Bishop Hill Timmy on Mann
Aug 24, 2012 Climate: Mann Tim Worstall writes about the (allegedly) forthcoming libel case:
The lawyers defending NR get to crawl all over all those documents that he’s been so careful about making sure have not been released. Now, as we know absolutely, Dr. Mann has not been hiding anything at all, not even the odd decline, in his academic work. All his papers, emails, research and workings are entirely without blemish as is only right and proper for one who has awoken the world to the grave dangers posed by climate change. But it is still true that NR’s lawyers get access to them in order to defend the magazine against the charges that Dr. Mann is bringing. Those entirely righteous charges, you recall, to defend his reputation and honour from the stains being flung at it.
Reader Comments (13)
Worstall:
???I've said this before, but think it needs repeating.
Just because someone is hiding something, it doesn't mean that the something they are hiding is what you think it is?
Imagine if, after all this, it turns out that what Mann is hiding is evidence of an extramarital affair, playing fast and loose with his income tax or even an obsessive interest in Morris dancing.
I think the balance of probabilities is that Mann IS hiding evidence of his extremely selective scientific process, vitriolic unbalanced comments about fellow scientists, and attempts to influence or pervert peer review. However, there is a possibility that what is contained in e-mails he has fought so hard to hide is something (to us) more mundane.
Just because he's trying to hide it doesn't mean it's what we think is.
Just something to bear in mind.
stuck
I doubt he would be getting the political and academic support to hide something mundane don't you?
I see that the Hockey Stick Illusion is on any potential judges read list. That is a concern - there is a danger if he reads that great book that the Judge will stop proceedings and dismiss the case for the prosecution before we get to disclosure of all Mann - u - scripts .
i imagine it is perhaps his close links socially, etc with green groups and actvists that may be the most embarrsing, and 'thoughts' about his colleagues..
ie when Mann wanted to contact Monbiot (ref about the global warming swindle) the person who gave Mann Monbiot's email address is fascinating (George Marshall, COIN, Ridsing Tide, www.climatedenial.org , CaCC)
Mann's pending suit is frivolous harassment, entirely beyond all bounds of the civilized debate which Warmists such as himself have done so much to vitiate. "Get Lost" or face extremely burdensome and revelatory "discovery proceedings", not in a libel-and-slander but in a First Amendment context, is a worthy response to this thoroughly discredited poseur.
There's an interesting discussion on Anthony's site about rules of discovery in America. I must admit I rather thought the arguments from those who say that a declared fishing expedition would get short shrift from a judge sounded more likely.
Jace.
Agreed. But it kind of depends on what he's told the University, doesn't it? And we know our Michael isn't a big fan of full disclosure...
Stuck-record: "Just because he's trying to hide it doesn't mean it's what we think is."
Entirely possible. But if he's trying to hide something mundane but embarrassing, spending so many years refusing to provide the results of the R2 test would be a costly mistake.
"Just because someone is hiding something, it doesn't mean that the something they are hiding is what you think it is": spot on. I don't know what Obama has been hiding about the circs of his birth, but I'll bet a pound to a penny that it isn't that he was born in Kenya. Yeah, a tenner to a penny.
But Mickey Mann remains a **** and also a *******.
That's it!
Got to be Morris dancing - he looks like a Morris dancer.
Ties in with the Oscar Wilde angle too "try everything once except incest & Morris dancing".
(Legal note - the use of the word "incest" in a thread including references to Dr Mann is not intended to imply anything at all about anybody whosoever - especially him in particular - or indeed in general)
"Morris Dancing" My god it's far worse tham we thought!
Stuck and Jace, RE: "Just because he's trying to hide it doesn't mean it's what we think is"
This might very well be true, or true too! But the examples given don't qualify for FOI wrt to his duties as a publicly funded state employee. So this cannot be what he and the university are fighting over and resisting ...