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Smearing Conservative Writers In a directory of folks who routinely attack environmental propaganda, I am identified as "a public relations advisor and a vitriolic critic of environmentalism." Source Watch is a project of the Center of Media & Democracy, a left-wing organization that devotes a lot of time to attacking the public relations profession in general and conservative writers in particular.
Suffice it to say that even writers need to eat and pay the rent. Nothing he wrote in his book has ever been disputed as to its accuracy. Frankly, it is an excellent look at the way biotechnology is doing great things to insure that millions do not die needlessly from starvation, how biotech is enhancing the health and lifespan of people, and how it reduces the need for pesticides to protect crops. All of which is to say that the Business Week attack on Michael Fumento has nothing to do with his ethics and everything to do with a leftist attack intended to smear his reputation and hopefully remove a leading critic of environmentalism and other manifestations of dubious science intended to frighten people. His writings on science and health topics are models of clarity about complicated issues. They also tend to debunk the "junk science" that passes for environmental gospel. The Center identifies itself as "a non-profit, public interest organization that strengthens participatory democracy by investigating and exposing public relations spin and propaganda, and by promoting media literacy and citizen journalism." When its staff writes about "ecological sustainability" or "economic justice", you can be sure they do not regard it as "spin." One of the ways the Center counters "propaganda" is by underwriting books like "Mad Cow U.S.A." despite the fact that there has never been a case of this disease in the U.S.A. Another book is "Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq", a nation that is currently putting together a new government after more than three decades of Saddam Hussein’s psychopathic despotism. The Center presumably checks its facts, but its description of me on SourceWatch.org says, "Caruba maintains several web sites", citing Caruba.com, AnxietyCenter.com, and Bookviews.com. It then lists Boringinstitute.com, the site for a media spoof I created in 1984 that hasn’t been on the Internet since 2004. Three other sites are attributed to me: Yearbook.com, NewsReleaseWire.com, and ExpertClick.com. However, these sites are the property of a Washington, DC firm called Broadcast Interview Source. I do not own or "maintain" them. Every day journalists use these sites to find experts on topics about which they are writing and I am listed as one of those experts. Had they bothered to go to any of those sites, Source Watch would have known this. It’s called fact checking. And who funds folks like those at Source Watch or any of the myriad of environmental organizations? The answer is left-wing foundations like Ford, Rockefeller, and MacArthur, as well as unions, trade associations, companies, and activist organizations that seek a competitive edge or want to influence public policy. Funding also comes from a gullible public that has been intensely propagandized to believe that global warming is something other than a normal climate cycle. These are people who are constantly told by the mainstream media, in league with environmental and other groups, that everything and anything is going to kill them despite ample evidence that Americans are living longer, healthier lives than ever before in the history of the world. My first job after finishing my U.S. Army service was as a reporter for a small, weekly New Jersey newspaper. Three months later I was its editor. About a year after that I became a feature writer and columnist for a daily newspaper. This experience taught me the basic standards of journalism. "If your mother says she loves you, check it out!" Later, as a public relations counselor, I was afforded the opportunity to travel all over the United States throughout the 1980s as part of a program about the uses and benefits of pesticides and herbicides. My client was a company that was later forced to withdraw its product when the Environmental Protection Agency insisted that it repeat its multi-million dollar registration process for an insecticide that was literally applied with nothing more toxic than water! In 1990 I founded The National Anxiety Center as a clearinghouse for information about "scare campaigns" designed to influence public opinion and policy. The Center has always been paid for out of my own pocket and by occasional donations from people who want to support what I do. When the mere accusation of impropriety is enough to harm the reputation of a writer like Michael Fumento then you can bet the leftists are going to use this tactic against anyone who has the audacity to call them the worst kind of propagandists. Fumento has been a professional writer since 1986 and, unable to attack his facts, character assassination is the order of the day. Am I "spinning" you? No. Any public relations professional worth his pay will tell you that the only thing that works is the truth. You can check it out! As the headlines continue to stream out of the holy land, now restored as the nation of Israel, it is useful to explore the history of that strip of land that approximates the size of the State of New Jersey. It is bordered by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and a disputed area designated Palestine that includes the Gaza Strip from which Israel recently withdrew. Rarely a day