Michael Fumento

Not Much Horsepower, but Lots of Torque

dear [sic] mr. [sic] fumento [sic], ever been in battle, did,nt [sic] think so" [sic,sic] You sir, are typically [sic] for some reason critical of that we as veterans hold sacred, Never [sic], Never [sic] attack someone,s [sic] credibility unless you have been there yourself. I read deep seated [sic] resentments in your commentaries about agent orange, audie [sic] murphy, [sic] and probably Ira hayes [sic],if you knew anything about him. Torqued [sic] off vietnam [sic] vet...............

[Ira Hayes was one of the flag-raisers at Iwo Jima. Sadly, he drank himself to death.]

Larry Smith:

*Dear Mr. Smith: *

• I don't know whether you were ever in battle or not, nor how you define the word. You may be referring to a highly-charged negotiation at a bordello on Tudo Street in Saigon. In any case, I fail to comprehend how having seen combat makes one an expert in alleged GWS. You learn about illnesses by studying them or by reading what others who have studied them have written. Insofar as you completely misinterpreted what I wrote about Audie Murphy (I used him as an example of a true hero, rather than what passes for a hero today) and can't even string a sentence together, I sincerely doubt you read any of the three Institute of Medicine reports on GWS nor any of the medical papers that went into them. Correct me if I'm wrong – but I'm not. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Incoming Artillery Photographs!

  Mr. Fumento, 

After seeing your website it really tears me up that I fought in a war to protect the rights of scum bags like you!

If you really want Irrefutable [sic] proof, of many of these chemical exposure's, [sic] then come down here to Indy, We'll [sic] both contact the press and I'll PERSONALLY debate you with military logs, official government declassified documents, and even photos of captured chemical rounds; which confirm our soldiers were indeed GASSED on several occasions during the Gulf War...So what's you problem??

For all you sick and disabled Gulf War Vet's [sic] out there who don't Mr. Fumemto [sic], then check out this chickenwing's [sic] website @http://www.fumento.com [sic]

[omitted] Lyons,SSG. [Sic, sic: "Staff Sergeant "requires no period when abbreviated and there should be a space after his name.]
USA Ret. (Medically)
101st Airborne Division
Disabled Gulf War Veteran

P.S. If you wish to take me up on this offer...then I invite you to get your fork out, because YOU WILL be eating CROW!! I personally can't WAIT...bring it on!!

[The email was CC'd to about a dozen people, including the �ber-pompous Lt. Col. David Hackworth, two members of the VA panel that declared the existence of GWS by fiat, and for some reason "The Nature Publishing Group," publishers of Nature Magazine.]

*Dear Mr. Lyons: *

• • *Gee, I wouldn't suppose you'd be reacting to the letter I posted from a doctor who was forced to treat Gulf War Weanies such as you, the one who said these weanies have "a tendency to view their medical advisors with a venom that far exceeds that which could be expected were their disease to be organic." You, venomous? Perish the thought! Let's do a simple logical process here. NOBODY suffered nerve gas poisoning during the Gulf War. The existence of photographs of intact shells does not disprove this, insofar as intact shells don't hurt people. That's what I was always taught, anyway. *

*Now, if NOBODY was poisoned and Mr. Lyons is a subset of NOBODY, then we can deduce that Mr. Lyons was not poisoned. In fact, I'll bet lots of people have referred to Mr. Lyons in the course of his life as a nobody. We can probably also deduce that rather than deal with life's problems, Mr. Lyons likes to blame other people and to throw spit and bile at those who say that usually our only real enemy is ourselves. As to your fighting to protect my rights, my assumption is that if you served in the Gulf at all it was probably to avoid the alternative of being court-martialed and sent to jail. *

*Regarding your attachments, as it happens I've just finished an article on the subject. Among other aspects, it relates that every previous government panel that looked at "Gulf War Syndrome" found there was nothing to look at. That includes an Institute of Medicine one released at almost exactly the same time as the one to which your articles refer. The difference between all of those panels and this latest one was that finally the VA got so sick of hearing from war wimps that it stacked the panel with activists, including one that you carbon copied your pleasant e-mail to. You may be able to wail pathetically until somebody feels the need to coddle you, but you cannot complain a non-existent disease into being. The coddlers have yet to find out that people like you can never be satisfied. Your mouth will still be filled with bile, but mine will be devoid of feathers thank you very much. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

[Thereafter he sent a short note, not worthy of the Hate Mail pages and I wrote back a short note, carbon copying it to the people he carbon copied it to. That included the following writer.]

**GWS Is Caused by Parasites, Like this One **

Mr. Fumento [sic]

Please take me off your list or when you reply to someone who emailed you just send your email to them and not everyone on the list. [Apparently he's not just a GWS-crusader; he's also crusading against punctuation.] I am not interested in what you think or write. In fact the manner in which you speak about Gulf War [sic] and other veterans is consistently degrading. [I wonder where that veteran named Gulf War spent his war years] You seem to take pleasure in the plight of ill veterans. I find this disturbing since you were a soldier at one point in your life.

It's ok if you disagree and have an opinion but it's unprofessional to denigrate, ridicule and make fun of anyone's suffering. You seem to place your own image of self above your journalistic duty. I recently read that you took pride in the idea that some people thought you had hurt the Kerry election because of your article on John Edwards. I have news for you. Your impact on politics is about as evident as your impact on Gulf War Illness research. Nobody cares what you think, Not [sic] the President, not the VA and not the DoD. It must be a conspiracy against you. Apparently , you are the last person on the planet to know the truth and everyone else is wrong.

I wonder if Scripps would like to read the the [sic] nasty things you have said to fathers, mothers and soldiers who fell ill after war. [sic] Would they take pride in your bias and attitude? Perhaps we should bring some ill veterans to the Hudson Institute to talk with you and your boss. I'll bet you lunch that you don't have the courage to talk to soldiers in person the way you do through email. It would be nice if you just went away and focused on some other group to babble about.

You have certainly lost this battle.

Steve Robinson
Executive Director
National Gulf War Resource Center

*Dear Mr. Robinson: *

• I merely hit the "reply to all" button. You were on somebody else's list, not mine. What I consistently do is to point out that Gulf vets are no sicker and no likelier to die than non-vets. Why this is villainous I'm not entirely sure, except that your income is dependent on insisting otherwise. In short, your job is lying. Don't go taking it personally just because I threaten your donor base and make you appear to be living scum of the earth for lying to 700,000 vets and their spouses and offspring. Far from denigrating people with true problems, I tell them they need to trust their doctors and not people like you. On the other hand, if they become a media and congressional darling by making such claims as having vomited glow-in-the-dark puke five days a week during physical training for 10 straight months, each time ending up in intensive care, then yes I'll make fun of that. (I speak, naturally, of the most famous GWS "victim" of all, Brian Martin.) And I'll make fun of you for going along with this obvious shyster because it serves your nefarious purposes. *

  *Regarding Kerry-Edwards, I actually thought it quite foolish for people to think my two pieces somehow threatened the entire ticket. I am not without influence, but I also know my limits. Would that you had such humility. I also know that when I google myself in "Google Scholar" I come up 73 times, whereas you come up but once – a mention in a piece exclusive to the Denver Post. Obviously the VA decided for political purposes it would buckle under to the conspiracy theorists, to a point where it appointed a panel including you and at least five other GWS activists out of only ten people. (I'll bet you'd flip out if I were named to a government GWS panel!) So, no, I'm not a big hit over there. But I'm told the folks at DoD love my work, so I'll have to settle for that. As to the President, last I heard neither of us spoke for him. But you always have these marvelous insights that have no supporting empirical evidence, so I must assume that – as always – we should simply take your word for it. As to me being the last person on the planet to hold a scientific position on GWS, as you must know the Institute of Medicine produced a report at almost exactly the same time as the rump VA panel and came to the opposite conclusion. Why the difference? Because their panel comprised only scientists, not self-serving activists like – well, my goodness, Stephen L. Robinson! Your very presence on the panel makes the entire report hogwash. *

  *What I write to Gulf vets, as well as what they write to me, is posted on my website and is therefore available to anyone. (Names are omitted to protect the guilty.) You are beloved of conspiracy theories; I prefer openness and accountability. Moreover, their very letters reveal the truth about GWS in listing diseases that don't exist and revealing in various ways that many of them were either never near the Gulf or never in the military – not that this would stop you from calling them victims of GWS. *

  *As to what my boss would say to these ill vets, it would be the same as what I say. "Where in your enlistment contract does it guarantee that if you raise your right hand you will never become sick and will live forever? Why are you so convinced that your sickness is from service in the Gulf, even as the nation has millions of people with the same illness who never got closer to the Gulf than their TV set? Is it because you've been listening to people like Steve Robinson? As to your stress-related illness, isn't it interesting that it didn't begin until you heard from people like Steve Robinson that you're SUPPOSED TO be ill? And in that sense, isn't the real "cause" of GWS people like Steve Robinson?" *

• I proved my courage as an airborne soldier in combat arms and I prove it when I continue to write the truth about GWS and relay it to our vets, instead of writing from press releases like most of the mainstream mass media and, like they, giving huge play to the loaded VA panel even as they ignored the IOM one. You, on the other hand, cower behind your wall of anecdotal evidence, numbers you make up yourself, and paid-for-science Gulf War whore Robert Haley. And while I write on dozens of issues each year of which only one is GWS, it is you who are the one-trick pony. *

*Actually, if GWS finally became accepted it would be the worst thing that could happen to you as you have but one role in life – to enrich yourself and your reputation at the expense of our vets. You would fade from sight, as you so very much deserve – and as you eventually will. As I noted, you are literally a cause of both mental and stress-related illness. These people don't suffer from nerve gas or DEET or Scud missile fuel, but rather you and your phony words and your phony reports. Unfortunately for the men and women who fought for us in the Gulf, the damage you have wrought cannot be undone and will not fade away. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

That's where you are wrong and will continue to be wrong. I have met with and spoke to the President. He is the one who formed the committee. Principi is the one who chose the members. Get your facts straight. I would be happy to forward your comments to the White House and the VA. Also I will send a copy over to the Secretary of Defense and his staff. I have meet [sic] with them also.

Does your position represent the way that the Hudson Institute operates?

Are your personal attacks against ill veterans in keeping with the Hudson Institutes [sic] principles and guidelines?

I think it would be terribly embarrassing for the Hudson Institute to see your email traffic on some news show like 60 min [sic] or some other venue.

Are you prepared to defend yourself and your actions to the Nation [sic]?

I suggest your [sic] not!

Let me know if you have the courage to express you views and your email correspondence to the Nation [sic] and I will arrange the interview.

It would be my pleasure to hear your excuses for ridiculing sick veterans.

*You wrote nothing that conflicted with what I said about the President. He ordered a committee to be formed, but Principi picked – and stacked – it. Your very presence on the panel, a wicked anti-vet GWS activist, proves my point. That there were at least five other members out of a total of ten with pre-declared anti-vet, pro-GWS prejudices just adds sauce to the goose. Interesting that you didn't address the issue of panel-stacking. *

• As to expressing my "views to the Nation," "nation" is spelled thus unless you're referring to your favorite liberal rag THE NATION. It, too, hates vets and anything military. Assuming you mean to refer to the U.S., I've been writing about GWS for a national audience since 1993. My first hate mail postings to yahoos like you appeared six years ago and are on a public website. So much for your "suggestion." And as I've told you before, I don't ridicule sick vets I ridicule half-wits like you. You claim to have been a Ranger. Whether that's true, I don't know. But when I read about the Rangers who kept firing at poor Pat Tillman despite his repeatedly indicating he was a friendly (not to mention that he was in an Army uniform, rather than Taliban garb) I couldn't help but think of you. You won't kill any vets outright, but you're certainly dedicated to making them miserable. You're friendly fire on two legs. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

**A Mocking Bird **

Mr. Fumento,

I have recently read some of your current writings.

Your obviously over inflated [sic] self-image and absurdly unprofessional conduct are truly amusing. I encourage you to continue promoting your severely insignificant opinions about Gulf War veterans and their illnesses. I am sure that they could all use an entertaining read after a day of spewing "glow-in-the-dark puke."

I enthusiastically encourage you to seek the assistance from a therapist appropriately trained in anger management. I would like to suggest The Freeman Institute. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/angercoach.htm

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. This year I am thanking my lucky stars that our government has had the good sense to team brilliant scientists and insightful, knowledgeable veterans alike to advocate for Gulf War veterans.

Maybe you have just been thinking too long in your little tank.

[omitted] Mock

*Dear Ms. Mock: *

• I get the feeling you're Mocking me. In any case, I enthusiastically encourage you to seek assistance from a psychiatrist trained in schizophrenia. I would like to suggest the services of Professor Tarr and Dr. Feather. (It's Poe; look it up.) Barring that you might try www.buffooninstitute.com. *
• What you're thanking your lucky stars for is that the government, frustrated with scientists, stacked its latest panel with activists – at least six out of ten. Problem is, they can SAY there's a GWS all they want but it won't create a GWS and won't lead to the cure of a single person. It will simply lead to more psychosomatic illness, to more vets thinking there might be a special treatment for their specific illness as opposed to the exact illness in their neighbor who never went to the Gulf, and to fears of currently healthy vets that any year or decade they may fall ill from something that DIDN'T HAPPEN in 1991. That panel will prove to be your worst enemy and certainly that of Gulf vets in general. They have truly carried on where Saddam left off. *
• Maybe you have just been drooling too long in your little padded cell. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Fuento; [sic]

You're right, I am mocking you. A quick one you are, after all. Except that I believe you ought to look up the proper definition of schizophrenia. Perhaps it is actually you who suffers from the unfortunate disorder involving separation of thought, emotion and bizarre behavior.

Ironic that you would refer to Poe; one dark and troubled spirit following another. Thank you once again for providing entertaining material worth a hearty chuckle.

[omitted] Mock

*Muck: *

• Actually, I've written about schizophrenia; have you? Do you have the least medical background, other than probably claiming to have a whole bunch of non-existent illnesses? I AM troubled that 700,000 people who served their country in its hour of need are being lied to, if that's what you mean. Yes it literally troubles my spirit, but I only picked the names of the two psychiatrists I mentioned because they are extremely well-known in literature not because of any special love of Poe's writings. I'm glad I've given you what's clearly a much-needed laugh, but this whole thing is an incredible tragedy for Gulf vets. And despite what you think my articles and columns make other people THINK. That this is not the reaction with Ms. Mock is not my fault. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Pumento, [sic]

So you have written about mental illness. By insinuating a dx [diagnosis] via one e-mail surely discredits whatever you have self-proclaimed as knowledge about mental illness.

And so now you have concerns about GW veterans. Reference my previous e-mail.

*Mook from Planet Ook: *

• Actually, it is possible to diagnose schizophrenia from one e-mail. What if that one e-mail said that the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and the Freemasons "are out to get me"? Pretty tendentious, no? Yes, I have concerns about GW veterans – which is why I've been writing about their health since 1993. Don't go running for your calculator; that's 12 years. Reference my previous emails and all my writings about GWS that are on my website at www.fumento.com. And stop writing, because I'm going to stop reading. Apparently your main symptom of GWS is terminal boringness. *
• And by the way, most of us give up name-calling somewhere around the fifth grade. It doesn't speak well of you that you continue to employ it. Either that or you're a fifth-grader. I'm willing to accept either explanation. *
• Goodbye,
  Michael Fumento*

[Yes, I realized I name-called back. But she started it! Whaaaa!]

Be Bored. Be Very Bored.

Subject: Your anthrax nightmare begins

Mike,

Here come the footsteps you have been hearing. The book, by Gary Matsumoto, will be out on Oct [sic] 19 from Basic Books. [The reference is to Vaccine A: The Covert Pentagon Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers – And Why GI's are Only the First Victims.]

 You are at least an obsequious apologist on this, and perhaps more. 

Jay [omitted]

*Dear Jay: *

• Insofar as the thesis that GIs are suffering from some mysterious illness has been repeatedly disproved, this is as useful and as exciting a book as the latest expose on UFO abductions. I don't hear the "footsteps" of those books either, thank you. *
• Now run out and play in the traffic with your little friends. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Mike, I know you are going to love this:

[Hyperlink to a story in the Delaware News Journal, readership of 2.]

And this story promises to get even better and better.

Pay attention so you know the score, which you obviously did not in the past.

Your past pronouncements may [sic] hilarious reading. Give them a look.

I see you made Matsumoto's book. Nice going.

Jay

*Dear Jay, *

• I know you're going to love this. If you check Amazon.com you'll see I'm actually mentioned in about 160 books out of those few they've gotten around to indexing. And some of those books have actually been read. Look up your buddy's book on Amazon or B&N.com. Other than getting repeat mentions in the same tiny Delaware newspaper he's selling no books and creating virtually no publicity. What a tragedy to spend three, maybe four, whole weeks writing a book and have nobody read it or even hear about it. Compare that to the millions of readers I get every time I do a column on how GWS is a fraud and people like Matsumoto are hucksters. Also, Reason Magazine has a new book out that's essentially "The Best of Reason." It contains a certain article called "Gulf Lore Syndrome" by a certain writer known to you. *
• Now play in the traffic like I told you, and don't come back until you've at least broken your fingers. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

  **A Rare Illness? Must be GWS-caused. **

Dr [sic] Mr. Fumento,

While view [sic] your web-site [sic] I noticed a complete bias against those who have served the Armed Services during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Although you are factual in most of your reports, I think you might want to investigate the percentage of those who have legitimate claims not the ones who are trying to get benefits for hang-nails. Although, many Gulf War Veterans [sic] feel that every sneeze is attributable to our exposures in theater. [sic] I agree with you in the fact [sic] every illness is not a result of some Syndrome [sic], however, there are those that have experienced health problems that can not be found in the general population or veterans who were not in the region.

I have many symptoms that I might have had even if I didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, and I readily admit that, and it also kept me from seeking treatment for almost 10 years. The triggering factor that sent me on a 6 year quest to research ailments of Gulf War Veterans [sic] was the birth of my son. For you see, he was born with a birth defect like no other child. Taylor, my son, was born missing his Right Eye [sic], Anathalmic [He means he's "anophthalmic."], and his Left Eye [sic] was not properly formed, Microthalmic. [He means he's "microphthalmic."] Either of these conditions is rare since it occurs in approximately 3 to 4 births a year in the United States. What makes Taylor's [*sic]* the exception, is that he was born with both conditions. Taylor is treated at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University. After being treated for 6 years the only explanation to [sic] his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf.

With that being said I researched my conditions and found that they are either related to my Central Nervous System [sic] or Auto-immune [sic] system. And these are not treatable. Additionally it has been proven that ALS has been found in an unproportionate [sic] number of Gulf War Veterans [sic]. Like I said earlier I do believe that there are those who feel that every sneeze is a result of a Gulf War Syndrome. But I ask you this, [sic] can you look Taylor in the face and tell him that his condition is made up and a figment of his imagination?

[Photo of son attached.]

[omitted] Carini

*Dear Mr. Carini: *

• I have never said that Gulf vets or their spouses or offspring do not have real illnesses; I've said they have no more illnesses than other people. That's quite a difference. *
• According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), "Anophthalmia and microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia is a disorder in which one or both eyes are abnormally small, while anophthalmia is the absence of one or both eyes. These rare disorders develop during pregnancy and can be associated with other birth defects." *

• The NEI goes on to say, "Causes of these conditions may include genetic mutations and abnormal chromosomes. Researchers also believe that environmental factors, such as exposure to X-rays, chemicals, drugs, pesticides, toxins, radiation, or viruses, increase the risk of anophthalmia and microphthalmia, but research is not conclusive. Sometimes the cause in an individual patient cannot be determined." *

  *It appears that the largest epidemiological study on the two conditions was conducted using the California birth registry and appeared in the *International Journal of Epidemiology *in 1996, although a search of Medline will show that these conditions occur throughout the world and in countries that did not deploy soldiers to the Gulf. The California study found the rate for either disorder to be 1.5 per 10,000 births. Let's assume that the 700,000 U.S. vets of the Gulf War each had only one child, which would put them well below average. Even still, that would mean 105 cases could be expected among these children by chance alone. Each year, about four million children are born in the U.S. That would mean 600 cases per year, not the three to four you were falsely told. Put another way, since the Gulf War there have been about 8,000 cases. This is a rare disorder, but not nearly as rare as you thought. As to having both disorders, it would seem logical that since they are related that whatever disposes a child to one would tend to dispose a child to the other. Taylor is by no stretch of the imagination unique in his illness. *

• But regardless of how rare it might be, how do you simply jump to the conclusion that "the only explanation to his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf"? There is no literature indicating that Gulf vets are more likely to have children with this birth defect and therefore well over 99 percent of the cases are in children whose parents did not serve in the Gulf. This is what I mean when I say that when somebody who didn't go to the Gulf gets a cough it's called "a cough," but the same thing in a Gulf vet is called GWS. *

  *Nor does it help your case that a disproportionate number of GW vets have developed ALS. The excess was barely statistically significant and was only found when compared to matched vets who didn't deploy. When compared to matched civilians, there is no abnormal ALS rate in Gulf vets. In fact, the sickness and death rates for Gulf vets in general are the same as for vets who didn't deploy and far below those of civilians. *

• The problem here is that it is horribly difficult for a parent to look at his child and see birth defects when children all around him were born perfectly healthy. The parent naturally seeks an explanation. If you worked in a chemical factory, you would no doubt blame the chemicals. But you didn't; you went to the Gulf so you blame something there. But sometimes there's no one and nothing to blame. Bad things happen to good people. On the other hand, your son is lucky to have been born at a time when science is developing bionic devices that will one day give him sight, though obviously not as soon as you and he would like. He's lucky to live in a country that believes in paying for these things, rather than doling out socialized medicine. Finally, he's also quite lucky to have as caring a father as you. Yes, I feel bad for him but then again no worse than I do for any other blind child. And I feel bad for you, because obviously you have not made peace with a problem that – at this time at least – you cannot improve. Put your energy into your child, not into anger or resentment or whatever you feel. May God bless you both. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Agent Orange Hate

You Need to Do What's Already Been Done

 I am a combat Viet Nam vetern [*sic*]. The ranch [*sic*] hand [*sic*] study is flawed but not for the reasons you suspect. 

A better study group would have been combat veterans. The veterans who like me, spent many days and weeks in the field without the benefit of clean clothes, shower [sic] and clean water.

Since my return from Viet Nam I have lost both Kidneys [sic] to disease and suffer prostate cancer. If you would have put as much energy into studying the effects on combat veterans as you did the ranch [sic] hand [sic] group, I think you would come away with a different prospective [sic – he means perspective] on this subject.

Thank You [sic]

[omitted] Frabel

*Dear Mr. Frabel: *

• Actually, all Ranch Hands are combat veterans. But I suspect you mean grunts on the ground. As it happens, they have been thoroughly studied and it's been determined that none of them received dioxin exposure even approaching those in the Ranch Hand group. In fact, it was found that soldiers in Vietnam on average had no more exposure than civilians back in the States. That's because at the time several products like soaps contained dioxin and dioxin was also created during some burning and bleaching processes. My mother washed me in dioxin-containing liquid soap. *
• I don't know why you lost your kidneys, but I suspect it was for the reason your doctor gave. Kidney transplants are the second most common transplant operation in this country (corneal transplants rank first) with more than 9,000 procedures annually. Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over 75 years old. Obviously, you are hardly unusual in suffering this disease and obviously the vast majority of sufferers never served in Vietnam. The big difference is that they have nobody to blame. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Erin Brockovich Hate

**Oh Boy, I've got Cancer! Now I Can Sue Somebody! **

Hey Mike!

Thanks for contacting me and telling me about the law suit [sic] against Beverly Hills High.. I too developed Thyroid [sic] Cancer and now Im [sic] suing the school! (graduating class of 67')

Candy

CANDYMINTZ@omitted

*Dear Candy: *

• Actually I didn't "contact you;" I wrote a piece that you read. I wish I could be as delighted as you are with your alleged thyroid cancer. Unfortunately, you're not going to win your case since A) nobody has ever produced the least evidence that petroleum fumes cause any type of cancer, as your attorney will have to argue, and B) the only epidemiological study of Beverly Hills High has found no excess of cancers. The suit that Erin Brockovich's firm filed has become a quagmire for them and the same will happen with yours. But I guess I'm supposed to wish you a Happy Cancer. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  Mike,

I just bought a brand new BMW with the monies [sic] I will collect from the school!

thanks again!!!!

*Did you let someone sell you the Brooklyn Bridge while you were at it? I think I'm just going to let you dissolve, Candymintz. You've got real problems, and they're not in your throat. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  **I Didn't Read the Article, but I Saw the Movie **

Dear Mr. Fumento,

Just a comment about your article. The reason, I believe, that Erin Brockovich was chosen to address this UN Environmental Conference is not due to her past deeds, but because of her current affiliation with Save The World Air, Inc., a company that has developed emissions controlling devices for all types of fossil fuel engines. [111 words omitted due to utter irrelevancy.]

I hope a better article will emerge on this subject that reflects the real issue. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[omitted] Witten

*Dear Ms. Witten: *

• That's all quite fascinating, except that my piece made no mention of any U.N. environmental conference but rather of an American Public Health Association conference. In fact, the APHA was mentioned no fewer than nine times. Why do you want "a better article" when you obviously didn't bother reading the one you're complaining about? *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

CAFE Hate

** Did Viking Cars Have Horned Hood Ornaments? **

Hi Michael, 

I found your article through Google – "The High Cost of Cleaner Cars Fuel Economy Rules Will Cut Jobs, Raise Prices." It was written in 1992 and I'm curious as to how your perspectives have changed now that
a.) fuel [sic] prices are at all time highs [Actually, by the time this hate mail volume appeared they were 20 percent off those highs.]
b.) we're [sic] mired in a war in Iraq that on some level is directly related to our economic dependence on oil, e.g. if we weren't dependent on middle [sic] east [sic] oil we'd have a lot less direct interaction with that area of the world. Witness Africa if you need an example or an area we can ignore because there's little economic reason for us to get involved.
c.) at [sic] this point every credible scientist in the world believes green house [sic] gases are a major issue. even [sic] Bush is starting to discuss the topic.

Sincerely,
Kent [omitted]

*Dear Kent: *

• Insofar as: *
• 1. Fuel prices are only at all-time highs when inflation isn't factored in. In today's dollars, the highest price for a barrel of oil was $80 – a tad more than what we're paying today;
• I agree we should be less dependent on Middle East oil, but there are numerous alternatives to making cars less safe through raising CAFE standards. One would be imitating Europe's move towards clean-burning, powerful, high-fuel-economy diesel engines. I've driven them on the Autobahn and they're wonderful; yet only now are they making a comeback here;
• Greenhouse gases are certainly a political issue, but that doesn't mean they're responsible for warming the earth. The earth has cooled and warmed throughout history, as indicated by such terms as "the ice age" and "the little ice age." The Viking forays that resulted in terrorizing much of the world, settling Greenland, and discovering North America would not have been possible had the earth not become far warmer during the medieval warm period than any scientist is predicting global warming will accomplish in the next century. But the history books I've read on the subject say there weren't too many automobiles or other uses of fossil fuel back then. *
• My position is unchanged. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Totally Gratuitous Hate

Photo Funnies

If Michael Jackson gets hate mail too, at least I have my own nose.  change [*sic*] ur [*sic*] picture, then perhaps people wouldn't send you negative mail! 

Brandon Wright

Dear Brandon,

• I tried. I used a picture of you and got so much hate mail it crashed my server.*

  Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento

good [sic] one buddy.who [sic] the fuck writes on hate mail anyway except for a fag dressed like michael [sic] jackson [sic] like urself. [sic]

*Don't like being one-upped, do you Brandon? Then don't write to anybody with a higher IQ than you have. In other words, don't write to anyone. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Dude [sic] If you had another brain, it would be lonely.

Enough. Get a life, even if you have to borrow someone else's.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Obesity Hate

An Appleton a Day Keeps Intelligence Away

I ended up looking at your site because you wrote an article on the fat gene. I have an ongoing argument with one of my friends at work who is very overweight. He thinks a large group of people fit into the "It's not me, it's my genes" mode. I am in the exercise and eat less camp. The topics that you cover are very interesting. But it did not take long to see how nasty you are and how much pleasure you get from insulting people. I changed my mind about reading your books or articles. There seem to be a lot of people in 2004 with this negative persona, so the general American public must like it. Ann Coulter and other political guttersnipes come to mind. On the more pornographic spectrum, Howard Stern comes to mind as well as all the vulgar rap videos. Disrespect sells today. I am sure you don't care what I think. Hope this trend changes.

Mary Appleton

Dear Miss Appleton:

Translation: I said that fat people aren't fat because of their genes but because they eat too much and don't exercise enough to make up for it. Put another way, rather than be warm and fuzzy and pat them on the head and tell them, "You're fat is not your fault," I told them that their fat is nobody's fault by their own and until they accept that they will remain fat. Perhaps you think it compassionate to lie to people and to keep them from their goals and conversely horrifically rude and nasty to tell them the truth. But you're right in that I don't care what you think and that's a trend that won't change.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Stem Cell Hate

[This was a response to a posting from a blog called Terry's LJ. It was a rip on my piece, "Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells. His remarks are in Roman type and quotes.]

1. "Being for the use of fetal stem cells does not necessarily imply that you are against the use of adult stem cells." There is no mention of "fetal stem cells" in the entire piece, though such a thing exists. The only mention is of embryonic stem cells. If you think a fetus and an embryo are the same thing, time to retake Biology 101. Regardless, you don't need any kind of a degree to repeat the words I used rather than make up your own and attribute them to me.
2. "Fumento conveniently neglects to mention any approved therapies that use adult stem cells, either." Really? Is that why you proceed to write: "Fumento's most bullshitty blurb cites two pages that note the various adult stem cell therapies either in use or in clinical trials." Which is it? No mention or just a "bullshitty" mention? In fact, I wrote "Groopman specifically mentions Fanconi's Anemia, but it was first treated with umbilical cord stem cells 16 years ago." And: At one website you'll find a list, far from comprehensive, of almost 80 therapies using them. This is treatment, not practice or theory. Amazingly, there are also more than 300 adult stem cell clinical trials. I provided links to both lists.
3. "He fails to mention that nearly all of them are variations on a single, venerable treatment: blood stem cells (usually from marrow) given to patients undergoing chemotherapy." No, if you'd looked at either list you'd see that a minority of the ailments on either list concern cancer. Like your entire blog entry, and presumably like your entire blog, this is a fabrication.

[*To his credit, Terry admitted that he had written in haste and would later write a "clarification." But no clarification came. Apparently he decided he was just plain wrong.]*

Environmentalist Hate

Hello Mr. Michael Fumento:

A few years ago you wrote a column that appeared in the National Post (Toronto) in which you alleged organic farming contributes to soil erosion. Can you supply any references published in peer reviewed journals that support your claim or was it a misprint?

[omitted] Woodruff
Vancouver BC Canada

Organic farming contributes to soil erosion by forbidding the use of herbicides, thus requiring tilling. Herbicides are needed for no-till farming. No-till tremendously reduces soil erosion. Are you so unable to use either common sense or a computer that you can't figure this out, or was your email a misprint?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Mr. Fumento: I assumed there was an honest mistake and I also assumed you were a gentleman.

I can see that I was wrong on both counts.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

*Dear Mr. Woodruff:* 

You assumed nothing; you were baiting me. In fact, you appear to be a master-baiter.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Michael Fumento:

I requested scientific references. – your [sic] opinion, your rudeness and your use of a double entendre insult merely serves to underscore your lack of knowledge of soil science.

If you cannot or are not prepared to supply references requested – you are the one who is the master of dissimulation.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

](http://www.fumento.com/fumento.html)
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Gulf War Syndrome Hate

Not Much Horsepower, but Lots of Torque

dear [sic] mr. [sic] fumento [sic], ever been in battle, did,nt [sic] think so" [sic,sic] You sir, are typically [sic] for some reason critical of that we as veterans hold sacred, Never [sic], Never [sic] attack someone,s [sic] credibility unless you have been there yourself. I read deep seated [sic] resentments in your commentaries about agent orange, audie [sic] murphy, [sic] and probably Ira hayes [sic],if you knew anything about him. Torqued [sic] off vietnam [sic] vet...............

[Ira Hayes was one of the flag-raisers at Iwo Jima. Sadly, he drank himself to death.]

Larry Smith:

*Dear Mr. Smith: *

• I don't know whether you were ever in battle or not, nor how you define the word. You may be referring to a highly-charged negotiation at a bordello on Tudo Street in Saigon. In any case, I fail to comprehend how having seen combat makes one an expert in alleged GWS. You learn about illnesses by studying them or by reading what others who have studied them have written. Insofar as you completely misinterpreted what I wrote about Audie Murphy (I used him as an example of a true hero, rather than what passes for a hero today) and can't even string a sentence together, I sincerely doubt you read any of the three Institute of Medicine reports on GWS nor any of the medical papers that went into them. Correct me if I'm wrong – but I'm not. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Incoming Artillery Photographs!

 ![hatemail34.html](../hateml/34/1.jpg)This photo proves U.S. soldiers were gassed
 
  Mr. Fumento, 

After seeing your website it really tears me up that I fought in a war to protect the rights of scum bags like you!

If you really want Irrefutable [sic] proof, of many of these chemical exposure's, [sic] then come down here to Indy, We'll [sic] both contact the press and I'll PERSONALLY debate you with military logs, official government declassified documents, and even photos of captured chemical rounds; which confirm our soldiers were indeed GASSED on several occasions during the Gulf War...So what's you problem??

For all you sick and disabled Gulf War Vet's [sic] out there who don't Mr. Fumemto [sic], then check out this chickenwing's [sic] website @http://www.fumento.com [sic]

[omitted] Lyons,SSG. [Sic, sic: "Staff Sergeant "requires no period when abbreviated and there should be a space after his name.]
USA Ret. (Medically)
101st Airborne Division
Disabled Gulf War Veteran

P.S. If you wish to take me up on this offer...then I invite you to get your fork out, because YOU WILL be eating CROW!! I personally can't WAIT...bring it on!!

[The email was CC'd to about a dozen people, including the �ber-pompous Lt. Col. David Hackworth, two members of the VA panel that declared the existence of GWS by fiat, and for some reason "The Nature Publishing Group," publishers of Nature Magazine.]

*Dear Mr. Lyons: *

• * *Gee, I wouldn't suppose you'd be reacting to the letter I posted from a doctor who was forced to treat Gulf War Weanies such as you, the one who said these weanies have "a tendency to view their medical advisors with a venom that far exceeds that which could be expected were their disease to be organic." You, venomous? Perish the thought! Let's do a simple logical process here. NOBODY suffered nerve gas poisoning during the Gulf War. The existence of photographs of intact shells does not disprove this, insofar as intact shells don't hurt people. That's what I was always taught, anyway. *

*Now, if NOBODY was poisoned and Mr. Lyons is a subset of NOBODY, then we can deduce that Mr. Lyons was not poisoned. In fact, I'll bet lots of people have referred to Mr. Lyons in the course of his life as a nobody. We can probably also deduce that rather than deal with life's problems, Mr. Lyons likes to blame other people and to throw spit and bile at those who say that usually our only real enemy is ourselves. As to your fighting to protect my rights, my assumption is that if you served in the Gulf at all it was probably to avoid the alternative of being court-martialed and sent to jail. *

*Regarding your attachments, as it happens I've just finished an article on the subject. Among other aspects, it relates that every previous government panel that looked at "Gulf War Syndrome" found there was nothing to look at. That includes an Institute of Medicine one released at almost exactly the same time as the one to which your articles refer. The difference between all of those panels and this latest one was that finally the VA got so sick of hearing from war wimps that it stacked the panel with activists, including one that you carbon copied your pleasant e-mail to. You may be able to wail pathetically until somebody feels the need to coddle you, but you cannot complain a non-existent disease into being. The coddlers have yet to find out that people like you can never be satisfied. Your mouth will still be filled with bile, but mine will be devoid of feathers thank you very much. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

[Thereafter he sent a short note, not worthy of the Hate Mail pages and I wrote back a short note, carbon copying it to the people he carbon copied it to. That included the following writer.]

