Crank It Up

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How is it I've never come across Alex Jones before? He's a prolific broadcaster of impassioned political presentations, archaeologist of inconvenient facts and, yes, purveyor of wacky conspiracy theories.

He's one of those people with high intelligence and moral sense, diligence and charisma...and no rudder at all.

The trouble with people who have the drive and ability to carry out an immense project without the support of a sympathetic community is...they don't have the correction of expertise and reality checks provided by a sympathetic community.

Here's a few paraphrases (and a quote) from a recent broadcast, with comments.

* Obviously non-terrorist crimes are being recategorised as "terror related", "connected to Al-Quaida", "inspired by Al-Quaida" or similar gibberish. This is quite evident, and not difficult.

* Anyone who protests against anything the government does is accused of "aiding the terrorists" or "giving succour to Al-Quaida". They are indeed.

* The media are starting to suggest the emergence of a "white Al-Quaida" - educated, well dressed folks who, being white and not having beards, don't look like suicidal fanatics. There is a creeping climate of fear that "it could be your neighbour" or "it could be a member of your family". Yep - Macarthyism worked in the same way, with the paranoia about communist agents disguised as super-respectable Americans.

* Flouride in the water has no effect on dental health, but it is a slow accumulating poison that affects the brain. Well, there have been studies that suggest that, yes.

* It's part of a conspiracy to stupefy the middle and working class. Um...oh-kay.

* "They'll go out and torture the public and have the public say they're terrorists, and then the idiot, soft, chicken-neck scum of this nation - the cheeseburger [guzzling], beer drinking, football worshipping, soft, cowardly, stupid people will buy it and cheer it on and there'll be all those proud fathers getting their sons into it, say "Oh I love your black uniform, son. Oh I love your suit and tie, son.", and then all the corruption and the drug dealing and just a mass of criminals feeding on us. Gurh! It makes me sick! Murderers! MURDERING SCUM!" Hmmm.

* The CIA are being taken over by immigrants who hate the American way of life and are using the war on terror to destroy it from the inside. Ah. Oh dear.

* And it's all because the Bilderberg group think they have the secret of eternal life, and want to first control and then kill off 80% of the world's population to leave them free to enjoy their immortality. Er...

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Gary Taubes on the other hand is packaged as a crank, but isn't. His work isn't (directly) political - he's best know for writing diet books. The blurb on his latest tome "The Diet Delusion" boldly proclaims that high-fat diet and lack of exercise have nothing to do with obesity, high carbohydrate diets are completely ineffective for losing weight...and, inevitably, that Gary Taubes alone can make you thin because all the scientists in the world are blinkered and wrong.

Makes him sound like a lunatic, doesn't it? Latest in a long line of uneducated crackpots with a publishing deal that lasts just as long as the sensation.

Actually, Taubes is a respected scientist (though his qualifications are in physics, not nutrition) and what he's actually saying is what nutritionists have known for decades. He's just been promoted by his publisher as a sexily daring iconoclast and/or amusingly ill-informed crank - because that sells better.

What he actually has to say isn't quite what the blurb suggests. He essentially says:

* Eating fat isn't the major factor in becoming overweight, and therefore reducing fat intake isn't the major factor in losing weight.

* Overeating isn't the really important thing either.

* Sugar is the major factor, because of its effect on insulin levels.

* Eating lots of carbohydrates is more likely to make you fatter than thinner. This goes especially for the simple carbohydrates, which includes the sugars, and are found in the "bulk" foods beloved of weight-loss diets - bread, rice, pasta etc.

* Exercise burns fat very slowly, and increases appetite greatly - so, while it's healthy in other ways to be active, it's a false economy if you want to get svelte.

So, what's the lifestyle of the serious pound-shedder? Moderate fat intake, low sugar, low carbohydrate, high protein, moderate exercise. Which is just so controversial.

Taubes is also a historian of bad science - a subject close to my heart - and there's a good interview with him about it here.

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