goes by when the Palestinians do not fire rockets into Israel and, in mid-January, yet another suicide bomber blew himself up, but fortunately did not manage to kill any Israeli citizens. Indeed, in their first step toward self-government, Palestinians elected a terrorist organization called Hamas whose sole purpose is the destruction of Israel. Members of both Fatah and Hamas celebrated by shooting at each other. From the moment that Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, the nation has suffered and has triumphed through five declared wars and at least two "intifadas", a form of guerrilla warfare. Not even the death of Yassir Arafat has managed to introduce any rationality into the discussions with the self-declared government representing Palestinians. Most certainly, the much-ballyhooed Oslo Accords did nothing to end the threat to Israel. An interesting book, "Holy Land, Whose Land?" by Dorothy Drummond ($17.95, Fairhurst Press, Terre Haute, Indiana) takes the reader on a trip through history, back to the origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and through the many struggles fought for control of Jerusalem, including the exile of the Jews by the Romans, their return from Persia, and their subsequent dispersal throughout the world as the Diaspora. Today, most of the world’s Jews reside either in Israel or in America and number a scant, estimated thirteen million. Intermarriage and birthrates are contributing to their dwindling numbers. Judaism is believed to have begun as an organized religion approximately 2,000 years before the Common Era. That means, as the first monotheistic religion, it has been around for about 4,000 years. It has been just over 2,000 years since the beginnings of Christianity. Islam began in the seventh century C.E. The list of tribes and empires that were either conquered or brought down by the original and subsequent Jewish population is a long one. The Old Testament cites the Canaanites and others such as the Philistines, followed later by the Roman Empire whom some historians believe was so weakened by its endless effort to subdue the Israelites that it was a pushover for the Germanic tribes that ultimately conquered it. Christianity was, in its earliest years, a branch of Judaism, splitting off as the result of Paul’s interpretation of Jesus as the messiah and the attraction Christianity held for those who did not want to submit to the demanding laws of Judaism, i.e., circumcision and dietary rules. Islam is the invention of an Arab merchant named Muhammad who reinterpreted aspects of Judaism and Christianity fusing them to the Arab Bedouin culture, and then declaring himself as the last prophet. Initially, Islam was spread by the sword throughout North Africa and the Middle East. War or jihad is still its preferred method of proselytism. All three of these religions claim Jerusalem as a holy city integral to their faith. Over the centuries all three have fought bloody battles to control the holy land. Thus, the greatest truism of the area is the way it has been the focus of warfare and, these days, the focus of a fanatical enmity among Muslims against both Jews and Christians. Muslims, whose memories of victories and defeats stretch back to their religion’s beginning, regard the latter as "crusaders". It should be noted that Islam feels the same enmity toward all other religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism. Thus, in the dawn of the 21st century, we have a true "clash of civilizations" and the newest version of Armageddon, the potential for a nuclear war unleashed by Iran, the seat of the modern Islamic Revolution. Slowly, even Europe has awakened to this threat. Ultimately, however, only the United States will be able thwart the mad dreams of the mullahs. The study of history tells us a lot about the present and portends the future if we do not learn its lessons. Thus, one would benefit greatly from reading Dorothy Drummond’s book, published initially in 2000 and revised in 2004, prior to the death of Arafat and the stroke that struck down Ariel Sharon. "Quo vadis" is the question Christianity asks; wither goest thou? The answer for Israel’s Jews for now seems to be behind large walls and fences to keep their people relatively safe from the Palestinians. However, it is the rest of the world that must answer the question, too. If the nations of the West fail to answer the question correctly, cities like Rome, the seat of Catholic Church, could be reduced to atomic ashes, and the United States may perish as well. You can send a valentine to The National Anxiety Center in the form of a donation to help maintain our website and our communications programs. In January, one of our Warning Signs segments was published as an opinion editorial in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution! If you prefer to send a check, please make it payable to The Caruba Organization, 28 West Third St., Suite 1321, South Orange, NJ 07079. Thank you!
©
2006 Alan Caruba. |
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My friend Michael Fumento is also listed on Source Watch. The information about him just got updated to include notice that Scripps Howard News Service recently dropped Fumento’s column. This decision was based solely on the fact that, back in 1999, Monsanto provided a grant to the Hudson Institute to pay his salary while he wrote "BioEvolution", published by Encounter Books. Courageous journalists that they are, Scripps dropped Fumento without even contacting him to determine the truth or falsity of the claim of bias leveled against him in a Business Week column.