**GWS Is Caused by Parasites, Like this One **

Mr. Fumento [sic]

Please take me off your list or when you reply to someone who emailed you just send your email to them and not everyone on the list. [Apparently he's not just a GWS-crusader; he's also crusading against punctuation.] I am not interested in what you think or write. In fact the manner in which you speak about Gulf War [sic] and other veterans is consistently degrading. [I wonder where that veteran named Gulf War spent his war years] You seem to take pleasure in the plight of ill veterans. I find this disturbing since you were a soldier at one point in your life.

It's ok if you disagree and have an opinion but it's unprofessional to denigrate, ridicule and make fun of anyone's suffering. You seem to place your own image of self above your journalistic duty. I recently read that you took pride in the idea that some people thought you had hurt the Kerry election because of your article on John Edwards. I have news for you. Your impact on politics is about as evident as your impact on Gulf War Illness research. Nobody cares what you think, Not [sic] the President, not the VA and not the DoD. It must be a conspiracy against you. Apparently , you are the last person on the planet to know the truth and everyone else is wrong.

I wonder if Scripps would like to read the the [sic] nasty things you have said to fathers, mothers and soldiers who fell ill after war. [sic] Would they take pride in your bias and attitude? Perhaps we should bring some ill veterans to the Hudson Institute to talk with you and your boss. I'll bet you lunch that you don't have the courage to talk to soldiers in person the way you do through email. It would be nice if you just went away and focused on some other group to babble about.

You have certainly lost this battle.

Steve Robinson
Executive Director
National Gulf War Resource Center

*Dear Mr. Robinson: *

• I merely hit the "reply to all" button. You were on somebody else's list, not mine. What I consistently do is to point out that Gulf vets are no sicker and no likelier to die than non-vets. Why this is villainous I'm not entirely sure, except that your income is dependent on insisting otherwise. In short, your job is lying. Don't go taking it personally just because I threaten your donor base and make you appear to be living scum of the earth for lying to 700,000 vets and their spouses and offspring. Far from denigrating people with true problems, I tell them they need to trust their doctors and not people like you. On the other hand, if they become a media and congressional darling by making such claims as having vomited glow-in-the-dark puke five days a week during physical training for 10 straight months, each time ending up in intensive care, then yes I'll make fun of that. (I speak, naturally, of the most famous GWS "victim" of all, Brian Martin.) And I'll make fun of you for going along with this obvious shyster because it serves your nefarious purposes. *

  *Regarding Kerry-Edwards, I actually thought it quite foolish for people to think my two pieces somehow threatened the entire ticket. I am not without influence, but I also know my limits. Would that you had such humility. I also know that when I google myself in "Google Scholar" I come up 73 times, whereas you come up but once – a mention in a piece exclusive to the Denver Post. Obviously the VA decided for political purposes it would buckle under to the conspiracy theorists, to a point where it appointed a panel including you and at least five other GWS activists out of only ten people. (I'll bet you'd flip out if I were named to a government GWS panel!) So, no, I'm not a big hit over there. But I'm told the folks at DoD love my work, so I'll have to settle for that. As to the President, last I heard neither of us spoke for him. But you always have these marvelous insights that have no supporting empirical evidence, so I must assume that – as always – we should simply take your word for it. As to me being the last person on the planet to hold a scientific position on GWS, as you must know the Institute of Medicine produced a report at almost exactly the same time as the rump VA panel and came to the opposite conclusion. Why the difference? Because their panel comprised only scientists, not self-serving activists like – well, my goodness, Stephen L. Robinson! Your very presence on the panel makes the entire report hogwash. *

  *What I write to Gulf vets, as well as what they write to me, is posted on my website and is therefore available to anyone. (Names are omitted to protect the guilty.) You are beloved of conspiracy theories; I prefer openness and accountability. Moreover, their very letters reveal the truth about GWS in listing diseases that don't exist and revealing in various ways that many of them were either never near the Gulf or never in the military – not that this would stop you from calling them victims of GWS. *

  *As to what my boss would say to these ill vets, it would be the same as what I say. "Where in your enlistment contract does it guarantee that if you raise your right hand you will never become sick and will live forever? Why are you so convinced that your sickness is from service in the Gulf, even as the nation has millions of people with the same illness who never got closer to the Gulf than their TV set? Is it because you've been listening to people like Steve Robinson? As to your stress-related illness, isn't it interesting that it didn't begin until you heard from people like Steve Robinson that you're SUPPOSED TO be ill? And in that sense, isn't the real "cause" of GWS people like Steve Robinson?" *

• I proved my courage as an airborne soldier in combat arms and I prove it when I continue to write the truth about GWS and relay it to our vets, instead of writing from press releases like most of the mainstream mass media and, like they, giving huge play to the loaded VA panel even as they ignored the IOM one. You, on the other hand, cower behind your wall of anecdotal evidence, numbers you make up yourself, and paid-for-science Gulf War whore Robert Haley. And while I write on dozens of issues each year of which only one is GWS, it is you who are the one-trick pony. *

*Actually, if GWS finally became accepted it would be the worst thing that could happen to you as you have but one role in life – to enrich yourself and your reputation at the expense of our vets. You would fade from sight, as you so very much deserve – and as you eventually will. As I noted, you are literally a cause of both mental and stress-related illness. These people don't suffer from nerve gas or DEET or Scud missile fuel, but rather you and your phony words and your phony reports. Unfortunately for the men and women who fought for us in the Gulf, the damage you have wrought cannot be undone and will not fade away. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

That's where you are wrong and will continue to be wrong. I have met with and spoke to the President. He is the one who formed the committee. Principi is the one who chose the members. Get your facts straight. I would be happy to forward your comments to the White House and the VA. Also I will send a copy over to the Secretary of Defense and his staff. I have meet [sic] with them also.

Does your position represent the way that the Hudson Institute operates?

Are your personal attacks against ill veterans in keeping with the Hudson Institutes [sic] principles and guidelines?

I think it would be terribly embarrassing for the Hudson Institute to see your email traffic on some news show like 60 min [sic] or some other venue.

Are you prepared to defend yourself and your actions to the Nation [sic]?

I suggest your [sic] not!

Let me know if you have the courage to express you views and your email correspondence to the Nation [sic] and I will arrange the interview.

It would be my pleasure to hear your excuses for ridiculing sick veterans.

*You wrote nothing that conflicted with what I said about the President. He ordered a committee to be formed, but Principi picked – and stacked – it. Your very presence on the panel, a wicked anti-vet GWS activist, proves my point. That there were at least five other members out of a total of ten with pre-declared anti-vet, pro-GWS prejudices just adds sauce to the goose. Interesting that you didn't address the issue of panel-stacking. *

• As to expressing my "views to the Nation," "nation" is spelled thus unless you're referring to your favorite liberal rag THE NATION. It, too, hates vets and anything military. Assuming you mean to refer to the U.S., I've been writing about GWS for a national audience since 1993. My first hate mail postings to yahoos like you appeared six years ago and are on a public website. So much for your "suggestion." And as I've told you before, I don't ridicule sick vets I ridicule half-wits like you. You claim to have been a Ranger. Whether that's true, I don't know. But when I read about the Rangers who kept firing at poor Pat Tillman despite his repeatedly indicating he was a friendly (not to mention that he was in an Army uniform, rather than Taliban garb) I couldn't help but think of you. You won't kill any vets outright, but you're certainly dedicated to making them miserable. You're friendly fire on two legs. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

**A Mocking Bird **

Mr. Fumento,

I have recently read some of your current writings.

Your obviously over inflated [sic] self-image and absurdly unprofessional conduct are truly amusing. I encourage you to continue promoting your severely insignificant opinions about Gulf War veterans and their illnesses. I am sure that they could all use an entertaining read after a day of spewing "glow-in-the-dark puke."

I enthusiastically encourage you to seek the assistance from a therapist appropriately trained in anger management. I would like to suggest The Freeman Institute. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/angercoach.htm

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. This year I am thanking my lucky stars that our government has had the good sense to team brilliant scientists and insightful, knowledgeable veterans alike to advocate for Gulf War veterans.

Maybe you have just been thinking too long in your little tank.

[omitted] Mock

*Dear Ms. Mock: *

• I get the feeling you're Mocking me. In any case, I enthusiastically encourage you to seek assistance from a psychiatrist trained in schizophrenia. I would like to suggest the services of Professor Tarr and Dr. Feather. (It's Poe; look it up.) Barring that you might try www.buffooninstitute.com. *
• What you're thanking your lucky stars for is that the government, frustrated with scientists, stacked its latest panel with activists – at least six out of ten. Problem is, they can SAY there's a GWS all they want but it won't create a GWS and won't lead to the cure of a single person. It will simply lead to more psychosomatic illness, to more vets thinking there might be a special treatment for their specific illness as opposed to the exact illness in their neighbor who never went to the Gulf, and to fears of currently healthy vets that any year or decade they may fall ill from something that DIDN'T HAPPEN in 1991. That panel will prove to be your worst enemy and certainly that of Gulf vets in general. They have truly carried on where Saddam left off. *
• Maybe you have just been drooling too long in your little padded cell. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Fuento; [sic]

You're right, I am mocking you. A quick one you are, after all. Except that I believe you ought to look up the proper definition of schizophrenia. Perhaps it is actually you who suffers from the unfortunate disorder involving separation of thought, emotion and bizarre behavior.

Ironic that you would refer to Poe; one dark and troubled spirit following another. Thank you once again for providing entertaining material worth a hearty chuckle.

[omitted] Mock

*Muck: *

• Actually, I've written about schizophrenia; have you? Do you have the least medical background, other than probably claiming to have a whole bunch of non-existent illnesses? I AM troubled that 700,000 people who served their country in its hour of need are being lied to, if that's what you mean. Yes it literally troubles my spirit, but I only picked the names of the two psychiatrists I mentioned because they are extremely well-known in literature not because of any special love of Poe's writings. I'm glad I've given you what's clearly a much-needed laugh, but this whole thing is an incredible tragedy for Gulf vets. And despite what you think my articles and columns make other people THINK. That this is not the reaction with Ms. Mock is not my fault. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Pumento, [sic]

So you have written about mental illness. By insinuating a dx [diagnosis] via one e-mail surely discredits whatever you have self-proclaimed as knowledge about mental illness.

And so now you have concerns about GW veterans. Reference my previous e-mail.

*Mook from Planet Ook: *

• Actually, it is possible to diagnose schizophrenia from one e-mail. What if that one e-mail said that the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and the Freemasons "are out to get me"? Pretty tendentious, no? Yes, I have concerns about GW veterans – which is why I've been writing about their health since 1993. Don't go running for your calculator; that's 12 years. Reference my previous emails and all my writings about GWS that are on my website at www.fumento.com. And stop writing, because I'm going to stop reading. Apparently your main symptom of GWS is terminal boringness. *
• And by the way, most of us give up name-calling somewhere around the fifth grade. It doesn't speak well of you that you continue to employ it. Either that or you're a fifth-grader. I'm willing to accept either explanation. *
• Goodbye,
  Michael Fumento*

[Yes, I realized I name-called back. But she started it! Whaaaa!]

Be Bored. Be Very Bored.

Subject: Your anthrax nightmare begins

Mike,

Here come the footsteps you have been hearing. The book, by Gary Matsumoto, will be out on Oct [sic] 19 from Basic Books. [The reference is to Vaccine A: The Covert Pentagon Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers – And Why GI's are Only the First Victims.]

You are at least an obsequious apologist on this, and perhaps more.

Jay [omitted]

*Dear Jay: *

• Insofar as the thesis that GIs are suffering from some mysterious illness has been repeatedly disproved, this is as useful and as exciting a book as the latest expose on UFO abductions. I don't hear the "footsteps" of those books either, thank you. *
• Now run out and play in the traffic with your little friends. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Mike, I know you are going to love this:

[Hyperlink to a story in the Delaware News Journal, readership of 2.]

And this story promises to get even better and better.

Pay attention so you know the score, which you obviously did not in the past.

Your past pronouncements may [sic] hilarious reading. Give them a look.

I see you made Matsumoto's book. Nice going.

Jay

*Dear Jay, *

• I know you're going to love this. If you check Amazon.com you'll see I'm actually mentioned in about 160 books out of those few they've gotten around to indexing. And some of those books have actually been read. Look up your buddy's book on Amazon or B&N.com. Other than getting repeat mentions in the same tiny Delaware newspaper he's selling no books and creating virtually no publicity. What a tragedy to spend three, maybe four, whole weeks writing a book and have nobody read it or even hear about it. Compare that to the millions of readers I get every time I do a column on how GWS is a fraud and people like Matsumoto are hucksters. Also, Reason Magazine has a new book out that's essentially "The Best of Reason." It contains a certain article called "Gulf Lore Syndrome" by a certain writer known to you. *
• Now play in the traffic like I told you, and don't come back until you've at least broken your fingers. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

  **A Rare Illness? Must be GWS-caused. **

Dr [sic] Mr. Fumento,

While view [sic] your web-site [sic] I noticed a complete bias against those who have served the Armed Services during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Although you are factual in most of your reports, I think you might want to investigate the percentage of those who have legitimate claims not the ones who are trying to get benefits for hang-nails. Although, many Gulf War Veterans [sic] feel that every sneeze is attributable to our exposures in theater. [sic] I agree with you in the fact [sic] every illness is not a result of some Syndrome [sic], however, there are those that have experienced health problems that can not be found in the general population or veterans who were not in the region.

I have many symptoms that I might have had even if I didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, and I readily admit that, and it also kept me from seeking treatment for almost 10 years. The triggering factor that sent me on a 6 year quest to research ailments of Gulf War Veterans [sic] was the birth of my son. For you see, he was born with a birth defect like no other child. Taylor, my son, was born missing his Right Eye [sic], Anathalmic [He means he's "anophthalmic."], and his Left Eye [sic] was not properly formed, Microthalmic. [He means he's "microphthalmic."] Either of these conditions is rare since it occurs in approximately 3 to 4 births a year in the United States. What makes Taylor's [*sic]* the exception, is that he was born with both conditions. Taylor is treated at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University. After being treated for 6 years the only explanation to [sic] his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf.

With that being said I researched my conditions and found that they are either related to my Central Nervous System [sic] or Auto-immune [sic] system. And these are not treatable. Additionally it has been proven that ALS has been found in an unproportionate [sic] number of Gulf War Veterans [sic]. Like I said earlier I do believe that there are those who feel that every sneeze is a result of a Gulf War Syndrome. But I ask you this, [sic] can you look Taylor in the face and tell him that his condition is made up and a figment of his imagination?

[Photo of son attached.]

[omitted] Carini

*Dear Mr. Carini: *

• I have never said that Gulf vets or their spouses or offspring do not have real illnesses; I've said they have no more illnesses than other people. That's quite a difference. *
• According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), "Anophthalmia and microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia is a disorder in which one or both eyes are abnormally small, while anophthalmia is the absence of one or both eyes. These rare disorders develop during pregnancy and can be associated with other birth defects." *

• The NEI goes on to say, "Causes of these conditions may include genetic mutations and abnormal chromosomes. Researchers also believe that environmental factors, such as exposure to X-rays, chemicals, drugs, pesticides, toxins, radiation, or viruses, increase the risk of anophthalmia and microphthalmia, but research is not conclusive. Sometimes the cause in an individual patient cannot be determined." *

  *It appears that the largest epidemiological study on the two conditions was conducted using the California birth registry and appeared in the *International Journal of Epidemiology *in 1996, although a search of Medline will show that these conditions occur throughout the world and in countries that did not deploy soldiers to the Gulf. The California study found the rate for either disorder to be 1.5 per 10,000 births. Let's assume that the 700,000 U.S. vets of the Gulf War each had only one child, which would put them well below average. Even still, that would mean 105 cases could be expected among these children by chance alone. Each year, about four million children are born in the U.S. That would mean 600 cases per year, not the three to four you were falsely told. Put another way, since the Gulf War there have been about 8,000 cases. This is a rare disorder, but not nearly as rare as you thought. As to having both disorders, it would seem logical that since they are related that whatever disposes a child to one would tend to dispose a child to the other. Taylor is by no stretch of the imagination unique in his illness. *

• But regardless of how rare it might be, how do you simply jump to the conclusion that "the only explanation to his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf"? There is no literature indicating that Gulf vets are more likely to have children with this birth defect and therefore well over 99 percent of the cases are in children whose parents did not serve in the Gulf. This is what I mean when I say that when somebody who didn't go to the Gulf gets a cough it's called "a cough," but the same thing in a Gulf vet is called GWS. *

  *Nor does it help your case that a disproportionate number of GW vets have developed ALS. The excess was barely statistically significant and was only found when compared to matched vets who didn't deploy. When compared to matched civilians, there is no abnormal ALS rate in Gulf vets. In fact, the sickness and death rates for Gulf vets in general are the same as for vets who didn't deploy and far below those of civilians. *

• The problem here is that it is horribly difficult for a parent to look at his child and see birth defects when children all around him were born perfectly healthy. The parent naturally seeks an explanation. If you worked in a chemical factory, you would no doubt blame the chemicals. But you didn't; you went to the Gulf so you blame something there. But sometimes there's no one and nothing to blame. Bad things happen to good people. On the other hand, your son is lucky to have been born at a time when science is developing bionic devices that will one day give him sight, though obviously not as soon as you and he would like. He's lucky to live in a country that believes in paying for these things, rather than doling out socialized medicine. Finally, he's also quite lucky to have as caring a father as you. Yes, I feel bad for him but then again no worse than I do for any other blind child. And I feel bad for you, because obviously you have not made peace with a problem that – at this time at least – you cannot improve. Put your energy into your child, not into anger or resentment or whatever you feel. May God bless you both. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Agent Orange Hate

You Need to Do What's Already Been Done

 I am a combat Viet Nam vetern [*sic*]. The ranch [*sic*] hand [*sic*] study is flawed but not for the reasons you suspect. 

A better study group would have been combat veterans. The veterans who like me, spent many days and weeks in the field without the benefit of clean clothes, shower [sic] and clean water.

Since my return from Viet Nam I have lost both Kidneys [sic] to disease and suffer prostate cancer. If you would have put as much energy into studying the effects on combat veterans as you did the ranch [sic] hand [sic] group, I think you would come away with a different prospective [sic – he means perspective] on this subject.

Thank You [sic]

[omitted] Frabel

*Dear Mr. Frabel: *

• Actually, all Ranch Hands are combat veterans. But I suspect you mean grunts on the ground. As it happens, they have been thoroughly studied and it's been determined that none of them received dioxin exposure even approaching those in the Ranch Hand group. In fact, it was found that soldiers in Vietnam on average had no more exposure than civilians back in the States. That's because at the time several products like soaps contained dioxin and dioxin was also created during some burning and bleaching processes. My mother washed me in dioxin-containing liquid soap. *
• I don't know why you lost your kidneys, but I suspect it was for the reason your doctor gave. Kidney transplants are the second most common transplant operation in this country (corneal transplants rank first) with more than 9,000 procedures annually. Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over 75 years old. Obviously, you are hardly unusual in suffering this disease and obviously the vast majority of sufferers never served in Vietnam. The big difference is that they have nobody to blame. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Erin Brockovich Hate

**Oh Boy, I've got Cancer! Now I Can Sue Somebody! **

Hey Mike!

Thanks for contacting me and telling me about the law suit [sic] against Beverly Hills High.. I too developed Thyroid [sic] Cancer and now Im [sic] suing the school! (graduating class of 67')

Candy

CANDYMINTZ@omitted

*Dear Candy: *

• Actually I didn't "contact you;" I wrote a piece that you read. I wish I could be as delighted as you are with your alleged thyroid cancer. Unfortunately, you're not going to win your case since A) nobody has ever produced the least evidence that petroleum fumes cause any type of cancer, as your attorney will have to argue, and B) the only epidemiological study of Beverly Hills High has found no excess of cancers. The suit that Erin Brockovich's firm filed has become a quagmire for them and the same will happen with yours. But I guess I'm supposed to wish you a Happy Cancer. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  Mike,

I just bought a brand new BMW with the monies [sic] I will collect from the school!

thanks again!!!!

*Did you let someone sell you the Brooklyn Bridge while you were at it? I think I'm just going to let you dissolve, Candymintz. You've got real problems, and they're not in your throat. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  **I Didn't Read the Article, but I Saw the Movie **

Dear Mr. Fumento,

Just a comment about your article. The reason, I believe, that Erin Brockovich was chosen to address this UN Environmental Conference is not due to her past deeds, but because of her current affiliation with Save The World Air, Inc., a company that has developed emissions controlling devices for all types of fossil fuel engines. [111 words omitted due to utter irrelevancy.]

I hope a better article will emerge on this subject that reflects the real issue. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[omitted] Witten

*Dear Ms. Witten: *

• That's all quite fascinating, except that my piece made no mention of any U.N. environmental conference but rather of an American Public Health Association conference. In fact, the APHA was mentioned no fewer than nine times. Why do you want "a better article" when you obviously didn't bother reading the one you're complaining about? *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

CAFE Hate

** Did Viking Cars Have Horned Hood Ornaments? **

 Hi Michael, 

I found your article through Google – "The High Cost of Cleaner Cars Fuel Economy Rules Will Cut Jobs, Raise Prices." It was written in 1992 and I'm curious as to how your perspectives have changed now that
a.) fuel [sic] prices are at all time highs [Actually, by the time this hate mail volume appeared they were 20 percent off those highs.]
b.) we're [sic] mired in a war in Iraq that on some level is directly related to our economic dependence on oil, e.g. if we weren't dependent on middle [sic] east [sic] oil we'd have a lot less direct interaction with that area of the world. Witness Africa if you need an example or an area we can ignore because there's little economic reason for us to get involved.
c.) at [sic] this point every credible scientist in the world believes green house [sic] gases are a major issue. even [sic] Bush is starting to discuss the topic.

Sincerely,
Kent [omitted]

*Dear Kent: *

• Insofar as: *
• 1. Fuel prices are only at all-time highs when inflation isn't factored in. In today's dollars, the highest price for a barrel of oil was $80 – a tad more than what we're paying today;
• I agree we should be less dependent on Middle East oil, but there are numerous alternatives to making cars less safe through raising CAFE standards. One would be imitating Europe's move towards clean-burning, powerful, high-fuel-economy diesel engines. I've driven them on the Autobahn and they're wonderful; yet only now are they making a comeback here;
• Greenhouse gases are certainly a political issue, but that doesn't mean they're responsible for warming the earth. The earth has cooled and warmed throughout history, as indicated by such terms as "the ice age" and "the little ice age." The Viking forays that resulted in terrorizing much of the world, settling Greenland, and discovering North America would not have been possible had the earth not become far warmer during the medieval warm period than any scientist is predicting global warming will accomplish in the next century. But the history books I've read on the subject say there weren't too many automobiles or other uses of fossil fuel back then. *
• My position is unchanged. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Totally Gratuitous Hate

Photo Funnies

change [*sic*] ur [*sic*] picture, then perhaps people wouldn't send you negative mail! 

Brandon Wright

Dear Brandon,

• I tried. I used a picture of you and got so much hate mail it crashed my server.*

  Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento

good [sic] one buddy.who [sic] the fuck writes on hate mail anyway except for a fag dressed like michael [sic] jackson [sic] like urself. [sic]

*Don't like being one-upped, do you Brandon? Then don't write to anybody with a higher IQ than you have. In other words, don't write to anyone. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Dude [sic] If you had another brain, it would be lonely.

Enough. Get a life, even if you have to borrow someone else's.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Obesity Hate

An Appleton a Day Keeps Intelligence Away

I ended up looking at your site because you wrote an article on the fat gene. I have an ongoing argument with one of my friends at work who is very overweight. He thinks a large group of people fit into the "It's not me, it's my genes" mode. I am in the exercise and eat less camp. The topics that you cover are very interesting. But it did not take long to see how nasty you are and how much pleasure you get from insulting people. I changed my mind about reading your books or articles. There seem to be a lot of people in 2004 with this negative persona, so the general American public must like it. Ann Coulter and other political guttersnipes come to mind. On the more pornographic spectrum, Howard Stern comes to mind as well as all the vulgar rap videos. Disrespect sells today. I am sure you don't care what I think. Hope this trend changes.

Mary Appleton

*Dear Miss Appleton:* 

Translation: I said that fat people aren't fat because of their genes but because they eat too much and don't exercise enough to make up for it. Put another way, rather than be warm and fuzzy and pat them on the head and tell them, "You're fat is not your fault," I told them that their fat is nobody's fault by their own and until they accept that they will remain fat. Perhaps you think it compassionate to lie to people and to keep them from their goals and conversely horrifically rude and nasty to tell them the truth. But you're right in that I don't care what you think and that's a trend that won't change.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Stem Cell Hate

[This was a response to a posting from a blog called Terry's LJ. It was a rip on my piece, "Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells. His remarks are in Roman type and quotes.]

1. "Being for the use of fetal stem cells does not necessarily imply that you are against the use of adult stem cells." There is no mention of "fetal stem cells" in the entire piece, though such a thing exists. The only mention is of embryonic stem cells. If you think a fetus and an embryo are the same thing, time to retake Biology 101. Regardless, you don't need any kind of a degree to repeat the words I used rather than make up your own and attribute them to me.
2. "Fumento conveniently neglects to mention any approved therapies that use adult stem cells, either." Really? Is that why you proceed to write: "Fumento's most bullshitty blurb cites two pages that note the various adult stem cell therapies either in use or in clinical trials." Which is it? No mention or just a "bullshitty" mention? In fact, I wrote "Groopman specifically mentions Fanconi's Anemia, but it was first treated with umbilical cord stem cells 16 years ago." And: At one website you'll find a list, far from comprehensive, of almost 80 therapies using them. This is treatment, not practice or theory. Amazingly, there are also more than 300 adult stem cell clinical trials. I provided links to both lists.
3. "He fails to mention that nearly all of them are variations on a single, venerable treatment: blood stem cells (usually from marrow) given to patients undergoing chemotherapy." No, if you'd looked at either list you'd see that a minority of the ailments on either list concern cancer. Like your entire blog entry, and presumably like your entire blog, this is a fabrication.

[*To his credit, Terry admitted that he had written in haste and would later write a "clarification." But no clarification came. Apparently he decided he was just plain wrong.]*

Environmentalist Hate

Hello Mr. Michael Fumento:

A few years ago you wrote a column that appeared in the National Post (Toronto) in which you alleged organic farming contributes to soil erosion. Can you supply any references published in peer reviewed journals that support your claim or was it a misprint?

[omitted] Woodruff
Vancouver BC Canada

Organic farming contributes to soil erosion by forbidding the use of herbicides, thus requiring tilling. Herbicides are needed for no-till farming. No-till tremendously reduces soil erosion. Are you so unable to use either common sense or a computer that you can't figure this out, or was your email a misprint?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Mr. Fumento: I assumed there was an honest mistake and I also assumed you were a gentleman.

I can see that I was wrong on both counts.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

Dear Mr. Woodruff:

You assumed nothing; you were baiting me. In fact, you appear to be a master-baiter.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Michael Fumento:

I requested scientific references. – your [sic] opinion, your rudeness and your use of a double entendre insult merely serves to underscore your lack of knowledge of soil science.

If you cannot or are not prepared to supply references requested – you are the one who is the master of dissimulation.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

,

](http://www.fumento.com/fumento.html)
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Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.
– Eric Hoffer

Gulf War Syndrome Hate

Not Much Horsepower, but Lots of Torque

dear [sic] mr. [sic] fumento [sic], ever been in battle, did,nt [sic] think so" [sic,sic] You sir, are typically [sic] for some reason critical of that we as veterans hold sacred, Never [sic], Never [sic] attack someone,s [sic] credibility unless you have been there yourself. I read deep seated [sic] resentments in your commentaries about agent orange, audie [sic] murphy, [sic] and probably Ira hayes [sic],if you knew anything about him. Torqued [sic] off vietnam [sic] vet...............

[Ira Hayes was one of the flag-raisers at Iwo Jima. Sadly, he drank himself to death.]

Larry Smith:

*Dear Mr. Smith: *

• I don't know whether you were ever in battle or not, nor how you define the word. You may be referring to a highly-charged negotiation at a bordello on Tudo Street in Saigon. In any case, I fail to comprehend how having seen combat makes one an expert in alleged GWS. You learn about illnesses by studying them or by reading what others who have studied them have written. Insofar as you completely misinterpreted what I wrote about Audie Murphy (I used him as an example of a true hero, rather than what passes for a hero today) and can't even string a sentence together, I sincerely doubt you read any of the three Institute of Medicine reports on GWS nor any of the medical papers that went into them. Correct me if I'm wrong – but I'm not. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Incoming Artillery Photographs!

  Mr. Fumento, 

After seeing your website it really tears me up that I fought in a war to protect the rights of scum bags like you!

If you really want Irrefutable [sic] proof, of many of these chemical exposure's, [sic] then come down here to Indy, We'll [sic] both contact the press and I'll PERSONALLY debate you with military logs, official government declassified documents, and even photos of captured chemical rounds; which confirm our soldiers were indeed GASSED on several occasions during the Gulf War...So what's you problem??

For all you sick and disabled Gulf War Vet's [sic] out there who don't Mr. Fumemto [sic], then check out this chickenwing's [sic] website @http://www.fumento.com [sic]

[omitted] Lyons,SSG. [Sic, sic: "Staff Sergeant "requires no period when abbreviated and there should be a space after his name.]
USA Ret. (Medically)
101st Airborne Division
Disabled Gulf War Veteran

P.S. If you wish to take me up on this offer...then I invite you to get your fork out, because YOU WILL be eating CROW!! I personally can't WAIT...bring it on!!

[The email was CC'd to about a dozen people, including the �ber-pompous Lt. Col. David Hackworth, two members of the VA panel that declared the existence of GWS by fiat, and for some reason "The Nature Publishing Group," publishers of Nature Magazine.]

*Dear Mr. Lyons: *

• *Gee, I wouldn't suppose you'd be reacting to the letter I posted from a doctor who was forced to treat Gulf War Weanies such as you, the one who said these weanies have "a tendency to view their medical advisors with a venom that far exceeds that which could be expected were their disease to be organic." You, venomous? Perish the thought! Let's do a simple logical process here. NOBODY suffered nerve gas poisoning during the Gulf War. The existence of photographs of intact shells does not disprove this, insofar as intact shells don't hurt people. That's what I was always taught, anyway. *

*Now, if NOBODY was poisoned and Mr. Lyons is a subset of NOBODY, then we can deduce that Mr. Lyons was not poisoned. In fact, I'll bet lots of people have referred to Mr. Lyons in the course of his life as a nobody. We can probably also deduce that rather than deal with life's problems, Mr. Lyons likes to blame other people and to throw spit and bile at those who say that usually our only real enemy is ourselves. As to your fighting to protect my rights, my assumption is that if you served in the Gulf at all it was probably to avoid the alternative of being court-martialed and sent to jail. *

*Regarding your attachments, as it happens I've just finished an article on the subject. Among other aspects, it relates that every previous government panel that looked at "Gulf War Syndrome" found there was nothing to look at. That includes an Institute of Medicine one released at almost exactly the same time as the one to which your articles refer. The difference between all of those panels and this latest one was that finally the VA got so sick of hearing from war wimps that it stacked the panel with activists, including one that you carbon copied your pleasant e-mail to. You may be able to wail pathetically until somebody feels the need to coddle you, but you cannot complain a non-existent disease into being. The coddlers have yet to find out that people like you can never be satisfied. Your mouth will still be filled with bile, but mine will be devoid of feathers thank you very much. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

[Thereafter he sent a short note, not worthy of the Hate Mail pages and I wrote back a short note, carbon copying it to the people he carbon copied it to. That included the following writer.]

**GWS Is Caused by Parasites, Like this One **

Mr. Fumento [sic]

Please take me off your list or when you reply to someone who emailed you just send your email to them and not everyone on the list. [Apparently he's not just a GWS-crusader; he's also crusading against punctuation.] I am not interested in what you think or write. In fact the manner in which you speak about Gulf War [sic] and other veterans is consistently degrading. [I wonder where that veteran named Gulf War spent his war years] You seem to take pleasure in the plight of ill veterans. I find this disturbing since you were a soldier at one point in your life.

It's ok if you disagree and have an opinion but it's unprofessional to denigrate, ridicule and make fun of anyone's suffering. You seem to place your own image of self above your journalistic duty. I recently read that you took pride in the idea that some people thought you had hurt the Kerry election because of your article on John Edwards. I have news for you. Your impact on politics is about as evident as your impact on Gulf War Illness research. Nobody cares what you think, Not [sic] the President, not the VA and not the DoD. It must be a conspiracy against you. Apparently , you are the last person on the planet to know the truth and everyone else is wrong.

I wonder if Scripps would like to read the the [sic] nasty things you have said to fathers, mothers and soldiers who fell ill after war. [sic] Would they take pride in your bias and attitude? Perhaps we should bring some ill veterans to the Hudson Institute to talk with you and your boss. I'll bet you lunch that you don't have the courage to talk to soldiers in person the way you do through email. It would be nice if you just went away and focused on some other group to babble about.

You have certainly lost this battle.

