Michael Fumento

More Vaccine Hate

I Attack; You Sit There

Dear Mr. Fumento,

I realize how futile it is for me to respond to your recent article "Fear-Mongering Over Childhood Vaccinations", but, I simply cannot ignore your deliberate distortion of the facts.

[But I can ignore his "not ignoring;" 409 words omitted.]

Please do not bother responding. I have had the ufortunate [sic] experience of receiving one of your "hate e-mails" in the past and really do not want to suffer the same again.

RMoffi@[omitted]

Oops!

Dear Mr. Fumento:

While I applaud your desire to ensure the safety of our children, I disagree with your conclusion.

Your attack on the Geiers is without merit. If they are the quacks you purport, why did CDC give them access to the VAERS? [You've been vaccinated against 296 more words of drivel.]

Sincerely, [omitted] Mazer

Dear Mr. Mazer:

I think the proper question is why did the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Institutional Review Board, withdraw that access acting on a letter from the CDC citing efforts by the Geiers to violate confidentially requirements – not to mention deliberating distorting the data?

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Hi Mr. Fumento:

Thank you for your response.

Kaiser Permante [sic] Northern California sounds like a corporate entity. The data in possession of the CDC belongs to you and I, the tax payers [sic] who paid to assemble the data. [386 words deleted.]

Dear Mr. Mazer,

As I explained in my Wall Street Journal piece, by law the CDC turns over such data to corporate entities where access is allowed to external researchers (even fraudulent ones like the Geiers) but "not to any Joe Blow with a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] application." I also explained that this was to protect the privacy of participants, in this case autistic children and their parents. That's exactly why the Geiers lost access to it; they violated that privacy. Very professional of them.

And how does this sound, "The terrorist information gathered by the CIA, FBI, and Special Operations Command belong to you and I, the tax payers who paid to assemble the data."

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Unnatural Acts

Michael,

Check out my piece, "Into the Labyrinth: Discovering the Truth about Vaccination." http://gentlebirth.org/nwnm.org/vaccinetalkAutismOneJune1st2004.htm

It was first given as an oral presentation at the AutismOne annual conference in 2004.

Sincerely, Jock Doubleday Director Natural Woman, Natural Man, Inc.

I did. It was like reading a first grader's thesis on the laws of thermodynamics. You have an amazing ability to hone in on the writings of quacks while deftly bypassing all science. Do you suppose we could get you to work for Al Qaeda?

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Duh, What Do Preservatives Do?

I read your article "Ignore Anti-Vaccination Conspiracy". I have a son with Autism, [sic] so I have been reading a lot about this recently.

My simple question to you is: Why would you want to inject a child with mercury?

So the drug companies can lower their costs? Seems to me the only benefit.

Regards, [omitted] Calverley

Dear Mr. Calverley:

Why do people use preservatives in general? They preserve. I don't think you'd care a lot if the vaccines your child received proved worthless or contained harmful bacteria.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

But respectfully, you haven't answered my question.

Thimerosal is unnecessary when vaccines are prepared in individual doses.

Why inject mercury into our children?

[omitted] Calverley

Based on what I've presented, why not? It's harmless and it preserves vaccines. Vaccines already cost a fortune because of liability costs slapped on by trial lawyers. Preservatives lower the cost to parents. The more they cost, the more parents will opt out of vaccination and the more kids who will get sick. Sounds like a pretty utilitarian argument to me.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Insert Your Own "SICS;" Insert Your Own Response

Dear Sir:

I don't believe any one is trying to "kill vaccinations" or children here, only the mercury contained in Thimeosal! And why not? If it is not 100% necessary, except as a preservative and to "cocktail" immunizations, which only aides in the manufacturers profit margin and was not deemed necessary in previous decades... why not? Are we/you 100% guaranteed? Absolution with out a doubt that Thimeosal causes NO HARM to children with a weakened gene or predisposition to harmful side affects?! Are you prepared to give us All that guarantee? Can you? What are your credentials? Do you even have a child afflicted with autism or other developmental disorder for which there is no explanation? I DO! And I'd like an untainted answer, whatever that may be. I can not afford, to not search for truth, for my child's sake. I listen to ALL sides with an open mind and have found that the jury is still out!

I felt your view to be heartless and cruel!! You're missing the point!

I'll pray for you, Samuel's MOM

Exponentially Dumber

I hope you do not receive payment for the crap you write. "Some major foreign studies" have shown autism to spike even after the drop in thimerasol. [sic] Wow, which ones would those be? That was the hollowest [sic] article I' ve ever read. I'm having my children vaccinated but I know the facts. I work with autistic children and their parents have access to exponentially better info than you. Please refrain from writing you [sic] do a poor job of it.

