Local editors battle over DV Stats and NCFM - Please Write letters of support!

Posted on behalf of Marc A.:
NCFM is caught up in a battle between two rival newspapers. One is honest and ethical about DV stats, etc., while the other insists on PCness, bias and reactionism.Please write letters in support of NCFM-LA and editor Steve Tobia of the Mountain Valley News. Tobia had printed a positive article on NCFM-LA that cited the DV data and admitted he was wrong in previously citing the 95% DV figure.
In response, editor Larry Wilson of the Pasadena Star News criticized Tobia, attacked NCFM and reactively dismissed NCFM's claim about gender and DV by quoting a local DV shelter and a cop but without looking at randomized research. Tobia then defended himself and the 50/50 data, citing Gelles and the New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Men, and challenged Wilson (.pdf file) for his PCness, bias and personal motives. He also printed two letters to the editor supporting NCFM-LA.

This is a rare case of journalistic ethics, especially since Tobia is a co-chair of a battered women's shelter! PLEASE WRITE the Pasadena Star News in defense of Tobia and NCFM at letters.star-news-at-sgvn.com and larry.wilson-at-sgvn.com.

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I have sent letters to both Steve Tobia and Larry Wilson, and I encourage you to do the same. Fairness in reporting isn't going to happen in a day, and we need to let the fair reporters know that they have support.

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I'm very impressed by the courage of Mr. Tobia and I sent letters to Mr. Wilson, but will try to get letters of support to Mr. Tobia later. I must say he's certainly done his part to restore my hope in the integrity of human beings today.

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I found the editorial by the pro-feminist male editor emblematic of that ilk in both his tactics and his disinterest in actually learning about domestic violence.

He dismisses without any rationale the hundreds of studies suggesting gender-parity in the initiation of domestic conflict. Simply does not acknowledge that they exist and can be verified in one minute via a Google search. (And he criticizes the more objective competing paper's editor for "lazy" journalism.)

The pro-fem editor quotes a male DV-"batterer's" program counselor to the effect that 95% of all "perpetrators" are men.

Might that be because within the dominant, state-mandated Duluth Model for DV "treatment," any aggressive female who initiates violence will be seen as a victim acting defensively, and she will be intensively screened by the program's counselors to define her as a victim, rather than a "perp?"

Then the cop is quoted to the same effect, saying that 95% of those arrested for DV are men.

Do you think that might be a consequence of "must-arrest" laws that define the aggressor as the LARGER of the disputing parties? (Cops take a lot of flak for arresting a female in a domestic call... do it too often and you'll be sure of a review of your record and conduct.)

If these competing editorials prove anything, it's how deeply polarized is the debate over domestic violence, and how difficult it is to bridge perspectives with something approaching objectivity.

Feminism succeeds whenever otherwise intelligent people begin to see each other as "oppressors."

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Agree. I sent a letter to Mr. Tobia and cc'd Wilson. It's great to see two media outlets going back and forth about this issue. Maybe next it will be bigger fish.

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Dear Editor:

In response to my statement in the Mountain Valley News that over 100 sociological studies show women are as violent as men in relationships, editor Larry Wilson of the Pasadena Star News called this "ridiculous" and stated my organization is a "fringe group" not worthy of being heard. ("The 50/50 Fallacy in Action," 6/21/06.) He then quotes a battered women's shelter and a cop to "prove" the 50/50 claim is not true. I would like to respond.

First, a responsible journalist should use published, peer-reviewed scientific research when giving statistics, not pre-selective sources such a battered women's shelter that only helps women, or a cop who only sees reported violence (men are less likely than women to call police). Had Wilson done his research, he would have found the studies I cite are summarized in an online bibliography at Cal State Long Beach maintained by Professor Martin Fiebert, head of the Faculty Senate, at www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm, and that each of these studies/analyses finds "women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men in their relationships with their spouses or male partners." He would also have found the most recent fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control says more than 35% of domestic violence victims are men www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/ipvfacts.htm), and that the San Bernardino Sheriff confirms this figure
(www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/sheriff/dvra/dom_viol_facts_main.htm).