Steve Robinson
Executive Director
National Gulf War Resource Center

*Dear Mr. Robinson: *

• I merely hit the "reply to all" button. You were on somebody else's list, not mine. What I consistently do is to point out that Gulf vets are no sicker and no likelier to die than non-vets. Why this is villainous I'm not entirely sure, except that your income is dependent on insisting otherwise. In short, your job is lying. Don't go taking it personally just because I threaten your donor base and make you appear to be living scum of the earth for lying to 700,000 vets and their spouses and offspring. Far from denigrating people with true problems, I tell them they need to trust their doctors and not people like you. On the other hand, if they become a media and congressional darling by making such claims as having vomited glow-in-the-dark puke five days a week during physical training for 10 straight months, each time ending up in intensive care, then yes I'll make fun of that. (I speak, naturally, of the most famous GWS "victim" of all, Brian Martin.) And I'll make fun of you for going along with this obvious shyster because it serves your nefarious purposes. *

  *Regarding Kerry-Edwards, I actually thought it quite foolish for people to think my two pieces somehow threatened the entire ticket. I am not without influence, but I also know my limits. Would that you had such humility. I also know that when I google myself in "Google Scholar" I come up 73 times, whereas you come up but once – a mention in a piece exclusive to the Denver Post. Obviously the VA decided for political purposes it would buckle under to the conspiracy theorists, to a point where it appointed a panel including you and at least five other GWS activists out of only ten people. (I'll bet you'd flip out if I were named to a government GWS panel!) So, no, I'm not a big hit over there. But I'm told the folks at DoD love my work, so I'll have to settle for that. As to the President, last I heard neither of us spoke for him. But you always have these marvelous insights that have no supporting empirical evidence, so I must assume that – as always – we should simply take your word for it. As to me being the last person on the planet to hold a scientific position on GWS, as you must know the Institute of Medicine produced a report at almost exactly the same time as the rump VA panel and came to the opposite conclusion. Why the difference? Because their panel comprised only scientists, not self-serving activists like – well, my goodness, Stephen L. Robinson! Your very presence on the panel makes the entire report hogwash. *

  *What I write to Gulf vets, as well as what they write to me, is posted on my website and is therefore available to anyone. (Names are omitted to protect the guilty.) You are beloved of conspiracy theories; I prefer openness and accountability. Moreover, their very letters reveal the truth about GWS in listing diseases that don't exist and revealing in various ways that many of them were either never near the Gulf or never in the military – not that this would stop you from calling them victims of GWS. *

  *As to what my boss would say to these ill vets, it would be the same as what I say. "Where in your enlistment contract does it guarantee that if you raise your right hand you will never become sick and will live forever? Why are you so convinced that your sickness is from service in the Gulf, even as the nation has millions of people with the same illness who never got closer to the Gulf than their TV set? Is it because you've been listening to people like Steve Robinson? As to your stress-related illness, isn't it interesting that it didn't begin until you heard from people like Steve Robinson that you're SUPPOSED TO be ill? And in that sense, isn't the real "cause" of GWS people like Steve Robinson?" *

• I proved my courage as an airborne soldier in combat arms and I prove it when I continue to write the truth about GWS and relay it to our vets, instead of writing from press releases like most of the mainstream mass media and, like they, giving huge play to the loaded VA panel even as they ignored the IOM one. You, on the other hand, cower behind your wall of anecdotal evidence, numbers you make up yourself, and paid-for-science Gulf War whore Robert Haley. And while I write on dozens of issues each year of which only one is GWS, it is you who are the one-trick pony. *

*Actually, if GWS finally became accepted it would be the worst thing that could happen to you as you have but one role in life – to enrich yourself and your reputation at the expense of our vets. You would fade from sight, as you so very much deserve – and as you eventually will. As I noted, you are literally a cause of both mental and stress-related illness. These people don't suffer from nerve gas or DEET or Scud missile fuel, but rather you and your phony words and your phony reports. Unfortunately for the men and women who fought for us in the Gulf, the damage you have wrought cannot be undone and will not fade away. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

That's where you are wrong and will continue to be wrong. I have met with and spoke to the President. He is the one who formed the committee. Principi is the one who chose the members. Get your facts straight. I would be happy to forward your comments to the White House and the VA. Also I will send a copy over to the Secretary of Defense and his staff. I have meet [sic] with them also.

Does your position represent the way that the Hudson Institute operates?

Are your personal attacks against ill veterans in keeping with the Hudson Institutes [sic] principles and guidelines?

I think it would be terribly embarrassing for the Hudson Institute to see your email traffic on some news show like 60 min [sic] or some other venue.

Are you prepared to defend yourself and your actions to the Nation [sic]?

I suggest your [sic] not!

Let me know if you have the courage to express you views and your email correspondence to the Nation [sic] and I will arrange the interview.

It would be my pleasure to hear your excuses for ridiculing sick veterans.

*You wrote nothing that conflicted with what I said about the President. He ordered a committee to be formed, but Principi picked – and stacked – it. Your very presence on the panel, a wicked anti-vet GWS activist, proves my point. That there were at least five other members out of a total of ten with pre-declared anti-vet, pro-GWS prejudices just adds sauce to the goose. Interesting that you didn't address the issue of panel-stacking. *

• As to expressing my "views to the Nation," "nation" is spelled thus unless you're referring to your favorite liberal rag THE NATION. It, too, hates vets and anything military. Assuming you mean to refer to the U.S., I've been writing about GWS for a national audience since 1993. My first hate mail postings to yahoos like you appeared six years ago and are on a public website. So much for your "suggestion." And as I've told you before, I don't ridicule sick vets I ridicule half-wits like you. You claim to have been a Ranger. Whether that's true, I don't know. But when I read about the Rangers who kept firing at poor Pat Tillman despite his repeatedly indicating he was a friendly (not to mention that he was in an Army uniform, rather than Taliban garb) I couldn't help but think of you. You won't kill any vets outright, but you're certainly dedicated to making them miserable. You're friendly fire on two legs. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

**A Mocking Bird **

Mr. Fumento,

I have recently read some of your current writings.

Your obviously over inflated [sic] self-image and absurdly unprofessional conduct are truly amusing. I encourage you to continue promoting your severely insignificant opinions about Gulf War veterans and their illnesses. I am sure that they could all use an entertaining read after a day of spewing "glow-in-the-dark puke."

I enthusiastically encourage you to seek the assistance from a therapist appropriately trained in anger management. I would like to suggest The Freeman Institute. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/angercoach.htm

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. This year I am thanking my lucky stars that our government has had the good sense to team brilliant scientists and insightful, knowledgeable veterans alike to advocate for Gulf War veterans.

Maybe you have just been thinking too long in your little tank.

[omitted] Mock

*Dear Ms. Mock: *

• I get the feeling you're Mocking me. In any case, I enthusiastically encourage you to seek assistance from a psychiatrist trained in schizophrenia. I would like to suggest the services of Professor Tarr and Dr. Feather. (It's Poe; look it up.) Barring that you might try www.buffooninstitute.com. *
• What you're thanking your lucky stars for is that the government, frustrated with scientists, stacked its latest panel with activists – at least six out of ten. Problem is, they can SAY there's a GWS all they want but it won't create a GWS and won't lead to the cure of a single person. It will simply lead to more psychosomatic illness, to more vets thinking there might be a special treatment for their specific illness as opposed to the exact illness in their neighbor who never went to the Gulf, and to fears of currently healthy vets that any year or decade they may fall ill from something that DIDN'T HAPPEN in 1991. That panel will prove to be your worst enemy and certainly that of Gulf vets in general. They have truly carried on where Saddam left off. *
• Maybe you have just been drooling too long in your little padded cell. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Fuento; [sic]

You're right, I am mocking you. A quick one you are, after all. Except that I believe you ought to look up the proper definition of schizophrenia. Perhaps it is actually you who suffers from the unfortunate disorder involving separation of thought, emotion and bizarre behavior.

Ironic that you would refer to Poe; one dark and troubled spirit following another. Thank you once again for providing entertaining material worth a hearty chuckle.

[omitted] Mock

*Muck: *

• Actually, I've written about schizophrenia; have you? Do you have the least medical background, other than probably claiming to have a whole bunch of non-existent illnesses? I AM troubled that 700,000 people who served their country in its hour of need are being lied to, if that's what you mean. Yes it literally troubles my spirit, but I only picked the names of the two psychiatrists I mentioned because they are extremely well-known in literature not because of any special love of Poe's writings. I'm glad I've given you what's clearly a much-needed laugh, but this whole thing is an incredible tragedy for Gulf vets. And despite what you think my articles and columns make other people THINK. That this is not the reaction with Ms. Mock is not my fault. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Pumento, [sic]

So you have written about mental illness. By insinuating a dx [diagnosis] via one e-mail surely discredits whatever you have self-proclaimed as knowledge about mental illness.

And so now you have concerns about GW veterans. Reference my previous e-mail.

*Mook from Planet Ook: *

• Actually, it is possible to diagnose schizophrenia from one e-mail. What if that one e-mail said that the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and the Freemasons "are out to get me"? Pretty tendentious, no? Yes, I have concerns about GW veterans – which is why I've been writing about their health since 1993. Don't go running for your calculator; that's 12 years. Reference my previous emails and all my writings about GWS that are on my website at www.fumento.com. And stop writing, because I'm going to stop reading. Apparently your main symptom of GWS is terminal boringness. *
• And by the way, most of us give up name-calling somewhere around the fifth grade. It doesn't speak well of you that you continue to employ it. Either that or you're a fifth-grader. I'm willing to accept either explanation. *
• Goodbye,
  Michael Fumento*

[Yes, I realized I name-called back. But she started it! Whaaaa!]

Be Bored. Be Very Bored.

Subject: Your anthrax nightmare begins

Mike,

Here come the footsteps you have been hearing. The book, by Gary Matsumoto, will be out on Oct [sic] 19 from Basic Books. [The reference is to Vaccine A: The Covert Pentagon Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers – And Why GI's are Only the First Victims.]

  You are at least an obsequious apologist on this, and perhaps more. 

Jay [omitted]

*Dear Jay: *

• Insofar as the thesis that GIs are suffering from some mysterious illness has been repeatedly disproved, this is as useful and as exciting a book as the latest expose on UFO abductions. I don't hear the "footsteps" of those books either, thank you. *
• Now run out and play in the traffic with your little friends. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Mike, I know you are going to love this:

[Hyperlink to a story in the Delaware News Journal, readership of 2.]

And this story promises to get even better and better.

Pay attention so you know the score, which you obviously did not in the past.

Your past pronouncements may [sic] hilarious reading. Give them a look.

I see you made Matsumoto's book. Nice going.

Jay

*Dear Jay, *

• I know you're going to love this. If you check Amazon.com you'll see I'm actually mentioned in about 160 books out of those few they've gotten around to indexing. And some of those books have actually been read. Look up your buddy's book on Amazon or B&N.com. Other than getting repeat mentions in the same tiny Delaware newspaper he's selling no books and creating virtually no publicity. What a tragedy to spend three, maybe four, whole weeks writing a book and have nobody read it or even hear about it. Compare that to the millions of readers I get every time I do a column on how GWS is a fraud and people like Matsumoto are hucksters. Also, Reason Magazine has a new book out that's essentially "The Best of Reason." It contains a certain article called "Gulf Lore Syndrome" by a certain writer known to you. *
• Now play in the traffic like I told you, and don't come back until you've at least broken your fingers. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

  **A Rare Illness? Must be GWS-caused. **

Dr [sic] Mr. Fumento,

While view [sic] your web-site [sic] I noticed a complete bias against those who have served the Armed Services during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Although you are factual in most of your reports, I think you might want to investigate the percentage of those who have legitimate claims not the ones who are trying to get benefits for hang-nails. Although, many Gulf War Veterans [sic] feel that every sneeze is attributable to our exposures in theater. [sic] I agree with you in the fact [sic] every illness is not a result of some Syndrome [sic], however, there are those that have experienced health problems that can not be found in the general population or veterans who were not in the region.

I have many symptoms that I might have had even if I didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, and I readily admit that, and it also kept me from seeking treatment for almost 10 years. The triggering factor that sent me on a 6 year quest to research ailments of Gulf War Veterans [sic] was the birth of my son. For you see, he was born with a birth defect like no other child. Taylor, my son, was born missing his Right Eye [sic], Anathalmic [He means he's "anophthalmic."], and his Left Eye [sic] was not properly formed, Microthalmic. [He means he's "microphthalmic."] Either of these conditions is rare since it occurs in approximately 3 to 4 births a year in the United States. What makes Taylor's [*sic]* the exception, is that he was born with both conditions. Taylor is treated at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University. After being treated for 6 years the only explanation to [sic] his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf.

With that being said I researched my conditions and found that they are either related to my Central Nervous System [sic] or Auto-immune [sic] system. And these are not treatable. Additionally it has been proven that ALS has been found in an unproportionate [sic] number of Gulf War Veterans [sic]. Like I said earlier I do believe that there are those who feel that every sneeze is a result of a Gulf War Syndrome. But I ask you this, [sic] can you look Taylor in the face and tell him that his condition is made up and a figment of his imagination?

[Photo of son attached.]

[omitted] Carini

*Dear Mr. Carini: *

• I have never said that Gulf vets or their spouses or offspring do not have real illnesses; I've said they have no more illnesses than other people. That's quite a difference. *
• According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), "Anophthalmia and microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia is a disorder in which one or both eyes are abnormally small, while anophthalmia is the absence of one or both eyes. These rare disorders develop during pregnancy and can be associated with other birth defects." *

• The NEI goes on to say, "Causes of these conditions may include genetic mutations and abnormal chromosomes. Researchers also believe that environmental factors, such as exposure to X-rays, chemicals, drugs, pesticides, toxins, radiation, or viruses, increase the risk of anophthalmia and microphthalmia, but research is not conclusive. Sometimes the cause in an individual patient cannot be determined." *

  *It appears that the largest epidemiological study on the two conditions was conducted using the California birth registry and appeared in the *International Journal of Epidemiology *in 1996, although a search of Medline will show that these conditions occur throughout the world and in countries that did not deploy soldiers to the Gulf. The California study found the rate for either disorder to be 1.5 per 10,000 births. Let's assume that the 700,000 U.S. vets of the Gulf War each had only one child, which would put them well below average. Even still, that would mean 105 cases could be expected among these children by chance alone. Each year, about four million children are born in the U.S. That would mean 600 cases per year, not the three to four you were falsely told. Put another way, since the Gulf War there have been about 8,000 cases. This is a rare disorder, but not nearly as rare as you thought. As to having both disorders, it would seem logical that since they are related that whatever disposes a child to one would tend to dispose a child to the other. Taylor is by no stretch of the imagination unique in his illness. *

• But regardless of how rare it might be, how do you simply jump to the conclusion that "the only explanation to his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf"? There is no literature indicating that Gulf vets are more likely to have children with this birth defect and therefore well over 99 percent of the cases are in children whose parents did not serve in the Gulf. This is what I mean when I say that when somebody who didn't go to the Gulf gets a cough it's called "a cough," but the same thing in a Gulf vet is called GWS. *

  *Nor does it help your case that a disproportionate number of GW vets have developed ALS. The excess was barely statistically significant and was only found when compared to matched vets who didn't deploy. When compared to matched civilians, there is no abnormal ALS rate in Gulf vets. In fact, the sickness and death rates for Gulf vets in general are the same as for vets who didn't deploy and far below those of civilians. *

• The problem here is that it is horribly difficult for a parent to look at his child and see birth defects when children all around him were born perfectly healthy. The parent naturally seeks an explanation. If you worked in a chemical factory, you would no doubt blame the chemicals. But you didn't; you went to the Gulf so you blame something there. But sometimes there's no one and nothing to blame. Bad things happen to good people. On the other hand, your son is lucky to have been born at a time when science is developing bionic devices that will one day give him sight, though obviously not as soon as you and he would like. He's lucky to live in a country that believes in paying for these things, rather than doling out socialized medicine. Finally, he's also quite lucky to have as caring a father as you. Yes, I feel bad for him but then again no worse than I do for any other blind child. And I feel bad for you, because obviously you have not made peace with a problem that – at this time at least – you cannot improve. Put your energy into your child, not into anger or resentment or whatever you feel. May God bless you both. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Agent Orange Hate

You Need to Do What's Already Been Done

 I am a combat Viet Nam vetern [*sic*]. The ranch [*sic*] hand [*sic*] study is flawed but not for the reasons you suspect. 

A better study group would have been combat veterans. The veterans who like me, spent many days and weeks in the field without the benefit of clean clothes, shower [sic] and clean water.

Since my return from Viet Nam I have lost both Kidneys [sic] to disease and suffer prostate cancer. If you would have put as much energy into studying the effects on combat veterans as you did the ranch [sic] hand [sic] group, I think you would come away with a different prospective [sic – he means perspective] on this subject.

Thank You [sic]

[omitted] Frabel

*Dear Mr. Frabel: *

• Actually, all Ranch Hands are combat veterans. But I suspect you mean grunts on the ground. As it happens, they have been thoroughly studied and it's been determined that none of them received dioxin exposure even approaching those in the Ranch Hand group. In fact, it was found that soldiers in Vietnam on average had no more exposure than civilians back in the States. That's because at the time several products like soaps contained dioxin and dioxin was also created during some burning and bleaching processes. My mother washed me in dioxin-containing liquid soap. *
• I don't know why you lost your kidneys, but I suspect it was for the reason your doctor gave. Kidney transplants are the second most common transplant operation in this country (corneal transplants rank first) with more than 9,000 procedures annually. Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over 75 years old. Obviously, you are hardly unusual in suffering this disease and obviously the vast majority of sufferers never served in Vietnam. The big difference is that they have nobody to blame. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Erin Brockovich Hate

**Oh Boy, I've got Cancer! Now I Can Sue Somebody! **

Hey Mike!

Thanks for contacting me and telling me about the law suit [sic] against Beverly Hills High.. I too developed Thyroid [sic] Cancer and now Im [sic] suing the school! (graduating class of 67')

Candy

CANDYMINTZ@omitted

*Dear Candy: *

• Actually I didn't "contact you;" I wrote a piece that you read. I wish I could be as delighted as you are with your alleged thyroid cancer. Unfortunately, you're not going to win your case since A) nobody has ever produced the least evidence that petroleum fumes cause any type of cancer, as your attorney will have to argue, and B) the only epidemiological study of Beverly Hills High has found no excess of cancers. The suit that Erin Brockovich's firm filed has become a quagmire for them and the same will happen with yours. But I guess I'm supposed to wish you a Happy Cancer. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  Mike,

I just bought a brand new BMW with the monies [sic] I will collect from the school!

thanks again!!!!

*Did you let someone sell you the Brooklyn Bridge while you were at it? I think I'm just going to let you dissolve, Candymintz. You've got real problems, and they're not in your throat. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  **I Didn't Read the Article, but I Saw the Movie **

Dear Mr. Fumento,

Just a comment about your article. The reason, I believe, that Erin Brockovich was chosen to address this UN Environmental Conference is not due to her past deeds, but because of her current affiliation with Save The World Air, Inc., a company that has developed emissions controlling devices for all types of fossil fuel engines. [111 words omitted due to utter irrelevancy.]

I hope a better article will emerge on this subject that reflects the real issue. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[omitted] Witten

*Dear Ms. Witten: *

• That's all quite fascinating, except that my piece made no mention of any U.N. environmental conference but rather of an American Public Health Association conference. In fact, the APHA was mentioned no fewer than nine times. Why do you want "a better article" when you obviously didn't bother reading the one you're complaining about? *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

CAFE Hate

** Did Viking Cars Have Horned Hood Ornaments? **

  Hi Michael, 

I found your article through Google – "The High Cost of Cleaner Cars Fuel Economy Rules Will Cut Jobs, Raise Prices." It was written in 1992 and I'm curious as to how your perspectives have changed now that
a.) fuel [sic] prices are at all time highs [Actually, by the time this hate mail volume appeared they were 20 percent off those highs.]
b.) we're [sic] mired in a war in Iraq that on some level is directly related to our economic dependence on oil, e.g. if we weren't dependent on middle [sic] east [sic] oil we'd have a lot less direct interaction with that area of the world. Witness Africa if you need an example or an area we can ignore because there's little economic reason for us to get involved.
c.) at [sic] this point every credible scientist in the world believes green house [sic] gases are a major issue. even [sic] Bush is starting to discuss the topic.

Sincerely,
Kent [omitted]

*Dear Kent: *

• Insofar as: *
• 1. Fuel prices are only at all-time highs when inflation isn't factored in. In today's dollars, the highest price for a barrel of oil was $80 – a tad more than what we're paying today;
• I agree we should be less dependent on Middle East oil, but there are numerous alternatives to making cars less safe through raising CAFE standards. One would be imitating Europe's move towards clean-burning, powerful, high-fuel-economy diesel engines. I've driven them on the Autobahn and they're wonderful; yet only now are they making a comeback here;
• Greenhouse gases are certainly a political issue, but that doesn't mean they're responsible for warming the earth. The earth has cooled and warmed throughout history, as indicated by such terms as "the ice age" and "the little ice age." The Viking forays that resulted in terrorizing much of the world, settling Greenland, and discovering North America would not have been possible had the earth not become far warmer during the medieval warm period than any scientist is predicting global warming will accomplish in the next century. But the history books I've read on the subject say there weren't too many automobiles or other uses of fossil fuel back then. *
• My position is unchanged. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Totally Gratuitous Hate

Photo Funnies

change [sic] ur [sic] picture, then perhaps people wouldn't send you negative mail!

Brandon Wright

Dear Brandon,

• I tried. I used a picture of you and got so much hate mail it crashed my server.*

  Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento

good [sic] one buddy.who [sic] the fuck writes on hate mail anyway except for a fag dressed like michael [sic] jackson [sic] like urself. [sic]

*Don't like being one-upped, do you Brandon? Then don't write to anybody with a higher IQ than you have. In other words, don't write to anyone. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Dude [sic] If you had another brain, it would be lonely.

Enough. Get a life, even if you have to borrow someone else's.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Obesity Hate

An Appleton a Day Keeps Intelligence Away

I ended up looking at your site because you wrote an article on the fat gene. I have an ongoing argument with one of my friends at work who is very overweight. He thinks a large group of people fit into the "It's not me, it's my genes" mode. I am in the exercise and eat less camp. The topics that you cover are very interesting. But it did not take long to see how nasty you are and how much pleasure you get from insulting people. I changed my mind about reading your books or articles. There seem to be a lot of people in 2004 with this negative persona, so the general American public must like it. Ann Coulter and other political guttersnipes come to mind. On the more pornographic spectrum, Howard Stern comes to mind as well as all the vulgar rap videos. Disrespect sells today. I am sure you don't care what I think. Hope this trend changes.

Mary Appleton

 *Dear Miss Appleton:* 

Translation: I said that fat people aren't fat because of their genes but because they eat too much and don't exercise enough to make up for it. Put another way, rather than be warm and fuzzy and pat them on the head and tell them, "You're fat is not your fault," I told them that their fat is nobody's fault by their own and until they accept that they will remain fat. Perhaps you think it compassionate to lie to people and to keep them from their goals and conversely horrifically rude and nasty to tell them the truth. But you're right in that I don't care what you think and that's a trend that won't change.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Stem Cell Hate

[This was a response to a posting from a blog called Terry's LJ. It was a rip on my piece, "Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells. His remarks are in Roman type and quotes.]

1. "Being for the use of fetal stem cells does not necessarily imply that you are against the use of adult stem cells." There is no mention of "fetal stem cells" in the entire piece, though such a thing exists. The only mention is of embryonic stem cells. If you think a fetus and an embryo are the same thing, time to retake Biology 101. Regardless, you don't need any kind of a degree to repeat the words I used rather than make up your own and attribute them to me.
2. "Fumento conveniently neglects to mention any approved therapies that use adult stem cells, either." Really? Is that why you proceed to write: "Fumento's most bullshitty blurb cites two pages that note the various adult stem cell therapies either in use or in clinical trials." Which is it? No mention or just a "bullshitty" mention? In fact, I wrote "Groopman specifically mentions Fanconi's Anemia, but it was first treated with umbilical cord stem cells 16 years ago." And: At one website you'll find a list, far from comprehensive, of almost 80 therapies using them. This is treatment, not practice or theory. Amazingly, there are also more than 300 adult stem cell clinical trials. I provided links to both lists.
3. "He fails to mention that nearly all of them are variations on a single, venerable treatment: blood stem cells (usually from marrow) given to patients undergoing chemotherapy." No, if you'd looked at either list you'd see that a minority of the ailments on either list concern cancer. Like your entire blog entry, and presumably like your entire blog, this is a fabrication.

[*To his credit, Terry admitted that he had written in haste and would later write a "clarification." But no clarification came. Apparently he decided he was just plain wrong.]*

Environmentalist Hate

Hello Mr. Michael Fumento:

A few years ago you wrote a column that appeared in the National Post (Toronto) in which you alleged organic farming contributes to soil erosion. Can you supply any references published in peer reviewed journals that support your claim or was it a misprint?

[omitted] Woodruff
Vancouver BC Canada

Organic farming contributes to soil erosion by forbidding the use of herbicides, thus requiring tilling. Herbicides are needed for no-till farming. No-till tremendously reduces soil erosion. Are you so unable to use either common sense or a computer that you can't figure this out, or was your email a misprint?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Mr. Fumento: I assumed there was an honest mistake and I also assumed you were a gentleman.

I can see that I was wrong on both counts.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

*Dear Mr. Woodruff:* 

You assumed nothing; you were baiting me. In fact, you appear to be a master-baiter.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Michael Fumento:

I requested scientific references. – your [sic] opinion, your rudeness and your use of a double entendre insult merely serves to underscore your lack of knowledge of soil science.

If you cannot or are not prepared to supply references requested – you are the one who is the master of dissimulation.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

](http://www.fumento.com/fumento.html)
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Gulf War Syndrome Hate

Not Much Horsepower, but Lots of Torque

dear [sic] mr. [sic] fumento [sic], ever been in battle, did,nt [sic] think so" [sic,sic] You sir, are typically [sic] for some reason critical of that we as veterans hold sacred, Never [sic], Never [sic] attack someone,s [sic] credibility unless you have been there yourself. I read deep seated [sic] resentments in your commentaries about agent orange, audie [sic] murphy, [sic] and probably Ira hayes [sic],if you knew anything about him. Torqued [sic] off vietnam [sic] vet...............

[Ira Hayes was one of the flag-raisers at Iwo Jima. Sadly, he drank himself to death.]

Larry Smith:

*Dear Mr. Smith: *

• I don't know whether you were ever in battle or not, nor how you define the word. You may be referring to a highly-charged negotiation at a bordello on Tudo Street in Saigon. In any case, I fail to comprehend how having seen combat makes one an expert in alleged GWS. You learn about illnesses by studying them or by reading what others who have studied them have written. Insofar as you completely misinterpreted what I wrote about Audie Murphy (I used him as an example of a true hero, rather than what passes for a hero today) and can't even string a sentence together, I sincerely doubt you read any of the three Institute of Medicine reports on GWS nor any of the medical papers that went into them. Correct me if I'm wrong – but I'm not. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Incoming Artillery Photographs!

Mr. Fumento, 

After seeing your website it really tears me up that I fought in a war to protect the rights of scum bags like you!

If you really want Irrefutable [sic] proof, of many of these chemical exposure's, [sic] then come down here to Indy, We'll [sic] both contact the press and I'll PERSONALLY debate you with military logs, official government declassified documents, and even photos of captured chemical rounds; which confirm our soldiers were indeed GASSED on several occasions during the Gulf War...So what's you problem??

For all you sick and disabled Gulf War Vet's [sic] out there who don't Mr. Fumemto [sic], then check out this chickenwing's [sic] website @http://www.fumento.com [sic]

[omitted] Lyons,SSG. [Sic, sic: "Staff Sergeant "requires no period when abbreviated and there should be a space after his name.]
USA Ret. (Medically)
101st Airborne Division
Disabled Gulf War Veteran

P.S. If you wish to take me up on this offer...then I invite you to get your fork out, because YOU WILL be eating CROW!! I personally can't WAIT...bring it on!!

[The email was CC'd to about a dozen people, including the �ber-pompous Lt. Col. David Hackworth, two members of the VA panel that declared the existence of GWS by fiat, and for some reason "The Nature Publishing Group," publishers of Nature Magazine.]

*Dear Mr. Lyons: *

• • *Gee, I wouldn't suppose you'd be reacting to the letter I posted from a doctor who was forced to treat Gulf War Weanies such as you, the one who said these weanies have "a tendency to view their medical advisors with a venom that far exceeds that which could be expected were their disease to be organic." You, venomous? Perish the thought! Let's do a simple logical process here. NOBODY suffered nerve gas poisoning during the Gulf War. The existence of photographs of intact shells does not disprove this, insofar as intact shells don't hurt people. That's what I was always taught, anyway. *

*Now, if NOBODY was poisoned and Mr. Lyons is a subset of NOBODY, then we can deduce that Mr. Lyons was not poisoned. In fact, I'll bet lots of people have referred to Mr. Lyons in the course of his life as a nobody. We can probably also deduce that rather than deal with life's problems, Mr. Lyons likes to blame other people and to throw spit and bile at those who say that usually our only real enemy is ourselves. As to your fighting to protect my rights, my assumption is that if you served in the Gulf at all it was probably to avoid the alternative of being court-martialed and sent to jail. *

*Regarding your attachments, as it happens I've just finished an article on the subject. Among other aspects, it relates that every previous government panel that looked at "Gulf War Syndrome" found there was nothing to look at. That includes an Institute of Medicine one released at almost exactly the same time as the one to which your articles refer. The difference between all of those panels and this latest one was that finally the VA got so sick of hearing from war wimps that it stacked the panel with activists, including one that you carbon copied your pleasant e-mail to. You may be able to wail pathetically until somebody feels the need to coddle you, but you cannot complain a non-existent disease into being. The coddlers have yet to find out that people like you can never be satisfied. Your mouth will still be filled with bile, but mine will be devoid of feathers thank you very much. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

[Thereafter he sent a short note, not worthy of the Hate Mail pages and I wrote back a short note, carbon copying it to the people he carbon copied it to. That included the following writer.]

**GWS Is Caused by Parasites, Like this One **

Mr. Fumento [sic]

Please take me off your list or when you reply to someone who emailed you just send your email to them and not everyone on the list. [Apparently he's not just a GWS-crusader; he's also crusading against punctuation.] I am not interested in what you think or write. In fact the manner in which you speak about Gulf War [sic] and other veterans is consistently degrading. [I wonder where that veteran named Gulf War spent his war years] You seem to take pleasure in the plight of ill veterans. I find this disturbing since you were a soldier at one point in your life.

It's ok if you disagree and have an opinion but it's unprofessional to denigrate, ridicule and make fun of anyone's suffering. You seem to place your own image of self above your journalistic duty. I recently read that you took pride in the idea that some people thought you had hurt the Kerry election because of your article on John Edwards. I have news for you. Your impact on politics is about as evident as your impact on Gulf War Illness research. Nobody cares what you think, Not [sic] the President, not the VA and not the DoD. It must be a conspiracy against you. Apparently , you are the last person on the planet to know the truth and everyone else is wrong.

I wonder if Scripps would like to read the the [sic] nasty things you have said to fathers, mothers and soldiers who fell ill after war. [sic] Would they take pride in your bias and attitude? Perhaps we should bring some ill veterans to the Hudson Institute to talk with you and your boss. I'll bet you lunch that you don't have the courage to talk to soldiers in person the way you do through email. It would be nice if you just went away and focused on some other group to babble about.

You have certainly lost this battle.

Steve Robinson
Executive Director
National Gulf War Resource Center

*Dear Mr. Robinson: *

• I merely hit the "reply to all" button. You were on somebody else's list, not mine. What I consistently do is to point out that Gulf vets are no sicker and no likelier to die than non-vets. Why this is villainous I'm not entirely sure, except that your income is dependent on insisting otherwise. In short, your job is lying. Don't go taking it personally just because I threaten your donor base and make you appear to be living scum of the earth for lying to 700,000 vets and their spouses and offspring. Far from denigrating people with true problems, I tell them they need to trust their doctors and not people like you. On the other hand, if they become a media and congressional darling by making such claims as having vomited glow-in-the-dark puke five days a week during physical training for 10 straight months, each time ending up in intensive care, then yes I'll make fun of that. (I speak, naturally, of the most famous GWS "victim" of all, Brian Martin.) And I'll make fun of you for going along with this obvious shyster because it serves your nefarious purposes. *

  *Regarding Kerry-Edwards, I actually thought it quite foolish for people to think my two pieces somehow threatened the entire ticket. I am not without influence, but I also know my limits. Would that you had such humility. I also know that when I google myself in "Google Scholar" I come up 73 times, whereas you come up but once – a mention in a piece exclusive to the Denver Post. Obviously the VA decided for political purposes it would buckle under to the conspiracy theorists, to a point where it appointed a panel including you and at least five other GWS activists out of only ten people. (I'll bet you'd flip out if I were named to a government GWS panel!) So, no, I'm not a big hit over there. But I'm told the folks at DoD love my work, so I'll have to settle for that. As to the President, last I heard neither of us spoke for him. But you always have these marvelous insights that have no supporting empirical evidence, so I must assume that – as always – we should simply take your word for it. As to me being the last person on the planet to hold a scientific position on GWS, as you must know the Institute of Medicine produced a report at almost exactly the same time as the rump VA panel and came to the opposite conclusion. Why the difference? Because their panel comprised only scientists, not self-serving activists like – well, my goodness, Stephen L. Robinson! Your very presence on the panel makes the entire report hogwash. *

  *What I write to Gulf vets, as well as what they write to me, is posted on my website and is therefore available to anyone. (Names are omitted to protect the guilty.) You are beloved of conspiracy theories; I prefer openness and accountability. Moreover, their very letters reveal the truth about GWS in listing diseases that don't exist and revealing in various ways that many of them were either never near the Gulf or never in the military – not that this would stop you from calling them victims of GWS. *

  *As to what my boss would say to these ill vets, it would be the same as what I say. "Where in your enlistment contract does it guarantee that if you raise your right hand you will never become sick and will live forever? Why are you so convinced that your sickness is from service in the Gulf, even as the nation has millions of people with the same illness who never got closer to the Gulf than their TV set? Is it because you've been listening to people like Steve Robinson? As to your stress-related illness, isn't it interesting that it didn't begin until you heard from people like Steve Robinson that you're SUPPOSED TO be ill? And in that sense, isn't the real "cause" of GWS people like Steve Robinson?" *

• I proved my courage as an airborne soldier in combat arms and I prove it when I continue to write the truth about GWS and relay it to our vets, instead of writing from press releases like most of the mainstream mass media and, like they, giving huge play to the loaded VA panel even as they ignored the IOM one. You, on the other hand, cower behind your wall of anecdotal evidence, numbers you make up yourself, and paid-for-science Gulf War whore Robert Haley. And while I write on dozens of issues each year of which only one is GWS, it is you who are the one-trick pony. *

*Actually, if GWS finally became accepted it would be the worst thing that could happen to you as you have but one role in life – to enrich yourself and your reputation at the expense of our vets. You would fade from sight, as you so very much deserve – and as you eventually will. As I noted, you are literally a cause of both mental and stress-related illness. These people don't suffer from nerve gas or DEET or Scud missile fuel, but rather you and your phony words and your phony reports. Unfortunately for the men and women who fought for us in the Gulf, the damage you have wrought cannot be undone and will not fade away. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

That's where you are wrong and will continue to be wrong. I have met with and spoke to the President. He is the one who formed the committee. Principi is the one who chose the members. Get your facts straight. I would be happy to forward your comments to the White House and the VA. Also I will send a copy over to the Secretary of Defense and his staff. I have meet [sic] with them also.

Does your position represent the way that the Hudson Institute operates?

Are your personal attacks against ill veterans in keeping with the Hudson Institutes [sic] principles and guidelines?

I think it would be terribly embarrassing for the Hudson Institute to see your email traffic on some news show like 60 min [sic] or some other venue.

Are you prepared to defend yourself and your actions to the Nation [sic]?

I suggest your [sic] not!

Let me know if you have the courage to express you views and your email correspondence to the Nation [sic] and I will arrange the interview.

It would be my pleasure to hear your excuses for ridiculing sick veterans.

*You wrote nothing that conflicted with what I said about the President. He ordered a committee to be formed, but Principi picked – and stacked – it. Your very presence on the panel, a wicked anti-vet GWS activist, proves my point. That there were at least five other members out of a total of ten with pre-declared anti-vet, pro-GWS prejudices just adds sauce to the goose. Interesting that you didn't address the issue of panel-stacking. *

• As to expressing my "views to the Nation," "nation" is spelled thus unless you're referring to your favorite liberal rag THE NATION. It, too, hates vets and anything military. Assuming you mean to refer to the U.S., I've been writing about GWS for a national audience since 1993. My first hate mail postings to yahoos like you appeared six years ago and are on a public website. So much for your "suggestion." And as I've told you before, I don't ridicule sick vets I ridicule half-wits like you. You claim to have been a Ranger. Whether that's true, I don't know. But when I read about the Rangers who kept firing at poor Pat Tillman despite his repeatedly indicating he was a friendly (not to mention that he was in an Army uniform, rather than Taliban garb) I couldn't help but think of you. You won't kill any vets outright, but you're certainly dedicated to making them miserable. You're friendly fire on two legs. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

**A Mocking Bird **

Mr. Fumento,

I have recently read some of your current writings.

Your obviously over inflated [sic] self-image and absurdly unprofessional conduct are truly amusing. I encourage you to continue promoting your severely insignificant opinions about Gulf War veterans and their illnesses. I am sure that they could all use an entertaining read after a day of spewing "glow-in-the-dark puke."