[omitted] Bulcao

Wow! The foreign studies might be the ones cited in the online version of my piece:

"Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism: Negative Ecological Evidence from Danish Population-Based Data," at: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2214.2004.t01-4-00388.x

and:

"Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental Disorders: A Retrospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does Not Support a Causal Association," at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15342825&query_hl=7

Did those parents with exponentially better info not inform you of these?

Apology accepted.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

I Guess it Beats Having Been Raised in a Barn

YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS WOEFULLY IGNORANT--YOU MUST HAVE BEEN RAISED ON A GOVT. COMPOUND. ALL KINDS OF INDEPENDENT EVIDENCE IS AVAILABLE OUT THERE, BUT IF YOU CAN'T READ AND UNDERSTAND, WHICH MUST BE YOUR CASE, I SUGGEST YOU GO BACK TO 1ST GRADE AND START ALL OVER. NOT ONE VACCINE HAS EVER BEEN PROVEN TO BE EFFECTIVE, NOT ONE!!!!!!

JOHN BROOKS GRANDFATHER

Dear Mr. Brooks:

You're right, not one. Lots. At one time diphtheria, mumps, measles, whooping cough, polio, and other diseases regularly swept through populations of children leaving a terrible toll of death, disfigurement, and paralysis in their wake. Smallpox killed millions of adults and children each year.

Yet except for where too many parents have listened to you people and refused to vaccinate their children, these diseases are gone. After a worldwide smallpox vaccination campaign nobody has died of the disease in decades. Pure coincidence, eh grandpa?

Michael Fumento Grandson

YOU ARE AS IGNORANT AS ANYONE I HAVE EVER MET. CHECK THE CHARTS OF THE DIFFERENT DISEASES AND WHEN THE VACCINE BECAME AVAILABLE.. [sic] WE DIDN'T NEED THE VACCINES--IDIOT!!!!

hatemail42.html Smallpox was ended through vaccinations. And the hysterical anti-vaccine groups don't care. Dear Gramps, To provide just one example, smallpox killed countless millions of people and disfigured that many more dating back to more than 1,000 years B.C. In the 1940s, large-scale production of freeze-dried vaccine allowed mass vaccination campaigns and – by great coincidence, no doubt – the last case of smallpox in the United States occurred in 1949. Then WHO began its worldwide vaccination campaign and the last reported case of smallpox in the world was in 1977.

Apology accepted.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

YOU ARE NOT ONLY IGNORANT, WHICH CAN BE CORRECTED WITH EDUCATION, BUT YOU ARE STUPID AND [sic] THAT IS NOT CORRECTABLE. I FEEL FOR YOU AND YOUR STUPIDITY. I BET YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY PUT INTO VACCINES, DO YOU?

So were you in the OSS during "The Big One," eh grandpa? You seem to still be practicing escape and evasion. Too bad you got caught anyway.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

STICK TO THE SUBJECT STUPID. THERE IS NOWHERE TO HIDE, YOU HAVE EXPOSED YOURSELF, AS MOST PUNDITS DO EVENTUALLY!!!!!

So I'M the one not sticking to the subject, eh? Well, as it happens I checked police records and you've been arrested repeatedly for exposing yourself. I don't plan to emulate you.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Look Behind an Autistic Child's Ears and You'll See the Word "Thimerosal"

Michael,

You just don't get it and you wouldn't if you didn't have a child and see it for yourself, before your own eyes.

Why do people like you ignore the more than 30 valid research studies posted on the ARI website?

[omitted] Skees

Dear Mr. Skees:

Right. If I observed my autistic child it would soon become apparent that the only possible cause of the autism was childhood vaccinations. The common rocking motion among such children is a dead giveaway.

As to the ARI website, if something is posted there it's inherently invalid.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

A (Cheap) Sellout

Can this really be the same Michael Fumento who wrote one of the earliest eposes [sic] on the AIDS fraud? What happened? Have you been bought off by corporate interests?

[omitted] Lieb

Dear Mr. Lieb:

Exactly. But since the vaccine producers make almost no money on their product (explaining why the CDC has so few to choose from to produce flu shots) and are protected from liability under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, they could only afford to pay me in kind. Tomorrow I get my 3rd free vaccine this week. Or could it be that the guy who was so prophetic about AIDS and so many other health frauds is right once again?

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Make almost no money??? I don't how you do your figuring, but I figure when you tens or hundreds of millions of customers and markups of 10,000% or more, how can you not be making money?

I must confess, Ive read about a dozen AIDS dissident books, but not yours on the myth of heterosexual AIDS. I don't know how prophetic you were and what your understanding of the AIDS scam is, but I have been learning about vaccines since 1992 and I've yet to see one that was actually proven to work. Most, like the polio vaccine and the yet-to-come AIDS vaccine, were probably coverups [sic], to explain the natural disappearance of the epidemics.

