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Dec102012
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Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill NRO wants help
Dec 10, 2012 Climate: Mann The National Review Online is seeking assistance in fighting off Michael Mann's libel suit.
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Dec 10, 2012 Climate: Mann 
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Reader Comments (13)
Done. Never a better investment.
Done. Stick it to the Mann!
Done.
I thought this was going to be such a slam dunk they barely needed to make a case at all... Guess there is a potential loss after all.
I thought this was going to be such a slam dunk they barely needed to make a case at all... Guess there is a potential loss after all.
Dec 11, 2012 at 2:38 AM | Frank
Not necessarily, Frank. The whole point of litigation in USA, especially if you know you are wrong, is to delay incessantly in an attempt to bankrupt your opponent. Sadly, in the USA, the law has never been about right or wrong more big and small.
I gave a bit of my pension how about you Frank??
This is the time for those of us who have questioned Dr. Mann's science, character and motives to put their money where their mouth is.
There is a PayPal option which makes it astoundingly easy to donate. You can donate as much or as little as you want.
Cor! This is like the good old days when "Private Eye" was at its peak.
If people like Mark Steyn are silenced by people like Michael Mann because of lack of funds then the "enemy" will have won without firing a shot.
Mann's legal defense fund is being bankrolled by the green hedge fund manager and currency speculator George Soros. Literally millions of dollars are on the line here. Defeat for Mann would be a disaster for the billions Soros has invested in green/renewable energy companies, especially in South America.
Even though common sense tells us that Mann is a con man fronting for the global warming scam and green investors like Soros, there's a very good chance Steyn will lose this one. Keep in mind that Mann's lawyer was able to get a "dodgy" judge for this case--I don't think this is a concidence, Soros has incredible influence in the US court system as well.
Beware Soros. His modus operandi has always been to profit from the misfortune of others. He made his early fortune by singlehandedly almost bankrupting the Bank of England via manipulating the British pound. Currently he is profiting from global warming alarmism by drawing huge government grants and tax breaks for his renewable energy investments. It's unlikely Soros will allow Mann to lose, he has too much at stake.
I will contribute to Mark Steyn and NR because I think Steyn is the best polemicist in the English language today and if he is silenced, then we might as well all go home and lock and load.
That said, Mann's case appears on the surface to be very weak. Steyn can say he was not accusing Mann of academic fraud, but that he merely meant that the hockey stick paper has been used fraudulently. (The term "academic" appears no where in the original blog post.) There is also the difficult task that Mann has to prove Steyn did not believe what he was saying was true. This makes it a freedom of expression case and it is very rare that a judge or jury will side with a controversial pubic figure against an established, highly regarded journalist like Steyn, himself a well-known figure who sits in for Rush Limbaugh on occasion. Occasionally they will side with public figures who are slandered in tabloid magazines, but National Review is not in that category. It's the magazine founded by William F. Buckley, a man who earned respect from both the left and right in his five decades of publishing and broadcasting.
Stephen Richards is correct when he states that the point of litigation in the USA is to drag it out and bankrupt your opponent. That appears to be Mann's motive here-- along with silencing others who might speak similarly about his dubious scientific output.
Done my bit, too.
Frank: yiu need to bone up on defamation law in the US before making comments that expose your obvious ignorance. It is expensive for defendants, irrespective of the merits of the case.
Mann2mann: you, too, should do a little digging. The "dodgy" judge comments were apparently derived from one source, possibly mostly made by only a few disgruntled litigants, all aggravated with favoritism towards defendants - hardly a ringing endorsement for Mann's legal team.
Mark
Mann2Mann and Andrew
I hadn't realised the provenance of Mann's Soros funding. I'd ask that the supporting evidence be collected and published somewhere that I can point/link people to as I know it will be a clincher for several other people.
The Soros connection explains why Mann obviously thinks himself fireproof and reminds me in some ways of our good friend Bob Ward...
Michael Mann’s legal fund is backed by George Soros, via Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and GAP’s Environmental program.
The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund was set up on September 12, 2011, by Scott Mandia. Money and support quickly came from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
Louis Clark sits on the Board of Directors of PEER. He is the founder and Executive Director, since 1978, of the Government Accountability Project (GAP).
GAP is funded by, among others, Soros’ Open Society Institute. The Soros Foundation 2006 report let slip that they had specifically funded GAP for James “Hansen’s defense by providing legal and media advice” when he accused the Bush administration of censoring him.
Lance E. Lindblom, who sits on the board of GAP, was formerly Executive Vice President at Soros Foundation’s Open Society Institute/Open Society Fund.
John Cavanagh, who sits on the Advisory Board of GAP is the long-time Director of the Institute for Policy Studies, of which GAP is an offshoot.
