Michael Fumento

Blood Tests Don't Lie, But People Do

I have just had witness of your website
Where do you get your paycheck from? If you don't believe in gws, mcs, cfs [chronic fatigue syndrome] and fiubromyalgia [sic], then I invite you too [sic] my home

Tom Green
[omitted]

The blood tests I had done don't lie, the mercury and toxins they found I guess are fake,

People like yourself [sic] digust [sic] me, to think I fought for your freedom

[omitted] Green

Dear Mrs. Green:

I get my paycheck from my employer, and I find it rather amazing that you have three diseases that don’t exist and one (fibromyalgia) that’s so broadly defined it’s essentially a worthless diagnosis. Blood tests don’t lie; on the other hand you’re the first person (even among those who insist these diseases are real) to tell me somebody could be diagnosed on the basis of a simple blood test. And yeah, I guess the mercury and toxins they found are fake. As are you. You were never a vet. Why don’t you fax either some of your medical records or your discharge papers to me at [omitted] and prove I’m the liar you insist I am?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

From your employer, who would that be?

If pesticides aren't bad for you why do these same pesticides kill bugs, or even humans when we call them nerve agents [sic]

Obviously you know nothing of these diseases check out what the cdc [sic] has to say about them, you might learn something [sic] It seems to me that your articles are just a sham, based on no scientific evidence, something to lead the sheep astray, what a waste of humanity, all for money!!!!!!!!

One thing it isn't a simple blood test, all sorts of tests are done, to check the immune system, blood coagulation, infections.

Why don't you study up on Mycoplasma Fermentans

Why don't you tell the Jews that were killed with "Pesticides" [sic] that there not harmful.

Better yet why not drink a little Diaznon [sic] and do us all a favor, thats [sic] what I think of your disinformation tactics.

You have no idea what your [sic] talking about

My employer is a think tank, the Hudson Institute. Since nobody gets any money to dispute the existence of GWS (although tens of millions are thrown at those who claim it's real), that is not a source of funding for me or Hudson.

*Pesticides are designed to kill pests; namely insects, mold, or weeds. If you swear up and down that you have antennae and six legs, I promise not to argue with you.

I’m extremely familiar with the CDC, having worked with their people since I became a health writer in 1986. The founder of the epidemiology branch at the CDC endorsed my second book. Nothing I have written about pesticides or GWS conflicts with anything the CDC has published.*

Mycoplasma fermentans is a common bacterium that is carried in a large portion of the population (which is to say, both Gulf vet and non-vets) but rarely causes disease. Only crackpot scientist Garth Nicolson has linked it to so called-GWS. The CDC has not studied it, but the federal government has. It has never been able to replicate Nicolson’s alleged findings. These studies have concluded, as one put it, “There is no serological evidence that suggests infection by M. fermentans is associated with development of 'Gulf War illness'.” Note that they put “Gulf War Illness” in quotes. Can you guess why?

Diazinon, with which you are so familiar that you can’t spell it, is an insecticide. It kills insects. But the dose makes the poison. Just as the trace amount of arsenic in your drinking water does you no harm, neither does the amount of Diazinon to which even a sprayer is exposed. But if you drank enough arsenic, you would die and the same is true with Diazinon and was true of the Jews who were crammed tightly together in a sealed room that was then filled with massive amounts of a gas that had been originally developed as an insecticide. Is that the manner in which Diazinon is normally applied? For that matter, people die at frat parties every year from alcohol poisoning. Would you associate Diazinon with Jack Daniels?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento U.S. Out of Iraq Hate

---

When in Doubt, Blame the Jews

You said, "Nobody needs three guesses as to why the French want to see our butts kicked" -- generalizations about whole peoples [especially French, German, Polish or Muslim people] are acceptable fare?

But what of the generalization that Jews control media?

Oh, right... we cannot judge groups by individual behaviors... unless of course those groups can be demogogued [interesting verb] for the benefit of Jews.

Got it...

[omitted] Ward
Santa Fe

PS... and there is nothing we have done in Iraq to 'keep the Iraqi people free"...

hmmmm Fumento... could be Jewish.... you never know do you?

Dear Ms. Ward:

Hmm . . . Ward . . . could be Bigot . . . you never know, do you?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Sir,

With all due respect, do you read what you write?

As a Canadian, I'm able to watch the "Iraq War" with an unbiased eye. You're right - there probably is a lot of propaganda and crowing in the European press, especially given that President Bush has been found out. But c'mon - if the US press (yes, the "liberal" media) hadn't trumped up all the ficticious [sic] lies coming out of the White House (hey, I'd call it propaganda), do you even think that there would have been an Iraq War?? And are you still so misguided to believe that this is about "freeing Iraqi people"?? Sheesh, wake up and smell the burning US military vehicles.