Dear Mr. Lieb:

Really? Ten thousand percent? Evidence, please. And thanks for informing me that polio, smallpox, diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, mumps, rubella, and other epidemic and endemic diseases either disappeared entirely or almost entirely by sheer coincidence after effective vaccinations and vaccination campaigns were introduced.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

You're a researcher. Check out the markup on pharmaceuticals. Even generics are marked up over 1000%.

[103 words omitted.]

Whatever you learned from AIDS, it obviously wasn't enough to change your religion. Sounds like you're still a worshipper of the Church of Orthodox Western Medicine.

Dear Mr. Lieb:

You said markup on vaccines; you didn't mention anything about pharmaceuticals in general. Some pharmaceuticals are compounds in the form of pills that cost three cents to make. But no vaccine is anything less than extremely difficult to make and properly store. My website has an article on why it's so hard and takes so long to make the flu shot. Yet they're sold for about $15. Sound like a 10,000% markup to you? Does that help explain why the CDC had only two vaccine-makers from which to buy flu vaccine from last year, precipitating a crisis when one couldn't deliver? Does that help explain why almost no pharmaceutical companies will make any type of vaccine any more? Between production costs and money that has to be set aside to deal with trial lawyers, the profit margin on vaccines is practically zilch. A 10,000% markup is more than zilch. So once again I ask you to support your assertion. Find a single vaccine that has a 10,000% markup or send me a note confessing to being a liar.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

[Quelque suprise! No response.]

The Cruelty of Science

Dear Mr. Fumento,

I'm an RN and the grandmother of an autistic five year old. A beautiful little girl who stopped speaking and withdrew into her own far away world about age two.

You, sir, need to do some more research before you start mouthing off. You are ill informed. [sic] You obviously have no appreciation of the devastation and heartache that autism causes families. It has become abundantly clear that these children have mercury poisening [sic], which could have been prevented if our government protectors had not been asleep at the switch!!!

Shame on you. I predict you will be "eating your words"

Yours truly, [omitted] DeWitt

Dear Mrs. DeWitt:

Please inform me of where I wrote anything to the effect that autism is not devastating or heartbreaking. I wonder if those who first argued that malaria is not caused by "bad air" (the theory that gave the disease its name) but rather carried person-to-person by something associated with swamps were declared to be cruel and callous towards sufferers of the disease? I merely challenged the completely unfounded claims of the vaccine fearmongers. I'm sorry but "abundantly clear" does not pass for evidence where I come from. I relied on published scientific data and lots of it. Among those data is that autistic children have no more mercury in their systems than non-autistic ones. Further they never did and that there is no association between development of autism and thimerosal-containing injections. By steering us down the wrong path, those who claim otherwise based on nothing more than "abundant clearness" become not part of the solution but part of the problem.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Bewitched!

Greetings Mr. Fumento,

I am writing in response to your strong position that anyone who has anything bad to say about vaccines is part of an anti-vaccine conspiracy. This is plain and simply not always the case. There are many smart, Ivy league [sic] educated [sic] folks who have many suspicions about the safety messages being tauted [sic] about vaccines – that they are 99.999% safe. There is little acceptance and absolutely no listening in the medical community to reports of parents when vaccine reactions do occur.

[39 words omitted.]

In many cases, my own included, I have direct personal experience that conflicts with the 99.999% safety data that is reported. I witnessed with my own 2 eyeballs a 180 degree [sic] transformation in my child post vaccination [sic]. The transformation started 30 minutes after the vaccine with 6 hours of nonstop animalistic screaming.

[75 words omitted.]

Lucky for me she is a normal kid today. Others aren't so lucky.

hatemail42.html "The undeniable takeaway" I think the undeniable takeaway is that there are many people, likely you are included, Mr. Fumento, who have not seen this with their own eyes yet and therefore all they have to rely on is a "belief" in what is in the reports. Consider yourself lucky. [99 words omitted.]

For some with vaccine safety concerns the published "party line" stats just don't matter, nor will they ever matter. All that matters is that the Truth [Ah, embellished by putting it in upper-case!] from our perspective is that vaccines just are not as safe as all those statistics would lead you to believe.

E.H. [omitted]

Dear E.H.,

You're right in that putting black magic over science is certainly a different perspective from my own.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Geez. You really do have it all figured out. Good for you being so smart. I guess black magic is what you call it when I tell the doctors what happened to my daughter and they say oh no it did not. Vaccines cannot do that. They tell the same story to all the parents who see vaccine reactions. They have MD's [sic], they are smart like you. All others are in the dark ages.