I enthusiastically encourage you to seek the assistance from a therapist appropriately trained in anger management. I would like to suggest The Freeman Institute. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/angercoach.htm

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. This year I am thanking my lucky stars that our government has had the good sense to team brilliant scientists and insightful, knowledgeable veterans alike to advocate for Gulf War veterans.

Maybe you have just been thinking too long in your little tank.

[omitted] Mock

*Dear Ms. Mock: *

• I get the feeling you're Mocking me. In any case, I enthusiastically encourage you to seek assistance from a psychiatrist trained in schizophrenia. I would like to suggest the services of Professor Tarr and Dr. Feather. (It's Poe; look it up.) Barring that you might try www.buffooninstitute.com. *
• What you're thanking your lucky stars for is that the government, frustrated with scientists, stacked its latest panel with activists – at least six out of ten. Problem is, they can SAY there's a GWS all they want but it won't create a GWS and won't lead to the cure of a single person. It will simply lead to more psychosomatic illness, to more vets thinking there might be a special treatment for their specific illness as opposed to the exact illness in their neighbor who never went to the Gulf, and to fears of currently healthy vets that any year or decade they may fall ill from something that DIDN'T HAPPEN in 1991. That panel will prove to be your worst enemy and certainly that of Gulf vets in general. They have truly carried on where Saddam left off. *
• Maybe you have just been drooling too long in your little padded cell. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Fuento; [sic]

You're right, I am mocking you. A quick one you are, after all. Except that I believe you ought to look up the proper definition of schizophrenia. Perhaps it is actually you who suffers from the unfortunate disorder involving separation of thought, emotion and bizarre behavior.

Ironic that you would refer to Poe; one dark and troubled spirit following another. Thank you once again for providing entertaining material worth a hearty chuckle.

[omitted] Mock

*Muck: *

• Actually, I've written about schizophrenia; have you? Do you have the least medical background, other than probably claiming to have a whole bunch of non-existent illnesses? I AM troubled that 700,000 people who served their country in its hour of need are being lied to, if that's what you mean. Yes it literally troubles my spirit, but I only picked the names of the two psychiatrists I mentioned because they are extremely well-known in literature not because of any special love of Poe's writings. I'm glad I've given you what's clearly a much-needed laugh, but this whole thing is an incredible tragedy for Gulf vets. And despite what you think my articles and columns make other people THINK. That this is not the reaction with Ms. Mock is not my fault. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Pumento, [sic]

So you have written about mental illness. By insinuating a dx [diagnosis] via one e-mail surely discredits whatever you have self-proclaimed as knowledge about mental illness.

And so now you have concerns about GW veterans. Reference my previous e-mail.

*Mook from Planet Ook: *

• Actually, it is possible to diagnose schizophrenia from one e-mail. What if that one e-mail said that the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and the Freemasons "are out to get me"? Pretty tendentious, no? Yes, I have concerns about GW veterans – which is why I've been writing about their health since 1993. Don't go running for your calculator; that's 12 years. Reference my previous emails and all my writings about GWS that are on my website at www.fumento.com. And stop writing, because I'm going to stop reading. Apparently your main symptom of GWS is terminal boringness. *
• And by the way, most of us give up name-calling somewhere around the fifth grade. It doesn't speak well of you that you continue to employ it. Either that or you're a fifth-grader. I'm willing to accept either explanation. *
• Goodbye,
  Michael Fumento*

[Yes, I realized I name-called back. But she started it! Whaaaa!]

Be Bored. Be Very Bored.

Subject: Your anthrax nightmare begins

Mike,

Here come the footsteps you have been hearing. The book, by Gary Matsumoto, will be out on Oct [sic] 19 from Basic Books. [The reference is to Vaccine A: The Covert Pentagon Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers – And Why GI's are Only the First Victims.]

 You are at least an obsequious apologist on this, and perhaps more. 

Jay [omitted]

*Dear Jay: *

• Insofar as the thesis that GIs are suffering from some mysterious illness has been repeatedly disproved, this is as useful and as exciting a book as the latest expose on UFO abductions. I don't hear the "footsteps" of those books either, thank you. *
• Now run out and play in the traffic with your little friends. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Mike, I know you are going to love this:

[Hyperlink to a story in the Delaware News Journal, readership of 2.]

And this story promises to get even better and better.

Pay attention so you know the score, which you obviously did not in the past.

Your past pronouncements may [sic] hilarious reading. Give them a look.

I see you made Matsumoto's book. Nice going.

Jay

*Dear Jay, *

• I know you're going to love this. If you check Amazon.com you'll see I'm actually mentioned in about 160 books out of those few they've gotten around to indexing. And some of those books have actually been read. Look up your buddy's book on Amazon or B&N.com. Other than getting repeat mentions in the same tiny Delaware newspaper he's selling no books and creating virtually no publicity. What a tragedy to spend three, maybe four, whole weeks writing a book and have nobody read it or even hear about it. Compare that to the millions of readers I get every time I do a column on how GWS is a fraud and people like Matsumoto are hucksters. Also, Reason Magazine has a new book out that's essentially "The Best of Reason." It contains a certain article called "Gulf Lore Syndrome" by a certain writer known to you. *
• Now play in the traffic like I told you, and don't come back until you've at least broken your fingers. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

  **A Rare Illness? Must be GWS-caused. **

Dr [sic] Mr. Fumento,

While view [sic] your web-site [sic] I noticed a complete bias against those who have served the Armed Services during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Although you are factual in most of your reports, I think you might want to investigate the percentage of those who have legitimate claims not the ones who are trying to get benefits for hang-nails. Although, many Gulf War Veterans [sic] feel that every sneeze is attributable to our exposures in theater. [sic] I agree with you in the fact [sic] every illness is not a result of some Syndrome [sic], however, there are those that have experienced health problems that can not be found in the general population or veterans who were not in the region.

I have many symptoms that I might have had even if I didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, and I readily admit that, and it also kept me from seeking treatment for almost 10 years. The triggering factor that sent me on a 6 year quest to research ailments of Gulf War Veterans [sic] was the birth of my son. For you see, he was born with a birth defect like no other child. Taylor, my son, was born missing his Right Eye [sic], Anathalmic [He means he's "anophthalmic."], and his Left Eye [sic] was not properly formed, Microthalmic. [He means he's "microphthalmic."] Either of these conditions is rare since it occurs in approximately 3 to 4 births a year in the United States. What makes Taylor's [*sic]* the exception, is that he was born with both conditions. Taylor is treated at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University. After being treated for 6 years the only explanation to [sic] his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf.

With that being said I researched my conditions and found that they are either related to my Central Nervous System [sic] or Auto-immune [sic] system. And these are not treatable. Additionally it has been proven that ALS has been found in an unproportionate [sic] number of Gulf War Veterans [sic]. Like I said earlier I do believe that there are those who feel that every sneeze is a result of a Gulf War Syndrome. But I ask you this, [sic] can you look Taylor in the face and tell him that his condition is made up and a figment of his imagination?

[Photo of son attached.]

[omitted] Carini

*Dear Mr. Carini: *

• I have never said that Gulf vets or their spouses or offspring do not have real illnesses; I've said they have no more illnesses than other people. That's quite a difference. *
• According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), "Anophthalmia and microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia is a disorder in which one or both eyes are abnormally small, while anophthalmia is the absence of one or both eyes. These rare disorders develop during pregnancy and can be associated with other birth defects." *

• The NEI goes on to say, "Causes of these conditions may include genetic mutations and abnormal chromosomes. Researchers also believe that environmental factors, such as exposure to X-rays, chemicals, drugs, pesticides, toxins, radiation, or viruses, increase the risk of anophthalmia and microphthalmia, but research is not conclusive. Sometimes the cause in an individual patient cannot be determined." *

  *It appears that the largest epidemiological study on the two conditions was conducted using the California birth registry and appeared in the *International Journal of Epidemiology *in 1996, although a search of Medline will show that these conditions occur throughout the world and in countries that did not deploy soldiers to the Gulf. The California study found the rate for either disorder to be 1.5 per 10,000 births. Let's assume that the 700,000 U.S. vets of the Gulf War each had only one child, which would put them well below average. Even still, that would mean 105 cases could be expected among these children by chance alone. Each year, about four million children are born in the U.S. That would mean 600 cases per year, not the three to four you were falsely told. Put another way, since the Gulf War there have been about 8,000 cases. This is a rare disorder, but not nearly as rare as you thought. As to having both disorders, it would seem logical that since they are related that whatever disposes a child to one would tend to dispose a child to the other. Taylor is by no stretch of the imagination unique in his illness. *

• But regardless of how rare it might be, how do you simply jump to the conclusion that "the only explanation to his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf"? There is no literature indicating that Gulf vets are more likely to have children with this birth defect and therefore well over 99 percent of the cases are in children whose parents did not serve in the Gulf. This is what I mean when I say that when somebody who didn't go to the Gulf gets a cough it's called "a cough," but the same thing in a Gulf vet is called GWS. *

  *Nor does it help your case that a disproportionate number of GW vets have developed ALS. The excess was barely statistically significant and was only found when compared to matched vets who didn't deploy. When compared to matched civilians, there is no abnormal ALS rate in Gulf vets. In fact, the sickness and death rates for Gulf vets in general are the same as for vets who didn't deploy and far below those of civilians. *

• The problem here is that it is horribly difficult for a parent to look at his child and see birth defects when children all around him were born perfectly healthy. The parent naturally seeks an explanation. If you worked in a chemical factory, you would no doubt blame the chemicals. But you didn't; you went to the Gulf so you blame something there. But sometimes there's no one and nothing to blame. Bad things happen to good people. On the other hand, your son is lucky to have been born at a time when science is developing bionic devices that will one day give him sight, though obviously not as soon as you and he would like. He's lucky to live in a country that believes in paying for these things, rather than doling out socialized medicine. Finally, he's also quite lucky to have as caring a father as you. Yes, I feel bad for him but then again no worse than I do for any other blind child. And I feel bad for you, because obviously you have not made peace with a problem that – at this time at least – you cannot improve. Put your energy into your child, not into anger or resentment or whatever you feel. May God bless you both. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Agent Orange Hate

You Need to Do What's Already Been Done

   I am a combat Viet Nam vetern [*sic*]. The ranch [*sic*] hand [*sic*] study is flawed but not for the reasons you suspect. 

A better study group would have been combat veterans. The veterans who like me, spent many days and weeks in the field without the benefit of clean clothes, shower [sic] and clean water.

Since my return from Viet Nam I have lost both Kidneys [sic] to disease and suffer prostate cancer. If you would have put as much energy into studying the effects on combat veterans as you did the ranch [sic] hand [sic] group, I think you would come away with a different prospective [sic – he means perspective] on this subject.

Thank You [sic]

[omitted] Frabel

*Dear Mr. Frabel: *

• Actually, all Ranch Hands are combat veterans. But I suspect you mean grunts on the ground. As it happens, they have been thoroughly studied and it's been determined that none of them received dioxin exposure even approaching those in the Ranch Hand group. In fact, it was found that soldiers in Vietnam on average had no more exposure than civilians back in the States. That's because at the time several products like soaps contained dioxin and dioxin was also created during some burning and bleaching processes. My mother washed me in dioxin-containing liquid soap. *
• I don't know why you lost your kidneys, but I suspect it was for the reason your doctor gave. Kidney transplants are the second most common transplant operation in this country (corneal transplants rank first) with more than 9,000 procedures annually. Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over 75 years old. Obviously, you are hardly unusual in suffering this disease and obviously the vast majority of sufferers never served in Vietnam. The big difference is that they have nobody to blame. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Erin Brockovich Hate

**Oh Boy, I've got Cancer! Now I Can Sue Somebody! **

Hey Mike!

Thanks for contacting me and telling me about the law suit [sic] against Beverly Hills High.. I too developed Thyroid [sic] Cancer and now Im [sic] suing the school! (graduating class of 67')

Candy

CANDYMINTZ@omitted

*Dear Candy: *

• Actually I didn't "contact you;" I wrote a piece that you read. I wish I could be as delighted as you are with your alleged thyroid cancer. Unfortunately, you're not going to win your case since A) nobody has ever produced the least evidence that petroleum fumes cause any type of cancer, as your attorney will have to argue, and B) the only epidemiological study of Beverly Hills High has found no excess of cancers. The suit that Erin Brockovich's firm filed has become a quagmire for them and the same will happen with yours. But I guess I'm supposed to wish you a Happy Cancer. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  Mike,

I just bought a brand new BMW with the monies [sic] I will collect from the school!

thanks again!!!!

*Did you let someone sell you the Brooklyn Bridge while you were at it? I think I'm just going to let you dissolve, Candymintz. You've got real problems, and they're not in your throat. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  **I Didn't Read the Article, but I Saw the Movie **

Dear Mr. Fumento,

Just a comment about your article. The reason, I believe, that Erin Brockovich was chosen to address this UN Environmental Conference is not due to her past deeds, but because of her current affiliation with Save The World Air, Inc., a company that has developed emissions controlling devices for all types of fossil fuel engines. [111 words omitted due to utter irrelevancy.]

I hope a better article will emerge on this subject that reflects the real issue. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[omitted] Witten

*Dear Ms. Witten: *

• That's all quite fascinating, except that my piece made no mention of any U.N. environmental conference but rather of an American Public Health Association conference. In fact, the APHA was mentioned no fewer than nine times. Why do you want "a better article" when you obviously didn't bother reading the one you're complaining about? *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

CAFE Hate

** Did Viking Cars Have Horned Hood Ornaments? **

   Hi Michael, 

I found your article through Google – "The High Cost of Cleaner Cars Fuel Economy Rules Will Cut Jobs, Raise Prices." It was written in 1992 and I'm curious as to how your perspectives have changed now that
a.) fuel [sic] prices are at all time highs [Actually, by the time this hate mail volume appeared they were 20 percent off those highs.]
b.) we're [sic] mired in a war in Iraq that on some level is directly related to our economic dependence on oil, e.g. if we weren't dependent on middle [sic] east [sic] oil we'd have a lot less direct interaction with that area of the world. Witness Africa if you need an example or an area we can ignore because there's little economic reason for us to get involved.
c.) at [sic] this point every credible scientist in the world believes green house [sic] gases are a major issue. even [sic] Bush is starting to discuss the topic.

Sincerely,
Kent [omitted]

*Dear Kent: *

• Insofar as: *
• 1. Fuel prices are only at all-time highs when inflation isn't factored in. In today's dollars, the highest price for a barrel of oil was $80 – a tad more than what we're paying today;
• I agree we should be less dependent on Middle East oil, but there are numerous alternatives to making cars less safe through raising CAFE standards. One would be imitating Europe's move towards clean-burning, powerful, high-fuel-economy diesel engines. I've driven them on the Autobahn and they're wonderful; yet only now are they making a comeback here;
• Greenhouse gases are certainly a political issue, but that doesn't mean they're responsible for warming the earth. The earth has cooled and warmed throughout history, as indicated by such terms as "the ice age" and "the little ice age." The Viking forays that resulted in terrorizing much of the world, settling Greenland, and discovering North America would not have been possible had the earth not become far warmer during the medieval warm period than any scientist is predicting global warming will accomplish in the next century. But the history books I've read on the subject say there weren't too many automobiles or other uses of fossil fuel back then. *
• My position is unchanged. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Totally Gratuitous Hate

Photo Funnies

  change [*sic*] ur [*sic*] picture, then perhaps people wouldn't send you negative mail! 

Brandon Wright

Dear Brandon,

• I tried. I used a picture of you and got so much hate mail it crashed my server.*

  Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento

good [sic] one buddy.who [sic] the fuck writes on hate mail anyway except for a fag dressed like michael [sic] jackson [sic] like urself. [sic]

*Don't like being one-upped, do you Brandon? Then don't write to anybody with a higher IQ than you have. In other words, don't write to anyone. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Dude [sic] If you had another brain, it would be lonely.

Enough. Get a life, even if you have to borrow someone else's.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Obesity Hate

An Appleton a Day Keeps Intelligence Away

I ended up looking at your site because you wrote an article on the fat gene. I have an ongoing argument with one of my friends at work who is very overweight. He thinks a large group of people fit into the "It's not me, it's my genes" mode. I am in the exercise and eat less camp. The topics that you cover are very interesting. But it did not take long to see how nasty you are and how much pleasure you get from insulting people. I changed my mind about reading your books or articles. There seem to be a lot of people in 2004 with this negative persona, so the general American public must like it. Ann Coulter and other political guttersnipes come to mind. On the more pornographic spectrum, Howard Stern comes to mind as well as all the vulgar rap videos. Disrespect sells today. I am sure you don't care what I think. Hope this trend changes.

Mary Appleton

  *Dear Miss Appleton:* 

Translation: I said that fat people aren't fat because of their genes but because they eat too much and don't exercise enough to make up for it. Put another way, rather than be warm and fuzzy and pat them on the head and tell them, "You're fat is not your fault," I told them that their fat is nobody's fault by their own and until they accept that they will remain fat. Perhaps you think it compassionate to lie to people and to keep them from their goals and conversely horrifically rude and nasty to tell them the truth. But you're right in that I don't care what you think and that's a trend that won't change.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Stem Cell Hate

[This was a response to a posting from a blog called Terry's LJ. It was a rip on my piece, "Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells. His remarks are in Roman type and quotes.]

1. "Being for the use of fetal stem cells does not necessarily imply that you are against the use of adult stem cells." There is no mention of "fetal stem cells" in the entire piece, though such a thing exists. The only mention is of embryonic stem cells. If you think a fetus and an embryo are the same thing, time to retake Biology 101. Regardless, you don't need any kind of a degree to repeat the words I used rather than make up your own and attribute them to me.
2. "Fumento conveniently neglects to mention any approved therapies that use adult stem cells, either." Really? Is that why you proceed to write: "Fumento's most bullshitty blurb cites two pages that note the various adult stem cell therapies either in use or in clinical trials." Which is it? No mention or just a "bullshitty" mention? In fact, I wrote "Groopman specifically mentions Fanconi's Anemia, but it was first treated with umbilical cord stem cells 16 years ago." And: At one website you'll find a list, far from comprehensive, of almost 80 therapies using them. This is treatment, not practice or theory. Amazingly, there are also more than 300 adult stem cell clinical trials. I provided links to both lists.
3. "He fails to mention that nearly all of them are variations on a single, venerable treatment: blood stem cells (usually from marrow) given to patients undergoing chemotherapy." No, if you'd looked at either list you'd see that a minority of the ailments on either list concern cancer. Like your entire blog entry, and presumably like your entire blog, this is a fabrication.

[*To his credit, Terry admitted that he had written in haste and would later write a "clarification." But no clarification came. Apparently he decided he was just plain wrong.]*

Environmentalist Hate

Hello Mr. Michael Fumento:

A few years ago you wrote a column that appeared in the National Post (Toronto) in which you alleged organic farming contributes to soil erosion. Can you supply any references published in peer reviewed journals that support your claim or was it a misprint?

[omitted] Woodruff
Vancouver BC Canada

Organic farming contributes to soil erosion by forbidding the use of herbicides, thus requiring tilling. Herbicides are needed for no-till farming. No-till tremendously reduces soil erosion. Are you so unable to use either common sense or a computer that you can't figure this out, or was your email a misprint?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Mr. Fumento: I assumed there was an honest mistake and I also assumed you were a gentleman.

I can see that I was wrong on both counts.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

*Dear Mr. Woodruff:* 

You assumed nothing; you were baiting me. In fact, you appear to be a master-baiter.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Michael Fumento:

I requested scientific references. – your [sic] opinion, your rudeness and your use of a double entendre insult merely serves to underscore your lack of knowledge of soil science.

If you cannot or are not prepared to supply references requested – you are the one who is the master of dissimulation.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

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Meaningless, Purposeless Hate

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.
– Eric Hoffer

Gulf War Syndrome Hate

Not Much Horsepower, but Lots of Torque

dear [sic] mr. [sic] fumento [sic], ever been in battle, did,nt [sic] think so" [sic,sic] You sir, are typically [sic] for some reason critical of that we as veterans hold sacred, Never [sic], Never [sic] attack someone,s [sic] credibility unless you have been there yourself. I read deep seated [sic] resentments in your commentaries about agent orange, audie [sic] murphy, [sic] and probably Ira hayes [sic],if you knew anything about him. Torqued [sic] off vietnam [sic] vet...............

[Ira Hayes was one of the flag-raisers at Iwo Jima. Sadly, he drank himself to death.]

Larry Smith:

*Dear Mr. Smith: *

• I don't know whether you were ever in battle or not, nor how you define the word. You may be referring to a highly-charged negotiation at a bordello on Tudo Street in Saigon. In any case, I fail to comprehend how having seen combat makes one an expert in alleged GWS. You learn about illnesses by studying them or by reading what others who have studied them have written. Insofar as you completely misinterpreted what I wrote about Audie Murphy (I used him as an example of a true hero, rather than what passes for a hero today) and can't even string a sentence together, I sincerely doubt you read any of the three Institute of Medicine reports on GWS nor any of the medical papers that went into them. Correct me if I'm wrong – but I'm not. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Incoming Artillery Photographs!

 Mr. Fumento, 

After seeing your website it really tears me up that I fought in a war to protect the rights of scum bags like you!

If you really want Irrefutable [sic] proof, of many of these chemical exposure's, [sic] then come down here to Indy, We'll [sic] both contact the press and I'll PERSONALLY debate you with military logs, official government declassified documents, and even photos of captured chemical rounds; which confirm our soldiers were indeed GASSED on several occasions during the Gulf War...So what's you problem??

For all you sick and disabled Gulf War Vet's [sic] out there who don't Mr. Fumemto [sic], then check out this chickenwing's [sic] website @http://www.fumento.com [sic]

[omitted] Lyons,SSG. [Sic, sic: "Staff Sergeant "requires no period when abbreviated and there should be a space after his name.]
USA Ret. (Medically)
101st Airborne Division
Disabled Gulf War Veteran

P.S. If you wish to take me up on this offer...then I invite you to get your fork out, because YOU WILL be eating CROW!! I personally can't WAIT...bring it on!!

[The email was CC'd to about a dozen people, including the �ber-pompous Lt. Col. David Hackworth, two members of the VA panel that declared the existence of GWS by fiat, and for some reason "The Nature Publishing Group," publishers of Nature Magazine.]

*Dear Mr. Lyons: *

• • *Gee, I wouldn't suppose you'd be reacting to the letter I posted from a doctor who was forced to treat Gulf War Weanies such as you, the one who said these weanies have "a tendency to view their medical advisors with a venom that far exceeds that which could be expected were their disease to be organic." You, venomous? Perish the thought! Let's do a simple logical process here. NOBODY suffered nerve gas poisoning during the Gulf War. The existence of photographs of intact shells does not disprove this, insofar as intact shells don't hurt people. That's what I was always taught, anyway. *

*Now, if NOBODY was poisoned and Mr. Lyons is a subset of NOBODY, then we can deduce that Mr. Lyons was not poisoned. In fact, I'll bet lots of people have referred to Mr. Lyons in the course of his life as a nobody. We can probably also deduce that rather than deal with life's problems, Mr. Lyons likes to blame other people and to throw spit and bile at those who say that usually our only real enemy is ourselves. As to your fighting to protect my rights, my assumption is that if you served in the Gulf at all it was probably to avoid the alternative of being court-martialed and sent to jail. *

*Regarding your attachments, as it happens I've just finished an article on the subject. Among other aspects, it relates that every previous government panel that looked at "Gulf War Syndrome" found there was nothing to look at. That includes an Institute of Medicine one released at almost exactly the same time as the one to which your articles refer. The difference between all of those panels and this latest one was that finally the VA got so sick of hearing from war wimps that it stacked the panel with activists, including one that you carbon copied your pleasant e-mail to. You may be able to wail pathetically until somebody feels the need to coddle you, but you cannot complain a non-existent disease into being. The coddlers have yet to find out that people like you can never be satisfied. Your mouth will still be filled with bile, but mine will be devoid of feathers thank you very much. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

[Thereafter he sent a short note, not worthy of the Hate Mail pages and I wrote back a short note, carbon copying it to the people he carbon copied it to. That included the following writer.]

**GWS Is Caused by Parasites, Like this One **

Mr. Fumento [sic]

Please take me off your list or when you reply to someone who emailed you just send your email to them and not everyone on the list. [Apparently he's not just a GWS-crusader; he's also crusading against punctuation.] I am not interested in what you think or write. In fact the manner in which you speak about Gulf War [sic] and other veterans is consistently degrading. [I wonder where that veteran named Gulf War spent his war years] You seem to take pleasure in the plight of ill veterans. I find this disturbing since you were a soldier at one point in your life.

It's ok if you disagree and have an opinion but it's unprofessional to denigrate, ridicule and make fun of anyone's suffering. You seem to place your own image of self above your journalistic duty. I recently read that you took pride in the idea that some people thought you had hurt the Kerry election because of your article on John Edwards. I have news for you. Your impact on politics is about as evident as your impact on Gulf War Illness research. Nobody cares what you think, Not [sic] the President, not the VA and not the DoD. It must be a conspiracy against you. Apparently , you are the last person on the planet to know the truth and everyone else is wrong.

I wonder if Scripps would like to read the the [sic] nasty things you have said to fathers, mothers and soldiers who fell ill after war. [sic] Would they take pride in your bias and attitude? Perhaps we should bring some ill veterans to the Hudson Institute to talk with you and your boss. I'll bet you lunch that you don't have the courage to talk to soldiers in person the way you do through email. It would be nice if you just went away and focused on some other group to babble about.

You have certainly lost this battle.

Steve Robinson
Executive Director
National Gulf War Resource Center

*Dear Mr. Robinson: *

• I merely hit the "reply to all" button. You were on somebody else's list, not mine. What I consistently do is to point out that Gulf vets are no sicker and no likelier to die than non-vets. Why this is villainous I'm not entirely sure, except that your income is dependent on insisting otherwise. In short, your job is lying. Don't go taking it personally just because I threaten your donor base and make you appear to be living scum of the earth for lying to 700,000 vets and their spouses and offspring. Far from denigrating people with true problems, I tell them they need to trust their doctors and not people like you. On the other hand, if they become a media and congressional darling by making such claims as having vomited glow-in-the-dark puke five days a week during physical training for 10 straight months, each time ending up in intensive care, then yes I'll make fun of that. (I speak, naturally, of the most famous GWS "victim" of all, Brian Martin.) And I'll make fun of you for going along with this obvious shyster because it serves your nefarious purposes. *

  *Regarding Kerry-Edwards, I actually thought it quite foolish for people to think my two pieces somehow threatened the entire ticket. I am not without influence, but I also know my limits. Would that you had such humility. I also know that when I google myself in "Google Scholar" I come up 73 times, whereas you come up but once – a mention in a piece exclusive to the Denver Post. Obviously the VA decided for political purposes it would buckle under to the conspiracy theorists, to a point where it appointed a panel including you and at least five other GWS activists out of only ten people. (I'll bet you'd flip out if I were named to a government GWS panel!) So, no, I'm not a big hit over there. But I'm told the folks at DoD love my work, so I'll have to settle for that. As to the President, last I heard neither of us spoke for him. But you always have these marvelous insights that have no supporting empirical evidence, so I must assume that – as always – we should simply take your word for it. As to me being the last person on the planet to hold a scientific position on GWS, as you must know the Institute of Medicine produced a report at almost exactly the same time as the rump VA panel and came to the opposite conclusion. Why the difference? Because their panel comprised only scientists, not self-serving activists like – well, my goodness, Stephen L. Robinson! Your very presence on the panel makes the entire report hogwash. *

  *What I write to Gulf vets, as well as what they write to me, is posted on my website and is therefore available to anyone. (Names are omitted to protect the guilty.) You are beloved of conspiracy theories; I prefer openness and accountability. Moreover, their very letters reveal the truth about GWS in listing diseases that don't exist and revealing in various ways that many of them were either never near the Gulf or never in the military – not that this would stop you from calling them victims of GWS. *

  *As to what my boss would say to these ill vets, it would be the same as what I say. "Where in your enlistment contract does it guarantee that if you raise your right hand you will never become sick and will live forever? Why are you so convinced that your sickness is from service in the Gulf, even as the nation has millions of people with the same illness who never got closer to the Gulf than their TV set? Is it because you've been listening to people like Steve Robinson? As to your stress-related illness, isn't it interesting that it didn't begin until you heard from people like Steve Robinson that you're SUPPOSED TO be ill? And in that sense, isn't the real "cause" of GWS people like Steve Robinson?" *

• I proved my courage as an airborne soldier in combat arms and I prove it when I continue to write the truth about GWS and relay it to our vets, instead of writing from press releases like most of the mainstream mass media and, like they, giving huge play to the loaded VA panel even as they ignored the IOM one. You, on the other hand, cower behind your wall of anecdotal evidence, numbers you make up yourself, and paid-for-science Gulf War whore Robert Haley. And while I write on dozens of issues each year of which only one is GWS, it is you who are the one-trick pony. *

*Actually, if GWS finally became accepted it would be the worst thing that could happen to you as you have but one role in life – to enrich yourself and your reputation at the expense of our vets. You would fade from sight, as you so very much deserve – and as you eventually will. As I noted, you are literally a cause of both mental and stress-related illness. These people don't suffer from nerve gas or DEET or Scud missile fuel, but rather you and your phony words and your phony reports. Unfortunately for the men and women who fought for us in the Gulf, the damage you have wrought cannot be undone and will not fade away. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

That's where you are wrong and will continue to be wrong. I have met with and spoke to the President. He is the one who formed the committee. Principi is the one who chose the members. Get your facts straight. I would be happy to forward your comments to the White House and the VA. Also I will send a copy over to the Secretary of Defense and his staff. I have meet [sic] with them also.

Does your position represent the way that the Hudson Institute operates?

Are your personal attacks against ill veterans in keeping with the Hudson Institutes [sic] principles and guidelines?

I think it would be terribly embarrassing for the Hudson Institute to see your email traffic on some news show like 60 min [sic] or some other venue.

Are you prepared to defend yourself and your actions to the Nation [sic]?

I suggest your [sic] not!

Let me know if you have the courage to express you views and your email correspondence to the Nation [sic] and I will arrange the interview.

It would be my pleasure to hear your excuses for ridiculing sick veterans.

*You wrote nothing that conflicted with what I said about the President. He ordered a committee to be formed, but Principi picked – and stacked – it. Your very presence on the panel, a wicked anti-vet GWS activist, proves my point. That there were at least five other members out of a total of ten with pre-declared anti-vet, pro-GWS prejudices just adds sauce to the goose. Interesting that you didn't address the issue of panel-stacking. *

• As to expressing my "views to the Nation," "nation" is spelled thus unless you're referring to your favorite liberal rag THE NATION. It, too, hates vets and anything military. Assuming you mean to refer to the U.S., I've been writing about GWS for a national audience since 1993. My first hate mail postings to yahoos like you appeared six years ago and are on a public website. So much for your "suggestion." And as I've told you before, I don't ridicule sick vets I ridicule half-wits like you. You claim to have been a Ranger. Whether that's true, I don't know. But when I read about the Rangers who kept firing at poor Pat Tillman despite his repeatedly indicating he was a friendly (not to mention that he was in an Army uniform, rather than Taliban garb) I couldn't help but think of you. You won't kill any vets outright, but you're certainly dedicated to making them miserable. You're friendly fire on two legs. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

**A Mocking Bird **

Mr. Fumento,

I have recently read some of your current writings.

Your obviously over inflated [sic] self-image and absurdly unprofessional conduct are truly amusing. I encourage you to continue promoting your severely insignificant opinions about Gulf War veterans and their illnesses. I am sure that they could all use an entertaining read after a day of spewing "glow-in-the-dark puke."

I enthusiastically encourage you to seek the assistance from a therapist appropriately trained in anger management. I would like to suggest The Freeman Institute. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/angercoach.htm

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. This year I am thanking my lucky stars that our government has had the good sense to team brilliant scientists and insightful, knowledgeable veterans alike to advocate for Gulf War veterans.

Maybe you have just been thinking too long in your little tank.

[omitted] Mock

*Dear Ms. Mock: *

• I get the feeling you're Mocking me. In any case, I enthusiastically encourage you to seek assistance from a psychiatrist trained in schizophrenia. I would like to suggest the services of Professor Tarr and Dr. Feather. (It's Poe; look it up.) Barring that you might try www.buffooninstitute.com. *
• What you're thanking your lucky stars for is that the government, frustrated with scientists, stacked its latest panel with activists – at least six out of ten. Problem is, they can SAY there's a GWS all they want but it won't create a GWS and won't lead to the cure of a single person. It will simply lead to more psychosomatic illness, to more vets thinking there might be a special treatment for their specific illness as opposed to the exact illness in their neighbor who never went to the Gulf, and to fears of currently healthy vets that any year or decade they may fall ill from something that DIDN'T HAPPEN in 1991. That panel will prove to be your worst enemy and certainly that of Gulf vets in general. They have truly carried on where Saddam left off. *
• Maybe you have just been drooling too long in your little padded cell. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Fuento; [sic]

You're right, I am mocking you. A quick one you are, after all. Except that I believe you ought to look up the proper definition of schizophrenia. Perhaps it is actually you who suffers from the unfortunate disorder involving separation of thought, emotion and bizarre behavior.

Ironic that you would refer to Poe; one dark and troubled spirit following another. Thank you once again for providing entertaining material worth a hearty chuckle.

[omitted] Mock

*Muck: *

• Actually, I've written about schizophrenia; have you? Do you have the least medical background, other than probably claiming to have a whole bunch of non-existent illnesses? I AM troubled that 700,000 people who served their country in its hour of need are being lied to, if that's what you mean. Yes it literally troubles my spirit, but I only picked the names of the two psychiatrists I mentioned because they are extremely well-known in literature not because of any special love of Poe's writings. I'm glad I've given you what's clearly a much-needed laugh, but this whole thing is an incredible tragedy for Gulf vets. And despite what you think my articles and columns make other people THINK. That this is not the reaction with Ms. Mock is not my fault. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Pumento, [sic]

So you have written about mental illness. By insinuating a dx [diagnosis] via one e-mail surely discredits whatever you have self-proclaimed as knowledge about mental illness.

And so now you have concerns about GW veterans. Reference my previous e-mail.

*Mook from Planet Ook: *

• Actually, it is possible to diagnose schizophrenia from one e-mail. What if that one e-mail said that the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and the Freemasons "are out to get me"? Pretty tendentious, no? Yes, I have concerns about GW veterans – which is why I've been writing about their health since 1993. Don't go running for your calculator; that's 12 years. Reference my previous emails and all my writings about GWS that are on my website at www.fumento.com. And stop writing, because I'm going to stop reading. Apparently your main symptom of GWS is terminal boringness. *
• And by the way, most of us give up name-calling somewhere around the fifth grade. It doesn't speak well of you that you continue to employ it. Either that or you're a fifth-grader. I'm willing to accept either explanation. *
• Goodbye,
  Michael Fumento*

[Yes, I realized I name-called back. But she started it! Whaaaa!]

Be Bored. Be Very Bored.

Subject: Your anthrax nightmare begins

Mike,

Here come the footsteps you have been hearing. The book, by Gary Matsumoto, will be out on Oct [sic] 19 from Basic Books. [The reference is to Vaccine A: The Covert Pentagon Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers – And Why GI's are Only the First Victims.]

  You are at least an obsequious apologist on this, and perhaps more. 