Listen, the Americans (Bush, Rumsfeld, the American media and the xenophobic US public) created this quagmire in Iraq, and now it's all yours. No non-American wants any part of it. My heart goes out to the US troops (and their families) that have been hoodwinked into serving there. They deserve better for serving their country. And, please, Islamic terrorists are not interested in anyone else but the US and Israel. As long as we choose not to occupy or invade anyone's country, I very much doubt that Canada (or most other nations) will be a terrorist target. And, no, Germans do not like you. They did at one time (as did many nations) but your beloved George W has seen to that.

Anyway, keep writing. Your columns are so severely myopic and misguided that I wouldn't miss them for the world.

Sincerely,
Cliff Barua - Toronto

Dear Mr. Barua:

I’m not too sure many people, including Canadians, would say that everyone who lives north of the U.S. is unbiased. In any case, you’ve certainly provided evidence of one exception.

What we’ve found out about Pres. Bush is that while he has his faults, he certainly led us through our greatest national tragedy in 50 years and has waged war tirelessly on those who attacked us. Nations rarely go to war for a single reason, but it remains that we DID free the Iraqi people. Even your “unbiased” Canadian media reported regularly on how utterly vicious and autocratic Saddam Hussein was and that not content to kill and enslave his own people he attacked his neighboring countries both to the east and west.

And I like how you believe, again presumably as a Canadian, that you speak for the entire non-American world. When did they vote for you?

As a former U.S. soldier, I can assure you the current ones were not hoodwinked. Our military goes where it’s told to go and fights whom it’s told to fight. And if given enough freedom to do so by the politicians, it wins. Unfortunately, Canada is getting rid of its military so quickly that within a few years anybody up there who wants to serve the cause of freedom will have to come down here, just as our men went to Canada from 1939-41 to fight the Germans.

As for Islamic terrorists not being “interested in anyone else but the US and Israel,” I guess that means they were under the mistaken belief that no Canadians or members of other countries were in the World Trade Center on September 11? I guess that explains why they killed 200 people in a Bali bombing, blew up lots of Saudis in another bombing, blew up a U.N. building, and plotted to destroy the Eiffel tower along with blowing up the Strasbourg Cathedral and setting off a bomb at the Strasbourg Christmas Market. It’s why they have terror cells throughout the world, including Canada, eh?

As to your last remark about the Germans, once again please tell me when they elected a Canuck as their spokesman. I’ve seen polls and I travel frequently to Germany. That’s enough to tell me you’re full of moose****.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Mankind’s Last Bastion of Hope and Freedom – China Sir,

According to you, a good report can only be written by NRO [National Review Online] and all the excessive diatribes of your magazine should sound like gospels to the rest of us. ROW (the rest of the world) didn't invent the result of the last presidential election in the US, the brutal collapse of American business ethic as seen in the Enron, Mobil com affairs as well as the continuing lies about WMD in Iraq.

Please read NRO more often and see for yourself where bad journalism can lead. The US used to be glorious and beautiful! It is now totally corrupt and inept in foreign affairs. You guys (the neo-cons) stopped sounding intelligent the day you became ideologues. It makes you sound like the old Kremlin guys: removed and totally ridiculous.

regards [sic],
Philip Bracq
Shanghai/China

Sir,

Having just reread my entire article, I find that I mentioned NRO not even once. I would hardly say that only it can present good journalism, insofar as I only occasionally write for it. The entire article was about a German newspaper. Nor am I a neo-con. But I'm glad that having seen all the evils of the U.S. you've apparently taken up residence in the truly progressive, uncorrupt, and democratic society that is the People’s Republic of China.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Vaccination Hate

Subject: Hey Genius, Look at the Evidence. Are you an MD?

The Danish study failed to mention the very convenient [He means “inconvenient”.] fact that none of the Danish children had prior exposure to mercury, since Denmark, unlike the U.S. had, banned mercury from childhood vaccines in 1922, the year before the birth year of the children in the study.

• Dear Would-be Genius-Killer,

I said I'd be getting lots of hate mail from anti-vaccination Neanderthals. Thanks for not making a liar out of me. In 1922, nobody had even STARTED putting thimerosal in vaccines, much less stopped the practice. Thimerosal, as I wrote, was first used in 1931, which according to both the "old math" and the "new math" is nine years after 1922. There was no "birth year" for the children in the Danish study; it was the years 1990-1996. That's also slightly after your 1922. Have someone do the math for you.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento*

Hey dick [sic] tracy [sic], I'm sure you've herd [sic] of a typo. 1922 should be 1992. I get shaken up and my hands start to shake when a blow hard [sic] like yourself starts to become condescending about a subject that they no [sic] nothing about. My wife and I are convinced that our daughter was vaccine damaged.

Go back and write more lies about your hero, Bill clintoon [sic] and his wife Hillary.

Sincerely,
Michael C.

