Shining a Light on Mike Adams, AKA The Health Ranger
There is nothing you can say about Mike Adams that is more revealing than what appears at his website, Natural News. For example, today’s bolded headline:
US Navy sailors “disappeared” – Fukushima radiation cover-up
Among the day’s “most read” articles:
Companies begin planting microchips under employees’ skin
Yes, this would be the same Mike Adams that Dr. Oz featured on his show last year. This would be the same Mike Adams who compared Monsanto and its “collaborators” in the media to Nazis. In case you didn’t get the message, he added, in that same article:
it is the moral right — and even the obligation — of human beings everywhere to actively plan and carry out the killing of those engaged in heinous crimes against humanity.
Shockingly, he went even further, as I reported at the time.
If you want to learn more of the backstory to Adams, including his methods and how he first elevated his profile, read this in-depth investigation by Think Progress. As its article notes:
The “natural” nutrition and health space is, of course, filled with a range of talking heads offering advice that rejects scientific consensus and, in so doing, crosses the thin line separating personal agency from medical irresponsibility.
Adams inhabits a space on the internet that is a cross between Weekly World News and Alex Jones Infowars. It’s good to see others, like ThinkProgress, taking a closer look at what he’s been saying and selling.
I am really glad to see increased awareness about this malignant misinformers. It’s really tiring to keep hearing about how bad scientists are at communication, when much of what we do is clean up the mess left by cranks.
Scicomm pros seem to think we are starting from a clean slate and we just have to connect better. But we aren’t–we have to unshovel copious manure before we can even begin to tell the factual side of the story. And most people don’t want to stick around after you try to explain to them that they have been covered in crap.
When you have to tell people what they believe is horribly wrong, it’s painful and really, really difficult, no matter how nicely you try to do it.
This guy’s definitely got a screw loose. It’s a shame that kind of reporting appeals to people who don’t bother to think critically, but engage in tribalistic group think. And Dr. Oz didn’t do anyone any favors by giving Adams his pseudo-credibility. But as I told my wife, just remember that Dr. Oz shares a name with a famous wizard, and is only slightly more reputable. He might know cardiology, but he certainly hasn’t shown expertise or good judgment in some of the other areas of medical/health knowledge.
True, but it is even worse than this. Because you are attacking their belief system, they become very defensive and accuse you of all sorts of things. Disagreement with their assertions is treated as offensive.
There really is no way to enlighten all people effectively without upsetting some of them. The best way is to simply present the evidence and keep presenting the evidence. In the end, you not expect to change the thinking of the ‘true believers’ but you may better inform those who might otherwise fall for the arguments of Adams et al.
“…that it is the moral right — and even the obligation — of human beings everywhere to actively plan and carry out the killing of those engaged in heinous crimes against humanity.”
Same old, old song, slightly different language. I always find it interesting how evolution has lead to so many dark corners in the human psyche.
Thanks SO much for this Keith – it’s really great to see that you can achieve so much (because your photos are consistently good) in a relatively straightforward way. Great links, too http://www.pirostore.net/blog/agen-s-lutena-jakarta.html
If this moron comes near me or my family, I might have to go Charlton Heston on him! (And I don’t even own a gun;-)) And where is all this earth shattering data from his new Mass Spec machine? This is assuming he doesn’t put his eye out or something.
Did he poke his eye out yet with that machine?
Isn’t that was politicians call WAR?
New 3D Printing Filament Announced: Taulman T-glase Polar White, Co-Developed by Texas Inventor the “Health Ranger”
http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/04/07/722177/0/en/New-3D-Printing-Filament-Announced-Taulman-T-glase-Polar-White-Co-Developed-by-Texas-Inventor-the-Health-Ranger.html