Jay [omitted]

*Dear Jay: *

• Insofar as the thesis that GIs are suffering from some mysterious illness has been repeatedly disproved, this is as useful and as exciting a book as the latest expose on UFO abductions. I don't hear the "footsteps" of those books either, thank you. *
• Now run out and play in the traffic with your little friends. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Mike, I know you are going to love this:

[Hyperlink to a story in the Delaware News Journal, readership of 2.]

And this story promises to get even better and better.

Pay attention so you know the score, which you obviously did not in the past.

Your past pronouncements may [sic] hilarious reading. Give them a look.

I see you made Matsumoto's book. Nice going.

Jay

*Dear Jay, *

• I know you're going to love this. If you check Amazon.com you'll see I'm actually mentioned in about 160 books out of those few they've gotten around to indexing. And some of those books have actually been read. Look up your buddy's book on Amazon or B&N.com. Other than getting repeat mentions in the same tiny Delaware newspaper he's selling no books and creating virtually no publicity. What a tragedy to spend three, maybe four, whole weeks writing a book and have nobody read it or even hear about it. Compare that to the millions of readers I get every time I do a column on how GWS is a fraud and people like Matsumoto are hucksters. Also, Reason Magazine has a new book out that's essentially "The Best of Reason." It contains a certain article called "Gulf Lore Syndrome" by a certain writer known to you. *
• Now play in the traffic like I told you, and don't come back until you've at least broken your fingers. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

  **A Rare Illness? Must be GWS-caused. **

Dr [sic] Mr. Fumento,

While view [sic] your web-site [sic] I noticed a complete bias against those who have served the Armed Services during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Although you are factual in most of your reports, I think you might want to investigate the percentage of those who have legitimate claims not the ones who are trying to get benefits for hang-nails. Although, many Gulf War Veterans [sic] feel that every sneeze is attributable to our exposures in theater. [sic] I agree with you in the fact [sic] every illness is not a result of some Syndrome [sic], however, there are those that have experienced health problems that can not be found in the general population or veterans who were not in the region.

I have many symptoms that I might have had even if I didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, and I readily admit that, and it also kept me from seeking treatment for almost 10 years. The triggering factor that sent me on a 6 year quest to research ailments of Gulf War Veterans [sic] was the birth of my son. For you see, he was born with a birth defect like no other child. Taylor, my son, was born missing his Right Eye [sic], Anathalmic [He means he's "anophthalmic."], and his Left Eye [sic] was not properly formed, Microthalmic. [He means he's "microphthalmic."] Either of these conditions is rare since it occurs in approximately 3 to 4 births a year in the United States. What makes Taylor's [*sic]* the exception, is that he was born with both conditions. Taylor is treated at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University. After being treated for 6 years the only explanation to [sic] his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf.

With that being said I researched my conditions and found that they are either related to my Central Nervous System [sic] or Auto-immune [sic] system. And these are not treatable. Additionally it has been proven that ALS has been found in an unproportionate [sic] number of Gulf War Veterans [sic]. Like I said earlier I do believe that there are those who feel that every sneeze is a result of a Gulf War Syndrome. But I ask you this, [sic] can you look Taylor in the face and tell him that his condition is made up and a figment of his imagination?

[Photo of son attached.]

[omitted] Carini

*Dear Mr. Carini: *

• I have never said that Gulf vets or their spouses or offspring do not have real illnesses; I've said they have no more illnesses than other people. That's quite a difference. *
• According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), "Anophthalmia and microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia is a disorder in which one or both eyes are abnormally small, while anophthalmia is the absence of one or both eyes. These rare disorders develop during pregnancy and can be associated with other birth defects." *

• The NEI goes on to say, "Causes of these conditions may include genetic mutations and abnormal chromosomes. Researchers also believe that environmental factors, such as exposure to X-rays, chemicals, drugs, pesticides, toxins, radiation, or viruses, increase the risk of anophthalmia and microphthalmia, but research is not conclusive. Sometimes the cause in an individual patient cannot be determined." *

  *It appears that the largest epidemiological study on the two conditions was conducted using the California birth registry and appeared in the *International Journal of Epidemiology *in 1996, although a search of Medline will show that these conditions occur throughout the world and in countries that did not deploy soldiers to the Gulf. The California study found the rate for either disorder to be 1.5 per 10,000 births. Let's assume that the 700,000 U.S. vets of the Gulf War each had only one child, which would put them well below average. Even still, that would mean 105 cases could be expected among these children by chance alone. Each year, about four million children are born in the U.S. That would mean 600 cases per year, not the three to four you were falsely told. Put another way, since the Gulf War there have been about 8,000 cases. This is a rare disorder, but not nearly as rare as you thought. As to having both disorders, it would seem logical that since they are related that whatever disposes a child to one would tend to dispose a child to the other. Taylor is by no stretch of the imagination unique in his illness. *

• But regardless of how rare it might be, how do you simply jump to the conclusion that "the only explanation to his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf"? There is no literature indicating that Gulf vets are more likely to have children with this birth defect and therefore well over 99 percent of the cases are in children whose parents did not serve in the Gulf. This is what I mean when I say that when somebody who didn't go to the Gulf gets a cough it's called "a cough," but the same thing in a Gulf vet is called GWS. *

  *Nor does it help your case that a disproportionate number of GW vets have developed ALS. The excess was barely statistically significant and was only found when compared to matched vets who didn't deploy. When compared to matched civilians, there is no abnormal ALS rate in Gulf vets. In fact, the sickness and death rates for Gulf vets in general are the same as for vets who didn't deploy and far below those of civilians. *

• The problem here is that it is horribly difficult for a parent to look at his child and see birth defects when children all around him were born perfectly healthy. The parent naturally seeks an explanation. If you worked in a chemical factory, you would no doubt blame the chemicals. But you didn't; you went to the Gulf so you blame something there. But sometimes there's no one and nothing to blame. Bad things happen to good people. On the other hand, your son is lucky to have been born at a time when science is developing bionic devices that will one day give him sight, though obviously not as soon as you and he would like. He's lucky to live in a country that believes in paying for these things, rather than doling out socialized medicine. Finally, he's also quite lucky to have as caring a father as you. Yes, I feel bad for him but then again no worse than I do for any other blind child. And I feel bad for you, because obviously you have not made peace with a problem that – at this time at least – you cannot improve. Put your energy into your child, not into anger or resentment or whatever you feel. May God bless you both. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Agent Orange Hate

You Need to Do What's Already Been Done

 I am a combat Viet Nam vetern [*sic*]. The ranch [*sic*] hand [*sic*] study is flawed but not for the reasons you suspect. 

A better study group would have been combat veterans. The veterans who like me, spent many days and weeks in the field without the benefit of clean clothes, shower [sic] and clean water.

Since my return from Viet Nam I have lost both Kidneys [sic] to disease and suffer prostate cancer. If you would have put as much energy into studying the effects on combat veterans as you did the ranch [sic] hand [sic] group, I think you would come away with a different prospective [sic – he means perspective] on this subject.

Thank You [sic]

[omitted] Frabel

*Dear Mr. Frabel: *

• Actually, all Ranch Hands are combat veterans. But I suspect you mean grunts on the ground. As it happens, they have been thoroughly studied and it's been determined that none of them received dioxin exposure even approaching those in the Ranch Hand group. In fact, it was found that soldiers in Vietnam on average had no more exposure than civilians back in the States. That's because at the time several products like soaps contained dioxin and dioxin was also created during some burning and bleaching processes. My mother washed me in dioxin-containing liquid soap. *
• I don't know why you lost your kidneys, but I suspect it was for the reason your doctor gave. Kidney transplants are the second most common transplant operation in this country (corneal transplants rank first) with more than 9,000 procedures annually. Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over 75 years old. Obviously, you are hardly unusual in suffering this disease and obviously the vast majority of sufferers never served in Vietnam. The big difference is that they have nobody to blame. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Erin Brockovich Hate

**Oh Boy, I've got Cancer! Now I Can Sue Somebody! **

Hey Mike!

Thanks for contacting me and telling me about the law suit [sic] against Beverly Hills High.. I too developed Thyroid [sic] Cancer and now Im [sic] suing the school! (graduating class of 67')

Candy

CANDYMINTZ@omitted

*Dear Candy: *

• Actually I didn't "contact you;" I wrote a piece that you read. I wish I could be as delighted as you are with your alleged thyroid cancer. Unfortunately, you're not going to win your case since A) nobody has ever produced the least evidence that petroleum fumes cause any type of cancer, as your attorney will have to argue, and B) the only epidemiological study of Beverly Hills High has found no excess of cancers. The suit that Erin Brockovich's firm filed has become a quagmire for them and the same will happen with yours. But I guess I'm supposed to wish you a Happy Cancer. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  Mike,

I just bought a brand new BMW with the monies [sic] I will collect from the school!

thanks again!!!!

*Did you let someone sell you the Brooklyn Bridge while you were at it? I think I'm just going to let you dissolve, Candymintz. You've got real problems, and they're not in your throat. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  **I Didn't Read the Article, but I Saw the Movie **

Dear Mr. Fumento,

Just a comment about your article. The reason, I believe, that Erin Brockovich was chosen to address this UN Environmental Conference is not due to her past deeds, but because of her current affiliation with Save The World Air, Inc., a company that has developed emissions controlling devices for all types of fossil fuel engines. [111 words omitted due to utter irrelevancy.]

I hope a better article will emerge on this subject that reflects the real issue. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[omitted] Witten

*Dear Ms. Witten: *

• That's all quite fascinating, except that my piece made no mention of any U.N. environmental conference but rather of an American Public Health Association conference. In fact, the APHA was mentioned no fewer than nine times. Why do you want "a better article" when you obviously didn't bother reading the one you're complaining about? *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

CAFE Hate

** Did Viking Cars Have Horned Hood Ornaments? **

 Hi Michael, 

I found your article through Google – "The High Cost of Cleaner Cars Fuel Economy Rules Will Cut Jobs, Raise Prices." It was written in 1992 and I'm curious as to how your perspectives have changed now that
a.) fuel [sic] prices are at all time highs [Actually, by the time this hate mail volume appeared they were 20 percent off those highs.]
b.) we're [sic] mired in a war in Iraq that on some level is directly related to our economic dependence on oil, e.g. if we weren't dependent on middle [sic] east [sic] oil we'd have a lot less direct interaction with that area of the world. Witness Africa if you need an example or an area we can ignore because there's little economic reason for us to get involved.
c.) at [sic] this point every credible scientist in the world believes green house [sic] gases are a major issue. even [sic] Bush is starting to discuss the topic.

Sincerely,
Kent [omitted]

*Dear Kent: *

• Insofar as: *
• 1. Fuel prices are only at all-time highs when inflation isn't factored in. In today's dollars, the highest price for a barrel of oil was $80 – a tad more than what we're paying today;
• I agree we should be less dependent on Middle East oil, but there are numerous alternatives to making cars less safe through raising CAFE standards. One would be imitating Europe's move towards clean-burning, powerful, high-fuel-economy diesel engines. I've driven them on the Autobahn and they're wonderful; yet only now are they making a comeback here;
• Greenhouse gases are certainly a political issue, but that doesn't mean they're responsible for warming the earth. The earth has cooled and warmed throughout history, as indicated by such terms as "the ice age" and "the little ice age." The Viking forays that resulted in terrorizing much of the world, settling Greenland, and discovering North America would not have been possible had the earth not become far warmer during the medieval warm period than any scientist is predicting global warming will accomplish in the next century. But the history books I've read on the subject say there weren't too many automobiles or other uses of fossil fuel back then. *
• My position is unchanged. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Totally Gratuitous Hate

Photo Funnies

 change [*sic*] ur [*sic*] picture, then perhaps people wouldn't send you negative mail! 

Brandon Wright

Dear Brandon,

• I tried. I used a picture of you and got so much hate mail it crashed my server.*

  Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento

good [sic] one buddy.who [sic] the fuck writes on hate mail anyway except for a fag dressed like michael [sic] jackson [sic] like urself. [sic]

*Don't like being one-upped, do you Brandon? Then don't write to anybody with a higher IQ than you have. In other words, don't write to anyone. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Dude [sic] If you had another brain, it would be lonely.

Enough. Get a life, even if you have to borrow someone else's.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Obesity Hate

An Appleton a Day Keeps Intelligence Away

I ended up looking at your site because you wrote an article on the fat gene. I have an ongoing argument with one of my friends at work who is very overweight. He thinks a large group of people fit into the "It's not me, it's my genes" mode. I am in the exercise and eat less camp. The topics that you cover are very interesting. But it did not take long to see how nasty you are and how much pleasure you get from insulting people. I changed my mind about reading your books or articles. There seem to be a lot of people in 2004 with this negative persona, so the general American public must like it. Ann Coulter and other political guttersnipes come to mind. On the more pornographic spectrum, Howard Stern comes to mind as well as all the vulgar rap videos. Disrespect sells today. I am sure you don't care what I think. Hope this trend changes.

Mary Appleton

*Dear Miss Appleton:* 

Translation: I said that fat people aren't fat because of their genes but because they eat too much and don't exercise enough to make up for it. Put another way, rather than be warm and fuzzy and pat them on the head and tell them, "You're fat is not your fault," I told them that their fat is nobody's fault by their own and until they accept that they will remain fat. Perhaps you think it compassionate to lie to people and to keep them from their goals and conversely horrifically rude and nasty to tell them the truth. But you're right in that I don't care what you think and that's a trend that won't change.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Stem Cell Hate

[This was a response to a posting from a blog called Terry's LJ. It was a rip on my piece, "Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells. His remarks are in Roman type and quotes.]

1. "Being for the use of fetal stem cells does not necessarily imply that you are against the use of adult stem cells." There is no mention of "fetal stem cells" in the entire piece, though such a thing exists. The only mention is of embryonic stem cells. If you think a fetus and an embryo are the same thing, time to retake Biology 101. Regardless, you don't need any kind of a degree to repeat the words I used rather than make up your own and attribute them to me.
2. "Fumento conveniently neglects to mention any approved therapies that use adult stem cells, either." Really? Is that why you proceed to write: "Fumento's most bullshitty blurb cites two pages that note the various adult stem cell therapies either in use or in clinical trials." Which is it? No mention or just a "bullshitty" mention? In fact, I wrote "Groopman specifically mentions Fanconi's Anemia, but it was first treated with umbilical cord stem cells 16 years ago." And: At one website you'll find a list, far from comprehensive, of almost 80 therapies using them. This is treatment, not practice or theory. Amazingly, there are also more than 300 adult stem cell clinical trials. I provided links to both lists.
3. "He fails to mention that nearly all of them are variations on a single, venerable treatment: blood stem cells (usually from marrow) given to patients undergoing chemotherapy." No, if you'd looked at either list you'd see that a minority of the ailments on either list concern cancer. Like your entire blog entry, and presumably like your entire blog, this is a fabrication.

[*To his credit, Terry admitted that he had written in haste and would later write a "clarification." But no clarification came. Apparently he decided he was just plain wrong.]*

Environmentalist Hate

Hello Mr. Michael Fumento:

A few years ago you wrote a column that appeared in the National Post (Toronto) in which you alleged organic farming contributes to soil erosion. Can you supply any references published in peer reviewed journals that support your claim or was it a misprint?

[omitted] Woodruff
Vancouver BC Canada

Organic farming contributes to soil erosion by forbidding the use of herbicides, thus requiring tilling. Herbicides are needed for no-till farming. No-till tremendously reduces soil erosion. Are you so unable to use either common sense or a computer that you can't figure this out, or was your email a misprint?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Mr. Fumento: I assumed there was an honest mistake and I also assumed you were a gentleman.

I can see that I was wrong on both counts.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

Dear Mr. Woodruff:

You assumed nothing; you were baiting me. In fact, you appear to be a master-baiter.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Michael Fumento:

I requested scientific references. – your [sic] opinion, your rudeness and your use of a double entendre insult merely serves to underscore your lack of knowledge of soil science.

If you cannot or are not prepared to supply references requested – you are the one who is the master of dissimulation.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

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Meaningless, Purposeless Hate

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.
– Eric Hoffer

Gulf War Syndrome Hate

Not Much Horsepower, but Lots of Torque

dear [sic] mr. [sic] fumento [sic], ever been in battle, did,nt [sic] think so" [sic,sic] You sir, are typically [sic] for some reason critical of that we as veterans hold sacred, Never [sic], Never [sic] attack someone,s [sic] credibility unless you have been there yourself. I read deep seated [sic] resentments in your commentaries about agent orange, audie [sic] murphy, [sic] and probably Ira hayes [sic],if you knew anything about him. Torqued [sic] off vietnam [sic] vet...............

[Ira Hayes was one of the flag-raisers at Iwo Jima. Sadly, he drank himself to death.]

Larry Smith:

*Dear Mr. Smith: *

• I don't know whether you were ever in battle or not, nor how you define the word. You may be referring to a highly-charged negotiation at a bordello on Tudo Street in Saigon. In any case, I fail to comprehend how having seen combat makes one an expert in alleged GWS. You learn about illnesses by studying them or by reading what others who have studied them have written. Insofar as you completely misinterpreted what I wrote about Audie Murphy (I used him as an example of a true hero, rather than what passes for a hero today) and can't even string a sentence together, I sincerely doubt you read any of the three Institute of Medicine reports on GWS nor any of the medical papers that went into them. Correct me if I'm wrong – but I'm not. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Incoming Artillery Photographs!

 Mr. Fumento, 

After seeing your website it really tears me up that I fought in a war to protect the rights of scum bags like you!

If you really want Irrefutable [sic] proof, of many of these chemical exposure's, [sic] then come down here to Indy, We'll [sic] both contact the press and I'll PERSONALLY debate you with military logs, official government declassified documents, and even photos of captured chemical rounds; which confirm our soldiers were indeed GASSED on several occasions during the Gulf War...So what's you problem??

For all you sick and disabled Gulf War Vet's [sic] out there who don't Mr. Fumemto [sic], then check out this chickenwing's [sic] website @http://www.fumento.com [sic]

[omitted] Lyons,SSG. [Sic, sic: "Staff Sergeant "requires no period when abbreviated and there should be a space after his name.]
USA Ret. (Medically)
101st Airborne Division
Disabled Gulf War Veteran

P.S. If you wish to take me up on this offer...then I invite you to get your fork out, because YOU WILL be eating CROW!! I personally can't WAIT...bring it on!!

[The email was CC'd to about a dozen people, including the �ber-pompous Lt. Col. David Hackworth, two members of the VA panel that declared the existence of GWS by fiat, and for some reason "The Nature Publishing Group," publishers of Nature Magazine.]

*Dear Mr. Lyons: *

• • *Gee, I wouldn't suppose you'd be reacting to the letter I posted from a doctor who was forced to treat Gulf War Weanies such as you, the one who said these weanies have "a tendency to view their medical advisors with a venom that far exceeds that which could be expected were their disease to be organic." You, venomous? Perish the thought! Let's do a simple logical process here. NOBODY suffered nerve gas poisoning during the Gulf War. The existence of photographs of intact shells does not disprove this, insofar as intact shells don't hurt people. That's what I was always taught, anyway. *

*Now, if NOBODY was poisoned and Mr. Lyons is a subset of NOBODY, then we can deduce that Mr. Lyons was not poisoned. In fact, I'll bet lots of people have referred to Mr. Lyons in the course of his life as a nobody. We can probably also deduce that rather than deal with life's problems, Mr. Lyons likes to blame other people and to throw spit and bile at those who say that usually our only real enemy is ourselves. As to your fighting to protect my rights, my assumption is that if you served in the Gulf at all it was probably to avoid the alternative of being court-martialed and sent to jail. *

*Regarding your attachments, as it happens I've just finished an article on the subject. Among other aspects, it relates that every previous government panel that looked at "Gulf War Syndrome" found there was nothing to look at. That includes an Institute of Medicine one released at almost exactly the same time as the one to which your articles refer. The difference between all of those panels and this latest one was that finally the VA got so sick of hearing from war wimps that it stacked the panel with activists, including one that you carbon copied your pleasant e-mail to. You may be able to wail pathetically until somebody feels the need to coddle you, but you cannot complain a non-existent disease into being. The coddlers have yet to find out that people like you can never be satisfied. Your mouth will still be filled with bile, but mine will be devoid of feathers thank you very much. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

[Thereafter he sent a short note, not worthy of the Hate Mail pages and I wrote back a short note, carbon copying it to the people he carbon copied it to. That included the following writer.]

**GWS Is Caused by Parasites, Like this One **

Mr. Fumento [sic]

Please take me off your list or when you reply to someone who emailed you just send your email to them and not everyone on the list. [Apparently he's not just a GWS-crusader; he's also crusading against punctuation.] I am not interested in what you think or write. In fact the manner in which you speak about Gulf War [sic] and other veterans is consistently degrading. [I wonder where that veteran named Gulf War spent his war years] You seem to take pleasure in the plight of ill veterans. I find this disturbing since you were a soldier at one point in your life.

It's ok if you disagree and have an opinion but it's unprofessional to denigrate, ridicule and make fun of anyone's suffering. You seem to place your own image of self above your journalistic duty. I recently read that you took pride in the idea that some people thought you had hurt the Kerry election because of your article on John Edwards. I have news for you. Your impact on politics is about as evident as your impact on Gulf War Illness research. Nobody cares what you think, Not [sic] the President, not the VA and not the DoD. It must be a conspiracy against you. Apparently , you are the last person on the planet to know the truth and everyone else is wrong.

I wonder if Scripps would like to read the the [sic] nasty things you have said to fathers, mothers and soldiers who fell ill after war. [sic] Would they take pride in your bias and attitude? Perhaps we should bring some ill veterans to the Hudson Institute to talk with you and your boss. I'll bet you lunch that you don't have the courage to talk to soldiers in person the way you do through email. It would be nice if you just went away and focused on some other group to babble about.

You have certainly lost this battle.

Steve Robinson
Executive Director
National Gulf War Resource Center

*Dear Mr. Robinson: *

• I merely hit the "reply to all" button. You were on somebody else's list, not mine. What I consistently do is to point out that Gulf vets are no sicker and no likelier to die than non-vets. Why this is villainous I'm not entirely sure, except that your income is dependent on insisting otherwise. In short, your job is lying. Don't go taking it personally just because I threaten your donor base and make you appear to be living scum of the earth for lying to 700,000 vets and their spouses and offspring. Far from denigrating people with true problems, I tell them they need to trust their doctors and not people like you. On the other hand, if they become a media and congressional darling by making such claims as having vomited glow-in-the-dark puke five days a week during physical training for 10 straight months, each time ending up in intensive care, then yes I'll make fun of that. (I speak, naturally, of the most famous GWS "victim" of all, Brian Martin.) And I'll make fun of you for going along with this obvious shyster because it serves your nefarious purposes. *

  *Regarding Kerry-Edwards, I actually thought it quite foolish for people to think my two pieces somehow threatened the entire ticket. I am not without influence, but I also know my limits. Would that you had such humility. I also know that when I google myself in "Google Scholar" I come up 73 times, whereas you come up but once – a mention in a piece exclusive to the Denver Post. Obviously the VA decided for political purposes it would buckle under to the conspiracy theorists, to a point where it appointed a panel including you and at least five other GWS activists out of only ten people. (I'll bet you'd flip out if I were named to a government GWS panel!) So, no, I'm not a big hit over there. But I'm told the folks at DoD love my work, so I'll have to settle for that. As to the President, last I heard neither of us spoke for him. But you always have these marvelous insights that have no supporting empirical evidence, so I must assume that – as always – we should simply take your word for it. As to me being the last person on the planet to hold a scientific position on GWS, as you must know the Institute of Medicine produced a report at almost exactly the same time as the rump VA panel and came to the opposite conclusion. Why the difference? Because their panel comprised only scientists, not self-serving activists like – well, my goodness, Stephen L. Robinson! Your very presence on the panel makes the entire report hogwash. *

  *What I write to Gulf vets, as well as what they write to me, is posted on my website and is therefore available to anyone. (Names are omitted to protect the guilty.) You are beloved of conspiracy theories; I prefer openness and accountability. Moreover, their very letters reveal the truth about GWS in listing diseases that don't exist and revealing in various ways that many of them were either never near the Gulf or never in the military – not that this would stop you from calling them victims of GWS. *

  *As to what my boss would say to these ill vets, it would be the same as what I say. "Where in your enlistment contract does it guarantee that if you raise your right hand you will never become sick and will live forever? Why are you so convinced that your sickness is from service in the Gulf, even as the nation has millions of people with the same illness who never got closer to the Gulf than their TV set? Is it because you've been listening to people like Steve Robinson? As to your stress-related illness, isn't it interesting that it didn't begin until you heard from people like Steve Robinson that you're SUPPOSED TO be ill? And in that sense, isn't the real "cause" of GWS people like Steve Robinson?" *

• I proved my courage as an airborne soldier in combat arms and I prove it when I continue to write the truth about GWS and relay it to our vets, instead of writing from press releases like most of the mainstream mass media and, like they, giving huge play to the loaded VA panel even as they ignored the IOM one. You, on the other hand, cower behind your wall of anecdotal evidence, numbers you make up yourself, and paid-for-science Gulf War whore Robert Haley. And while I write on dozens of issues each year of which only one is GWS, it is you who are the one-trick pony. *

*Actually, if GWS finally became accepted it would be the worst thing that could happen to you as you have but one role in life – to enrich yourself and your reputation at the expense of our vets. You would fade from sight, as you so very much deserve – and as you eventually will. As I noted, you are literally a cause of both mental and stress-related illness. These people don't suffer from nerve gas or DEET or Scud missile fuel, but rather you and your phony words and your phony reports. Unfortunately for the men and women who fought for us in the Gulf, the damage you have wrought cannot be undone and will not fade away. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

That's where you are wrong and will continue to be wrong. I have met with and spoke to the President. He is the one who formed the committee. Principi is the one who chose the members. Get your facts straight. I would be happy to forward your comments to the White House and the VA. Also I will send a copy over to the Secretary of Defense and his staff. I have meet [sic] with them also.

Does your position represent the way that the Hudson Institute operates?

Are your personal attacks against ill veterans in keeping with the Hudson Institutes [sic] principles and guidelines?

I think it would be terribly embarrassing for the Hudson Institute to see your email traffic on some news show like 60 min [sic] or some other venue.

Are you prepared to defend yourself and your actions to the Nation [sic]?

I suggest your [sic] not!

Let me know if you have the courage to express you views and your email correspondence to the Nation [sic] and I will arrange the interview.

It would be my pleasure to hear your excuses for ridiculing sick veterans.

*You wrote nothing that conflicted with what I said about the President. He ordered a committee to be formed, but Principi picked – and stacked – it. Your very presence on the panel, a wicked anti-vet GWS activist, proves my point. That there were at least five other members out of a total of ten with pre-declared anti-vet, pro-GWS prejudices just adds sauce to the goose. Interesting that you didn't address the issue of panel-stacking. *

• As to expressing my "views to the Nation," "nation" is spelled thus unless you're referring to your favorite liberal rag THE NATION. It, too, hates vets and anything military. Assuming you mean to refer to the U.S., I've been writing about GWS for a national audience since 1993. My first hate mail postings to yahoos like you appeared six years ago and are on a public website. So much for your "suggestion." And as I've told you before, I don't ridicule sick vets I ridicule half-wits like you. You claim to have been a Ranger. Whether that's true, I don't know. But when I read about the Rangers who kept firing at poor Pat Tillman despite his repeatedly indicating he was a friendly (not to mention that he was in an Army uniform, rather than Taliban garb) I couldn't help but think of you. You won't kill any vets outright, but you're certainly dedicated to making them miserable. You're friendly fire on two legs. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

**A Mocking Bird **

Mr. Fumento,

I have recently read some of your current writings.

Your obviously over inflated [sic] self-image and absurdly unprofessional conduct are truly amusing. I encourage you to continue promoting your severely insignificant opinions about Gulf War veterans and their illnesses. I am sure that they could all use an entertaining read after a day of spewing "glow-in-the-dark puke."

I enthusiastically encourage you to seek the assistance from a therapist appropriately trained in anger management. I would like to suggest The Freeman Institute. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/angercoach.htm

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. This year I am thanking my lucky stars that our government has had the good sense to team brilliant scientists and insightful, knowledgeable veterans alike to advocate for Gulf War veterans.

Maybe you have just been thinking too long in your little tank.

[omitted] Mock

*Dear Ms. Mock: *

• I get the feeling you're Mocking me. In any case, I enthusiastically encourage you to seek assistance from a psychiatrist trained in schizophrenia. I would like to suggest the services of Professor Tarr and Dr. Feather. (It's Poe; look it up.) Barring that you might try www.buffooninstitute.com. *
• What you're thanking your lucky stars for is that the government, frustrated with scientists, stacked its latest panel with activists – at least six out of ten. Problem is, they can SAY there's a GWS all they want but it won't create a GWS and won't lead to the cure of a single person. It will simply lead to more psychosomatic illness, to more vets thinking there might be a special treatment for their specific illness as opposed to the exact illness in their neighbor who never went to the Gulf, and to fears of currently healthy vets that any year or decade they may fall ill from something that DIDN'T HAPPEN in 1991. That panel will prove to be your worst enemy and certainly that of Gulf vets in general. They have truly carried on where Saddam left off. *
• Maybe you have just been drooling too long in your little padded cell. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Fuento; [sic]

You're right, I am mocking you. A quick one you are, after all. Except that I believe you ought to look up the proper definition of schizophrenia. Perhaps it is actually you who suffers from the unfortunate disorder involving separation of thought, emotion and bizarre behavior.

Ironic that you would refer to Poe; one dark and troubled spirit following another. Thank you once again for providing entertaining material worth a hearty chuckle.

[omitted] Mock

*Muck: *

• Actually, I've written about schizophrenia; have you? Do you have the least medical background, other than probably claiming to have a whole bunch of non-existent illnesses? I AM troubled that 700,000 people who served their country in its hour of need are being lied to, if that's what you mean. Yes it literally troubles my spirit, but I only picked the names of the two psychiatrists I mentioned because they are extremely well-known in literature not because of any special love of Poe's writings. I'm glad I've given you what's clearly a much-needed laugh, but this whole thing is an incredible tragedy for Gulf vets. And despite what you think my articles and columns make other people THINK. That this is not the reaction with Ms. Mock is not my fault. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Pumento, [sic]

So you have written about mental illness. By insinuating a dx [diagnosis] via one e-mail surely discredits whatever you have self-proclaimed as knowledge about mental illness.

And so now you have concerns about GW veterans. Reference my previous e-mail.

*Mook from Planet Ook: *

• Actually, it is possible to diagnose schizophrenia from one e-mail. What if that one e-mail said that the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and the Freemasons "are out to get me"? Pretty tendentious, no? Yes, I have concerns about GW veterans – which is why I've been writing about their health since 1993. Don't go running for your calculator; that's 12 years. Reference my previous emails and all my writings about GWS that are on my website at www.fumento.com. And stop writing, because I'm going to stop reading. Apparently your main symptom of GWS is terminal boringness. *
• And by the way, most of us give up name-calling somewhere around the fifth grade. It doesn't speak well of you that you continue to employ it. Either that or you're a fifth-grader. I'm willing to accept either explanation. *
• Goodbye,
  Michael Fumento*

[Yes, I realized I name-called back. But she started it! Whaaaa!]

Be Bored. Be Very Bored.

Subject: Your anthrax nightmare begins

Mike,

Here come the footsteps you have been hearing. The book, by Gary Matsumoto, will be out on Oct [sic] 19 from Basic Books. [The reference is to Vaccine A: The Covert Pentagon Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers – And Why GI's are Only the First Victims.]

 You are at least an obsequious apologist on this, and perhaps more. 

Jay [omitted]

*Dear Jay: *

• Insofar as the thesis that GIs are suffering from some mysterious illness has been repeatedly disproved, this is as useful and as exciting a book as the latest expose on UFO abductions. I don't hear the "footsteps" of those books either, thank you. *
• Now run out and play in the traffic with your little friends. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Mike, I know you are going to love this:

[Hyperlink to a story in the Delaware News Journal, readership of 2.]

And this story promises to get even better and better.

Pay attention so you know the score, which you obviously did not in the past.

Your past pronouncements may [sic] hilarious reading. Give them a look.

I see you made Matsumoto's book. Nice going.

Jay

*Dear Jay, *

• I know you're going to love this. If you check Amazon.com you'll see I'm actually mentioned in about 160 books out of those few they've gotten around to indexing. And some of those books have actually been read. Look up your buddy's book on Amazon or B&N.com. Other than getting repeat mentions in the same tiny Delaware newspaper he's selling no books and creating virtually no publicity. What a tragedy to spend three, maybe four, whole weeks writing a book and have nobody read it or even hear about it. Compare that to the millions of readers I get every time I do a column on how GWS is a fraud and people like Matsumoto are hucksters. Also, Reason Magazine has a new book out that's essentially "The Best of Reason." It contains a certain article called "Gulf Lore Syndrome" by a certain writer known to you. *
• Now play in the traffic like I told you, and don't come back until you've at least broken your fingers. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

  **A Rare Illness? Must be GWS-caused. **

Dr [sic] Mr. Fumento,

While view [sic] your web-site [sic] I noticed a complete bias against those who have served the Armed Services during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Although you are factual in most of your reports, I think you might want to investigate the percentage of those who have legitimate claims not the ones who are trying to get benefits for hang-nails. Although, many Gulf War Veterans [sic] feel that every sneeze is attributable to our exposures in theater. [sic] I agree with you in the fact [sic] every illness is not a result of some Syndrome [sic], however, there are those that have experienced health problems that can not be found in the general population or veterans who were not in the region.

I have many symptoms that I might have had even if I didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, and I readily admit that, and it also kept me from seeking treatment for almost 10 years. The triggering factor that sent me on a 6 year quest to research ailments of Gulf War Veterans [sic] was the birth of my son. For you see, he was born with a birth defect like no other child. Taylor, my son, was born missing his Right Eye [sic], Anathalmic [He means he's "anophthalmic."], and his Left Eye [sic] was not properly formed, Microthalmic. [He means he's "microphthalmic."] Either of these conditions is rare since it occurs in approximately 3 to 4 births a year in the United States. What makes Taylor's [*sic]* the exception, is that he was born with both conditions. Taylor is treated at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University. After being treated for 6 years the only explanation to [sic] his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf.

With that being said I researched my conditions and found that they are either related to my Central Nervous System [sic] or Auto-immune [sic] system. And these are not treatable. Additionally it has been proven that ALS has been found in an unproportionate [sic] number of Gulf War Veterans [sic]. Like I said earlier I do believe that there are those who feel that every sneeze is a result of a Gulf War Syndrome. But I ask you this, [sic] can you look Taylor in the face and tell him that his condition is made up and a figment of his imagination?

[Photo of son attached.]