So it’s also a typo that you don’t know that names are always in upper case, that a “herd” is something that animals run in, that there’s a difference between “no” and “know” and that even if you did mean 1992 rather than 1922, you’re still admitting that a third of the children in the Danish study had vaccinations containing thimerosal? But if you really know so much about the study, let’s see if you can name the authors? You can’t because all the information you get is from the same crackpot anti-vaccine groups I mentioned, and they don’t like to deal with specifics. You don’t even know how to look studies up on the Internet. So let me tell you about another. One in the September 2003 issue of Pediatrics looked at all autistic children born in Denmark between 1973 (19 years before 1992) and 2000, concluding “The discontinuation of thimerosal-containing vaccines in Denmark in 1992 was followed by an increase in the incidence of autism. Our ecological data do not support a correlation between thimerosal-containing vaccines and the incidence of autism.” Uh-oh. Less thimerosal meaning more autism doesn’t exactly fit your thesis, does it?

Finally, has it occurred to you that if your daughter has learning difficulties it may just have something to do with having you as her father? The question isn't whether I'm an M.D., but whether you graduated high school.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Agent Orange Hate

Joshing Josh

I recently read up on your opinion of Agent Orange. I was quite intrigued when you stated that "Agent Orange was indeed employed to kill, it was to kill trees. It did that nicely." If that is the case, would you object to my bringing over a video camera and spraying you and a pesky tree with reproduced Agent Orange? I have a feeling the thousands of people who differ from your opinion would be quite excited to watch the results.

Also, please add me to your "Hate Mail" section, although I really only feel pity for one as mentally deficient as yourself. Perhaps you should make a "Pity Mail" section? Regardless, I doubt you'll post this at all, as from what I have read you like to print letters from people who have trouble expressing themselves properly.

Eagerly awaiting your reply,
Josh Brandt

Gosh Josh,

I just love it when people toss impossible hypotheticals at me. You’re just like those who rather than accept the data that chromium-six is harmless when ingested, insist that I must move to Hinkley, California, where the water is contaminated with the metal, and live there while drinking the water for seven years. They know I’m not about to leave my home to move to a tiny town for seven years just to prove them wrong, which is exactly the point. So it is with you. You cannot get “reproduced” Agent Orange, you aren’t coming to my house or office, and you aren’t going to spray me with anything. But you feel that’s all you have to offer in light of decades of studies showing that Agent Orange, other than causing a severe form of acne when directly applied to the skin, is harmless to humans. My challenge to you is to get a copy of my book Polluted Science and read the chapter on dioxin and the chapter on Agent Orange, which between them 360 notes. Then you can go to my website and read the nine articles I’ve written on the subject since then. It seems that would be a bitter easier to reformulating a chemical and hopping on a plane, and thus it’s hardly a hypothetical challenge. But you won’t, because you don’t care about the truth.

But you are right that I commonly print letters in the hate mail section from people who have trouble expressing themselves properly, which is why you’ve been added.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Atkins Hate (Yes, Again)

One Anecdote Trumps All of Science Every Time

Mr. Fumento,
I want to provide you with some information on the success I have had with a low carb diet. [And I’m sick and tired of anecdotes that nobody even tries to back up. Three hundred words deleted.] Maybe the whole damn medical establishment can be wrong.....or they are measuring the wrong things in their blood tests.

Yup, that's it. The whole damned medical establishment is wrong and you're proof. Also, it’s interesting to find out that weight loss is now measured through blood tests.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

“His” Science versus “My” Science

RE: “Chic but Chubby”

Nice try and well written article.......you do a nice job.........but unfortunately you are fighting a "losing" [Why in quotes?] battle because your science is wrong.

Still........very appreciative of your articles as they serve to spur on additional research into low carb diets.

Paul D. Butler

*Dear Mr. Butler,

I suggest you reread my article. I said quite clearly that both Atkins and South Beach do induce short-term weight loss, but do not induce long term weight loss and maintenance. 12 weeks is short-term. The one-year study I mentioned is long-term. Add to this that it was a single study versus the literally hundreds of studies that show macronutrient content doesn’t matter. Finally, virtually anybody can present a study at the conference. The studies I cited were all in peer-reviewed major journals, all major journals at that. Read the version on my website and you’ll get links to those studies.*

