’s no way the not-so-good folks at AVFM are suddenly going to turn credible overnight.

EDIT: I toned down some of the language, which I think was detracting from my main points, and added a new final paragraph.

EDIT 2:  Removed some speculation. We’ll know some of the answers soon enough; no need to speculate.

UPDATE: DOUBLETREE STATEMENT

So I’ve heard back from Atiya Frederick, the PR Manager for Embassy Suites Hotels & DoubleTree, and she’s made clear that the hotel won’t be answering specific questions about any of this just yet. Here’s what she sent me.

At this time we are confining our comments on this matter to the below statement …

Hilton Worldwide strives to operate meeting places for people from all walks of life, regardless of beliefs, race, color, national origin, religion or sexual orientation. The views of our guests do not reflect the sentiment of Hilton Worldwide. As places of public accommodation, our hotels do not discriminate against any individual or group. Our goal is to provide quality accommodations and a pleasant environment for our guests, employees and members of our community . We would like to emphasize that we strive to be an inclusive company and regret if this policy has unintentionally offended any individual or organization. 

This statement seems to be their standard response when they host a conference by a controversial group.

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weirwoodtreehugger
10 years ago

LBT,
I’ll start with some hot guys from GoT

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Pedro Pascal

Richard Madden

Enjoy!

weirwoodtreehugger
10 years ago

Ninja’d by Lea on Pedro Pascal, but the more the merrier!

Lea
Lea
10 years ago

I like the “look for pictures of shexxy dudes” game. It is a good game. 🙂

Lea
Lea
10 years ago

http://thebicker.net/post/80924870644/woman-assaulted-after-protesting-mra-group
Anand, this is who you gave money to.
So much for not supporting violence.

pallygirl
pallygirl
10 years ago

Logic isn’t Anand’s strong point. Nor is putting up evidence to back assfacts, or even staying on topic and not shifting goalposts.

weirwoodtreehugger
10 years ago

On the plus side, I think the hot guys drove Anand away.

Athywren
Athywren
10 years ago

I take my previous comments about my limited taste in mans back. Rawr.

Robert
Robert
10 years ago

I used to play Civilization on the ‘no war ever’ setting. I suppose, by Anand’s standards, that wasn’t actually gaming. I tried to play Morrowind without combat, but that turned out to be impractical, due to game mechanics.

Myst probably doesn’t count as gaming, either.

Shorter: anyone accusing Sarkeesian of being a lying liar who lies has an unspoken (but painfully obvious) agenda.

pallygirl
pallygirl
10 years ago

Robert, I played PvP in WoW. Please give me your man card. 😛

LBT (with an open writeathon!)

RE: Robert

Myst probably doesn’t count as gaming, either.

Aw man, us and our hipster gamer friend fought through it, Riven, and Zork: Nemesis together. Gotta say, Zork: Nemesis was my favorite of the three puzzlers. In that, at least, I didn’t feel like some floating camera bubble in an untouchable world.

RE: Beautiful people! (because some of these people are too gorgeous NOT to post them)

A loyal member of the Furrinati!

Onnys Aho!

Cykeem White

Also, not a man, but my husband thinks she is really gorgeous, so here, have Elly Mayday!

Who that dapper lady?

katz
10 years ago

Female characters often wear clothing that features a boob window. Yet male characters never have a penis or butt cleavage window? Why would that be?

Did you see this beautiful Power Girl gender swap? (NSFW)

LBT (with an open writeathon!)

RE: katz

Did you see this beautiful Power Girl gender swap? (NSFW)

BWA-HAH-HA. Yup, pretty much! Only then add on a lot of whiny fans insisting that there’s a perfectly valid reason for that cock window to be there, because it symbolizes the gaping void in his soul and is a reference to Superman of the past and and and…

Seriously, I love comics, but godDAMN do the fanboys need to chill the fuck out.

katz
10 years ago

I think Anand may need to take a personal finance class if he actually looks at money and goes “I don’t know what to do with this. I guess I might as well give it to a scammer.” Does he not have a savings account?

kittehserf
10 years ago

Beautiful hot men?

Like this fellow (bonus Furrinati ftw)?

(I know, I know, but who else would you expect?)

kittehserf
10 years ago

Oh, and for LBT:

Making goo-goo eyes at you.

contrapangloss
10 years ago

Anand, I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt before. I’m disinclined to continue doing so, at this point. I have a bunch of reasons. I’ll list out just a couple, not in order of any significance.

1. You can’t keep your own bloody story straight. See, you just claimed to have a bunch of feminists and ONE guy friend who is an MRA. Earlier, you claimed to have a diverse selection of MRA friends. Which the flipping Frisbee is it?

2. You have no understanding, or are faking an understanding and pretending you are fully knowlegeable, about the US justice system in order to defend Paul Elam. The slimeball isn’t a judge, and wouldn’t have to be, in order to aquit rapists.

All it takes is one member of the jury being a sticker on “Not Guilty”. My dad was on a jury for the clearest cut assault case you could ask for. The defendent walked, because of one older lady who decided that the victim was guilty of ‘asking for it’ by having cohabitated with the defendant prior to the assault.

Paul Elam would love to be that older lady.

He advised other men to be that lady. Paul Elam is reprehensible for that, and he’s said other awful things.

YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN EVIDENCE OF THESE THINGS AND YOU STILL DEFEND HIM!

3. You don’t understand the nature of fundraising. Once they’ve reached their goal amount for security they can pocket the rest. They don’t have to use it on security. Once it’s their money, it’s their money.

4. You automatically give Paul Elam more faith than others. Even after 2. Seriously?

5. You’ve dodged every single point Sparky has tried to make and move goalposts like a pro goalpost mover.

6. You continually try to discount other people’s arguements, advice, and requests simply due to tone.

The worst vitriol can be said really, really politely.

The best advice can be given amid strings of profanity. Some of my best supervisors couldn’t go five minutes without dropping the F word.

If you haven’t, developing the ability to selectively filter out profanity in favor of understanding meaning is really, really a useful skill.

Of course, sometimes, people who use profanity really are just jerks.

Sometimes polite people are actually really, really nice.

TRY READING FOR CONTENT!

7. You’ve been advised before to just drop subjects, and you refuse. Some subjects are touchy, and hurtful, and need to be dropped.

If asked, please just quit it.

And, that’s just the beginning. Anand, I really think it’s past time for you to chill.

kittehserf
10 years ago

I think it’s time for him to be banned. He’s had his share of being exposed for the disgusting misogynist he is.

Back to hot men!

contrapangloss
10 years ago

Kittehs, the one with bonus Furrinati is my favorite. Partially because Furrinati, and partially because Mr. K just looks so happy and at peace with the kitties.

You two are lucky folks, to have each other!

Kitten picture totally beats Jean Baptiste de Lorraine’s attempt…

kittehserf
10 years ago

contrapangloss, thank ‘ee! Yes, we’re lucky people indeed.

Especially ‘cos you need a good co-worker to serve all those Furrinati properly. 😛

Okay, I lose the French Names quiz: who’s Jean Baptiste de Lorraine? I googled him and got nothin’.

kittehserf
10 years ago

Scratch that last comment, he was waaaaay down in the results. ::blush::

kittehserf
10 years ago

Ugh, yeah, JB de L made a right hash of trying to reproduce the de Champaigne portrait. What a mess.