[omitted] Carini

*Dear Mr. Carini: *

• I have never said that Gulf vets or their spouses or offspring do not have real illnesses; I've said they have no more illnesses than other people. That's quite a difference. *
• According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), "Anophthalmia and microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia is a disorder in which one or both eyes are abnormally small, while anophthalmia is the absence of one or both eyes. These rare disorders develop during pregnancy and can be associated with other birth defects." *

• The NEI goes on to say, "Causes of these conditions may include genetic mutations and abnormal chromosomes. Researchers also believe that environmental factors, such as exposure to X-rays, chemicals, drugs, pesticides, toxins, radiation, or viruses, increase the risk of anophthalmia and microphthalmia, but research is not conclusive. Sometimes the cause in an individual patient cannot be determined." *

  *It appears that the largest epidemiological study on the two conditions was conducted using the California birth registry and appeared in the *International Journal of Epidemiology *in 1996, although a search of Medline will show that these conditions occur throughout the world and in countries that did not deploy soldiers to the Gulf. The California study found the rate for either disorder to be 1.5 per 10,000 births. Let's assume that the 700,000 U.S. vets of the Gulf War each had only one child, which would put them well below average. Even still, that would mean 105 cases could be expected among these children by chance alone. Each year, about four million children are born in the U.S. That would mean 600 cases per year, not the three to four you were falsely told. Put another way, since the Gulf War there have been about 8,000 cases. This is a rare disorder, but not nearly as rare as you thought. As to having both disorders, it would seem logical that since they are related that whatever disposes a child to one would tend to dispose a child to the other. Taylor is by no stretch of the imagination unique in his illness. *

• But regardless of how rare it might be, how do you simply jump to the conclusion that "the only explanation to his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf"? There is no literature indicating that Gulf vets are more likely to have children with this birth defect and therefore well over 99 percent of the cases are in children whose parents did not serve in the Gulf. This is what I mean when I say that when somebody who didn't go to the Gulf gets a cough it's called "a cough," but the same thing in a Gulf vet is called GWS. *

  *Nor does it help your case that a disproportionate number of GW vets have developed ALS. The excess was barely statistically significant and was only found when compared to matched vets who didn't deploy. When compared to matched civilians, there is no abnormal ALS rate in Gulf vets. In fact, the sickness and death rates for Gulf vets in general are the same as for vets who didn't deploy and far below those of civilians. *

• The problem here is that it is horribly difficult for a parent to look at his child and see birth defects when children all around him were born perfectly healthy. The parent naturally seeks an explanation. If you worked in a chemical factory, you would no doubt blame the chemicals. But you didn't; you went to the Gulf so you blame something there. But sometimes there's no one and nothing to blame. Bad things happen to good people. On the other hand, your son is lucky to have been born at a time when science is developing bionic devices that will one day give him sight, though obviously not as soon as you and he would like. He's lucky to live in a country that believes in paying for these things, rather than doling out socialized medicine. Finally, he's also quite lucky to have as caring a father as you. Yes, I feel bad for him but then again no worse than I do for any other blind child. And I feel bad for you, because obviously you have not made peace with a problem that – at this time at least – you cannot improve. Put your energy into your child, not into anger or resentment or whatever you feel. May God bless you both. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Agent Orange Hate

You Need to Do What's Already Been Done

  I am a combat Viet Nam vetern [*sic*]. The ranch [*sic*] hand [*sic*] study is flawed but not for the reasons you suspect. 

A better study group would have been combat veterans. The veterans who like me, spent many days and weeks in the field without the benefit of clean clothes, shower [sic] and clean water.

Since my return from Viet Nam I have lost both Kidneys [sic] to disease and suffer prostate cancer. If you would have put as much energy into studying the effects on combat veterans as you did the ranch [sic] hand [sic] group, I think you would come away with a different prospective [sic – he means perspective] on this subject.

Thank You [sic]

[omitted] Frabel

*Dear Mr. Frabel: *

• Actually, all Ranch Hands are combat veterans. But I suspect you mean grunts on the ground. As it happens, they have been thoroughly studied and it's been determined that none of them received dioxin exposure even approaching those in the Ranch Hand group. In fact, it was found that soldiers in Vietnam on average had no more exposure than civilians back in the States. That's because at the time several products like soaps contained dioxin and dioxin was also created during some burning and bleaching processes. My mother washed me in dioxin-containing liquid soap. *
• I don't know why you lost your kidneys, but I suspect it was for the reason your doctor gave. Kidney transplants are the second most common transplant operation in this country (corneal transplants rank first) with more than 9,000 procedures annually. Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over 75 years old. Obviously, you are hardly unusual in suffering this disease and obviously the vast majority of sufferers never served in Vietnam. The big difference is that they have nobody to blame. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Erin Brockovich Hate

**Oh Boy, I've got Cancer! Now I Can Sue Somebody! **

Hey Mike!

Thanks for contacting me and telling me about the law suit [sic] against Beverly Hills High.. I too developed Thyroid [sic] Cancer and now Im [sic] suing the school! (graduating class of 67')

Candy

CANDYMINTZ@omitted

*Dear Candy: *

• Actually I didn't "contact you;" I wrote a piece that you read. I wish I could be as delighted as you are with your alleged thyroid cancer. Unfortunately, you're not going to win your case since A) nobody has ever produced the least evidence that petroleum fumes cause any type of cancer, as your attorney will have to argue, and B) the only epidemiological study of Beverly Hills High has found no excess of cancers. The suit that Erin Brockovich's firm filed has become a quagmire for them and the same will happen with yours. But I guess I'm supposed to wish you a Happy Cancer. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  Mike,

I just bought a brand new BMW with the monies [sic] I will collect from the school!

thanks again!!!!

*Did you let someone sell you the Brooklyn Bridge while you were at it? I think I'm just going to let you dissolve, Candymintz. You've got real problems, and they're not in your throat. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  **I Didn't Read the Article, but I Saw the Movie **

Dear Mr. Fumento,

Just a comment about your article. The reason, I believe, that Erin Brockovich was chosen to address this UN Environmental Conference is not due to her past deeds, but because of her current affiliation with Save The World Air, Inc., a company that has developed emissions controlling devices for all types of fossil fuel engines. [111 words omitted due to utter irrelevancy.]

I hope a better article will emerge on this subject that reflects the real issue. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[omitted] Witten

*Dear Ms. Witten: *

• That's all quite fascinating, except that my piece made no mention of any U.N. environmental conference but rather of an American Public Health Association conference. In fact, the APHA was mentioned no fewer than nine times. Why do you want "a better article" when you obviously didn't bother reading the one you're complaining about? *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

CAFE Hate

** Did Viking Cars Have Horned Hood Ornaments? **

 Hi Michael, 

I found your article through Google – "The High Cost of Cleaner Cars Fuel Economy Rules Will Cut Jobs, Raise Prices." It was written in 1992 and I'm curious as to how your perspectives have changed now that
a.) fuel [sic] prices are at all time highs [Actually, by the time this hate mail volume appeared they were 20 percent off those highs.]
b.) we're [sic] mired in a war in Iraq that on some level is directly related to our economic dependence on oil, e.g. if we weren't dependent on middle [sic] east [sic] oil we'd have a lot less direct interaction with that area of the world. Witness Africa if you need an example or an area we can ignore because there's little economic reason for us to get involved.
c.) at [sic] this point every credible scientist in the world believes green house [sic] gases are a major issue. even [sic] Bush is starting to discuss the topic.

Sincerely,
Kent [omitted]

*Dear Kent: *

• Insofar as: *
• 1. Fuel prices are only at all-time highs when inflation isn't factored in. In today's dollars, the highest price for a barrel of oil was $80 – a tad more than what we're paying today;
• I agree we should be less dependent on Middle East oil, but there are numerous alternatives to making cars less safe through raising CAFE standards. One would be imitating Europe's move towards clean-burning, powerful, high-fuel-economy diesel engines. I've driven them on the Autobahn and they're wonderful; yet only now are they making a comeback here;
• Greenhouse gases are certainly a political issue, but that doesn't mean they're responsible for warming the earth. The earth has cooled and warmed throughout history, as indicated by such terms as "the ice age" and "the little ice age." The Viking forays that resulted in terrorizing much of the world, settling Greenland, and discovering North America would not have been possible had the earth not become far warmer during the medieval warm period than any scientist is predicting global warming will accomplish in the next century. But the history books I've read on the subject say there weren't too many automobiles or other uses of fossil fuel back then. *
• My position is unchanged. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Totally Gratuitous Hate

Photo Funnies

 change [*sic*] ur [*sic*] picture, then perhaps people wouldn't send you negative mail! 

Brandon Wright

Dear Brandon,

• I tried. I used a picture of you and got so much hate mail it crashed my server.*

  Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento

good [sic] one buddy.who [sic] the fuck writes on hate mail anyway except for a fag dressed like michael [sic] jackson [sic] like urself. [sic]

*Don't like being one-upped, do you Brandon? Then don't write to anybody with a higher IQ than you have. In other words, don't write to anyone. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Dude [sic] If you had another brain, it would be lonely.

Enough. Get a life, even if you have to borrow someone else's.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Obesity Hate

An Appleton a Day Keeps Intelligence Away

I ended up looking at your site because you wrote an article on the fat gene. I have an ongoing argument with one of my friends at work who is very overweight. He thinks a large group of people fit into the "It's not me, it's my genes" mode. I am in the exercise and eat less camp. The topics that you cover are very interesting. But it did not take long to see how nasty you are and how much pleasure you get from insulting people. I changed my mind about reading your books or articles. There seem to be a lot of people in 2004 with this negative persona, so the general American public must like it. Ann Coulter and other political guttersnipes come to mind. On the more pornographic spectrum, Howard Stern comes to mind as well as all the vulgar rap videos. Disrespect sells today. I am sure you don't care what I think. Hope this trend changes.

Mary Appleton

   *Dear Miss Appleton:* 

Translation: I said that fat people aren't fat because of their genes but because they eat too much and don't exercise enough to make up for it. Put another way, rather than be warm and fuzzy and pat them on the head and tell them, "You're fat is not your fault," I told them that their fat is nobody's fault by their own and until they accept that they will remain fat. Perhaps you think it compassionate to lie to people and to keep them from their goals and conversely horrifically rude and nasty to tell them the truth. But you're right in that I don't care what you think and that's a trend that won't change.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Stem Cell Hate

[This was a response to a posting from a blog called Terry's LJ. It was a rip on my piece, "Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells. His remarks are in Roman type and quotes.]

1. "Being for the use of fetal stem cells does not necessarily imply that you are against the use of adult stem cells." There is no mention of "fetal stem cells" in the entire piece, though such a thing exists. The only mention is of embryonic stem cells. If you think a fetus and an embryo are the same thing, time to retake Biology 101. Regardless, you don't need any kind of a degree to repeat the words I used rather than make up your own and attribute them to me.
2. "Fumento conveniently neglects to mention any approved therapies that use adult stem cells, either." Really? Is that why you proceed to write: "Fumento's most bullshitty blurb cites two pages that note the various adult stem cell therapies either in use or in clinical trials." Which is it? No mention or just a "bullshitty" mention? In fact, I wrote "Groopman specifically mentions Fanconi's Anemia, but it was first treated with umbilical cord stem cells 16 years ago." And: At one website you'll find a list, far from comprehensive, of almost 80 therapies using them. This is treatment, not practice or theory. Amazingly, there are also more than 300 adult stem cell clinical trials. I provided links to both lists.
3. "He fails to mention that nearly all of them are variations on a single, venerable treatment: blood stem cells (usually from marrow) given to patients undergoing chemotherapy." No, if you'd looked at either list you'd see that a minority of the ailments on either list concern cancer. Like your entire blog entry, and presumably like your entire blog, this is a fabrication.

[*To his credit, Terry admitted that he had written in haste and would later write a "clarification." But no clarification came. Apparently he decided he was just plain wrong.]*

Environmentalist Hate

Hello Mr. Michael Fumento:

A few years ago you wrote a column that appeared in the National Post (Toronto) in which you alleged organic farming contributes to soil erosion. Can you supply any references published in peer reviewed journals that support your claim or was it a misprint?

[omitted] Woodruff
Vancouver BC Canada

Organic farming contributes to soil erosion by forbidding the use of herbicides, thus requiring tilling. Herbicides are needed for no-till farming. No-till tremendously reduces soil erosion. Are you so unable to use either common sense or a computer that you can't figure this out, or was your email a misprint?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Mr. Fumento: I assumed there was an honest mistake and I also assumed you were a gentleman.

I can see that I was wrong on both counts.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff Dear Mr. Woodruff:

You assumed nothing; you were baiting me. In fact, you appear to be a master-baiter.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Michael Fumento:

I requested scientific references. – your [sic] opinion, your rudeness and your use of a double entendre insult merely serves to underscore your lack of knowledge of soil science.

If you cannot or are not prepared to supply references requested – you are the one who is the master of dissimulation.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

](http://www.fumento.com/fumento.html)
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Meaningless, Purposeless Hate

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.
– Eric Hoffer

Gulf War Syndrome Hate

Not Much Horsepower, but Lots of Torque

dear [sic] mr. [sic] fumento [sic], ever been in battle, did,nt [sic] think so" [sic,sic] You sir, are typically [sic] for some reason critical of that we as veterans hold sacred, Never [sic], Never [sic] attack someone,s [sic] credibility unless you have been there yourself. I read deep seated [sic] resentments in your commentaries about agent orange, audie [sic] murphy, [sic] and probably Ira hayes [sic],if you knew anything about him. Torqued [sic] off vietnam [sic] vet...............

[Ira Hayes was one of the flag-raisers at Iwo Jima. Sadly, he drank himself to death.]

Larry Smith:

*Dear Mr. Smith: *

• I don't know whether you were ever in battle or not, nor how you define the word. You may be referring to a highly-charged negotiation at a bordello on Tudo Street in Saigon. In any case, I fail to comprehend how having seen combat makes one an expert in alleged GWS. You learn about illnesses by studying them or by reading what others who have studied them have written. Insofar as you completely misinterpreted what I wrote about Audie Murphy (I used him as an example of a true hero, rather than what passes for a hero today) and can't even string a sentence together, I sincerely doubt you read any of the three Institute of Medicine reports on GWS nor any of the medical papers that went into them. Correct me if I'm wrong – but I'm not. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Incoming Artillery Photographs!

  Mr. Fumento, 

After seeing your website it really tears me up that I fought in a war to protect the rights of scum bags like you!

If you really want Irrefutable [sic] proof, of many of these chemical exposure's, [sic] then come down here to Indy, We'll [sic] both contact the press and I'll PERSONALLY debate you with military logs, official government declassified documents, and even photos of captured chemical rounds; which confirm our soldiers were indeed GASSED on several occasions during the Gulf War...So what's you problem??

For all you sick and disabled Gulf War Vet's [sic] out there who don't Mr. Fumemto [sic], then check out this chickenwing's [sic] website @http://www.fumento.com [sic]

[omitted] Lyons,SSG. [Sic, sic: "Staff Sergeant "requires no period when abbreviated and there should be a space after his name.]
USA Ret. (Medically)
101st Airborne Division
Disabled Gulf War Veteran

P.S. If you wish to take me up on this offer...then I invite you to get your fork out, because YOU WILL be eating CROW!! I personally can't WAIT...bring it on!!

[The email was CC'd to about a dozen people, including the �ber-pompous Lt. Col. David Hackworth, two members of the VA panel that declared the existence of GWS by fiat, and for some reason "The Nature Publishing Group," publishers of Nature Magazine.]

*Dear Mr. Lyons: *

• • *Gee, I wouldn't suppose you'd be reacting to the letter I posted from a doctor who was forced to treat Gulf War Weanies such as you, the one who said these weanies have "a tendency to view their medical advisors with a venom that far exceeds that which could be expected were their disease to be organic." You, venomous? Perish the thought! Let's do a simple logical process here. NOBODY suffered nerve gas poisoning during the Gulf War. The existence of photographs of intact shells does not disprove this, insofar as intact shells don't hurt people. That's what I was always taught, anyway. *

*Now, if NOBODY was poisoned and Mr. Lyons is a subset of NOBODY, then we can deduce that Mr. Lyons was not poisoned. In fact, I'll bet lots of people have referred to Mr. Lyons in the course of his life as a nobody. We can probably also deduce that rather than deal with life's problems, Mr. Lyons likes to blame other people and to throw spit and bile at those who say that usually our only real enemy is ourselves. As to your fighting to protect my rights, my assumption is that if you served in the Gulf at all it was probably to avoid the alternative of being court-martialed and sent to jail. *

*Regarding your attachments, as it happens I've just finished an article on the subject. Among other aspects, it relates that every previous government panel that looked at "Gulf War Syndrome" found there was nothing to look at. That includes an Institute of Medicine one released at almost exactly the same time as the one to which your articles refer. The difference between all of those panels and this latest one was that finally the VA got so sick of hearing from war wimps that it stacked the panel with activists, including one that you carbon copied your pleasant e-mail to. You may be able to wail pathetically until somebody feels the need to coddle you, but you cannot complain a non-existent disease into being. The coddlers have yet to find out that people like you can never be satisfied. Your mouth will still be filled with bile, but mine will be devoid of feathers thank you very much. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

[Thereafter he sent a short note, not worthy of the Hate Mail pages and I wrote back a short note, carbon copying it to the people he carbon copied it to. That included the following writer.]

**GWS Is Caused by Parasites, Like this One **

Mr. Fumento [sic]

Please take me off your list or when you reply to someone who emailed you just send your email to them and not everyone on the list. [Apparently he's not just a GWS-crusader; he's also crusading against punctuation.] I am not interested in what you think or write. In fact the manner in which you speak about Gulf War [sic] and other veterans is consistently degrading. [I wonder where that veteran named Gulf War spent his war years] You seem to take pleasure in the plight of ill veterans. I find this disturbing since you were a soldier at one point in your life.

It's ok if you disagree and have an opinion but it's unprofessional to denigrate, ridicule and make fun of anyone's suffering. You seem to place your own image of self above your journalistic duty. I recently read that you took pride in the idea that some people thought you had hurt the Kerry election because of your article on John Edwards. I have news for you. Your impact on politics is about as evident as your impact on Gulf War Illness research. Nobody cares what you think, Not [sic] the President, not the VA and not the DoD. It must be a conspiracy against you. Apparently , you are the last person on the planet to know the truth and everyone else is wrong.

I wonder if Scripps would like to read the the [sic] nasty things you have said to fathers, mothers and soldiers who fell ill after war. [sic] Would they take pride in your bias and attitude? Perhaps we should bring some ill veterans to the Hudson Institute to talk with you and your boss. I'll bet you lunch that you don't have the courage to talk to soldiers in person the way you do through email. It would be nice if you just went away and focused on some other group to babble about.

You have certainly lost this battle.

Steve Robinson
Executive Director
National Gulf War Resource Center

*Dear Mr. Robinson: *

• I merely hit the "reply to all" button. You were on somebody else's list, not mine. What I consistently do is to point out that Gulf vets are no sicker and no likelier to die than non-vets. Why this is villainous I'm not entirely sure, except that your income is dependent on insisting otherwise. In short, your job is lying. Don't go taking it personally just because I threaten your donor base and make you appear to be living scum of the earth for lying to 700,000 vets and their spouses and offspring. Far from denigrating people with true problems, I tell them they need to trust their doctors and not people like you. On the other hand, if they become a media and congressional darling by making such claims as having vomited glow-in-the-dark puke five days a week during physical training for 10 straight months, each time ending up in intensive care, then yes I'll make fun of that. (I speak, naturally, of the most famous GWS "victim" of all, Brian Martin.) And I'll make fun of you for going along with this obvious shyster because it serves your nefarious purposes. *

  *Regarding Kerry-Edwards, I actually thought it quite foolish for people to think my two pieces somehow threatened the entire ticket. I am not without influence, but I also know my limits. Would that you had such humility. I also know that when I google myself in "Google Scholar" I come up 73 times, whereas you come up but once – a mention in a piece exclusive to the Denver Post. Obviously the VA decided for political purposes it would buckle under to the conspiracy theorists, to a point where it appointed a panel including you and at least five other GWS activists out of only ten people. (I'll bet you'd flip out if I were named to a government GWS panel!) So, no, I'm not a big hit over there. But I'm told the folks at DoD love my work, so I'll have to settle for that. As to the President, last I heard neither of us spoke for him. But you always have these marvelous insights that have no supporting empirical evidence, so I must assume that – as always – we should simply take your word for it. As to me being the last person on the planet to hold a scientific position on GWS, as you must know the Institute of Medicine produced a report at almost exactly the same time as the rump VA panel and came to the opposite conclusion. Why the difference? Because their panel comprised only scientists, not self-serving activists like – well, my goodness, Stephen L. Robinson! Your very presence on the panel makes the entire report hogwash. *

  *What I write to Gulf vets, as well as what they write to me, is posted on my website and is therefore available to anyone. (Names are omitted to protect the guilty.) You are beloved of conspiracy theories; I prefer openness and accountability. Moreover, their very letters reveal the truth about GWS in listing diseases that don't exist and revealing in various ways that many of them were either never near the Gulf or never in the military – not that this would stop you from calling them victims of GWS. *

  *As to what my boss would say to these ill vets, it would be the same as what I say. "Where in your enlistment contract does it guarantee that if you raise your right hand you will never become sick and will live forever? Why are you so convinced that your sickness is from service in the Gulf, even as the nation has millions of people with the same illness who never got closer to the Gulf than their TV set? Is it because you've been listening to people like Steve Robinson? As to your stress-related illness, isn't it interesting that it didn't begin until you heard from people like Steve Robinson that you're SUPPOSED TO be ill? And in that sense, isn't the real "cause" of GWS people like Steve Robinson?" *

• I proved my courage as an airborne soldier in combat arms and I prove it when I continue to write the truth about GWS and relay it to our vets, instead of writing from press releases like most of the mainstream mass media and, like they, giving huge play to the loaded VA panel even as they ignored the IOM one. You, on the other hand, cower behind your wall of anecdotal evidence, numbers you make up yourself, and paid-for-science Gulf War whore Robert Haley. And while I write on dozens of issues each year of which only one is GWS, it is you who are the one-trick pony. *

*Actually, if GWS finally became accepted it would be the worst thing that could happen to you as you have but one role in life – to enrich yourself and your reputation at the expense of our vets. You would fade from sight, as you so very much deserve – and as you eventually will. As I noted, you are literally a cause of both mental and stress-related illness. These people don't suffer from nerve gas or DEET or Scud missile fuel, but rather you and your phony words and your phony reports. Unfortunately for the men and women who fought for us in the Gulf, the damage you have wrought cannot be undone and will not fade away. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

That's where you are wrong and will continue to be wrong. I have met with and spoke to the President. He is the one who formed the committee. Principi is the one who chose the members. Get your facts straight. I would be happy to forward your comments to the White House and the VA. Also I will send a copy over to the Secretary of Defense and his staff. I have meet [sic] with them also.

Does your position represent the way that the Hudson Institute operates?

Are your personal attacks against ill veterans in keeping with the Hudson Institutes [sic] principles and guidelines?

I think it would be terribly embarrassing for the Hudson Institute to see your email traffic on some news show like 60 min [sic] or some other venue.

Are you prepared to defend yourself and your actions to the Nation [sic]?

I suggest your [sic] not!

Let me know if you have the courage to express you views and your email correspondence to the Nation [sic] and I will arrange the interview.

It would be my pleasure to hear your excuses for ridiculing sick veterans.

*You wrote nothing that conflicted with what I said about the President. He ordered a committee to be formed, but Principi picked – and stacked – it. Your very presence on the panel, a wicked anti-vet GWS activist, proves my point. That there were at least five other members out of a total of ten with pre-declared anti-vet, pro-GWS prejudices just adds sauce to the goose. Interesting that you didn't address the issue of panel-stacking. *

• As to expressing my "views to the Nation," "nation" is spelled thus unless you're referring to your favorite liberal rag THE NATION. It, too, hates vets and anything military. Assuming you mean to refer to the U.S., I've been writing about GWS for a national audience since 1993. My first hate mail postings to yahoos like you appeared six years ago and are on a public website. So much for your "suggestion." And as I've told you before, I don't ridicule sick vets I ridicule half-wits like you. You claim to have been a Ranger. Whether that's true, I don't know. But when I read about the Rangers who kept firing at poor Pat Tillman despite his repeatedly indicating he was a friendly (not to mention that he was in an Army uniform, rather than Taliban garb) I couldn't help but think of you. You won't kill any vets outright, but you're certainly dedicated to making them miserable. You're friendly fire on two legs. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

**A Mocking Bird **

Mr. Fumento,

I have recently read some of your current writings.

Your obviously over inflated [sic] self-image and absurdly unprofessional conduct are truly amusing. I encourage you to continue promoting your severely insignificant opinions about Gulf War veterans and their illnesses. I am sure that they could all use an entertaining read after a day of spewing "glow-in-the-dark puke."

I enthusiastically encourage you to seek the assistance from a therapist appropriately trained in anger management. I would like to suggest The Freeman Institute. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/angercoach.htm

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. This year I am thanking my lucky stars that our government has had the good sense to team brilliant scientists and insightful, knowledgeable veterans alike to advocate for Gulf War veterans.

Maybe you have just been thinking too long in your little tank.

[omitted] Mock

*Dear Ms. Mock: *

• I get the feeling you're Mocking me. In any case, I enthusiastically encourage you to seek assistance from a psychiatrist trained in schizophrenia. I would like to suggest the services of Professor Tarr and Dr. Feather. (It's Poe; look it up.) Barring that you might try www.buffooninstitute.com. *
• What you're thanking your lucky stars for is that the government, frustrated with scientists, stacked its latest panel with activists – at least six out of ten. Problem is, they can SAY there's a GWS all they want but it won't create a GWS and won't lead to the cure of a single person. It will simply lead to more psychosomatic illness, to more vets thinking there might be a special treatment for their specific illness as opposed to the exact illness in their neighbor who never went to the Gulf, and to fears of currently healthy vets that any year or decade they may fall ill from something that DIDN'T HAPPEN in 1991. That panel will prove to be your worst enemy and certainly that of Gulf vets in general. They have truly carried on where Saddam left off. *
• Maybe you have just been drooling too long in your little padded cell. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Fuento; [sic]

You're right, I am mocking you. A quick one you are, after all. Except that I believe you ought to look up the proper definition of schizophrenia. Perhaps it is actually you who suffers from the unfortunate disorder involving separation of thought, emotion and bizarre behavior.

Ironic that you would refer to Poe; one dark and troubled spirit following another. Thank you once again for providing entertaining material worth a hearty chuckle.

[omitted] Mock

*Muck: *

• Actually, I've written about schizophrenia; have you? Do you have the least medical background, other than probably claiming to have a whole bunch of non-existent illnesses? I AM troubled that 700,000 people who served their country in its hour of need are being lied to, if that's what you mean. Yes it literally troubles my spirit, but I only picked the names of the two psychiatrists I mentioned because they are extremely well-known in literature not because of any special love of Poe's writings. I'm glad I've given you what's clearly a much-needed laugh, but this whole thing is an incredible tragedy for Gulf vets. And despite what you think my articles and columns make other people THINK. That this is not the reaction with Ms. Mock is not my fault. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Pumento, [sic]

So you have written about mental illness. By insinuating a dx [diagnosis] via one e-mail surely discredits whatever you have self-proclaimed as knowledge about mental illness.

And so now you have concerns about GW veterans. Reference my previous e-mail.

*Mook from Planet Ook: *

• Actually, it is possible to diagnose schizophrenia from one e-mail. What if that one e-mail said that the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and the Freemasons "are out to get me"? Pretty tendentious, no? Yes, I have concerns about GW veterans – which is why I've been writing about their health since 1993. Don't go running for your calculator; that's 12 years. Reference my previous emails and all my writings about GWS that are on my website at www.fumento.com. And stop writing, because I'm going to stop reading. Apparently your main symptom of GWS is terminal boringness. *
• And by the way, most of us give up name-calling somewhere around the fifth grade. It doesn't speak well of you that you continue to employ it. Either that or you're a fifth-grader. I'm willing to accept either explanation. *
• Goodbye,
  Michael Fumento*

[Yes, I realized I name-called back. But she started it! Whaaaa!]

Be Bored. Be Very Bored.

Subject: Your anthrax nightmare begins

Mike,

Here come the footsteps you have been hearing. The book, by Gary Matsumoto, will be out on Oct [sic] 19 from Basic Books. [The reference is to Vaccine A: The Covert Pentagon Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers – And Why GI's are Only the First Victims.]

  You are at least an obsequious apologist on this, and perhaps more. 

Jay [omitted]

*Dear Jay: *

• Insofar as the thesis that GIs are suffering from some mysterious illness has been repeatedly disproved, this is as useful and as exciting a book as the latest expose on UFO abductions. I don't hear the "footsteps" of those books either, thank you. *
• Now run out and play in the traffic with your little friends. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Mike, I know you are going to love this:

[Hyperlink to a story in the Delaware News Journal, readership of 2.]

And this story promises to get even better and better.

Pay attention so you know the score, which you obviously did not in the past.

Your past pronouncements may [sic] hilarious reading. Give them a look.

I see you made Matsumoto's book. Nice going.

Jay

*Dear Jay, *

• I know you're going to love this. If you check Amazon.com you'll see I'm actually mentioned in about 160 books out of those few they've gotten around to indexing. And some of those books have actually been read. Look up your buddy's book on Amazon or B&N.com. Other than getting repeat mentions in the same tiny Delaware newspaper he's selling no books and creating virtually no publicity. What a tragedy to spend three, maybe four, whole weeks writing a book and have nobody read it or even hear about it. Compare that to the millions of readers I get every time I do a column on how GWS is a fraud and people like Matsumoto are hucksters. Also, Reason Magazine has a new book out that's essentially "The Best of Reason." It contains a certain article called "Gulf Lore Syndrome" by a certain writer known to you. *
• Now play in the traffic like I told you, and don't come back until you've at least broken your fingers. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

  **A Rare Illness? Must be GWS-caused. **

Dr [sic] Mr. Fumento,

While view [sic] your web-site [sic] I noticed a complete bias against those who have served the Armed Services during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Although you are factual in most of your reports, I think you might want to investigate the percentage of those who have legitimate claims not the ones who are trying to get benefits for hang-nails. Although, many Gulf War Veterans [sic] feel that every sneeze is attributable to our exposures in theater. [sic] I agree with you in the fact [sic] every illness is not a result of some Syndrome [sic], however, there are those that have experienced health problems that can not be found in the general population or veterans who were not in the region.

I have many symptoms that I might have had even if I didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, and I readily admit that, and it also kept me from seeking treatment for almost 10 years. The triggering factor that sent me on a 6 year quest to research ailments of Gulf War Veterans [sic] was the birth of my son. For you see, he was born with a birth defect like no other child. Taylor, my son, was born missing his Right Eye [sic], Anathalmic [He means he's "anophthalmic."], and his Left Eye [sic] was not properly formed, Microthalmic. [He means he's "microphthalmic."] Either of these conditions is rare since it occurs in approximately 3 to 4 births a year in the United States. What makes Taylor's [*sic]* the exception, is that he was born with both conditions. Taylor is treated at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University. After being treated for 6 years the only explanation to [sic] his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf.

With that being said I researched my conditions and found that they are either related to my Central Nervous System [sic] or Auto-immune [sic] system. And these are not treatable. Additionally it has been proven that ALS has been found in an unproportionate [sic] number of Gulf War Veterans [sic]. Like I said earlier I do believe that there are those who feel that every sneeze is a result of a Gulf War Syndrome. But I ask you this, [sic] can you look Taylor in the face and tell him that his condition is made up and a figment of his imagination?

[Photo of son attached.]

[omitted] Carini

*Dear Mr. Carini: *

• I have never said that Gulf vets or their spouses or offspring do not have real illnesses; I've said they have no more illnesses than other people. That's quite a difference. *
• According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), "Anophthalmia and microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia is a disorder in which one or both eyes are abnormally small, while anophthalmia is the absence of one or both eyes. These rare disorders develop during pregnancy and can be associated with other birth defects." *

• The NEI goes on to say, "Causes of these conditions may include genetic mutations and abnormal chromosomes. Researchers also believe that environmental factors, such as exposure to X-rays, chemicals, drugs, pesticides, toxins, radiation, or viruses, increase the risk of anophthalmia and microphthalmia, but research is not conclusive. Sometimes the cause in an individual patient cannot be determined." *

  *It appears that the largest epidemiological study on the two conditions was conducted using the California birth registry and appeared in the *International Journal of Epidemiology *in 1996, although a search of Medline will show that these conditions occur throughout the world and in countries that did not deploy soldiers to the Gulf. The California study found the rate for either disorder to be 1.5 per 10,000 births. Let's assume that the 700,000 U.S. vets of the Gulf War each had only one child, which would put them well below average. Even still, that would mean 105 cases could be expected among these children by chance alone. Each year, about four million children are born in the U.S. That would mean 600 cases per year, not the three to four you were falsely told. Put another way, since the Gulf War there have been about 8,000 cases. This is a rare disorder, but not nearly as rare as you thought. As to having both disorders, it would seem logical that since they are related that whatever disposes a child to one would tend to dispose a child to the other. Taylor is by no stretch of the imagination unique in his illness. *

• But regardless of how rare it might be, how do you simply jump to the conclusion that "the only explanation to his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf"? There is no literature indicating that Gulf vets are more likely to have children with this birth defect and therefore well over 99 percent of the cases are in children whose parents did not serve in the Gulf. This is what I mean when I say that when somebody who didn't go to the Gulf gets a cough it's called "a cough," but the same thing in a Gulf vet is called GWS. *

  *Nor does it help your case that a disproportionate number of GW vets have developed ALS. The excess was barely statistically significant and was only found when compared to matched vets who didn't deploy. When compared to matched civilians, there is no abnormal ALS rate in Gulf vets. In fact, the sickness and death rates for Gulf vets in general are the same as for vets who didn't deploy and far below those of civilians. *

• The problem here is that it is horribly difficult for a parent to look at his child and see birth defects when children all around him were born perfectly healthy. The parent naturally seeks an explanation. If you worked in a chemical factory, you would no doubt blame the chemicals. But you didn't; you went to the Gulf so you blame something there. But sometimes there's no one and nothing to blame. Bad things happen to good people. On the other hand, your son is lucky to have been born at a time when science is developing bionic devices that will one day give him sight, though obviously not as soon as you and he would like. He's lucky to live in a country that believes in paying for these things, rather than doling out socialized medicine. Finally, he's also quite lucky to have as caring a father as you. Yes, I feel bad for him but then again no worse than I do for any other blind child. And I feel bad for you, because obviously you have not made peace with a problem that – at this time at least – you cannot improve. Put your energy into your child, not into anger or resentment or whatever you feel. May God bless you both. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Agent Orange Hate

You Need to Do What's Already Been Done

 I am a combat Viet Nam vetern [*sic*]. The ranch [*sic*] hand [*sic*] study is flawed but not for the reasons you suspect. 

A better study group would have been combat veterans. The veterans who like me, spent many days and weeks in the field without the benefit of clean clothes, shower [sic] and clean water.

Since my return from Viet Nam I have lost both Kidneys [sic] to disease and suffer prostate cancer. If you would have put as much energy into studying the effects on combat veterans as you did the ranch [sic] hand [sic] group, I think you would come away with a different prospective [sic – he means perspective] on this subject.

Thank You [sic]

[omitted] Frabel

*Dear Mr. Frabel: *

• Actually, all Ranch Hands are combat veterans. But I suspect you mean grunts on the ground. As it happens, they have been thoroughly studied and it's been determined that none of them received dioxin exposure even approaching those in the Ranch Hand group. In fact, it was found that soldiers in Vietnam on average had no more exposure than civilians back in the States. That's because at the time several products like soaps contained dioxin and dioxin was also created during some burning and bleaching processes. My mother washed me in dioxin-containing liquid soap. *
• I don't know why you lost your kidneys, but I suspect it was for the reason your doctor gave. Kidney transplants are the second most common transplant operation in this country (corneal transplants rank first) with more than 9,000 procedures annually. Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over 75 years old. Obviously, you are hardly unusual in suffering this disease and obviously the vast majority of sufferers never served in Vietnam. The big difference is that they have nobody to blame. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Erin Brockovich Hate

**Oh Boy, I've got Cancer! Now I Can Sue Somebody! **

Hey Mike!

