Some people say you shouldn’t poke a bear with a stick, for obvious reasons.
I’ll say one thing for Mr. Steyn, he never gives up poking the ‘MannBearPig’, even when being sued. Steyn writes on his web page today:
…
Which brings us to Michael Mann, the fake Nobel laureate currently suing NATIONAL REVIEW for mocking his global-warming “hockey stick.” Of the recent congressional hearings, Dr. Mann tweeted that it was “#Science” — i.e., the guy who agrees with him — vs. “#AntiScience” — i.e., Dr. Judith Curry, chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. That’s to say, she is by profession a scientist, but because she has the impertinence to dissent from Dr. Mann’s view she is “#AntiScience.” Mann is the climatological equivalent of those bozo imams on al-Arabiya raging about infidel whores: He can’t refute Dr. Curry, he can only label her.
He explains his aversion to appearing with anyone other than fawning groupies thus: “Getting on a debate stage signals that, while you might disagree, you respect the position of your opponent. #WhyWeDontDebateScienceDeniers.” But the reality is that he’s too insecure and dull-witted to argue. That’s why he’s suing me over a pun (“tree-ring circus”), why he threatened legal action in Minnesota over a song parody, and why he’s in court in Vancouver objecting to a bit of wordplay. “You can’t say that!” is the refrain of those who can’t hold their own. Michael Mann is seeking massive damages from me and this magazine. Nuts to that. But I would be willing to buy him a course in debating technique — because in free societies that’s how you win. I’d also like to buy the wee thin-skinned chap a sense of humor, but I don’t think there’s a course for that.
~You can help Mark defend himself against Dr Mann’s lawsuit by supporting the SteynOnline bookstore and by purchasing our new Steyn gift certificates.
=============================================================
Source: http://www.steynonline.com/6079/yes-we-can-say-that
Readers might want to read what Dr. Curry has to say about all of this in her essay:
JC challenge to MM: Since you have publicly accused my Congressional testimony of being ‘anti-science,’ I expect you to (publicly) document and rebut any statement in my testimony that is factually inaccurate or where my conclusions are not supported by the evidence that I provide.
He has not responded to my challenge, other than to retweet some rather dubious blog posts.
See: http://judithcurry.com/2014/01/26/mann-versus-steyn/
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
To steal a quote from one of my favorite Antipodeans, the fabulous Mr. Peter Bowler, Michal E. Mann is, in addition to being a despicable individual who is half lout and all bombast, “an apogenous, bovaristic, coprolalial, dasypygal, excerebrose, facinorous, gnathonic, hircine, ithyphallic, jumentous, kyphotic, labrose, mephitic, napiform, oligophrenial, papuliferous, quisquilian, rebarbative, saponaceous, thersitical, unguinous, ventripotent, wlatsome, xylocephalous, yirning zoophyte” which, roughly translated, is an “impotent, conceited, obscene, hairy-buttocked, brainless, wicked, toadying, goatish, indecent, stable-smelling, hunchbacked, thick-lipped, stinking, turnip-shaped, feeble-minded, pimply, trashy, repellent, smarmy, foul-mouthed, greasy, gluttonous, loathsome, wooden-headed, whining, extremely low form of animal life.”
Which is probably insulting to turnips and amoebas, everywhere.
He is, without question, the very prime example of what is meant by ‘Slubberdegullion’ (‘nother fine Bowlerism).
A word, Mr. Mann: all those eminent scientists who trashed M. Foucault and his pendulum? When he had the temerity to have the correct answer to explain it’s behavior? and then made the cardinal sin of providing the mathematical proof when they could not, after they were grudgingly forced by the facts to admit his theory was correct, yet then tried to claim he was simply “lucky” and not smart?
No one remembers who they are, Mr. Mann. Not a one. I think it very likely that this will be YOUR fate, Mr. Mann. You are nobody. Just a problem to be dealt with, just intellectual pollution. And when you are gone, we will all forget you.
The only way I could find to help Steyn was to purchase a couple of books at his store. I have often laughed at the way Steyn lampoons the elite and pompous in his columns at IBD, but his books are much better–he ought to charge more for them. They contain his magnificent sense of humor, but they present theses that are well thought through. He presents arguments on demographics and cultural trends that are quite difficult to argue against. His worries may not come to fruition, but no one should assume they will not a priori.