In other words, it's not just scientists in general who say that what you describe can't happen it's also the diagnosing physicians you've discussed it with. Thanks for making my point. Go back to your witch-burning, and don't forget the marshmallows.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Subject: Shame on You!

Shame on you. Instead of misleading the public, explain to me why my boy who met every developmental milestone on time (or before) all of a sudden one day after being overloaded and poisoned by his immunization regressed into a shell of the wonderful boy he once was. Shame on you for not allowing the parents to learn the truths about what the immunizations contain and the risks involved in these immunizations.

Shame on you for minimizing the impact that these immmunizations [sic] have on these children. Shame on you for misleading the parents of the future of this country! [100 droning words omitted.] So save your insults [If she thinks I have a finite supply of insults, she's not too familiar with my hate mail section.] for someone who doesn't have to deal with the ramifications of this every minute of every day for the rest of the days on this earth.

From an insulted mother of a Wonderful [sic] 7 year old [sic] Autistic boy - Susan - from [omitted]

Dear Susan:

You spend your entire missive telling me how insulting my article was. But you never read it, did you? Don't you think that's a bit shameful and insulting?

Sincerely, Michael Fumento from Virginia

The Cane Mutiny

[Insert your own sics.]

Dear Moron,

I hope that you are blessed with a child with brain damage.

I want you to endure the countless hours of pain and suffering and watching your typically developing child disappear right before your eyes.

Turn into a moaning zombie that never stops staring and making unusual noises.

A child that will run directly into a fire because he cannot distinguish between the world in his mind and the world we live in.

I hope that you will spend every moment with him sitting on the edge of your seat because you know it is only a matter of time before something so insignificant to everyone else will set him off to a near nervous breakdown.

Most of all I want you to fight with everyone you deal medical and educational system because they don't want to touch your problem with a ten foot pole.

I hope you can understand what it is like to live with this hopeless problem.

I hope you apologize for you ignorance.

You sir are scum and should be publicly caned and then injected with 35 [!] vaccines in a period of 18 months. Only then can you have an unbiased opinion.

See you in hell, I'll have the corner office.

Tom

Dear Tom:

Do you feel better now? After all, that's what it's all about isn't it? It's not about your children or other people's children. It's not about truth, or science, or health. You thought life was fair. Then one day you found out differently. So you now look for someone to blame. And you rage at anybody who threatens your precious prejudices which, at some point you may actually have come to believe. So rage on, Tom. But don't trying pretending that this is about anything but you.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Parent as Expert, Part CXXVII

I have small kids . . .

[Yawn. 1,150 words omitted.]

You say mercury doesn't cause neurological disorders? I say RIGHT and tobacco doesn't cause cancer either.

Rachel [omitted].

Subject: Misinformed

Tell it to my now 6 year old who was developmentally completely normal until 2 weeks after his vaccines in 2000. The DPT he was given had methyl [sic] mercury. as [sic] did the other 5 shots given to him the same day. The tragedy is the vaccne [sic] schedule being pushed on children too early when they are not developed enough. you [sic] really misjudge parents. we [sic] simply want the truth, and neither extreme in the vaccine conflict is right.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Amy

Dear Amy,

If you simply want truth, why do you tell people that your child received vaccines containing methyl mercury when it has never been an ingredient in any vaccine?

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Just Erring on the Side of Caution

hatemail42.html This will protect your child as much as avoiding thimerosal. When you take a child on a boat, you have him wear a life preserver for protection just-in-case. Why wouldn't you stop your pediatrician from injecting mercury into your infant "just in case". [sic] [omitted] Nadine

Because the mercury in the shots that once carried thimerosal is safe, whereas a child falling into water is not. Some people also wear amulets around their necks "just in case." I am not among them.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Falling into All the Traps

In regards to your editorial about autism, I have often wondered how much it takes to sell one's soul or if people in your position are doing this out of ignorance.

I am not asking this factitiously [sic] -- BUT HOW MANY parents of autistic children did you interview before you wrote the article? I know, am related to, or have met 6 such parents, 5 of which noted that the child was OK before the MMR, but following the MMR something happened, they then had a different child.

[301 words omitted.]

On [sic] more question for your thought processes --- How come the kids that don't get the shots have a much lower (extremely lower) rate of autism. [sic] This is just one of dozens of articles (see below). [omitted]

[omitted] Nieveen

Dear Mr. Nieveen:

I fear people will think I invented you, because you provide so much support for what I wrote. Your second paragraph looks like it was meant to bolster my having written: "Never mind that production of childhood vaccines with thimerosal ended several years ago, or that the fearmongers are also rabidly against the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, which NEVER contained thimerosal" and "The only relationship they can really draw between these vaccines and autism is that the disorder appears by age four and the shots are given before then – the hoary old fallacy of 'after this, therefore because of this.'"

