DDC Comment: Michael Fumento http://www.fumento.com is an honest journalist and author dedicated to determining the unvarnished truth, which is unfortunately rare in the highly partisan and subjective news business. On February 26, 2005, C-Span ran an encore Book Notes dated February 16, 1990 on Michael Fumento and his book, with Brian Lamb, which was well worth watching. Even though his book received fair and positive book reviews, Mr. Fumento described the censoring of his book by booksellers and the hateful reaction from extremists and the news media, which he aptly described as playing on sentiment to make AIDS a threat to everyone with overblown sensationalism. Brian Lamb referred to a column by then CBS reporter Bernard Goldberg (author of Bias and Arrogance exposing media bias) published in the Washington Post defending Fumento and his book.

>From the Second Editon Publisher, Regnery Publishing:

In this lucid and informative book, Michael Fumento explains the facts about the transmission of AIDS and exposes the tragedy of the campaign of misinformation which has surrounded this disease for decades.

Systematically debunking the myths about transmission and the travesty of the misuse of AIDS information, Michael Fumento demonstrates the harm that has come from keeping the American public from the truth about AIDS.

Praise for The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS

"Ably cutting through the statistical forests that make AIDS reporting so treacherous, Michael Fumento puts the risks we differentially face from this dreadful disease in comprehensible perspective." - John Allen Paulos, author of Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences

"A signal contribution to our understanding of the AIDS epidemic in the United States. Fumento has marshaled the epidemiological evidence with courage, conviction, and compassion. His is a major contribution, allaying public hysteria and focusing efforts for control and care to the high-risk groups most in need." - Alexander D. Langmuir, M.D., M.P.H., Former Chief Epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly
The belief that AIDS is poised to break out widely among non-drug-abusing heterosexuals is a myth created by the media and public health officials, charges Fumento. This former AIDS analyst for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights contends that estimates of the number of infected people, and of the risks to heterosexuals, have been grossly exaggerated, arguing further that the epidemic appears to be peaking. According to Fumento, two groups have fueled the alarmist myth: prudish conservative moralists and liberal ``democratizers'' eager to demonstrate that AIDS is not a ``gay plague.'' His allegation that AIDS research has drained funds from the fight against cancer will outrage activists who want more federal dollars spent on AIDS. Among this polemic's more controversial or startling contentions is the assertion that the incidence of AIDS in Africa has been greatly overstated, and the claim that bisexuality among U.S. blacks and Hispanics, far more than that among whites, has played a major role in AIDS transmission.

Library Journal
Written by a former AIDS analyst for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, this book is certain to be controversial. Its stated purpose is ``one of trying to show the effect of politics on AIDS and to some extent on science in general, and to provide an objective account of the risks of contracting AIDS and of the scope of the epidemic.'' Fumento's premise: ``among the great wide percentage of the nation the media calls `the general population,' that section the media and the public health authorities has tried desperately to terrify, there is no epidemic.'' Attempting to mollify the fears created by ``alarmists,'' the author uses an insidiously homophobic, flippant style to heighten an ``us verus them'' attitude toward the crisis, claiming that the money spent on research and education is being siphoned from other more deserving diseases. Though Fumento throws a lot of statistics around, his argument is contradicted by the continuing spread of AIDS among heterosexuals. Not a balanced approach.--James E. Van Buskirk, Acad . of Art Coll. Lib., San Francisco

Booknews
Subtitled How a tragedy has been distorted by the media and partisan politics. Counters the predictions of an imminent AIDS epidemic among the general population. In a rapid fire, journalistic style, Fumento, a frequent writer on AIDS, reinterprets figures and conditions, and notes who benefits and who suffers from alarmist publicity. A refreshing, upbeat, AIDS book.

Updated 1993 edition
Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc., An Eagle Publishing Company

FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
In the 1990 edition, Fumento predicted that the AIDS epidemic had peaked the year before, but the necessary epidemiological information was not yet compiled. He has updated statistics now to support his basic message: AIDS is not on the verge of wiping out civilization; it is a fatal viral disease that is running its course just like all viral diseases do. He explains how the HIV virus works, how the medical establishment and the media are creating the hysteria, what interests are behind the distortions (not all of them are bad people), and how terror about a disaster that will not happen is draining resources from the people who really need them. He includes a whole chapter on Africa.

*****

(More Fumento books)

BioEvolution: How Biotechnology Is Changing Our World

No area of science is moving faster nor will have a greater impact than biotechnology. BioEvolution is the first book to explain what biotech is all about and to describe the amazing scientific advances that have already been made.

Author Michael Fumento shows how biotech is changing our lives and will do so even more dramatically in the near future. Reporting from the ground zero of experimentation and clinical trials,

Fumento shows how biotech has already demonstrated the potential to cure almost any disease, extend human lifespans well past the 120-year range, and wipe out not only famine but malnutrition while using less land, less water, and fewer chemicals.

He discusses the miracle drugs and treatments in the biotech pipeline-scientific innovations that will change medicine over the next decades, eliminating diseases such as diabetes, AIDS, and Alzheimer's and making cancer into a manageable disorder rather than a death sentence.

BioEvolution was published in October 2003 by Encounter Books.
Hardcover: 400 pages

*****

Science Under Siege:
Balancing Technology and the Environment
By Michael Fumento

Thoroughly researched, heavily documented, and compusively readable, Science Under Siege carries a powerful message that this nation cannot afford to ignore. Here is compelling evidence that many terrors of the day have been wildly exaggerated - even fabricated - by environmental activists, politicians, the bureaucracy, and the media.

Michael Fumento proves conclusively that dioxin, video-display terminals, power lines, pesticides, and other products are not the deadly threats to you and your family's health that you have heard.

Praise for Science Under Siege

"Michael Fumento's clear exposition of the way in which knowledge gained through good scientific research can be distorted and used to spread misconceptions and needless public fear should receive widespread attention."
- Frederick Seitz, Past President, National Academy of Sciences

"Fumento exposes the hoodwinking of America with wit, integrity, passion, and common sense. An important book."
- Dr. Bruce Ames, Professor of Biochemistry , University of California at Berkeley, and developer of the Ames mutagenicity test

"A sound critical evaluation of the excessive claims of the environmental enthusiasts."
- Dr. Alexander D. Langmuir, M.D., M.P.H., Former Chief Epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control

*****

Polluted Science:
The EPA's Campaign to Expand Clean Air Regulations
By Michael Fumento

Polluted Science is a critical study of the EPA's decision in 1997 to tighten national standards for measuring air quality. Michael Fumento examines the standards used by the EPA and the benefits the EPA hoped to reap by their utlilization.

Praise for Polluted Science

"Michael Fumento is among America's most conscientious observers of Washington's regulatory establishment, a watchdog whom the bureaucrats rightly fear."
- Thomas Bliley, Chairman, House Commerce Committee

"Michael Fumento's Polluted Science conclusively shows that the EPA's new particulate and ozone regulations may be among the worst ever promulgated by a federal agency. All legislators concerned with the health of their constituents and the health of the economy need to read - and heed - this book and vote against what Fumento so aptly calls 'regulation for regulation's sake.'"
- David McIntosh, Chairman, House National Economic Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs Committee

"Scientific review is about reading and synthesizing the state of the art in the published literature and only then forming conclusions. Michael Fumento is very dangerous because he does exactly that. In the air pollution field there are far too many examples of reports that leap to the politically desired conclusion. Fumento reveals these 'studies' for what they are."
- Donald H. Stedman, Brainerd Phillipson Professor of Chemistry, University of Denver