Thanks for contacting me and telling me about the law suit [sic] against Beverly Hills High.. I too developed Thyroid [sic] Cancer and now Im [sic] suing the school! (graduating class of 67')

Candy

CANDYMINTZ@omitted

*Dear Candy: *

• Actually I didn't "contact you;" I wrote a piece that you read. I wish I could be as delighted as you are with your alleged thyroid cancer. Unfortunately, you're not going to win your case since A) nobody has ever produced the least evidence that petroleum fumes cause any type of cancer, as your attorney will have to argue, and B) the only epidemiological study of Beverly Hills High has found no excess of cancers. The suit that Erin Brockovich's firm filed has become a quagmire for them and the same will happen with yours. But I guess I'm supposed to wish you a Happy Cancer. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  Mike,

I just bought a brand new BMW with the monies [sic] I will collect from the school!

thanks again!!!!

*Did you let someone sell you the Brooklyn Bridge while you were at it? I think I'm just going to let you dissolve, Candymintz. You've got real problems, and they're not in your throat. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  **I Didn't Read the Article, but I Saw the Movie **

Dear Mr. Fumento,

Just a comment about your article. The reason, I believe, that Erin Brockovich was chosen to address this UN Environmental Conference is not due to her past deeds, but because of her current affiliation with Save The World Air, Inc., a company that has developed emissions controlling devices for all types of fossil fuel engines. [111 words omitted due to utter irrelevancy.]

I hope a better article will emerge on this subject that reflects the real issue. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[omitted] Witten

*Dear Ms. Witten: *

• That's all quite fascinating, except that my piece made no mention of any U.N. environmental conference but rather of an American Public Health Association conference. In fact, the APHA was mentioned no fewer than nine times. Why do you want "a better article" when you obviously didn't bother reading the one you're complaining about? *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

CAFE Hate

** Did Viking Cars Have Horned Hood Ornaments? **

  Hi Michael, 

I found your article through Google – "The High Cost of Cleaner Cars Fuel Economy Rules Will Cut Jobs, Raise Prices." It was written in 1992 and I'm curious as to how your perspectives have changed now that
a.) fuel [sic] prices are at all time highs [Actually, by the time this hate mail volume appeared they were 20 percent off those highs.]
b.) we're [sic] mired in a war in Iraq that on some level is directly related to our economic dependence on oil, e.g. if we weren't dependent on middle [sic] east [sic] oil we'd have a lot less direct interaction with that area of the world. Witness Africa if you need an example or an area we can ignore because there's little economic reason for us to get involved.
c.) at [sic] this point every credible scientist in the world believes green house [sic] gases are a major issue. even [sic] Bush is starting to discuss the topic.

Sincerely,
Kent [omitted]

*Dear Kent: *

• Insofar as: *
• 1. Fuel prices are only at all-time highs when inflation isn't factored in. In today's dollars, the highest price for a barrel of oil was $80 – a tad more than what we're paying today;
• I agree we should be less dependent on Middle East oil, but there are numerous alternatives to making cars less safe through raising CAFE standards. One would be imitating Europe's move towards clean-burning, powerful, high-fuel-economy diesel engines. I've driven them on the Autobahn and they're wonderful; yet only now are they making a comeback here;
• Greenhouse gases are certainly a political issue, but that doesn't mean they're responsible for warming the earth. The earth has cooled and warmed throughout history, as indicated by such terms as "the ice age" and "the little ice age." The Viking forays that resulted in terrorizing much of the world, settling Greenland, and discovering North America would not have been possible had the earth not become far warmer during the medieval warm period than any scientist is predicting global warming will accomplish in the next century. But the history books I've read on the subject say there weren't too many automobiles or other uses of fossil fuel back then. *
• My position is unchanged. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Totally Gratuitous Hate

Photo Funnies

  change [*sic*] ur [*sic*] picture, then perhaps people wouldn't send you negative mail! 

Brandon Wright

Dear Brandon,

• I tried. I used a picture of you and got so much hate mail it crashed my server.*

  Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento

good [sic] one buddy.who [sic] the fuck writes on hate mail anyway except for a fag dressed like michael [sic] jackson [sic] like urself. [sic]

*Don't like being one-upped, do you Brandon? Then don't write to anybody with a higher IQ than you have. In other words, don't write to anyone. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Dude [sic] If you had another brain, it would be lonely.

Enough. Get a life, even if you have to borrow someone else's.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Obesity Hate

An Appleton a Day Keeps Intelligence Away

I ended up looking at your site because you wrote an article on the fat gene. I have an ongoing argument with one of my friends at work who is very overweight. He thinks a large group of people fit into the "It's not me, it's my genes" mode. I am in the exercise and eat less camp. The topics that you cover are very interesting. But it did not take long to see how nasty you are and how much pleasure you get from insulting people. I changed my mind about reading your books or articles. There seem to be a lot of people in 2004 with this negative persona, so the general American public must like it. Ann Coulter and other political guttersnipes come to mind. On the more pornographic spectrum, Howard Stern comes to mind as well as all the vulgar rap videos. Disrespect sells today. I am sure you don't care what I think. Hope this trend changes.

Mary Appleton

   *Dear Miss Appleton:* 

Translation: I said that fat people aren't fat because of their genes but because they eat too much and don't exercise enough to make up for it. Put another way, rather than be warm and fuzzy and pat them on the head and tell them, "You're fat is not your fault," I told them that their fat is nobody's fault by their own and until they accept that they will remain fat. Perhaps you think it compassionate to lie to people and to keep them from their goals and conversely horrifically rude and nasty to tell them the truth. But you're right in that I don't care what you think and that's a trend that won't change.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Stem Cell Hate

[This was a response to a posting from a blog called Terry's LJ. It was a rip on my piece, "Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells. His remarks are in Roman type and quotes.]

1. "Being for the use of fetal stem cells does not necessarily imply that you are against the use of adult stem cells." There is no mention of "fetal stem cells" in the entire piece, though such a thing exists. The only mention is of embryonic stem cells. If you think a fetus and an embryo are the same thing, time to retake Biology 101. Regardless, you don't need any kind of a degree to repeat the words I used rather than make up your own and attribute them to me.
2. "Fumento conveniently neglects to mention any approved therapies that use adult stem cells, either." Really? Is that why you proceed to write: "Fumento's most bullshitty blurb cites two pages that note the various adult stem cell therapies either in use or in clinical trials." Which is it? No mention or just a "bullshitty" mention? In fact, I wrote "Groopman specifically mentions Fanconi's Anemia, but it was first treated with umbilical cord stem cells 16 years ago." And: At one website you'll find a list, far from comprehensive, of almost 80 therapies using them. This is treatment, not practice or theory. Amazingly, there are also more than 300 adult stem cell clinical trials. I provided links to both lists.
3. "He fails to mention that nearly all of them are variations on a single, venerable treatment: blood stem cells (usually from marrow) given to patients undergoing chemotherapy." No, if you'd looked at either list you'd see that a minority of the ailments on either list concern cancer. Like your entire blog entry, and presumably like your entire blog, this is a fabrication.

[*To his credit, Terry admitted that he had written in haste and would later write a "clarification." But no clarification came. Apparently he decided he was just plain wrong.]*

Environmentalist Hate

Hello Mr. Michael Fumento:

A few years ago you wrote a column that appeared in the National Post (Toronto) in which you alleged organic farming contributes to soil erosion. Can you supply any references published in peer reviewed journals that support your claim or was it a misprint?

[omitted] Woodruff
Vancouver BC Canada

Organic farming contributes to soil erosion by forbidding the use of herbicides, thus requiring tilling. Herbicides are needed for no-till farming. No-till tremendously reduces soil erosion. Are you so unable to use either common sense or a computer that you can't figure this out, or was your email a misprint?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Mr. Fumento: I assumed there was an honest mistake and I also assumed you were a gentleman.

I can see that I was wrong on both counts.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

 *Dear Mr. Woodruff:* 

You assumed nothing; you were baiting me. In fact, you appear to be a master-baiter.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Michael Fumento:

I requested scientific references. – your [sic] opinion, your rudeness and your use of a double entendre insult merely serves to underscore your lack of knowledge of soil science.

If you cannot or are not prepared to supply references requested – you are the one who is the master of dissimulation.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

](http://www.fumento.com/fumento.html)
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Meaningless, Purposeless Hate

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.
– Eric Hoffer

Gulf War Syndrome Hate

Not Much Horsepower, but Lots of Torque

dear [sic] mr. [sic] fumento [sic], ever been in battle, did,nt [sic] think so" [sic,sic] You sir, are typically [sic] for some reason critical of that we as veterans hold sacred, Never [sic], Never [sic] attack someone,s [sic] credibility unless you have been there yourself. I read deep seated [sic] resentments in your commentaries about agent orange, audie [sic] murphy, [sic] and probably Ira hayes [sic],if you knew anything about him. Torqued [sic] off vietnam [sic] vet...............

[Ira Hayes was one of the flag-raisers at Iwo Jima. Sadly, he drank himself to death.]

Larry Smith:

*Dear Mr. Smith: *

• I don't know whether you were ever in battle or not, nor how you define the word. You may be referring to a highly-charged negotiation at a bordello on Tudo Street in Saigon. In any case, I fail to comprehend how having seen combat makes one an expert in alleged GWS. You learn about illnesses by studying them or by reading what others who have studied them have written. Insofar as you completely misinterpreted what I wrote about Audie Murphy (I used him as an example of a true hero, rather than what passes for a hero today) and can't even string a sentence together, I sincerely doubt you read any of the three Institute of Medicine reports on GWS nor any of the medical papers that went into them. Correct me if I'm wrong – but I'm not. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Incoming Artillery Photographs!

 Mr. Fumento, 

After seeing your website it really tears me up that I fought in a war to protect the rights of scum bags like you!

If you really want Irrefutable [sic] proof, of many of these chemical exposure's, [sic] then come down here to Indy, We'll [sic] both contact the press and I'll PERSONALLY debate you with military logs, official government declassified documents, and even photos of captured chemical rounds; which confirm our soldiers were indeed GASSED on several occasions during the Gulf War...So what's you problem??

For all you sick and disabled Gulf War Vet's [sic] out there who don't Mr. Fumemto [sic], then check out this chickenwing's [sic] website @http://www.fumento.com [sic]

[omitted] Lyons,SSG. [Sic, sic: "Staff Sergeant "requires no period when abbreviated and there should be a space after his name.]
USA Ret. (Medically)
101st Airborne Division
Disabled Gulf War Veteran

P.S. If you wish to take me up on this offer...then I invite you to get your fork out, because YOU WILL be eating CROW!! I personally can't WAIT...bring it on!!

[The email was CC'd to about a dozen people, including the �ber-pompous Lt. Col. David Hackworth, two members of the VA panel that declared the existence of GWS by fiat, and for some reason "The Nature Publishing Group," publishers of Nature Magazine.]

*Dear Mr. Lyons: *

• • *Gee, I wouldn't suppose you'd be reacting to the letter I posted from a doctor who was forced to treat Gulf War Weanies such as you, the one who said these weanies have "a tendency to view their medical advisors with a venom that far exceeds that which could be expected were their disease to be organic." You, venomous? Perish the thought! Let's do a simple logical process here. NOBODY suffered nerve gas poisoning during the Gulf War. The existence of photographs of intact shells does not disprove this, insofar as intact shells don't hurt people. That's what I was always taught, anyway. *

*Now, if NOBODY was poisoned and Mr. Lyons is a subset of NOBODY, then we can deduce that Mr. Lyons was not poisoned. In fact, I'll bet lots of people have referred to Mr. Lyons in the course of his life as a nobody. We can probably also deduce that rather than deal with life's problems, Mr. Lyons likes to blame other people and to throw spit and bile at those who say that usually our only real enemy is ourselves. As to your fighting to protect my rights, my assumption is that if you served in the Gulf at all it was probably to avoid the alternative of being court-martialed and sent to jail. *

*Regarding your attachments, as it happens I've just finished an article on the subject. Among other aspects, it relates that every previous government panel that looked at "Gulf War Syndrome" found there was nothing to look at. That includes an Institute of Medicine one released at almost exactly the same time as the one to which your articles refer. The difference between all of those panels and this latest one was that finally the VA got so sick of hearing from war wimps that it stacked the panel with activists, including one that you carbon copied your pleasant e-mail to. You may be able to wail pathetically until somebody feels the need to coddle you, but you cannot complain a non-existent disease into being. The coddlers have yet to find out that people like you can never be satisfied. Your mouth will still be filled with bile, but mine will be devoid of feathers thank you very much. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

[Thereafter he sent a short note, not worthy of the Hate Mail pages and I wrote back a short note, carbon copying it to the people he carbon copied it to. That included the following writer.]

**GWS Is Caused by Parasites, Like this One **

Mr. Fumento [sic]

Please take me off your list or when you reply to someone who emailed you just send your email to them and not everyone on the list. [Apparently he's not just a GWS-crusader; he's also crusading against punctuation.] I am not interested in what you think or write. In fact the manner in which you speak about Gulf War [sic] and other veterans is consistently degrading. [I wonder where that veteran named Gulf War spent his war years] You seem to take pleasure in the plight of ill veterans. I find this disturbing since you were a soldier at one point in your life.

It's ok if you disagree and have an opinion but it's unprofessional to denigrate, ridicule and make fun of anyone's suffering. You seem to place your own image of self above your journalistic duty. I recently read that you took pride in the idea that some people thought you had hurt the Kerry election because of your article on John Edwards. I have news for you. Your impact on politics is about as evident as your impact on Gulf War Illness research. Nobody cares what you think, Not [sic] the President, not the VA and not the DoD. It must be a conspiracy against you. Apparently , you are the last person on the planet to know the truth and everyone else is wrong.

I wonder if Scripps would like to read the the [sic] nasty things you have said to fathers, mothers and soldiers who fell ill after war. [sic] Would they take pride in your bias and attitude? Perhaps we should bring some ill veterans to the Hudson Institute to talk with you and your boss. I'll bet you lunch that you don't have the courage to talk to soldiers in person the way you do through email. It would be nice if you just went away and focused on some other group to babble about.

You have certainly lost this battle.

Steve Robinson
Executive Director
National Gulf War Resource Center

*Dear Mr. Robinson: *

• I merely hit the "reply to all" button. You were on somebody else's list, not mine. What I consistently do is to point out that Gulf vets are no sicker and no likelier to die than non-vets. Why this is villainous I'm not entirely sure, except that your income is dependent on insisting otherwise. In short, your job is lying. Don't go taking it personally just because I threaten your donor base and make you appear to be living scum of the earth for lying to 700,000 vets and their spouses and offspring. Far from denigrating people with true problems, I tell them they need to trust their doctors and not people like you. On the other hand, if they become a media and congressional darling by making such claims as having vomited glow-in-the-dark puke five days a week during physical training for 10 straight months, each time ending up in intensive care, then yes I'll make fun of that. (I speak, naturally, of the most famous GWS "victim" of all, Brian Martin.) And I'll make fun of you for going along with this obvious shyster because it serves your nefarious purposes. *

  *Regarding Kerry-Edwards, I actually thought it quite foolish for people to think my two pieces somehow threatened the entire ticket. I am not without influence, but I also know my limits. Would that you had such humility. I also know that when I google myself in "Google Scholar" I come up 73 times, whereas you come up but once – a mention in a piece exclusive to the Denver Post. Obviously the VA decided for political purposes it would buckle under to the conspiracy theorists, to a point where it appointed a panel including you and at least five other GWS activists out of only ten people. (I'll bet you'd flip out if I were named to a government GWS panel!) So, no, I'm not a big hit over there. But I'm told the folks at DoD love my work, so I'll have to settle for that. As to the President, last I heard neither of us spoke for him. But you always have these marvelous insights that have no supporting empirical evidence, so I must assume that – as always – we should simply take your word for it. As to me being the last person on the planet to hold a scientific position on GWS, as you must know the Institute of Medicine produced a report at almost exactly the same time as the rump VA panel and came to the opposite conclusion. Why the difference? Because their panel comprised only scientists, not self-serving activists like – well, my goodness, Stephen L. Robinson! Your very presence on the panel makes the entire report hogwash. *

  *What I write to Gulf vets, as well as what they write to me, is posted on my website and is therefore available to anyone. (Names are omitted to protect the guilty.) You are beloved of conspiracy theories; I prefer openness and accountability. Moreover, their very letters reveal the truth about GWS in listing diseases that don't exist and revealing in various ways that many of them were either never near the Gulf or never in the military – not that this would stop you from calling them victims of GWS. *

  *As to what my boss would say to these ill vets, it would be the same as what I say. "Where in your enlistment contract does it guarantee that if you raise your right hand you will never become sick and will live forever? Why are you so convinced that your sickness is from service in the Gulf, even as the nation has millions of people with the same illness who never got closer to the Gulf than their TV set? Is it because you've been listening to people like Steve Robinson? As to your stress-related illness, isn't it interesting that it didn't begin until you heard from people like Steve Robinson that you're SUPPOSED TO be ill? And in that sense, isn't the real "cause" of GWS people like Steve Robinson?" *

• I proved my courage as an airborne soldier in combat arms and I prove it when I continue to write the truth about GWS and relay it to our vets, instead of writing from press releases like most of the mainstream mass media and, like they, giving huge play to the loaded VA panel even as they ignored the IOM one. You, on the other hand, cower behind your wall of anecdotal evidence, numbers you make up yourself, and paid-for-science Gulf War whore Robert Haley. And while I write on dozens of issues each year of which only one is GWS, it is you who are the one-trick pony. *

*Actually, if GWS finally became accepted it would be the worst thing that could happen to you as you have but one role in life – to enrich yourself and your reputation at the expense of our vets. You would fade from sight, as you so very much deserve – and as you eventually will. As I noted, you are literally a cause of both mental and stress-related illness. These people don't suffer from nerve gas or DEET or Scud missile fuel, but rather you and your phony words and your phony reports. Unfortunately for the men and women who fought for us in the Gulf, the damage you have wrought cannot be undone and will not fade away. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

That's where you are wrong and will continue to be wrong. I have met with and spoke to the President. He is the one who formed the committee. Principi is the one who chose the members. Get your facts straight. I would be happy to forward your comments to the White House and the VA. Also I will send a copy over to the Secretary of Defense and his staff. I have meet [sic] with them also.

Does your position represent the way that the Hudson Institute operates?

Are your personal attacks against ill veterans in keeping with the Hudson Institutes [sic] principles and guidelines?

I think it would be terribly embarrassing for the Hudson Institute to see your email traffic on some news show like 60 min [sic] or some other venue.

Are you prepared to defend yourself and your actions to the Nation [sic]?

I suggest your [sic] not!

Let me know if you have the courage to express you views and your email correspondence to the Nation [sic] and I will arrange the interview.

It would be my pleasure to hear your excuses for ridiculing sick veterans.

*You wrote nothing that conflicted with what I said about the President. He ordered a committee to be formed, but Principi picked – and stacked – it. Your very presence on the panel, a wicked anti-vet GWS activist, proves my point. That there were at least five other members out of a total of ten with pre-declared anti-vet, pro-GWS prejudices just adds sauce to the goose. Interesting that you didn't address the issue of panel-stacking. *

• As to expressing my "views to the Nation," "nation" is spelled thus unless you're referring to your favorite liberal rag THE NATION. It, too, hates vets and anything military. Assuming you mean to refer to the U.S., I've been writing about GWS for a national audience since 1993. My first hate mail postings to yahoos like you appeared six years ago and are on a public website. So much for your "suggestion." And as I've told you before, I don't ridicule sick vets I ridicule half-wits like you. You claim to have been a Ranger. Whether that's true, I don't know. But when I read about the Rangers who kept firing at poor Pat Tillman despite his repeatedly indicating he was a friendly (not to mention that he was in an Army uniform, rather than Taliban garb) I couldn't help but think of you. You won't kill any vets outright, but you're certainly dedicated to making them miserable. You're friendly fire on two legs. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

**A Mocking Bird **

Mr. Fumento,

I have recently read some of your current writings.

Your obviously over inflated [sic] self-image and absurdly unprofessional conduct are truly amusing. I encourage you to continue promoting your severely insignificant opinions about Gulf War veterans and their illnesses. I am sure that they could all use an entertaining read after a day of spewing "glow-in-the-dark puke."

I enthusiastically encourage you to seek the assistance from a therapist appropriately trained in anger management. I would like to suggest The Freeman Institute. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/angercoach.htm

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. This year I am thanking my lucky stars that our government has had the good sense to team brilliant scientists and insightful, knowledgeable veterans alike to advocate for Gulf War veterans.

Maybe you have just been thinking too long in your little tank.

[omitted] Mock

*Dear Ms. Mock: *

• I get the feeling you're Mocking me. In any case, I enthusiastically encourage you to seek assistance from a psychiatrist trained in schizophrenia. I would like to suggest the services of Professor Tarr and Dr. Feather. (It's Poe; look it up.) Barring that you might try www.buffooninstitute.com. *
• What you're thanking your lucky stars for is that the government, frustrated with scientists, stacked its latest panel with activists – at least six out of ten. Problem is, they can SAY there's a GWS all they want but it won't create a GWS and won't lead to the cure of a single person. It will simply lead to more psychosomatic illness, to more vets thinking there might be a special treatment for their specific illness as opposed to the exact illness in their neighbor who never went to the Gulf, and to fears of currently healthy vets that any year or decade they may fall ill from something that DIDN'T HAPPEN in 1991. That panel will prove to be your worst enemy and certainly that of Gulf vets in general. They have truly carried on where Saddam left off. *
• Maybe you have just been drooling too long in your little padded cell. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Fuento; [sic]

You're right, I am mocking you. A quick one you are, after all. Except that I believe you ought to look up the proper definition of schizophrenia. Perhaps it is actually you who suffers from the unfortunate disorder involving separation of thought, emotion and bizarre behavior.

Ironic that you would refer to Poe; one dark and troubled spirit following another. Thank you once again for providing entertaining material worth a hearty chuckle.

[omitted] Mock

*Muck: *

• Actually, I've written about schizophrenia; have you? Do you have the least medical background, other than probably claiming to have a whole bunch of non-existent illnesses? I AM troubled that 700,000 people who served their country in its hour of need are being lied to, if that's what you mean. Yes it literally troubles my spirit, but I only picked the names of the two psychiatrists I mentioned because they are extremely well-known in literature not because of any special love of Poe's writings. I'm glad I've given you what's clearly a much-needed laugh, but this whole thing is an incredible tragedy for Gulf vets. And despite what you think my articles and columns make other people THINK. That this is not the reaction with Ms. Mock is not my fault. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Pumento, [sic]

So you have written about mental illness. By insinuating a dx [diagnosis] via one e-mail surely discredits whatever you have self-proclaimed as knowledge about mental illness.

And so now you have concerns about GW veterans. Reference my previous e-mail.

*Mook from Planet Ook: *

• Actually, it is possible to diagnose schizophrenia from one e-mail. What if that one e-mail said that the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and the Freemasons "are out to get me"? Pretty tendentious, no? Yes, I have concerns about GW veterans – which is why I've been writing about their health since 1993. Don't go running for your calculator; that's 12 years. Reference my previous emails and all my writings about GWS that are on my website at www.fumento.com. And stop writing, because I'm going to stop reading. Apparently your main symptom of GWS is terminal boringness. *
• And by the way, most of us give up name-calling somewhere around the fifth grade. It doesn't speak well of you that you continue to employ it. Either that or you're a fifth-grader. I'm willing to accept either explanation. *
• Goodbye,
  Michael Fumento*

[Yes, I realized I name-called back. But she started it! Whaaaa!]

Be Bored. Be Very Bored.

Subject: Your anthrax nightmare begins

Mike,

Here come the footsteps you have been hearing. The book, by Gary Matsumoto, will be out on Oct [sic] 19 from Basic Books. [The reference is to Vaccine A: The Covert Pentagon Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers – And Why GI's are Only the First Victims.]

  You are at least an obsequious apologist on this, and perhaps more. 

Jay [omitted]

*Dear Jay: *

• Insofar as the thesis that GIs are suffering from some mysterious illness has been repeatedly disproved, this is as useful and as exciting a book as the latest expose on UFO abductions. I don't hear the "footsteps" of those books either, thank you. *
• Now run out and play in the traffic with your little friends. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Mike, I know you are going to love this:

[Hyperlink to a story in the Delaware News Journal, readership of 2.]

And this story promises to get even better and better.

Pay attention so you know the score, which you obviously did not in the past.

Your past pronouncements may [sic] hilarious reading. Give them a look.

I see you made Matsumoto's book. Nice going.

Jay

*Dear Jay, *

• I know you're going to love this. If you check Amazon.com you'll see I'm actually mentioned in about 160 books out of those few they've gotten around to indexing. And some of those books have actually been read. Look up your buddy's book on Amazon or B&N.com. Other than getting repeat mentions in the same tiny Delaware newspaper he's selling no books and creating virtually no publicity. What a tragedy to spend three, maybe four, whole weeks writing a book and have nobody read it or even hear about it. Compare that to the millions of readers I get every time I do a column on how GWS is a fraud and people like Matsumoto are hucksters. Also, Reason Magazine has a new book out that's essentially "The Best of Reason." It contains a certain article called "Gulf Lore Syndrome" by a certain writer known to you. *
• Now play in the traffic like I told you, and don't come back until you've at least broken your fingers. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

  **A Rare Illness? Must be GWS-caused. **

Dr [sic] Mr. Fumento,

While view [sic] your web-site [sic] I noticed a complete bias against those who have served the Armed Services during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Although you are factual in most of your reports, I think you might want to investigate the percentage of those who have legitimate claims not the ones who are trying to get benefits for hang-nails. Although, many Gulf War Veterans [sic] feel that every sneeze is attributable to our exposures in theater. [sic] I agree with you in the fact [sic] every illness is not a result of some Syndrome [sic], however, there are those that have experienced health problems that can not be found in the general population or veterans who were not in the region.

I have many symptoms that I might have had even if I didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, and I readily admit that, and it also kept me from seeking treatment for almost 10 years. The triggering factor that sent me on a 6 year quest to research ailments of Gulf War Veterans [sic] was the birth of my son. For you see, he was born with a birth defect like no other child. Taylor, my son, was born missing his Right Eye [sic], Anathalmic [He means he's "anophthalmic."], and his Left Eye [sic] was not properly formed, Microthalmic. [He means he's "microphthalmic."] Either of these conditions is rare since it occurs in approximately 3 to 4 births a year in the United States. What makes Taylor's [*sic]* the exception, is that he was born with both conditions. Taylor is treated at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University. After being treated for 6 years the only explanation to [sic] his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf.

With that being said I researched my conditions and found that they are either related to my Central Nervous System [sic] or Auto-immune [sic] system. And these are not treatable. Additionally it has been proven that ALS has been found in an unproportionate [sic] number of Gulf War Veterans [sic]. Like I said earlier I do believe that there are those who feel that every sneeze is a result of a Gulf War Syndrome. But I ask you this, [sic] can you look Taylor in the face and tell him that his condition is made up and a figment of his imagination?

[Photo of son attached.]

[omitted] Carini

*Dear Mr. Carini: *

• I have never said that Gulf vets or their spouses or offspring do not have real illnesses; I've said they have no more illnesses than other people. That's quite a difference. *
• According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), "Anophthalmia and microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia is a disorder in which one or both eyes are abnormally small, while anophthalmia is the absence of one or both eyes. These rare disorders develop during pregnancy and can be associated with other birth defects." *

• The NEI goes on to say, "Causes of these conditions may include genetic mutations and abnormal chromosomes. Researchers also believe that environmental factors, such as exposure to X-rays, chemicals, drugs, pesticides, toxins, radiation, or viruses, increase the risk of anophthalmia and microphthalmia, but research is not conclusive. Sometimes the cause in an individual patient cannot be determined." *

  *It appears that the largest epidemiological study on the two conditions was conducted using the California birth registry and appeared in the *International Journal of Epidemiology *in 1996, although a search of Medline will show that these conditions occur throughout the world and in countries that did not deploy soldiers to the Gulf. The California study found the rate for either disorder to be 1.5 per 10,000 births. Let's assume that the 700,000 U.S. vets of the Gulf War each had only one child, which would put them well below average. Even still, that would mean 105 cases could be expected among these children by chance alone. Each year, about four million children are born in the U.S. That would mean 600 cases per year, not the three to four you were falsely told. Put another way, since the Gulf War there have been about 8,000 cases. This is a rare disorder, but not nearly as rare as you thought. As to having both disorders, it would seem logical that since they are related that whatever disposes a child to one would tend to dispose a child to the other. Taylor is by no stretch of the imagination unique in his illness. *

• But regardless of how rare it might be, how do you simply jump to the conclusion that "the only explanation to his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf"? There is no literature indicating that Gulf vets are more likely to have children with this birth defect and therefore well over 99 percent of the cases are in children whose parents did not serve in the Gulf. This is what I mean when I say that when somebody who didn't go to the Gulf gets a cough it's called "a cough," but the same thing in a Gulf vet is called GWS. *

  *Nor does it help your case that a disproportionate number of GW vets have developed ALS. The excess was barely statistically significant and was only found when compared to matched vets who didn't deploy. When compared to matched civilians, there is no abnormal ALS rate in Gulf vets. In fact, the sickness and death rates for Gulf vets in general are the same as for vets who didn't deploy and far below those of civilians. *

• The problem here is that it is horribly difficult for a parent to look at his child and see birth defects when children all around him were born perfectly healthy. The parent naturally seeks an explanation. If you worked in a chemical factory, you would no doubt blame the chemicals. But you didn't; you went to the Gulf so you blame something there. But sometimes there's no one and nothing to blame. Bad things happen to good people. On the other hand, your son is lucky to have been born at a time when science is developing bionic devices that will one day give him sight, though obviously not as soon as you and he would like. He's lucky to live in a country that believes in paying for these things, rather than doling out socialized medicine. Finally, he's also quite lucky to have as caring a father as you. Yes, I feel bad for him but then again no worse than I do for any other blind child. And I feel bad for you, because obviously you have not made peace with a problem that – at this time at least – you cannot improve. Put your energy into your child, not into anger or resentment or whatever you feel. May God bless you both. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Agent Orange Hate

You Need to Do What's Already Been Done

   I am a combat Viet Nam vetern [*sic*]. The ranch [*sic*] hand [*sic*] study is flawed but not for the reasons you suspect. 

A better study group would have been combat veterans. The veterans who like me, spent many days and weeks in the field without the benefit of clean clothes, shower [sic] and clean water.

Since my return from Viet Nam I have lost both Kidneys [sic] to disease and suffer prostate cancer. If you would have put as much energy into studying the effects on combat veterans as you did the ranch [sic] hand [sic] group, I think you would come away with a different prospective [sic – he means perspective] on this subject.

Thank You [sic]

[omitted] Frabel

*Dear Mr. Frabel: *

• Actually, all Ranch Hands are combat veterans. But I suspect you mean grunts on the ground. As it happens, they have been thoroughly studied and it's been determined that none of them received dioxin exposure even approaching those in the Ranch Hand group. In fact, it was found that soldiers in Vietnam on average had no more exposure than civilians back in the States. That's because at the time several products like soaps contained dioxin and dioxin was also created during some burning and bleaching processes. My mother washed me in dioxin-containing liquid soap. *
• I don't know why you lost your kidneys, but I suspect it was for the reason your doctor gave. Kidney transplants are the second most common transplant operation in this country (corneal transplants rank first) with more than 9,000 procedures annually. Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over 75 years old. Obviously, you are hardly unusual in suffering this disease and obviously the vast majority of sufferers never served in Vietnam. The big difference is that they have nobody to blame. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Erin Brockovich Hate

**Oh Boy, I've got Cancer! Now I Can Sue Somebody! **

Hey Mike!

Thanks for contacting me and telling me about the law suit [sic] against Beverly Hills High.. I too developed Thyroid [sic] Cancer and now Im [sic] suing the school! (graduating class of 67')

Candy

CANDYMINTZ@omitted

*Dear Candy: *

• Actually I didn't "contact you;" I wrote a piece that you read. I wish I could be as delighted as you are with your alleged thyroid cancer. Unfortunately, you're not going to win your case since A) nobody has ever produced the least evidence that petroleum fumes cause any type of cancer, as your attorney will have to argue, and B) the only epidemiological study of Beverly Hills High has found no excess of cancers. The suit that Erin Brockovich's firm filed has become a quagmire for them and the same will happen with yours. But I guess I'm supposed to wish you a Happy Cancer. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  Mike,

I just bought a brand new BMW with the monies [sic] I will collect from the school!

thanks again!!!!

*Did you let someone sell you the Brooklyn Bridge while you were at it? I think I'm just going to let you dissolve, Candymintz. You've got real problems, and they're not in your throat. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  **I Didn't Read the Article, but I Saw the Movie **

Dear Mr. Fumento,

Just a comment about your article. The reason, I believe, that Erin Brockovich was chosen to address this UN Environmental Conference is not due to her past deeds, but because of her current affiliation with Save The World Air, Inc., a company that has developed emissions controlling devices for all types of fossil fuel engines. [111 words omitted due to utter irrelevancy.]

I hope a better article will emerge on this subject that reflects the real issue. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[omitted] Witten

*Dear Ms. Witten: *

• That's all quite fascinating, except that my piece made no mention of any U.N. environmental conference but rather of an American Public Health Association conference. In fact, the APHA was mentioned no fewer than nine times. Why do you want "a better article" when you obviously didn't bother reading the one you're complaining about? *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

CAFE Hate

** Did Viking Cars Have Horned Hood Ornaments? **

 Hi Michael, 

I found your article through Google – "The High Cost of Cleaner Cars Fuel Economy Rules Will Cut Jobs, Raise Prices." It was written in 1992 and I'm curious as to how your perspectives have changed now that
a.) fuel [sic] prices are at all time highs [Actually, by the time this hate mail volume appeared they were 20 percent off those highs.]
b.) we're [sic] mired in a war in Iraq that on some level is directly related to our economic dependence on oil, e.g. if we weren't dependent on middle [sic] east [sic] oil we'd have a lot less direct interaction with that area of the world. Witness Africa if you need an example or an area we can ignore because there's little economic reason for us to get involved.
c.) at [sic] this point every credible scientist in the world believes green house [sic] gases are a major issue. even [sic] Bush is starting to discuss the topic.

Sincerely,
Kent [omitted]

*Dear Kent: *

• Insofar as: *
• 1. Fuel prices are only at all-time highs when inflation isn't factored in. In today's dollars, the highest price for a barrel of oil was $80 – a tad more than what we're paying today;
• I agree we should be less dependent on Middle East oil, but there are numerous alternatives to making cars less safe through raising CAFE standards. One would be imitating Europe's move towards clean-burning, powerful, high-fuel-economy diesel engines. I've driven them on the Autobahn and they're wonderful; yet only now are they making a comeback here;
• Greenhouse gases are certainly a political issue, but that doesn't mean they're responsible for warming the earth. The earth has cooled and warmed throughout history, as indicated by such terms as "the ice age" and "the little ice age." The Viking forays that resulted in terrorizing much of the world, settling Greenland, and discovering North America would not have been possible had the earth not become far warmer during the medieval warm period than any scientist is predicting global warming will accomplish in the next century. But the history books I've read on the subject say there weren't too many automobiles or other uses of fossil fuel back then. *
• My position is unchanged. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Totally Gratuitous Hate

Photo Funnies

change [sic] ur [sic] picture, then perhaps people wouldn't send you negative mail!

Brandon Wright

Dear Brandon,

• I tried. I used a picture of you and got so much hate mail it crashed my server.*

  Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento

good [sic] one buddy.who [sic] the fuck writes on hate mail anyway except for a fag dressed like michael [sic] jackson [sic] like urself. [sic]

*Don't like being one-upped, do you Brandon? Then don't write to anybody with a higher IQ than you have. In other words, don't write to anyone. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Dude [sic] If you had another brain, it would be lonely.