And your final question for my thought processes was answered when I wrote: "Some major foreign studies have even shown autism rates climbing AFTER thimerosal use ended." Please stop tossing such softballs at me; I feel like I'm being interviewed by Larry King.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Your response to my second paragraph is in error.

Several people took the vaccines which supposedly had no mercury in them, to a lab.

Guess what lab results showed ----- 2 to 3 times the mercury than what had been in the original vaccine.

So maybe it wasn't THIMEROSAL.

NEWSPEAK!

[He actually used a much larger font.]

Sincerely, [omitted] Nieveen

hatemail42.html "Bob R. of Gnome, Alaska says, 'My vaccine was 101% mercury!'" Dear Mr. Nieveen, "Several people?" Where they friends of friends or did they have names like Bob R. of Gnome, Alaska." And that lab, which would it be that showed that mercury actually multiplied in the vaccine? Insofar as metals don't replicate, that would be quite a trick. You just pulled this off one of those 150 conspiracy websites I wrote of. Give me something I can verify or keep sitting in the corner facing the wall wearing that dunce cap.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Dear Mr. Fumento:

[271 words omitted]

OF COURSE we all know that the Gulf War Syndrome does not exist also; the ones complaining about things are just faking it, RIGHT?

Just out of curiosity do you or have you ever worked for the pharmaceutical industry or do they pay you to write articles for them? You seem to have the official party line down very well.

Dear Mr. Nieveen,

In other words, the response to my questions is "no" and "no." Thanks. Bye-bye.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Truth Is Like an Anaconda

Dear Mr. Fumento:

Yes, you are right. There is a lot of misinformation out there on the issue of whether or not vaccines cause Autism [sic]. Since I know from whence I speak, I thought you might like to hear (or in this case, read!) some real truths.

[Actually, I wouldn't. 1,961 words omitted.]

With regards, [omitted] Steinbach

Not when real truths run 2,000 rambling words long. I'd rather hear shorter unreal truths.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Can't We All Just Get Along? No.

Please reconsider bashing groups of people whose lives have been forever changed by autsim [sic] and related disorders. They are looking for answers, and that is what everyone needs to be doing. This epidemic affects us all in one way or another. Lets [sic] look for answers together, and refrain from resorting to name-calling and harrassment [sic].

Sincerely, Lauren

step-mom of [omitted], 11 year old [sic] boy with Autism [sic]

Dear Lauren,

Sorry but if you look at the websites of these groups or the letters that these people have been sending me you'd see they already have all the answers and have made name calling into a fine art; they just want scapegoats. You're not going to look for what you already have, are you?

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Not Short; Not to the Point

A little about Kevin. [A little too much; 1080 words omitted.]

Donna

A Painful Look Inside the Mind of the Leader of an Anti-vaccine Group

I find your article very funny. Conspiracy theorists? My dictionary says conspiracy means an agreement between 2 or more people to commit a crime. So what you are saying is the anti-vaccine people are accusing someone of committing a crime. Do you know who we are accusing? Do you know the details of the accusations?

I don't think you do.

I won't get into the real facts and studies on vaccines because frankly I don't think you would read them or care. What I can discuss is the acts that one may find criminal.

The Homeland Security Bill passed in 2003 included a provision that got Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of thimerosal off the hook from any litigation. The provision was slipped in last minute so no one really had chance to read it. Eli Lilly contributes a lot of money to the Republican party. [sic] Would some consider this criminal? Mitch Daniels, a former executive of Eli Lilly is now the White House Budget Director. Sidney Taurel, Eli Lilly's chairman, president, and chief executive is also a member of the White House Advisory Counsel on Homeland Security. Some may see this as a conflict of interest, possibly leading to criminal acts. I find it FUNNY that George Bush Senior [sic] also worked for Eli Lilly.

Now, let's discuss another humorous statement you made. It appears Robert Kennedy Jr., [sic] a mistake in his math when he claimed the mercury level is vaccines can exceed the EPA's safety level by 400%. You claim it is only 40%. How foolish of him. ONLY 40%. That number shouldn't frighten a parent of a 10 LB [sic] infant.

You also discuss the difference between ethyl and methyl mercury. I laugh even harder at this argument. Mercury is mercury and yes some forms are more lethal then others but injecting mercury (any form) is far more dangerous then eating a 100 pound tuna.