Steyn obviously understands his opponents in the way no PC person can. He is sassy, irreverent, on point and pretty darned fearless. He may be a pain at times, but no free society can exist without such pain. I really recommend American Alone and Lights Out. Lights Out, in particular, chronicles, throught the McLean’s complaint, the way that free societies hobble themselves through misguided attempts at fairness though idiotic Commissions and Directorates, and invite the enemies of an open society to use these as tools against free speech.
We can live easily without the Soroses, but not at all without the Steyns.
Mann attacks any who ‘dare to questions his greatness even those on this own side , its that very ego that will bring about his downfall and when he falls we will be surprised to see who lines up to kick him on the way down , such is the ‘quality’ of Mann
You give Mann more share time than he, or his pseudo-science, diserves. He will be always be seen as a rather ridiculous personage…
Just purchased myself a Steyn gift certificate. I hope he gets enough support to stand up against MM’s soros-funded legal team. (Soros is truly a malevolent individual.)
john says:
February 8, 2014 at 8:34 am
Hilarious! And, yet, right on the money. Plus ca change…
Steyn makes the point that in most nations deriving procedure from English Law, the “loser pays” in civil courts. The US differs. Mann “wins” insofar as the respondents to his complaint divert resources from the debate into a defense against Mann’s charges in court. If Mann wins, he stands to collect “damages.” If Steyn (or Simberg, NRO and/or CEI) wins, Mann pays nothing extra beyond what he paid simply to buy his day in court.
UNLESS– (IANAL, this from my experience in Texas courts) the winning party in a civil suit is entitled to petition the court to have the losing party pay the actual costs of ADMINISTRATION involved in the suit. Xeroxing fees, postage, cell phone bills, etc. NOT legal fees the winner paid to the lawyer per hour of time, but INCLUDING the intern’s hourly rate for running original papers thru the fax machine or copier.
I strongly strongly STRONGLY urge Steyn and company to keep track of their costs in the matter. When justice prevails they should then present the bills. (Data and methodology, of course.)
DirkH says:
February 8, 2014 at 8:04 am
Jim says:
February 8, 2014 at 7:52 am
“Where is Mann getting the funds to pay for his legal counsel?”
Soros. http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/07/24/fighting-the-mann/#comment-1041764
Anyone who doesn’t know who George Soros is (other than being billionaire hedge fund manager), there is a fascinating trove of information about him on frontpagemag.com in the area called discover the networks. Here is a link to the entry about George Soros: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=977. If you read this, you will have no doubt why I said previously that Soros is a malevolent individual.
Joe Chang says:
February 8, 2014 at 7:52 am
The Nobel prize is a big deal. Universities should list how many current and past faculty members have the award. Regardless of how Mann represents his “award”, does any one know how many PSU lists? and if it includes Mann?
According to the Nobel Prize organization http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/universities.html
PSU has zero Nobel laureates. btw, this listing includes the Nobel Peace Prize. I suppose that the Nobel work that is Mann will have to sue to have this egregious error corrected. (With apologies to William the Bard of Avon.)
A video for “Michael Mann, the fake Nobel laureate”. Hey Mike, don’t worry about the Nobel Prize. Richard Feynman says it’s overrated.
There are humour courses run in Germany that Mann could benefit from.
Mailman
Mark Steyn should set up a PayPal account. It would make it more likely sending him money from outside the US.
I dont know If this was mentioned before: The three kinds of scientific fraud, originally from Charles Babbage and still valid. “Trimming, Cooking and Forging”. Maybe the fabrication of some scientific graphs fits in there.
Dr. Curry
Wouldn’t it be fair, if the New York Times gave Dr. Curry room for a reply on Manns OpEd?
Homeland security’s parole = Manns scientific guidelines: “If you see something, say something”.
Usual scientific standard: If you see something, THINK, say something.
If you see something that’s not existing, well…
Aside of that, I was very rarely reading such a dishonest and whiningly comment.
The martyrs of science, Mann, Hansen, etc., gave up everything for saving the planet (maybe except their fundings, grants, salaries, positions, popularity,etc.), loosing eh,uh what? Only for the sake of nice little kiddies, the cuddly polar bears and so on. Causes nausea.