Second, had Wilson contacted my organization before dismissing it as a fringe group, he would have found our work has received written support from a number of community leaders. He would also have found: we have helped a number of professors balance their course material on gender (including at UCLA Law, Pasadena City College, Cal State L.A. and Cal State Long); we have been quoted in numberous media sources (L.A. Times, L.A. Daily Journal, UCLA Daily Bruin, and more); actors Ed Asner and Gregory Hynes have served on our advisory board; we have passed important paternity fraud legislation in California and successfully represented men in high-profile paternity fraud cases; we were invited as guest speakers by the U.S. Navy, L.A. County Probation Officers, and Dome City Homeless Project; and more.

It would be one thing if Wilson criticized the 50/50 data on scientific grounds by, for instance, citing published, peer-reviewed studies showing different results (there isn't much, though). Instead, he acted as though
all this research does not exist. As an editor, that is extremely irresponsible. In fact, on June 1, 2001, Wilson published a letter by me in the Star News providing this data. I don't know whether he deliberately ignoreed it, but, at best, he failed to do his homework and owes his readers an apology for misleading them. I ask that
he print this letter to help remedy his wrong. That would, at bare minumum, be the ethical thing to do.

Marc E. Angelucci
President,
National Coalition of Free Men, Los Angeles chapter
www.ncfmla.org

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Mr. Wilson –
It is irresponsible for you to be seriously uninformed regarding DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

From your own report:
Aren't there women batterers as well? Of course. Isn't it embarrassing for men to mention such violence, so that it's certainly underreported? Again, of course. But why pretend it's equal? How about the complex truth? "We do know that with all involved, domestic violence is something that is often repeated from patterns in their families, from learned behavior," Hetpema said.
"I'm not going to say that there aren't battered men," says Camille Levee of Haven House. "But there is no question that men are in the majority when it comes to batterers - every study shows that."

OK.
So let’s look at the United States Government’s own website:
WOMEN are the LEADING KILLERS of children in the home.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm03/figure4_2.htm

IS THAT CONSIDERED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE???!!!!

Also, WOMEN are the leading ABUSERS OF CHILDREN in the home!
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm03/figure3_6.htm

IS THAT CONSIDERED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE???!!!!

If women, by themselves, are killing and abusing more children in US homes than any other group – why are we legislating the VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT when women are the leading killers of children???? Is that gory fact something OTHER than domestic violence??? Or is the legislation POLITICAL??

Don’t take my word for it. Do some research. But don’t continue to spew the raw political sewage that the feminist’s have built their platform on. Follow the money.
Children today live in a far less secure and less safe environment than I did when growing up and this is due, in part, to the feminist social engineering that you are helping to propagate by stating only half of the story. Think about it….do you think “sexism” is a one way street?
The mere fact that we have federal legislation titled “the VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT” clearly shows the sexist bias. And probably no coincidence that women make up 52% of the voting population – hence the politicians bending over again for their vote.
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=37218
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/14527394.htm
http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBW1T2U2HE.html
http://news.sawf.org/Health/12818.aspx

Your article states that this is learned behavior? Where are these girls and women learning how to kill and abuse their children and dating partners?
Is it possible that women are NOT really the fairer or weaker sex? …And the one sided legislation to (legally) “protect” them from males is actually falsely empowering them to bring abuse upon the other NOT (legally) empowered sex?

Why do women teachers get counseling and probation for legally raping under aged boys (you know, the 13, 14, 15 16 year old boys we’ve been reading about), while men get hard time for EXACTLY the same crime? Why do men lose custody of their children in >80% of contested custody cases? Why is it overwhelmingly the men that lose there children, their houses and retirement in divorce cases? Why are >75% divorces cases filed by women?
Do you know statistics? Then you know that if there were are a thing called EQUALITY these numbers would be far far far closer to 50/50. If women live, on average 7-10 years longer than men – why is there less health and research funding for men than women?

But when it comes to gender – our laws are not equal.

Best Regards

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