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

**I Admit I Don’t Know Anything But . . . ** Dear Mr. Fumento:

I just read your column in the New York Daily News, on the subject of "Weight Loss Flim Flams". I am not a doctor, however I myself am a "Fattie", and had lost quite a lot of weight a few times in my life, and each time it was on a low carbohydrate diet, the last one being the Atkins Diet. His office was a big help to me in losing weight, with advice and nutritional support in the form of vitamins, advice on exercising, and nutritional supplements. I fell off the wagon to feed my addicition [sic] to carbs, which is another topic. My problem, sir, with all due respect, is that although you quote several experts in your column, there's nothing from the staff at The Atkins Center For [sic] Complimentary Medicine, who I'm sure would've been happy to speak with you, although now they are closed, due to Atkin's passing away earlier this year. He has, however, many proteges, and there are many credible doctors in NYC who advocate low carbohydrate diets in their practice, among other things. They include Dr. Ronald Hoffman, Dr. Fred Vannini, Dr. Serafina Corsello, Dr. Patrick Fratellone, Dr. Fred Pescatore, and Dr. Keith Berkowitz. Any of these could offer expert commentary on low carbohydrate dieting and complimentary medicine. Atkins himself cites MANY studies supporting his diet, his books are LOADED with footnotes denoting relevant studies, and his foundation is currently helping fund studies at prestigious universities.

I do not know your credentials, but please do check with the side you're criticizing before writing your column. People not in the know might be persuaded against a diet that is right for them (and, indeed, the Atkins approach is to treat the individual, not all people the same way), after having seen your column in a newspaper, which implies credibility.

Sincerely,
[omitted] Foglia

*Dear Mr. Foglia,

So you “lost quite a lot of weight a few times in my life, and each time it was on a low carbohydrate diet.” Now you’re fat again. Thank you for reinforcing my point. Other people can’t stick to low-carbohydrate diets any more than you can. Only a balanced diet and nutrition can achieve permanent weight loss, the final point in my column. I’ve never heard of a single doctor you mention, and I wonder how you’ve come to the conclusion that they’re “credible” other than the Atkins people say so. Have you ever heard of a “circular argument”? There are many highly-esteemed obesity researchers in this country who have many published studies to their name. They consider Atkins a fraud. I’ve seen the cites in Atkins book. They go all the way back to 1960, such is the paucity of his data. He had to go through over 40 years of research to find any material that would even appear to back him up. Even then, many of his cites go to studies that have nothing to do with what he says they show. He just assumed he could dupe people like you into being impressed that he used cites at all, rather than looking up the studies on the Internet. Obviously in that respect he was right.*

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Any one [sic] can find fault with anything if they try hard enough. Duke University has since whole heartedly [sic] endorsed the Atkins diet. My wife, who has hypertensive problems and diabetes, was sumarily [sic] removed from all heart meds and diabetes meds by her doctor, within 2 weeks of starting the diet. It has been over 1 year now, and she still doesn't need to take any meds for hypertension or diabetes. By the way, her cholesterol and tryglyceride [sic] levels are as normal as can be. These people who are berating Atkins are just jealous that they didn't conceive the idea, fight the long nightmarish battles with the medical community over his beliefs, and emerge from the other side as the clear winner. Oh, and if this diet is so bad for you, could you please explain the over 65,000 patients who participated in the diet through Dr. Atkins private practice, out of which, not one ever reported any debillitating [sic] side effects from the diet? Not one incidence! Amazing. Have fun.

[omitted] Dambeck

Dear Mr. Dambeck,

Such a trusting soul! Could you please explain to me how you know that out of those 65,000 patients, none had debilitating side effects? Why, because the Atkins people told you so! What’s amazing is that they could get people like you to believe it. But other researchers working with just handfuls of people on Atkins DID find such side effects. Regarding Duke, they are on the Atkins Center payroll. This is hardly a secret. But even as I write this, a new study has come out comparing Atkins with four other diets. It found that half of the Atkins dieters dropped out within a year and of those left, half really didn’t stick to the diet. Of the 50 percent that at least stayed in the diet, body weight lost was a grand total of (drum roll please), four percent. It was the worst of the four diets both in adherence and in weight lost, yet the other diets weren’t much good either. Other published studies that I’ve written about have also shown Atkins to be useless for weight loss, so I’m sorry but I’ll have to go with them over your single anecdote.

Finally, you seem incognizant that even Atkins didn’t conceive the idea of a low-carb diet for weight loss. The diet first appeared in an 1863 booklet by a British undertaker named William Banting, who got the idea from a surgeon. It has popped up in various guises ever since, including a 1946 book extolling the virtues of eating whale blubber, and a 1958 book, *Eat Fat and Grow Slim, written by a psychiatrist. Atkins was merely the huckster that got the richest off it. I AM having fun, thank you. I’m thin on a well-balanced diet I’ve been able to stick with for six years now. Meanwhile, your hero Atkins for all his money is now feeding the worms. Alas, the evil that men do lives after them.*