So – George Soros and the Womann-named-Sue (and of course Soros is the power behind the House of Kenya that now occupies the White House) are as thick as thieves (not a pun).
Doesn’t bode well for honest science, if the fat little punk has that kind of money behind him. One assumes that this explains the little shit’s staying power through all his litigation
Reading some of the comments from those who would like to donate {PayPal or through a non-profit option}, I would like to suggest one or more of Mark’s books on American music and the
Broadway musical.
The man is brilliant! I assumed, that I had a high level of knowledge on the subject. However, when I purchased “American Songbook” in 2011: I learned Mr. Steyn is both encyclopedic and a gem of a writer.
When I read the first posting on WUWT, I ordered the “Broadway Double-Bill”.
If you enjoy Musicals or simply wish to learn more about classic lyrical creation, you will want to read Mark’s brilliant work.
Nobel Prize
Mann won’t get one.
Obama recently made big points in climate science with his groundbreaking finding, that climate change exists. He deserves his second Nobel Prize. This time for Physics.
[snip – enough of your latinizing dreck, take it elsewhere – Anthony]
Typo in Dr. Curry’s name here:
Mann’s Hockeystick became important because it was the flagship evidence for AGW in the IPCC AR3.
And when the current lead author of IPCC Working Group 1 AR5 was asked about the old AR3?
The message was clear;
“Mistakes were made”.
http://www.redstate.com/russellc/2014/02/06/seven-rough-questions-corporations-eco-groups-avoid-when-they-proclaim-we-must-stop-global-warming/
Another voice in the debate.
As so often, most of the comments regarding the Mannian Nobel PEACE Price have not understood that the most damaging thing about the whole episode is the fact that we are talking about a Prize awarded to the IPCC not for their scientific achievements (for they are few) but for their POLITICAL achievements. The Nobel PEACE Prize is awarded by a committee consisting of Norwegian POLITICIANS, not scientist. Any scientist who promotes himself as a Nobel laureate based on such a Prize while “forgetting” to mention that it is the political Peace Prize he is referring to is doing this for a purpose.
In defense of Mann, he makes plain old narcissistic psycopaths seem noble.
Greg says:
“Getting the Tiljander proxy the wrong way up could be incompetence, if one were inclined to be kind. That such a degree of incompetence from someone who (less than reluctantly) chooses to be a key player for “the cause” should be the source of ridicule seems quite reasonable.”
What you say is true. But it goes further. It was pointed out that not only is it the wrong way up but also it is subject to contamination. Continuing to use it under these circumstances is truly bizarre, ascientific, and potentially fraudulent.
I don’t know where you live, John A, but generally in this country (USA) it is a civil offense. The spoken ‘defamation’ is called slander. The written ‘defamation’ is called libel. Further, charges of slander and libel rely upon damage to reputation, and whether the remarks were made maliciously or not. The test is different for public and private people.
Freedom of speech is not contingent upon whether the speech is a lie or not. You’re free to lie in this country as a Florida judge found in the case of a suit against Fox News over a decade ago. The judge ruled that Fox News was not required to tell the truth. Maybe you’re Canadian; broadcasters can go to jail for lying, as a I understand it.
You can read more about defamation in the US here.
Mann may be in last days. As Raquel told Johnny Carson you only have five years to make your money in this town (Hollywood). The same goes for entertainment in the pseudo??? World of science
Two things happen in careers based on a popular topic and personal popularity. Lost of bookings and then, personal attacks or stunts to regain public exposure.
Having worked in media, news and public relations for years, I have seen this over and over. So in detail:
1. The fake Hockey Stick
2. The Email Scandal and Exoneration but Virginia Attorney office may still be looking into that
3. Some type of free agent on the speaking tour
4. Now law suits and such.
The problem with law suits is it tends to kill bookings and may be thinking if booking are off, sue for quick cash and popularity. But they settle out of court normally to avoid bad publicity and anything the court may drag out into the open and or obtain a negative judgment and a counter suit or a long appeal process.
Now, what is left? Two suits and name calling will. UT more bookings, less visibility for people will fear to book less the guy be offended and be sued as well.
I give Mann about two to three years of visibility left before Global cooling due to the solar minimum freezes out man-made global warming.