It gets much more interesting but I’ll stop there and provide some substantiating links and excerpts:
Climate Science Legal Defense Fund
About Us
http://climatesciencedefensefund.org/about-us/
On September 12, 2011, Scott Mandia posted a “Dear Colleagues” letter on his blog. It started, “Climate researchers are in need of immediate legal assistance to prevent their private correspondence from being exposed to Chris Horner and the American Tradition Institute who are using Freedom of Information (FOI) to harass researchers.” The outpouring of support was overwhelming. In less than 24 hours, Scott received $10,000 in small donations from scientists, students, and other concerned individuals. This went a long way toward helping solve immediate legal needs. Legal bills for scientists continued to mount, so it became apparent that a permanent organization was needed.
With Scott Mandia and Joshua Wolfe as co-managers, and with the fiscal sponsorship of the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund was founded. This group will serve as the non-profit incubator as we build our own organization.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
http://www.peer.org/about/index.php
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a national alliance of local state and federal resource professionals. PEER’s environmental work is solely directed by the needs of its members. As a consequence, we have the distinct honor of serving resource professionals who daily cast profiles in courage in cubicles across the country.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
About Us: Board of Directors
http://www.peer.org/about/board.php
Louis Clark is the founder and Executive Director, since 1978, of the Government Accountability Project. G.A.P. is a public interest law firm that specializes in whistleblower protection and environmental advocacy. A lawyer and Methodist minister, Mr. Clark was active in the civil rights movement and worked for prison reform before founding G.A.P.
The Government Accountability Project
http://www.whistleblower.org/about
The Government Accountability Project’s mission is to promote corporate and government accountability by protecting whistleblowers, advancing occupational free speech, and empowering citizen activists.
GAP is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with an operating budget of around $2.5 million. Gifts to GAP are tax-deductible. The vast majority of our funds come from over 10,000 individual donors and foundations such as the Carnegie Foundation, CS Fund, Ford Foundation, the Open Society Institute and Rockefeller Family Fund. Additional support comes from legal fees, settlement awards, and services provided.
Founded in 1977, GAP is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization. Located in Washington, DC …
Despite it’s noble-sounding claims to “promote … government accountability” here is GAP’s stance on Climategate.
GAP’s Environmental program
http://www.whistleblower.org/program-areas/environment
Rebuffing politically driven attacks on climate science and the climate science community in support of honest public engagement with its role in public policy. In response to the Climategate controversy over stolen e-mails and other attacks, CSW published original statements from key scientists, providing an important venue for the scientific community to intervene in opposition to a destructive and trumped up attack on its integrity. CSW has also been engaged in commentary on the role of political manipulation of climate science in shaping public opinion, and has called upon leaders in the administration to affirm their support for the climate science community and its role in informing domestic and international climate policy.
The Government Accountability Project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Accountability_Project
The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a leading United States whistleblower protection organization.[citation needed] Through litigating of whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, GAP’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1975 as part of the Institute for Policy Studies…
Board
http://www.whistleblower.org/about/board-of-directors
Lance E. Lindblom
Lance E. Lindblom was appointed President and CEO of the Nathan Cummings Foundation beginning in December 2000. Before he joined the staff of NCF, Mr. Lindblom served as a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, focusing on democratic accountability, economic and social policy, and globalization. Prior to that position, Mr. Lindblom was the Executive Vice President at Soros Foundation’s Open Society Institute/Open Society Fund. For 13 years, he worked at J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation, first serving as Executive Director from 1980-1984 and then as President and CEO from 1984 to 1994.
Advisory Board
http://www.whistleblower.org/about/gap-advisory-committee
John Cavanagh
Soros Foundations Network Report 2006
http://web.archive.org/web/20081025093938/http://www.soros.org/resources/articles_publications/publications/annual_20070731/a_complete.pdf
About This Report
The Open Society Institute and the Soros foundations network spent $417,585,000 in 2006 on improving policy and helping people to live in open, democratic societies.
[...]
Scientist Protests NASA’s Censorship Attempts
James E. Hansen, the director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at NASA, protested attempts to silence him after officials at NASA ordered him to refer press inquiries to the public affairs office and required the presence of a public affairs representative at any interview.
The Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower protection organization and OSI grantee, came to Hansen’s defense by providing legal and media advice.
The campaign on Hansen’s behalf resulted in a decision by NASA to revisit its media policy.
[...]
Strategic Opportunities Fund 12,824,000
[...]
Total U.S. Programs $74,092,000
note: The Strategic Opportunities Fund includes grants related to Hurricane Katrina ($1,652,841); media policy ($1,060,000); and politicization of science ($720,000).
Done.