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Yep, Atkins is feeding the worms, but it had absolutely nothing to do with his diet, unless you consider an untimely slip and fall on the ice as part of the diet. I can't do anything about week willed (sic, sic) people who will not make the commitment. As far as a single antecdote [sic], you really can't read and comprehend can you? The studies you cite are as flawed as your logic. I do the diet. I've gotten twenty people involved in the diet. None of the twenty have lost a mere 4 percent. They lost a lot more indeed! They lost the dependence on hypertension medication, whose side effects are far worse than the symptoms it is intended to treat. The same for their insulin medication, where the worst case person now only has to take a minute maintenance dose. The others were removed completely and prescribed bi-weekly checks to ensure that their diabetes was still in control. Guess what? Months later, after making their bi-weekly checks, the doctor told them they didn't have to come back for anymore re-checks. Imagine that...a life without insulin shots...a life without hypertensive medications...a life without the excess weight. Four percent! That's a riot. I just wonder how hard they had to rig the research to get the results to turn out so poorly. But ey [sic], you have a web site where you've set yourself up as the all seeing, all knowing, be all-end all authority about what is "Evil" about DR. [sic] Atkins [sic] life work. Personally, I think you are as full of shit a [sic] Christmas Turkey [sic].

Sincerely and with very warm regards,
[omitted] Dambeck

*Yeah, well about that “slip and fall”. . . We already know that Atkins went into cardiac arrest in 2002, though he claimed that it had nothing to do with his diet. He would have no idea of whether it had anything to do with his diet. As to his death, the rumor is that his “slip and fall on the ice” this year was actually a heart attack. It is just a rumor, on the other hand how much ice do you think there was on a New York sidewalk on April 8? Kinda humorous, huh?

Okay, now you’ve stretched one anecdote to 22. Do you have any photographic evidence? If so send it, or your words are worthless. And your “riotous” four percent is hardly anomalous. The other low-carb diet in the same study showed a weight loss of merely five percent. Another study that I wrote about earlier this year showed that after 12 months there was NO difference in weight loss between Atkins dieters and high-carb dieters. I’ve got written proof of each study I cite; hyperlinks to them appear in my articles. You have proof of nothing. On the other hand, you don’t deny that the Atkins Center paid for your precious Duke study, even as you accuse the other studies of being “rigged.”*

I don’t claim to be omnipotent because I have a website; I claim that the science is on my side and that peer-reviewed publications available for all to see and critique are of slightly more value than one anecdote grown to 22. I also claim that you are just another Atkins fanatic who couldn’t care less whether he actually lost weight, so long as he has license to stuff his face with fatty foods. Well, you’ve got it. Enjoy your corned beef and coronary!

Sincerely and with very warm regards,
Michael Fumento

Alright shit head, [Shouldn’t that be just one word?] I'll play! Photographic evidence? Words are worthless wothout [sic] photos? You really are a maroon! [sic] I guess with all of your education, you just never noticed how easy it is for anyone with just the most rudimentary brain functions [Rudimentary, indeed.], to use the new software to doctor any picture, anyway they like (sic, “he likes”). You want proof...

My medical records are available to examine, provided your title is real, as are my wife's records. I do not have permission, nor will I pursue permission to divuldge [sic] anyone elses [sic] private information, to the likes of you. I weighed 215# before starting Atkins. I have medically documented test after test for nearly 15 years, where the best medical minds could only offer, "We know you're in pain, but all of your body functions appear to be normal. Might we suggest a different form of narcotic to help you deal with the pain." I had a fire in my belly 24/7. I regularlly [sic] puked up bile, for what I was told time and time again, was no appearent [sic] reason. My neck and back hurt so bad, that it was all I could do to get up each day and it would eventually cost me my job! My skin would literally fall off in patches from my hands. The pain in my joints was indescribable. [Rather like my pain in reading this.] I was diagnosed falsely as having Carpal Tunnel Syndrome [sic]. In these 15 years of quack medicine, performed by some of the best in the world (St. Lukes [sic] Hospital, Mayo Clinic, etc.), I was erroneously diagnosed with the following: Cancer [sic] specifically Lymphoma [sic], Chrons [sic] Disease [sic], IBS, Dermatitus, [sic] Ulcers [sic], Acid Reflux Disease [sic], Carpal Tunnel [sic], etc. Forgive the spelling as I do not posses [sic] such sterling education as a Hudson Fellow! [Point made.] Within 2 weeks of starting Atkins: my weight came down to 185#, all of my medical symptoms mysteriously dissappeared [sic]! My energy level is now where it was when I was teenager(I'm 42). I no longer take any medication of any kind to control the gastrointestinal distress, the skin disorders, etc. Within 4 weeks I was down to 165#. At the end of 6 weeks, I was at 150# which is my current weight and has been for a very long time now. My blood pressure, cholesterol, and tryglycerides [sic] are better than most every Americans [sic]. My wife has had similar success. That's the proof I offer. If you've the credentials, you should be easily able to verify this!

Duke may be on their payroll, but I believe you're just jealous because your title was bestowed by lil' ole [sic] podunk [sic] Hudson Institute. [Podunk is a real place, by the way.] This is probably due to the demonstrated lack of grey matter you enjoy.