I find it hard to believe you have visited a 150 or so anti vaccine [sic] websites. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt and ask these question [sic]. Do any of those websites have financial support from huge organizations or are they primarily formed by parents who feel they have a vaccine injured [sic] child? What do they have to gain? What does the government and pharmaceutical industry gain by being PRO vaccines [sic] (using scare tactics not proof ). Is the welfare of our children's health really their prime motive? Do the vaccine manufacturers, CDC and even doctors who inject them admit vaccines have risks? Of course they do. The question is do you want to take the risk of possible death, brain injury, paralysis or measles, chicken pox and polio? And what is in that vaccine that can be so harmful to one [person] and SAFE for another? How can a vaccine agent be able to kill a child yet not effect [sic] another in any way shape or form?

I consider your article humorous because it certainly isn't thought provoking or intelligent.

Dotty Scalco The E.C.H.O. Foundation Educating on Children's Health Options

Dear Batty:

I consider your letter humorous because it's not thought-provoking, intelligent, scientifically-based, honest, or helpful in any sense to parents of autistic children.

You show all of this right from the beginning. Yes, I know you are accusing the drug companies, the U.S. government, the governments of Europe, the WHO, and even writers like me of CONSPIRING to have either have intentionally exposed children to an autism-causing agent or of CONSPIRING to cover-up the exposure, or both. That would be criminal – as you yourself state just sentences later. And after reading enough of your sites and getting enough vicious, name-calling hate mail I know the details of the accusations down to the last period and comma.

Yes, Lilly contributes money to the Republican Party? So what? Theresa Heinz contributes strictly to the Democrats. Does that mean she's covering up a connection between eating Heinz 57 Ketchup and developing of brain cancer? It is a hallmark of you conspiracy mongers that you far more concerned with the possible motive to commit a crime than you are with whether a crime was actually committed.

Your ignorance or malevolence or both truly shine in your discussion of Kennedy's assertions on mercury levels, with "assertions" in the plural being a key. First, as I noted, he wrote that mercury from thimerosal injections gave toddlers an exposure 187 times higher than the EPA standard, which the journals that published his piece changed to an excess body burden of 0.40 percent. That means Kennedy overstated exposure by 467 times. Yet, as I also wrote, several days after being notified his piece had been corrected he went on Scarborough Country and insisted exposure was 400 times higher than the EPA standard, hence he's overstating exposure by almost 1,000 times. And it's proof he's a liar. He also shows himself to be a liar when he uses a methyl mercury EPA standard for ethyl mercury. Even if he (and you) truly believes ethyl to be as bad or even worse than methyl, he had an obligation to point out that the EPA standard was strictly for methyl and that it has no standard for ethyl. This may mean nothing to you since your basic purpose in life is scaring the tar out of parents and your ends always justifies the means. But I think most people would disagree with you on that.

hatemail42.html "A Kennedy not tell the truth? Nah!" This leads to your assertion that "mercury is mercury." Would you say that "chlorine is chlorine," notwithstanding that in gaseous form it's a deadly poison but when attached to a sodium molecule it becomes something that if we didn't absorb we'd die, namely salt? Perhaps you would. Be that as it may, the literature is replete with comparisons of ethyl mercury to methyl mercury and indicates in so many words that they're incomparable. [68 words omitted because my response was getting windy.]

You don't have to take my word for the 150 organizations. Everything I write is verifiable. If you had seen my online version of the piece you would have seen I linked to the list. Most of the organizations' positions are readily identifiable by their names alone, but the list I link to also has the URLs for each group. I don't doubt that many are run entirely by ignorant parents, though just as ignorance of the law is not recognized in courts ignorance of the science is no excuse either. Before they accuse people of intentionally injuring little children and the covering it up, before they tell parents to stop giving their kids vaccinations and thereby risk giving rise to "hotspots" where the old-time killers like diphtheria and whooping cough can make a comeback, they have the duty to know what they're talking about. They – and you – have failed in that responsibility.

Other sites are secretly or directly supported by those who do profit from the scare tactics, namely doctors and others who promote worthless or harmless "therapies" such as chelation to treat and allegedly even cure autism. If you're looking for a "money-trail" or a financial reason to have a REAL conspiracy, look no further.

What is gained by promoting vaccines is obvious; more vaccines equal less illness and death. That doesn't sound awfully conspiratorial, does it?

Finally, "How can a vaccine agent be able to kill a child yet not effect another in any way shape or form?" How can the drug that causes total remission in some breast cancer patients (Herceptin) be worthless is most breast cancer patients? It's called "genetics;" look it up. Genetics can also lead to a low IQ and perhaps traits such as stubbornness and viciousness. Something for you to consider.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Had This Been a Real Personal Attack, You Would Have Been Instructed . . .

Mr. Fumento,

I'm the mother of a 5 year old with autism, but I'm sure you don't care about that. Your published remarks are that of someone who bullies his point across, perhaps in an attempt to silence the opposition. They are not persuasive words, just offensive. Truly, I mean no attack upon your character, I just believe you're mistaken.