Enough. Get a life, even if you have to borrow someone else's.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Obesity Hate

An Appleton a Day Keeps Intelligence Away

I ended up looking at your site because you wrote an article on the fat gene. I have an ongoing argument with one of my friends at work who is very overweight. He thinks a large group of people fit into the "It's not me, it's my genes" mode. I am in the exercise and eat less camp. The topics that you cover are very interesting. But it did not take long to see how nasty you are and how much pleasure you get from insulting people. I changed my mind about reading your books or articles. There seem to be a lot of people in 2004 with this negative persona, so the general American public must like it. Ann Coulter and other political guttersnipes come to mind. On the more pornographic spectrum, Howard Stern comes to mind as well as all the vulgar rap videos. Disrespect sells today. I am sure you don't care what I think. Hope this trend changes.

Mary Appleton

Dear Miss Appleton:

Translation: I said that fat people aren't fat because of their genes but because they eat too much and don't exercise enough to make up for it. Put another way, rather than be warm and fuzzy and pat them on the head and tell them, "You're fat is not your fault," I told them that their fat is nobody's fault by their own and until they accept that they will remain fat. Perhaps you think it compassionate to lie to people and to keep them from their goals and conversely horrifically rude and nasty to tell them the truth. But you're right in that I don't care what you think and that's a trend that won't change.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Stem Cell Hate

[This was a response to a posting from a blog called Terry's LJ. It was a rip on my piece, "Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells. His remarks are in Roman type and quotes.]

1. "Being for the use of fetal stem cells does not necessarily imply that you are against the use of adult stem cells." There is no mention of "fetal stem cells" in the entire piece, though such a thing exists. The only mention is of embryonic stem cells. If you think a fetus and an embryo are the same thing, time to retake Biology 101. Regardless, you don't need any kind of a degree to repeat the words I used rather than make up your own and attribute them to me.
2. "Fumento conveniently neglects to mention any approved therapies that use adult stem cells, either." Really? Is that why you proceed to write: "Fumento's most bullshitty blurb cites two pages that note the various adult stem cell therapies either in use or in clinical trials." Which is it? No mention or just a "bullshitty" mention? In fact, I wrote "Groopman specifically mentions Fanconi's Anemia, but it was first treated with umbilical cord stem cells 16 years ago." And: At one website you'll find a list, far from comprehensive, of almost 80 therapies using them. This is treatment, not practice or theory. Amazingly, there are also more than 300 adult stem cell clinical trials. I provided links to both lists.
3. "He fails to mention that nearly all of them are variations on a single, venerable treatment: blood stem cells (usually from marrow) given to patients undergoing chemotherapy." No, if you'd looked at either list you'd see that a minority of the ailments on either list concern cancer. Like your entire blog entry, and presumably like your entire blog, this is a fabrication.

[*To his credit, Terry admitted that he had written in haste and would later write a "clarification." But no clarification came. Apparently he decided he was just plain wrong.]*

Environmentalist Hate

Hello Mr. Michael Fumento:

A few years ago you wrote a column that appeared in the National Post (Toronto) in which you alleged organic farming contributes to soil erosion. Can you supply any references published in peer reviewed journals that support your claim or was it a misprint?

[omitted] Woodruff
Vancouver BC Canada

Organic farming contributes to soil erosion by forbidding the use of herbicides, thus requiring tilling. Herbicides are needed for no-till farming. No-till tremendously reduces soil erosion. Are you so unable to use either common sense or a computer that you can't figure this out, or was your email a misprint?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Mr. Fumento: I assumed there was an honest mistake and I also assumed you were a gentleman.

I can see that I was wrong on both counts.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

Dear Mr. Woodruff:

You assumed nothing; you were baiting me. In fact, you appear to be a master-baiter.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Michael Fumento:

I requested scientific references. – your [sic] opinion, your rudeness and your use of a double entendre insult merely serves to underscore your lack of knowledge of soil science.

If you cannot or are not prepared to supply references requested – you are the one who is the master of dissimulation.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

](http://www.fumento.com/fumento.html)
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Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.
– Eric Hoffer

Gulf War Syndrome Hate

Not Much Horsepower, but Lots of Torque

dear [sic] mr. [sic] fumento [sic], ever been in battle, did,nt [sic] think so" [sic,sic] You sir, are typically [sic] for some reason critical of that we as veterans hold sacred, Never [sic], Never [sic] attack someone,s [sic] credibility unless you have been there yourself. I read deep seated [sic] resentments in your commentaries about agent orange, audie [sic] murphy, [sic] and probably Ira hayes [sic],if you knew anything about him. Torqued [sic] off vietnam [sic] vet...............

[Ira Hayes was one of the flag-raisers at Iwo Jima. Sadly, he drank himself to death.]

Larry Smith:

*Dear Mr. Smith: *

• I don't know whether you were ever in battle or not, nor how you define the word. You may be referring to a highly-charged negotiation at a bordello on Tudo Street in Saigon. In any case, I fail to comprehend how having seen combat makes one an expert in alleged GWS. You learn about illnesses by studying them or by reading what others who have studied them have written. Insofar as you completely misinterpreted what I wrote about Audie Murphy (I used him as an example of a true hero, rather than what passes for a hero today) and can't even string a sentence together, I sincerely doubt you read any of the three Institute of Medicine reports on GWS nor any of the medical papers that went into them. Correct me if I'm wrong – but I'm not. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Incoming Artillery Photographs!

 Mr. Fumento, 

After seeing your website it really tears me up that I fought in a war to protect the rights of scum bags like you!

If you really want Irrefutable [sic] proof, of many of these chemical exposure's, [sic] then come down here to Indy, We'll [sic] both contact the press and I'll PERSONALLY debate you with military logs, official government declassified documents, and even photos of captured chemical rounds; which confirm our soldiers were indeed GASSED on several occasions during the Gulf War...So what's you problem??

For all you sick and disabled Gulf War Vet's [sic] out there who don't Mr. Fumemto [sic], then check out this chickenwing's [sic] website @http://www.fumento.com [sic]

[omitted] Lyons,SSG. [Sic, sic: "Staff Sergeant "requires no period when abbreviated and there should be a space after his name.]
USA Ret. (Medically)
101st Airborne Division
Disabled Gulf War Veteran

P.S. If you wish to take me up on this offer...then I invite you to get your fork out, because YOU WILL be eating CROW!! I personally can't WAIT...bring it on!!

[The email was CC'd to about a dozen people, including the �ber-pompous Lt. Col. David Hackworth, two members of the VA panel that declared the existence of GWS by fiat, and for some reason "The Nature Publishing Group," publishers of Nature Magazine.]

*Dear Mr. Lyons: *

• • *Gee, I wouldn't suppose you'd be reacting to the letter I posted from a doctor who was forced to treat Gulf War Weanies such as you, the one who said these weanies have "a tendency to view their medical advisors with a venom that far exceeds that which could be expected were their disease to be organic." You, venomous? Perish the thought! Let's do a simple logical process here. NOBODY suffered nerve gas poisoning during the Gulf War. The existence of photographs of intact shells does not disprove this, insofar as intact shells don't hurt people. That's what I was always taught, anyway. *

*Now, if NOBODY was poisoned and Mr. Lyons is a subset of NOBODY, then we can deduce that Mr. Lyons was not poisoned. In fact, I'll bet lots of people have referred to Mr. Lyons in the course of his life as a nobody. We can probably also deduce that rather than deal with life's problems, Mr. Lyons likes to blame other people and to throw spit and bile at those who say that usually our only real enemy is ourselves. As to your fighting to protect my rights, my assumption is that if you served in the Gulf at all it was probably to avoid the alternative of being court-martialed and sent to jail. *

*Regarding your attachments, as it happens I've just finished an article on the subject. Among other aspects, it relates that every previous government panel that looked at "Gulf War Syndrome" found there was nothing to look at. That includes an Institute of Medicine one released at almost exactly the same time as the one to which your articles refer. The difference between all of those panels and this latest one was that finally the VA got so sick of hearing from war wimps that it stacked the panel with activists, including one that you carbon copied your pleasant e-mail to. You may be able to wail pathetically until somebody feels the need to coddle you, but you cannot complain a non-existent disease into being. The coddlers have yet to find out that people like you can never be satisfied. Your mouth will still be filled with bile, but mine will be devoid of feathers thank you very much. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

[Thereafter he sent a short note, not worthy of the Hate Mail pages and I wrote back a short note, carbon copying it to the people he carbon copied it to. That included the following writer.]

**GWS Is Caused by Parasites, Like this One **

Mr. Fumento [sic]

Please take me off your list or when you reply to someone who emailed you just send your email to them and not everyone on the list. [Apparently he's not just a GWS-crusader; he's also crusading against punctuation.] I am not interested in what you think or write. In fact the manner in which you speak about Gulf War [sic] and other veterans is consistently degrading. [I wonder where that veteran named Gulf War spent his war years] You seem to take pleasure in the plight of ill veterans. I find this disturbing since you were a soldier at one point in your life.

It's ok if you disagree and have an opinion but it's unprofessional to denigrate, ridicule and make fun of anyone's suffering. You seem to place your own image of self above your journalistic duty. I recently read that you took pride in the idea that some people thought you had hurt the Kerry election because of your article on John Edwards. I have news for you. Your impact on politics is about as evident as your impact on Gulf War Illness research. Nobody cares what you think, Not [sic] the President, not the VA and not the DoD. It must be a conspiracy against you. Apparently , you are the last person on the planet to know the truth and everyone else is wrong.

I wonder if Scripps would like to read the the [sic] nasty things you have said to fathers, mothers and soldiers who fell ill after war. [sic] Would they take pride in your bias and attitude? Perhaps we should bring some ill veterans to the Hudson Institute to talk with you and your boss. I'll bet you lunch that you don't have the courage to talk to soldiers in person the way you do through email. It would be nice if you just went away and focused on some other group to babble about.

You have certainly lost this battle.

Steve Robinson
Executive Director
National Gulf War Resource Center

*Dear Mr. Robinson: *

• I merely hit the "reply to all" button. You were on somebody else's list, not mine. What I consistently do is to point out that Gulf vets are no sicker and no likelier to die than non-vets. Why this is villainous I'm not entirely sure, except that your income is dependent on insisting otherwise. In short, your job is lying. Don't go taking it personally just because I threaten your donor base and make you appear to be living scum of the earth for lying to 700,000 vets and their spouses and offspring. Far from denigrating people with true problems, I tell them they need to trust their doctors and not people like you. On the other hand, if they become a media and congressional darling by making such claims as having vomited glow-in-the-dark puke five days a week during physical training for 10 straight months, each time ending up in intensive care, then yes I'll make fun of that. (I speak, naturally, of the most famous GWS "victim" of all, Brian Martin.) And I'll make fun of you for going along with this obvious shyster because it serves your nefarious purposes. *

  *Regarding Kerry-Edwards, I actually thought it quite foolish for people to think my two pieces somehow threatened the entire ticket. I am not without influence, but I also know my limits. Would that you had such humility. I also know that when I google myself in "Google Scholar" I come up 73 times, whereas you come up but once – a mention in a piece exclusive to the Denver Post. Obviously the VA decided for political purposes it would buckle under to the conspiracy theorists, to a point where it appointed a panel including you and at least five other GWS activists out of only ten people. (I'll bet you'd flip out if I were named to a government GWS panel!) So, no, I'm not a big hit over there. But I'm told the folks at DoD love my work, so I'll have to settle for that. As to the President, last I heard neither of us spoke for him. But you always have these marvelous insights that have no supporting empirical evidence, so I must assume that – as always – we should simply take your word for it. As to me being the last person on the planet to hold a scientific position on GWS, as you must know the Institute of Medicine produced a report at almost exactly the same time as the rump VA panel and came to the opposite conclusion. Why the difference? Because their panel comprised only scientists, not self-serving activists like – well, my goodness, Stephen L. Robinson! Your very presence on the panel makes the entire report hogwash. *

  *What I write to Gulf vets, as well as what they write to me, is posted on my website and is therefore available to anyone. (Names are omitted to protect the guilty.) You are beloved of conspiracy theories; I prefer openness and accountability. Moreover, their very letters reveal the truth about GWS in listing diseases that don't exist and revealing in various ways that many of them were either never near the Gulf or never in the military – not that this would stop you from calling them victims of GWS. *

  *As to what my boss would say to these ill vets, it would be the same as what I say. "Where in your enlistment contract does it guarantee that if you raise your right hand you will never become sick and will live forever? Why are you so convinced that your sickness is from service in the Gulf, even as the nation has millions of people with the same illness who never got closer to the Gulf than their TV set? Is it because you've been listening to people like Steve Robinson? As to your stress-related illness, isn't it interesting that it didn't begin until you heard from people like Steve Robinson that you're SUPPOSED TO be ill? And in that sense, isn't the real "cause" of GWS people like Steve Robinson?" *

• I proved my courage as an airborne soldier in combat arms and I prove it when I continue to write the truth about GWS and relay it to our vets, instead of writing from press releases like most of the mainstream mass media and, like they, giving huge play to the loaded VA panel even as they ignored the IOM one. You, on the other hand, cower behind your wall of anecdotal evidence, numbers you make up yourself, and paid-for-science Gulf War whore Robert Haley. And while I write on dozens of issues each year of which only one is GWS, it is you who are the one-trick pony. *

*Actually, if GWS finally became accepted it would be the worst thing that could happen to you as you have but one role in life – to enrich yourself and your reputation at the expense of our vets. You would fade from sight, as you so very much deserve – and as you eventually will. As I noted, you are literally a cause of both mental and stress-related illness. These people don't suffer from nerve gas or DEET or Scud missile fuel, but rather you and your phony words and your phony reports. Unfortunately for the men and women who fought for us in the Gulf, the damage you have wrought cannot be undone and will not fade away. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

That's where you are wrong and will continue to be wrong. I have met with and spoke to the President. He is the one who formed the committee. Principi is the one who chose the members. Get your facts straight. I would be happy to forward your comments to the White House and the VA. Also I will send a copy over to the Secretary of Defense and his staff. I have meet [sic] with them also.

Does your position represent the way that the Hudson Institute operates?

Are your personal attacks against ill veterans in keeping with the Hudson Institutes [sic] principles and guidelines?

I think it would be terribly embarrassing for the Hudson Institute to see your email traffic on some news show like 60 min [sic] or some other venue.

Are you prepared to defend yourself and your actions to the Nation [sic]?

I suggest your [sic] not!

Let me know if you have the courage to express you views and your email correspondence to the Nation [sic] and I will arrange the interview.

It would be my pleasure to hear your excuses for ridiculing sick veterans.

*You wrote nothing that conflicted with what I said about the President. He ordered a committee to be formed, but Principi picked – and stacked – it. Your very presence on the panel, a wicked anti-vet GWS activist, proves my point. That there were at least five other members out of a total of ten with pre-declared anti-vet, pro-GWS prejudices just adds sauce to the goose. Interesting that you didn't address the issue of panel-stacking. *

• As to expressing my "views to the Nation," "nation" is spelled thus unless you're referring to your favorite liberal rag THE NATION. It, too, hates vets and anything military. Assuming you mean to refer to the U.S., I've been writing about GWS for a national audience since 1993. My first hate mail postings to yahoos like you appeared six years ago and are on a public website. So much for your "suggestion." And as I've told you before, I don't ridicule sick vets I ridicule half-wits like you. You claim to have been a Ranger. Whether that's true, I don't know. But when I read about the Rangers who kept firing at poor Pat Tillman despite his repeatedly indicating he was a friendly (not to mention that he was in an Army uniform, rather than Taliban garb) I couldn't help but think of you. You won't kill any vets outright, but you're certainly dedicated to making them miserable. You're friendly fire on two legs. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

**A Mocking Bird **

Mr. Fumento,

I have recently read some of your current writings.

Your obviously over inflated [sic] self-image and absurdly unprofessional conduct are truly amusing. I encourage you to continue promoting your severely insignificant opinions about Gulf War veterans and their illnesses. I am sure that they could all use an entertaining read after a day of spewing "glow-in-the-dark puke."

I enthusiastically encourage you to seek the assistance from a therapist appropriately trained in anger management. I would like to suggest The Freeman Institute. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/angercoach.htm

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. This year I am thanking my lucky stars that our government has had the good sense to team brilliant scientists and insightful, knowledgeable veterans alike to advocate for Gulf War veterans.

Maybe you have just been thinking too long in your little tank.

[omitted] Mock

*Dear Ms. Mock: *

• I get the feeling you're Mocking me. In any case, I enthusiastically encourage you to seek assistance from a psychiatrist trained in schizophrenia. I would like to suggest the services of Professor Tarr and Dr. Feather. (It's Poe; look it up.) Barring that you might try www.buffooninstitute.com. *
• What you're thanking your lucky stars for is that the government, frustrated with scientists, stacked its latest panel with activists – at least six out of ten. Problem is, they can SAY there's a GWS all they want but it won't create a GWS and won't lead to the cure of a single person. It will simply lead to more psychosomatic illness, to more vets thinking there might be a special treatment for their specific illness as opposed to the exact illness in their neighbor who never went to the Gulf, and to fears of currently healthy vets that any year or decade they may fall ill from something that DIDN'T HAPPEN in 1991. That panel will prove to be your worst enemy and certainly that of Gulf vets in general. They have truly carried on where Saddam left off. *
• Maybe you have just been drooling too long in your little padded cell. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Fuento; [sic]

You're right, I am mocking you. A quick one you are, after all. Except that I believe you ought to look up the proper definition of schizophrenia. Perhaps it is actually you who suffers from the unfortunate disorder involving separation of thought, emotion and bizarre behavior.

Ironic that you would refer to Poe; one dark and troubled spirit following another. Thank you once again for providing entertaining material worth a hearty chuckle.

[omitted] Mock

*Muck: *

• Actually, I've written about schizophrenia; have you? Do you have the least medical background, other than probably claiming to have a whole bunch of non-existent illnesses? I AM troubled that 700,000 people who served their country in its hour of need are being lied to, if that's what you mean. Yes it literally troubles my spirit, but I only picked the names of the two psychiatrists I mentioned because they are extremely well-known in literature not because of any special love of Poe's writings. I'm glad I've given you what's clearly a much-needed laugh, but this whole thing is an incredible tragedy for Gulf vets. And despite what you think my articles and columns make other people THINK. That this is not the reaction with Ms. Mock is not my fault. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Pumento, [sic]

So you have written about mental illness. By insinuating a dx [diagnosis] via one e-mail surely discredits whatever you have self-proclaimed as knowledge about mental illness.

And so now you have concerns about GW veterans. Reference my previous e-mail.

*Mook from Planet Ook: *

• Actually, it is possible to diagnose schizophrenia from one e-mail. What if that one e-mail said that the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and the Freemasons "are out to get me"? Pretty tendentious, no? Yes, I have concerns about GW veterans – which is why I've been writing about their health since 1993. Don't go running for your calculator; that's 12 years. Reference my previous emails and all my writings about GWS that are on my website at www.fumento.com. And stop writing, because I'm going to stop reading. Apparently your main symptom of GWS is terminal boringness. *
• And by the way, most of us give up name-calling somewhere around the fifth grade. It doesn't speak well of you that you continue to employ it. Either that or you're a fifth-grader. I'm willing to accept either explanation. *
• Goodbye,
  Michael Fumento*

[Yes, I realized I name-called back. But she started it! Whaaaa!]

Be Bored. Be Very Bored.

Subject: Your anthrax nightmare begins

Mike,

Here come the footsteps you have been hearing. The book, by Gary Matsumoto, will be out on Oct [sic] 19 from Basic Books. [The reference is to Vaccine A: The Covert Pentagon Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers – And Why GI's are Only the First Victims.]

You are at least an obsequious apologist on this, and perhaps more. 

Jay [omitted]

*Dear Jay: *

• Insofar as the thesis that GIs are suffering from some mysterious illness has been repeatedly disproved, this is as useful and as exciting a book as the latest expose on UFO abductions. I don't hear the "footsteps" of those books either, thank you. *
• Now run out and play in the traffic with your little friends. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Mike, I know you are going to love this:

[Hyperlink to a story in the Delaware News Journal, readership of 2.]

And this story promises to get even better and better.

Pay attention so you know the score, which you obviously did not in the past.

Your past pronouncements may [sic] hilarious reading. Give them a look.

I see you made Matsumoto's book. Nice going.

Jay

*Dear Jay, *

• I know you're going to love this. If you check Amazon.com you'll see I'm actually mentioned in about 160 books out of those few they've gotten around to indexing. And some of those books have actually been read. Look up your buddy's book on Amazon or B&N.com. Other than getting repeat mentions in the same tiny Delaware newspaper he's selling no books and creating virtually no publicity. What a tragedy to spend three, maybe four, whole weeks writing a book and have nobody read it or even hear about it. Compare that to the millions of readers I get every time I do a column on how GWS is a fraud and people like Matsumoto are hucksters. Also, Reason Magazine has a new book out that's essentially "The Best of Reason." It contains a certain article called "Gulf Lore Syndrome" by a certain writer known to you. *
• Now play in the traffic like I told you, and don't come back until you've at least broken your fingers. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

  **A Rare Illness? Must be GWS-caused. **

Dr [sic] Mr. Fumento,

While view [sic] your web-site [sic] I noticed a complete bias against those who have served the Armed Services during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Although you are factual in most of your reports, I think you might want to investigate the percentage of those who have legitimate claims not the ones who are trying to get benefits for hang-nails. Although, many Gulf War Veterans [sic] feel that every sneeze is attributable to our exposures in theater. [sic] I agree with you in the fact [sic] every illness is not a result of some Syndrome [sic], however, there are those that have experienced health problems that can not be found in the general population or veterans who were not in the region.

I have many symptoms that I might have had even if I didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, and I readily admit that, and it also kept me from seeking treatment for almost 10 years. The triggering factor that sent me on a 6 year quest to research ailments of Gulf War Veterans [sic] was the birth of my son. For you see, he was born with a birth defect like no other child. Taylor, my son, was born missing his Right Eye [sic], Anathalmic [He means he's "anophthalmic."], and his Left Eye [sic] was not properly formed, Microthalmic. [He means he's "microphthalmic."] Either of these conditions is rare since it occurs in approximately 3 to 4 births a year in the United States. What makes Taylor's [*sic]* the exception, is that he was born with both conditions. Taylor is treated at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University. After being treated for 6 years the only explanation to [sic] his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf.

With that being said I researched my conditions and found that they are either related to my Central Nervous System [sic] or Auto-immune [sic] system. And these are not treatable. Additionally it has been proven that ALS has been found in an unproportionate [sic] number of Gulf War Veterans [sic]. Like I said earlier I do believe that there are those who feel that every sneeze is a result of a Gulf War Syndrome. But I ask you this, [sic] can you look Taylor in the face and tell him that his condition is made up and a figment of his imagination?

[Photo of son attached.]

[omitted] Carini

*Dear Mr. Carini: *

• I have never said that Gulf vets or their spouses or offspring do not have real illnesses; I've said they have no more illnesses than other people. That's quite a difference. *
• According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), "Anophthalmia and microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia is a disorder in which one or both eyes are abnormally small, while anophthalmia is the absence of one or both eyes. These rare disorders develop during pregnancy and can be associated with other birth defects." *

• The NEI goes on to say, "Causes of these conditions may include genetic mutations and abnormal chromosomes. Researchers also believe that environmental factors, such as exposure to X-rays, chemicals, drugs, pesticides, toxins, radiation, or viruses, increase the risk of anophthalmia and microphthalmia, but research is not conclusive. Sometimes the cause in an individual patient cannot be determined." *

  *It appears that the largest epidemiological study on the two conditions was conducted using the California birth registry and appeared in the *International Journal of Epidemiology *in 1996, although a search of Medline will show that these conditions occur throughout the world and in countries that did not deploy soldiers to the Gulf. The California study found the rate for either disorder to be 1.5 per 10,000 births. Let's assume that the 700,000 U.S. vets of the Gulf War each had only one child, which would put them well below average. Even still, that would mean 105 cases could be expected among these children by chance alone. Each year, about four million children are born in the U.S. That would mean 600 cases per year, not the three to four you were falsely told. Put another way, since the Gulf War there have been about 8,000 cases. This is a rare disorder, but not nearly as rare as you thought. As to having both disorders, it would seem logical that since they are related that whatever disposes a child to one would tend to dispose a child to the other. Taylor is by no stretch of the imagination unique in his illness. *

• But regardless of how rare it might be, how do you simply jump to the conclusion that "the only explanation to his birth defects is my exposure in the Persian Gulf"? There is no literature indicating that Gulf vets are more likely to have children with this birth defect and therefore well over 99 percent of the cases are in children whose parents did not serve in the Gulf. This is what I mean when I say that when somebody who didn't go to the Gulf gets a cough it's called "a cough," but the same thing in a Gulf vet is called GWS. *

  *Nor does it help your case that a disproportionate number of GW vets have developed ALS. The excess was barely statistically significant and was only found when compared to matched vets who didn't deploy. When compared to matched civilians, there is no abnormal ALS rate in Gulf vets. In fact, the sickness and death rates for Gulf vets in general are the same as for vets who didn't deploy and far below those of civilians. *

• The problem here is that it is horribly difficult for a parent to look at his child and see birth defects when children all around him were born perfectly healthy. The parent naturally seeks an explanation. If you worked in a chemical factory, you would no doubt blame the chemicals. But you didn't; you went to the Gulf so you blame something there. But sometimes there's no one and nothing to blame. Bad things happen to good people. On the other hand, your son is lucky to have been born at a time when science is developing bionic devices that will one day give him sight, though obviously not as soon as you and he would like. He's lucky to live in a country that believes in paying for these things, rather than doling out socialized medicine. Finally, he's also quite lucky to have as caring a father as you. Yes, I feel bad for him but then again no worse than I do for any other blind child. And I feel bad for you, because obviously you have not made peace with a problem that – at this time at least – you cannot improve. Put your energy into your child, not into anger or resentment or whatever you feel. May God bless you both. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Agent Orange Hate

You Need to Do What's Already Been Done

  I am a combat Viet Nam vetern [*sic*]. The ranch [*sic*] hand [*sic*] study is flawed but not for the reasons you suspect. 

A better study group would have been combat veterans. The veterans who like me, spent many days and weeks in the field without the benefit of clean clothes, shower [sic] and clean water.

Since my return from Viet Nam I have lost both Kidneys [sic] to disease and suffer prostate cancer. If you would have put as much energy into studying the effects on combat veterans as you did the ranch [sic] hand [sic] group, I think you would come away with a different prospective [sic – he means perspective] on this subject.

Thank You [sic]

[omitted] Frabel

*Dear Mr. Frabel: *

• Actually, all Ranch Hands are combat veterans. But I suspect you mean grunts on the ground. As it happens, they have been thoroughly studied and it's been determined that none of them received dioxin exposure even approaching those in the Ranch Hand group. In fact, it was found that soldiers in Vietnam on average had no more exposure than civilians back in the States. That's because at the time several products like soaps contained dioxin and dioxin was also created during some burning and bleaching processes. My mother washed me in dioxin-containing liquid soap. *
• I don't know why you lost your kidneys, but I suspect it was for the reason your doctor gave. Kidney transplants are the second most common transplant operation in this country (corneal transplants rank first) with more than 9,000 procedures annually. Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over 75 years old. Obviously, you are hardly unusual in suffering this disease and obviously the vast majority of sufferers never served in Vietnam. The big difference is that they have nobody to blame. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Erin Brockovich Hate

**Oh Boy, I've got Cancer! Now I Can Sue Somebody! **

Hey Mike!

Thanks for contacting me and telling me about the law suit [sic] against Beverly Hills High.. I too developed Thyroid [sic] Cancer and now Im [sic] suing the school! (graduating class of 67')

Candy

CANDYMINTZ@omitted

*Dear Candy: *

• Actually I didn't "contact you;" I wrote a piece that you read. I wish I could be as delighted as you are with your alleged thyroid cancer. Unfortunately, you're not going to win your case since A) nobody has ever produced the least evidence that petroleum fumes cause any type of cancer, as your attorney will have to argue, and B) the only epidemiological study of Beverly Hills High has found no excess of cancers. The suit that Erin Brockovich's firm filed has become a quagmire for them and the same will happen with yours. But I guess I'm supposed to wish you a Happy Cancer. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  Mike,

I just bought a brand new BMW with the monies [sic] I will collect from the school!

thanks again!!!!

*Did you let someone sell you the Brooklyn Bridge while you were at it? I think I'm just going to let you dissolve, Candymintz. You've got real problems, and they're not in your throat. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

  **I Didn't Read the Article, but I Saw the Movie **

Dear Mr. Fumento,

Just a comment about your article. The reason, I believe, that Erin Brockovich was chosen to address this UN Environmental Conference is not due to her past deeds, but because of her current affiliation with Save The World Air, Inc., a company that has developed emissions controlling devices for all types of fossil fuel engines. [111 words omitted due to utter irrelevancy.]

I hope a better article will emerge on this subject that reflects the real issue. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[omitted] Witten

*Dear Ms. Witten: *

• That's all quite fascinating, except that my piece made no mention of any U.N. environmental conference but rather of an American Public Health Association conference. In fact, the APHA was mentioned no fewer than nine times. Why do you want "a better article" when you obviously didn't bother reading the one you're complaining about? *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

CAFE Hate

** Did Viking Cars Have Horned Hood Ornaments? **

Hi Michael, 

I found your article through Google – "The High Cost of Cleaner Cars Fuel Economy Rules Will Cut Jobs, Raise Prices." It was written in 1992 and I'm curious as to how your perspectives have changed now that
a.) fuel [sic] prices are at all time highs [Actually, by the time this hate mail volume appeared they were 20 percent off those highs.]
b.) we're [sic] mired in a war in Iraq that on some level is directly related to our economic dependence on oil, e.g. if we weren't dependent on middle [sic] east [sic] oil we'd have a lot less direct interaction with that area of the world. Witness Africa if you need an example or an area we can ignore because there's little economic reason for us to get involved.
c.) at [sic] this point every credible scientist in the world believes green house [sic] gases are a major issue. even [sic] Bush is starting to discuss the topic.

Sincerely,
Kent [omitted]

*Dear Kent: *

• Insofar as: *
• 1. Fuel prices are only at all-time highs when inflation isn't factored in. In today's dollars, the highest price for a barrel of oil was $80 – a tad more than what we're paying today;
• I agree we should be less dependent on Middle East oil, but there are numerous alternatives to making cars less safe through raising CAFE standards. One would be imitating Europe's move towards clean-burning, powerful, high-fuel-economy diesel engines. I've driven them on the Autobahn and they're wonderful; yet only now are they making a comeback here;
• Greenhouse gases are certainly a political issue, but that doesn't mean they're responsible for warming the earth. The earth has cooled and warmed throughout history, as indicated by such terms as "the ice age" and "the little ice age." The Viking forays that resulted in terrorizing much of the world, settling Greenland, and discovering North America would not have been possible had the earth not become far warmer during the medieval warm period than any scientist is predicting global warming will accomplish in the next century. But the history books I've read on the subject say there weren't too many automobiles or other uses of fossil fuel back then. *
• My position is unchanged. *
• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento*

Totally Gratuitous Hate

Photo Funnies

  change [*sic*] ur [*sic*] picture, then perhaps people wouldn't send you negative mail! 

Brandon Wright

Dear Brandon,

• I tried. I used a picture of you and got so much hate mail it crashed my server.*

  Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento

good [sic] one buddy.who [sic] the fuck writes on hate mail anyway except for a fag dressed like michael [sic] jackson [sic] like urself. [sic]

*Don't like being one-upped, do you Brandon? Then don't write to anybody with a higher IQ than you have. In other words, don't write to anyone. *

• Sincerely,
  Michael Fumento *

Dude [sic] If you had another brain, it would be lonely.

Enough. Get a life, even if you have to borrow someone else's.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Obesity Hate

An Appleton a Day Keeps Intelligence Away

I ended up looking at your site because you wrote an article on the fat gene. I have an ongoing argument with one of my friends at work who is very overweight. He thinks a large group of people fit into the "It's not me, it's my genes" mode. I am in the exercise and eat less camp. The topics that you cover are very interesting. But it did not take long to see how nasty you are and how much pleasure you get from insulting people. I changed my mind about reading your books or articles. There seem to be a lot of people in 2004 with this negative persona, so the general American public must like it. Ann Coulter and other political guttersnipes come to mind. On the more pornographic spectrum, Howard Stern comes to mind as well as all the vulgar rap videos. Disrespect sells today. I am sure you don't care what I think. Hope this trend changes.

Mary Appleton

 *Dear Miss Appleton:* 

Translation: I said that fat people aren't fat because of their genes but because they eat too much and don't exercise enough to make up for it. Put another way, rather than be warm and fuzzy and pat them on the head and tell them, "You're fat is not your fault," I told them that their fat is nobody's fault by their own and until they accept that they will remain fat. Perhaps you think it compassionate to lie to people and to keep them from their goals and conversely horrifically rude and nasty to tell them the truth. But you're right in that I don't care what you think and that's a trend that won't change.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Stem Cell Hate

[This was a response to a posting from a blog called Terry's LJ. It was a rip on my piece, "Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells. His remarks are in Roman type and quotes.]

1. "Being for the use of fetal stem cells does not necessarily imply that you are against the use of adult stem cells." There is no mention of "fetal stem cells" in the entire piece, though such a thing exists. The only mention is of embryonic stem cells. If you think a fetus and an embryo are the same thing, time to retake Biology 101. Regardless, you don't need any kind of a degree to repeat the words I used rather than make up your own and attribute them to me.
2. "Fumento conveniently neglects to mention any approved therapies that use adult stem cells, either." Really? Is that why you proceed to write: "Fumento's most bullshitty blurb cites two pages that note the various adult stem cell therapies either in use or in clinical trials." Which is it? No mention or just a "bullshitty" mention? In fact, I wrote "Groopman specifically mentions Fanconi's Anemia, but it was first treated with umbilical cord stem cells 16 years ago." And: At one website you'll find a list, far from comprehensive, of almost 80 therapies using them. This is treatment, not practice or theory. Amazingly, there are also more than 300 adult stem cell clinical trials. I provided links to both lists.
3. "He fails to mention that nearly all of them are variations on a single, venerable treatment: blood stem cells (usually from marrow) given to patients undergoing chemotherapy." No, if you'd looked at either list you'd see that a minority of the ailments on either list concern cancer. Like your entire blog entry, and presumably like your entire blog, this is a fabrication.

[*To his credit, Terry admitted that he had written in haste and would later write a "clarification." But no clarification came. Apparently he decided he was just plain wrong.]*

Environmentalist Hate

Hello Mr. Michael Fumento:

A few years ago you wrote a column that appeared in the National Post (Toronto) in which you alleged organic farming contributes to soil erosion. Can you supply any references published in peer reviewed journals that support your claim or was it a misprint?

[omitted] Woodruff
Vancouver BC Canada

Organic farming contributes to soil erosion by forbidding the use of herbicides, thus requiring tilling. Herbicides are needed for no-till farming. No-till tremendously reduces soil erosion. Are you so unable to use either common sense or a computer that you can't figure this out, or was your email a misprint?

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Mr. Fumento: I assumed there was an honest mistake and I also assumed you were a gentleman.

I can see that I was wrong on both counts.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff

Dear Mr. Woodruff:

You assumed nothing; you were baiting me. In fact, you appear to be a master-baiter.

Sincerely,
Michael Fumento

Dear Michael Fumento:

I requested scientific references. – your [sic] opinion, your rudeness and your use of a double entendre insult merely serves to underscore your lack of knowledge of soil science.

If you cannot or are not prepared to supply references requested – you are the one who is the master of dissimulation.

Cheers,
[omitted] Woodruff