Science is not on you [sic] side. Your peers are from the established medical community, who absolutely will not condone any form of medical treatment, unless it supports their position for practicing medicine which is, " Mask the cause with drugs and hopefully, we can keep the patient alive and reasonably comfortable. Never treat the cause as we do not know what the cause is, because we have not found any way for us and the pharmaceutical companies to profit by this treatment." As far as the corned beef and coronary go, pass the butter!!!

Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute...we all know that the title of Fellow can only be bestowed upon it's [sic] recipient at the proper bath house in San Francisco. Fellow = Pole Smoker!
Medical/Science Columnist, Scripps-Howard [sic] Syndicate...oh pleeeeeeeeeeease! Everybody with the smallest amount of brain power knows Scripps-Howard [sic] is a severely liberally biased, AMA paid off [sic] publication. Don't think so? Talk with the owners. I know them!

Enjoy,
[omitted] Dambeck

Dear Mr. Dambeck,

I certainly have no problem believing you did regularly puke up bile because you continue to do so in your emails. And I must say that I’ve never been called a “maroon” before (my skin color is more of a standard Caucasian tan really). But it would seem that your need to toss epithets, including those you can’t spell, would hint at a certain hollowness to your arguments. You’re right that photos can be doctored. For that matter, there’s nothing to stop somebody from sending me a photo of another person. But I’ve found that Atkins acolytes are so incredibly dumb that this never occurs to them, so they refrain from sending any photo at all knowing that they’re lying when they said they lost weight. That said, you can readily confirm my credentials from Hudson Institute website. But you don’t want to send medical records that are either non-existent or don’t back up your claims and so you have not.

You’re claiming to have lost 65 pounds in 42 days from a baseline of 215 or 1.5 pounds a day. Assuming you didn’t lop off your legs to achieve that weight loss, that would be physically impossible even if you didn’t consume a single calorie during that entire time. What we’re left with anecdotal evidence from a clearly unbalanced person of something that would qualify as a miracle. Meanwhile, low-carb studies have been published in peer-reviewed medical journals for decades without ever having reported such a miraculous case as yours. I have often said that Atkins followers are like religious fanatics, but I’ve never met so great a fanatic as you. Thank you for proving my case in spades.

*You also seem obsessed with my position at Hudson and at Scripps Howard and even question my sexual preferences. Does all this reflect a certain insecurity on your part that you qualify as more or less a nobody and that maybe your own sexual preferences are questionable? *

*As it happens, Scripps Howard columnists clearly lean to the right as do I personally. (And why the AMA would pay off a news syndicate that rarely covers health issues – my column being the exception – is beyond me.) In any case, it’s a bit bizarre that you should turn Atkins into a left-right issue. People who oppose Atkins have no particular political bent; rather, they just have enough intelligence to put published scientific studies over unverifiable anecdotes. People who support Atkins, likewise, do not do so out of an ideological persuasion but rather because they have a tendency to fanaticism and cult worship and simply being told they can eat all the bacon and lard they want. The Jim Jones cult is gone, but you still have the Atkins Center. For all these reasons, Atkins fanatics judge the diet not by any scientifically demonstrated ability for it to cause long-term weight loss but rather on non-falsifiable anecdotes. *

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

The Advocado Diet

You really have it in for Atkins don't You? [sic]

What about weight watchers? [sic] Nutri-System? [sic] and all the rest of the wacky diets.

For the most part I agree with you. I just think you should go after all the stooges.

Sorry. I don't have any studies, just the uncountable females I have been around. Some have been on atkins [sic], some on weight watchers, some on Nutri-System, some on Jenny Craig, Simmons, Advocado [sic], Lettuce [sic], celery, catabolic.... You name the diet, they have lost weight on it and then gained it back.

Your diet will fail also. IT IS NOT THE DIET (although I think the Air Diet lacks a rational basis). It is the dedication and self control exibited [sic] by the Dieter [sic]. As I have read in the pages of Junkscience [He means www.junkscience.com.] and
Fumento multiple times: Burn more Calories than you eat and you will lose weight. The trick is changing your habits to make this happen. You managed to do it. My mother did. My aunt is in the process of doing it.

No offense, but the follower you quoted in Advise and Dissent is the exact same type of person who first made Atkins, the Zone, or Jenny Craig work. I hope you comprehend this and don't suddenly feel like you are the cat's meow of diet plans. I wouldn't want you getting a big head like atkins [sic] and start thinking you know exactly how the body works!

Your rants about atkins [sic] are almost as childish as your displays of laurels.

I don't aspire to advise, I just offer my own opinion.