I hope none of your loved ones (children, grandchildren, etc.) become autistic. This is a misery that does not want company. Plus, at this point, I doubt you have the compassion your loved one would need.

Respectfully, Cindy

Dear Respectful Cindy,

You tell me I don't care about kids with disabilities; I'm a bully who tries to shut up anyone who disagrees with me; I'm offensive; and I don't have the compassion to raise a disabled child. But you "truly" mean no attack on my character. Write back when you've learned some manners.

Respectfully, Michael Fumento

Definitely Misguided

I think your articles on the vaccine conspiracy are misguided and miss the main point. The main point is that we have to get to the bottom of what is causing autism.

[135 words omitted.]

Kenneth Nicholas

Dear Mr. Nicholas:

I think the main point is that you'll never discover the true cause of autism if you're too busy seeking out and slaughtering scapegoats. You people are your own worst enemies.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Translation: "You're Threatening My Livelihood!"

Mr. Fumento, I am writing to you as a member of the "conspiracy" which seeks to so cruely [sic] prevent children from suffering from Autism [sic]. I am not impressed with the extreme confidence with which you tell parents to go ahead and vaccinate their children; sans any precautionary investigation.

[364 words omitted.]

My main purpose in writing this was to urge you to reconsider how knowledgable [sic] you are about this subject. If you are in any way lacking, I request that you leave it up to experts who will be more scientificly [sic] fair and rational. Mr. Fumento, there is no strong foundation upon which you place your opinions and my fear is that someone not so educated could read your words and take them as truth.

In close, [sic] [42 words omitted.]

Hoping for your good judgment, [omitted] Therapist for Children with Autism

By "therapist" you wouldn't happen to me one of those people who engages in such dangerous quackery as "chelation" or "mercury detoxification therapy would you? I also find it interesting that you question my confidence in telling parents to vaccinate their kids even though as you OUGHT to know thimerosal is no longer used in making any of what's normally considered "childhood vaccinations." But perhaps thimerosal has a ghost of sorts that lingers on.

Obviously I cannot be an expert on all the subjects I write about, which is why I know to use humility and go to those who have demonstrate expertise rather than blowing information out my rear orifice. That's why I cite research from such governmental and non-governmental organizations as the CDC, IOM, American Academy of Pediatrics, WHO, and the European Medicines Agency. I also know how to read a medical paper and have read many of the individual studies that went into their decisions.

Of course, you view none of these as having expertise (or fairly relaying their findings, in any case) because your Devil's Dictionary definition of an expert is somebody who agrees with you. Therefore all of the above groups are wrong but Bobby Kennedy is right. (Plus he IS a Kennedy, after all.) It is people like you who appeal to the "not so educated." I write for an audience that keeps an open mind and is able to distinguish between national and international health agencies and rich, spoiled brats.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Duh, Where Am I?

Subject: Commentary on Your 14 July 05 Letter In NY Times

To Michael Fumento:

Re: Your 14 July 2001 Letter to the Editor of the New York Times, "In reply to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s July 8 Letter to the Editor "Thimerosal, Children's Vaccines and Autism":

I have attached a file in which my first-pass [Eh?] analysis of your letter [sic] to provide you and others with a sound rebuttal to many of the seeming misstatements made by you in the aforementioned letter.

[5,432-word .pdf file omitted.]

Paul G. King

Dear Mr. King:

Insofar as the letter appeared in the Wall Street Journal and not the New York Times (though they are pronounced somewhat similarly) I suspected I had little chance of being edified by your rantings. A quick glance proved this to be true.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Member of the Hypocratic Party

I just read your article copied below as forwarded by autismlink.

I think YOUR ignorance of the situation is displayed in the first few paragraphs. Nevermind [sic] the condecending [sic] referecnes [sic] to vampires and Area 51, you yourself have shown your hypocracy [sic] in your own words and fuel the debate even futher [sic] by enraging those who believe there may be a link.

I, myself, have yet to decide if the link exists. Now [that] the thimersaol [sic] has been removed from most shots, we shall see if the autism rates decline. My judgement [sic] is reserved until then. I would suggest you do the same and concentrate on writing pieces that may actually help a situation.

Roger [omitted] parent of autistic child

Insofar as the reference to Area 51 doesn't appear until the very last sentence I suggest you might try reading my article again – this time for real. You provide no example of my hypocrisy since there is none to provide. Nor am I under any obligation to refrain from enraging people who think foolish things for foolish reasons and then try to spread their ignorance, such that innocent children are dying. In any event, it's actually the science that enrages them – and you, "Mr. Undecided" - not me. Maybe if the facts don't fit your beliefs, you should try changing your beliefs and not the facts.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Indulge me another moment:

[Rest of letter omitted.]