Brad [omitted]

I have it in for purveyors of quackery who feed upon the gullible. In that sense, yes I “have it in for Atkins” and every other diet guru who has ever come down the pike. Did you not notice that my last piece on Atkins also explained that the study I was writing about showed four other diet plans also didn’t work? Moreover, I have never offered a “diet” of my own. I have offered aspects of weight-loss and maintenance regimens that have worked. That is not a diet. Moreover, I don’t know your exact definition of “cat’s meow,” but I do know that I have written a whole book on obesity and the obesity epidemic and it has a whole chapter on diet plans. It is very heavily annotated and based entirely on published scientific findings. Perhaps that’s a “cat’s meow.”

So thank you for all your wonderful advice, but I decline to take it. My advice to you is to try to exhibit a bit of the humility you claim I lack – that and to locate your spell checker icon and click on it.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Atkins Was Right, Plus the CIA, FBI, Mafia and the Boy Scouts All Shot JFK

Dear Michael,

Dr. Westman claims that more subjects stayed on the low-carb diet than the low-fat one. You and your cronies are taking potshots at these researchers with absolutely NO research to back up your own claims. Prove that these subjects on the low-carb diet had their tryglcerides [sic] lowered twice as much by losing 31 pounds, instead of the 20 pounds on the low-fat diet. Why was the HDL totally unchanged for the low-fatters? Shouldn’t there have been some corresponding increase for them?

You sound like somebody who has been brainwashed, along with most of the medical establishment, to inherently trust the bureaucrats at the AMA, ADA, ADA, NIH, etc. All these people’s jobs are dependent upon Americans remaining sick and getting sicker so we will all buy more drugs and doctors can keep getting their kickbacks.

Upon what do you base your outdated ideas?

[omitted] Barrett

Dear Mr. Barrett:

I base my “outdated ideas” on 30 years of research that has consistently shown the same outcomes, plus update research. This includes a much-publicized study that I wrote an entire piece about showing that only 50 percent of Atkins dieters could even stay in the protocol for a full year. Of those who did stick with it, even though they averaged a morbidly obese BMI average of 35, they lost a grand total of four percent of their body weight. How many books do you think Atkins would ever have sold had he admitted that only half the people in a supervised protocol, much less people buying a book and reading it, could stick with the plan for so much as 12 months and that among those who did stick with it they would lose so little weight that nobody would even notice? I dare say not 15 million copies! Yes, there was an increase in HDL (“good cholesterol”) among those who did stick with the diet but no improvement in LDL cholesterol, as there were among the high-carbers. In any event, I noted how you could easily improve your cholesterol readings with just a few teaspoons of fiber a diet.

*Further, what’s with all this cholesterol stuff? I’ll tell you. You and the other Atkins acolytes are starting to throw in the towel and admit that as a diet program, Atkins is indeed a flop. So you’ve tried to measure it by another standard. Kind of like saying, “Okay so this billion-dollar bomber can’t drop bombs but it looks great at air shows.” As for alleged cronyism, why no mention that Westman’s study was bought and paid for by Atkins and that nobody had been able to replicate his work? I think that’s a bit more of a straightforward explanation for his results that your conspiracy theory to explain all the results that go against his. *

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento South Beach Diet Hate

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Foot in Mouth Disease

You are probably someone who's been struggling with your weight all your
life. Perhaps you should try the South Beach diet [sic] before putting your big foot in
your mouth. Who would buy your book! Your book ideas have been around forever.

From Amusenot@[omitted]

Actually, I find you quite amusing. Attached is a photo of this “struggler.” Want to exchange photos so I can see how well you’ve done on your precious South Beach Diet? The magic formula in the South Beach Diet hasn’t been around forever – it’s only been failing people for 130 years. You obviously haven’t read my book but have no problem criticizing it, just as you have no trouble telling me how fat I am. I will say that it doesn’t break any laws of physics or physiology. If that means the “ideas have been around forever,” then so be it.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Well, the joke is once again on you sir. I actually only had 10 lbs [sic] to lose but wanted to do it with a healthy plan. By the way check out the entertainment show [sic] tonight as the South Beach Diet is discussed. I bet you will never find your book there. Could you possibly be jealous of the author's huge success?

So where’s the photo? You’re telling me you were slim from the start. Let’s see. And by the way, there’s nothing on TV called “the entertainment show.” Could you possibly be jealous of my success?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

[I heard from her twice more. She admitted she had lost no weight and hadn’t tried the South Beach Diet herself. After all, with a name like South Beach Diet it’s got to be good!]

The Trash Man Cometh

You OBVIOUSLY haven't tried the South Beach Diet. It gives you many many food choices and gives you the "rules to success". I don't care if the name of the book sounds CHIC...what IS CHIC is the body that I am regaining by staying on this way of life! It's really not a diet, it's a smart healthy way of eating. I think [sic] Dr. A for writing the book and sharing the recipe for success. I am down 17.5 pounds already and I am very close to my goal weight! Too bad you trash something before you try it.