Roger [omitted]

Indulge me in not indulging you.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Do You Hate Me, Do You Surfgirl . . . ?*

Who [sic] is the head corporation that gives you a paycheck? It is said [No mention by whom.] that you are an employee of Big Pharma and therefore have zero credibility. What was your "interest" in writing the fear mongering [sic] article?

Carolina SDSurfgirl@[omitted]

Dear Surfgirl:

What is the head corporation that gives YOU a paycheck? I draw my salary from Hudson Institute, as it states at the bottom of each of my pieces – including the one you give no evidence of having even read. On the other hand, assuming I were the CEO of SmithGlaxoKline, would it mean that if I said that waves today are great that they must therefore be lousy?

Finally, if you had read the piece you would have seen that it was most explicitly AGAINST fearmongering. Are you too busy riding the surf that you can't read a 700-word piece but you CAN take time to fire off a nasty e-mail attacking that piece?

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

*From the Beach Boys' song, "Do you love me, do you surfer girl . . . ?"

He Needs to Pick Up the Pace

Mr. Fumento,

I believe in opinions, and their ability to let those that read them reflect on their own beliefs. I respect your opinion. However, I could not disagree more with your ridiculous attempt at humor that is your Wall Street Journal op-ed on the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. article regarding Autism [sic] and Thimeresol [sic].

[219 words omitted]

How many parents of Autistic children did you consult beore [sic] your newspaper printed response? [Apparently he means my rebuttal to the response by Kennedy.]

How many scientists? Did you even look at the articles that imply that Thimeresol [sic] can be associated with Autism [sic]? And, do you honestly believe it to not be possible?

[159 words omitted.]

And, e-mail me when you have this disease touch your personal life in a very real way. I will be there to support you! And, when the evidence comes to light that there is in fact a link with Autism [sic], all I ask is perhaps you say a small prayer. No I told you so's.

Pace Nashville,TN

Dear Pace,

That was very touching. I just hope I didn't ruin my keyboard with all those salty tears. But I'm a science writer, not a chaplain, and therefore it's my responsibility to stick to what I do best – which by great coincidence seems to be what you don't.

I interviewed no parents for the piece. My subject was "what causes (or doesn't cause) autism," not "what is it like to be parent of an autistic child." You seem to be quite hot on the second, but not so keen on the first. But I have interviewed a lot of neurologists and do know how to spell "autism" and "thimerosal," the last of which you misspelled in two different ways. I'm not going to give you any advice on raising autistic children, Pace, and I suggest perhaps you show some humility yourself and not be giving advice on how to do my job. Your people are not going to shut me up.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

Interesting, that the meat of your response is no more than a personal attack on me. I mentioned that i [sic] do not believe it is the soul [sic] cause, but POSSIBLY a contributing factor. [37 words omitted.] I mistakenly thought i [sic] might receive an intelligent response from you, but I was wrong. You come across as a hack that tries to be 'edgy'. Too bad, you could possibly have contributed more to the world. Now, just [sic] a pathetic prophetic [Thanks!] fool that does nothing but blindly follow some 'neurologists', whom I am sure have not done much research into this themselves. Instead of celebrating controversy, why not try to find out all you can? I would call it knee-jerk, but that seems to apply to the person I am writing to. I know nothing about your knees, except that they are likely very dirty with whatever resides on the floor of a pharmaceutical companies [sic] payola floor. I do know that jerk certainly applies.

best [sic] wishes [sic], pace tireboy2004@[omitted]

Dear Pace,

Interesting but I just reread my response to you and saw that you asked four specific questions to which I gave four straightforward answers. For this I'm accused of making a personal attack while Mr. Warm & Fuzzy calls me "a hack," "a pathetic prophetic fool" (which sure sounds nasty, even though it's a contradiction), a blind follower, a non-researcher, a knee-jerker, and a "jerk."

Now do you know why people hate sanctimonious tripe such as you spewed in your last letter and why they dislike prevaricators as in "I mentioned that i [sic] do not believe it is the soul cause, but POSSIBLY a contributing factor" in Letter Two while Letter One stated: "And when [Not "if."] the evidence comes to light that there is in fact a link with Autism [sic] . . . ."

In sum, an "intelligent response" according to the Pace Dictionary of the English Language, 3rd ed., means "agreeing with Pace lock, stock, and barrel." To do otherwise is to be accused of rudeness in what is itself both a rude and wholly uninformative e-mail.

Sincerely, Michael Fumento

She Flu over the Cuckoo's Nest

Don't forget to get your flu shot. Make sure you get the one with the mercury.

All the best, Wendy

Every year I faithfully get that mercury-containing flu shot, thank you very much. I tell the nurse, "Extra thimerosal, please. Shaken, not stirred."

Sincerely, Michael Fumento