No, I haven’t tried the South Beach Diet. I also haven’t tried to cure cancer with a crystal, but that’s not going to stop me from criticizing those who claim they can. For reasons I noted, South Beach is most definitely not a smart healthy way of eating. It’s merely a variant on a regimen that’s been around for 130 years and has failed for 130 years. If Agatston were so confident of miracle cure for obesity, he would have conducted a randomized controlled study and published it in a peer-reviewed journal. In the book, he does mention having conducted some sort of study but he’s had plenty of time to publish it and hasn’t. Why not? Why does fall back on nothing but anecdotes and theories like the hypoglycemic index for which there is no evidence? Finally, it’s interesting that he calls it a diet and everyone else calls it a diet, but you know better than all of us. If you don’t mind, I’ll go back to my trashing now.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Hi. This is not hate mail, just a question. Are you a doctor or a nutritionist of some sort. It seems you are making some pretty calculated statements, what are credentials? Thank you Angela Wright

Dear Angela,

I’ve been a health writer for 16 years and am the author of the first book on the obesity epidemic, The Fat of the Land (Viking, 1997). Neither Agatston nor Atkins have (had) any background in nutrition, nor did either ever publish a nutritional study. I heavily cite sources in both my book and my subsequent articles. For more information, see my website.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Your website must be really good, or atleast [sic] you think it is. Thanks for the arrogance. I might have looked at it before your response. See ya [sic]

Dear Angela,

You ask a question, I provide a straightforward answer, you ignore it and call me arrogant. Thanks for the ignorance. See ya.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento Stem Cell Hate

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Lions and Tigers and Exposés, oh My!

I beleive [sic] that uyou [sic] continue to distort the truth, despite not being a scientist. You seem to be nudging the US towards faith-based science. I plan on exposing you in a new book.

You are welcome to give your side of the story; however, it is obvious to myself [sic] and the majority of the scientific community that you are not above distroting [sic] research in order to stop embryonic stem cell research by any and allmeans [sic] possible. It is, truly, sick. I hope that in the future, your disinformation will be treated as a crime. If not, theres [sic] always the civil court.

Regards,
[omitted] Longhurst

Dear Mr. Longhurst:

I’m delighted to have finally found somebody who speaks for the entire scientific community, but as an author let me give you a bit of advice. It helps to be able to write before you produce a book. The ability to think can also come in handy.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

If you weren't using form replies that would be funny.

Twist my words if it gratifies your ego, but I am glad that I touched a nerve. Perhaps one day you will stop spewing ridiculous psychobabble.

Perhaps you should take your own advice: of course, having a publisher sympathetic to your cause must help. A brain is not a prerequisite; as you so aptly demonstrate :)

That cause would of course be the removal of objective peer review, and slanting objective research to support your own, patently absurd theories.

Any actual credentials to go with your over sense of self-importance? Thought so.

Dear Mr. Longhurst,

I guess my having responded to you with a “form reply” is your evidence that you “touched a nerve.” What you meant to say is that you “are touched,” which is already evident in your writing. You can toss around insults as much as you wish, but it remains that you have never authored a book and never will. My fifth book has just been published, it has a large section on the stem cell controversy, and relies heavily on objective peer reviewed medical and science journal articles. My credentials are listed on the bio page of my website and my work speaks for itself, just as your lack of credentials and lack of work speak for themselves.

Cheerio!
Michael Fumento

Your pretentiousness apparently knows no bounds.

I never will..hmmm? Okie, since ya say so, boss. You have no idea who I am. Whearas [sic], I have a pretty good idea who you are.

You distort science to further your own conclusions. I think that is plainly evident, no?

*1. Right, because I’m a somebody and you’re a nobody who can’t even locate his spell checker button.

2. No.*

Go away little boy, I’ve had my fun with you. Get started on that book of yours. I look forward to seeing it in print – with a publisher that has a name other than your own.

Generalized Hate

Re: A objective review of your work and the fairness of the same

Dear sir,

First of all.As a [sic] ex-US Army vet I can understand the reason why you were sent those hate mails but I belive [sic] that was not the right thing to do.Second of all.....your information is false...specialy [sic] the piece of information about the and I quote now ''Systematically debunking the myths about transmission and the travesty of the misuse of AIDS information, Michael Fumento demonstrates the harm that has come from keeping the American public from the truth about AIDS. ''

May I ask you,sir who died and made you God.Who do you think you are warning people against a dissese [sic] that has I never heard contaminate heterosexual persons.What you wrote is a lie.

Now I served my country in a time of war and I was wounded in a war.You can not be called a vet if you have no combat expirience [sic]. I'm sorry if the truth hurts but that's how I view the situation.If you wish to call this hate mail...so be it.But I hope you rot in hell,sir

[omitted] Bauer

Dear Mr. Bauer:

I’ve never pretended to be God, but I do fit the definition of a vet having served four years in the Army. I have never claimed to have been a “combat vet.” Finally, I do plan to rot but hopefully not in hell.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento