Normally I do not sue, but this seems to me a special case.
Mann, the climate alarmist who gave the world his dodgy ”hockey stick”, is now suing sceptic Mark Steyn for mocking him and his lawyers have produceddeceptive legal documentsin his defence.
Mann has published an outright lie that defames me, and should face the same punishment he wishes to mete out on Steyn for mere mockery.
I do not lie and Murdoch does not pay me to do so. Nor has Mann singled out a single “lie” I’m alleged to have committed.
In fact, Mann is so reckless with the facts thathis tweetlinks to an obvious parody Twitter account run by one of my critics, clearly believing that it’s actually mine.
UPDATE: It has been pointed out to me that the original headline for this post incorrectly identified the Herald Sun as a Sydney newspaper, rather than the Melbourne Herald Sun, which is the actual location of the paper for which Andrew Bolt writes..
Mark Steyn ironically notes it's not worth suing over and while I agree, nonetheless I would like to offer my apologies. I have spent some time down under with Sydneyites and Melbournians and can attest that, at least back then, the former generally considered the latter to be uptight and humorless. (Although both were in agreement that New Zealanders are thoroughly uptight wankers.) So to anyone from Sydney, I do regret any offense that may have been caused by the confusion.
Last week, following the public apology of an English comedian and the arrest of a fellow British subject both for making somewhat feeble Mandela gags, I noted that supposedly free societies were increasingly perilous places for those who make an infelicitous remark. So let’s pick up where we left off:
Here are two jokes one can no longer tell on American television. But you can still find them in the archives, out on the edge of town, in Sub-Basement Level 12 of the ever-expanding Smithsonian Mausoleum of the Unsayable. First, Bob Hope, touring the world in the year or so after the passage of the 1975 Consenting Adult Sex Bill:
t's all but impossible to launch a new political party under America's electoral arrangements, and extremely easy to do so under Continental proportional representation. The Westminster first-past-the-post system puts the task somewhere in between: tough, but not entirely the realm of fantasy. The Labour party came into being at the dawn of the 20th century, and formed its first government in 1924. The United Kingdom Independence party was born in 1993 and now, a mere two decades later, is on the brink of . . . well, okay, not forming its first government, but it did do eerily well in May's local elections. The Liberals were reduced to their all-time lowest share of the vote, the Tories to their lowest since 1982, and for the first time ever, none of the three "mainstream" parties cracked 30 percent: Labour had a good night with 29, the Conservatives came second at 25, and nipping at their heels was the United Kingdom Independence party with 23 percent. More of this article by Mark Steyn HERE I was fortunate enough to have been at a Panel a few months ago which featured both Mark Steyn and UKIP's Nigel Farage
As you may know, my husband Arnie Lemaire–also known as BlazingCatFur–was sued a few years ago by former Human Rights Commission investigator Richard Warman.
Warman sued Arnie for libel, largely for comments made by Arnie’s readers, as well as for linking to Mark Steyn’s website,SteynOnline.com.
At long last, the lawsuit is over. However, the fight was expensive and Arnie and I still have big legal bills.
We hate to ask for your help again, but we have to.
Already, plenty of individuals who treasure freedom of speech–from Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit to our countless loyal readers–have graciously donated to help settle these bills and we are almost free and clear, thanks to them.
And now, thanks to the great Mark Steyn himself, we can announce one last fundraisingpushthat even includes a terrificthank you gift.
Mark Steyn is generously offering a FREE copy of his wonderful book, Lights Out–about his own battles to restore freedom of speech in Canada–as his way of thanking anyone who kindly donates $200 or more to help Arnie and me.
A meeting room at swanky, newly-built towering Shangri-La Hotel in downtown Toronto held about a hundred expensively-tailored middle aged men, a handful of poised,elegant women and a few oddball stragglers (like me) for the inaugural night of the Byron Talks speakers series. The Byron in question not being the late English poet and adventurer but a Canadian capital markets firm.
The unusual assembly of notable speakers who came together last week were Conrad Black, Mark Steyn, John Crosbie and Nigel Farage for what was billed as a discussion about Canada's Place in the World. For many in the audience, it turned out to be a very surprising evening.
I was fortunate to have been invited through a business associate of Mark Steyn's, but the presence of a plebeian like me at a soiree for the upper crust usually raises a few eyebrows. Canadian media innovator Moses Znaimer, who clearly forgotten having been introduced to me at a business meeting a while back, looked like he was contemplating whether to call security to have me ejected when I said a brief hello to him. You know you're among the haut monde when the closest thing to the "common man" was the National Post's erudite Managing Editor Jonathan Kay.
Sun TV's stunning Faith Goldy was standing around in a colorful, wildly patterned dress that was a vision of what you'd see if you walked into a florist while peaking on LSD. She explained she was wearing it because she came from work. I assumed work was being an extra in a time-travel segment of a new Austin Powers movie, but it was unimportant as Faith was beautiful enough to carry it off.
All of the evenings featured speakers milled about in the bar area before the talk. United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage and I had a jovial chat at the bar while waiting for an overwhelmed bartender to take our orders. He is as witty and affable in private as his public persona suggests, and expressed tremendous optimism about his party's chance to do better in the next British elections than current governing coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats.
To many, if not most, at the gathering who came to hear media stars Black and Steyn, Farage was unknown, but there is a considered sense that will change soon. But first to the other speakers.
Currently promoting his memoirs (and getting into public arguments in the process), the venue and the subject matter was an ideal reminder that Conrad Black is a remarkably eloquent and brilliant, if somewhat garrulous speaker. Acting as host from the dais, his remarks were salient reminders of the state of current affairs and as a thoughtful and serious historian, he provided critical context. Despite his recent difficulties in the United States, he observed that not only is it the most important country in the world, but it is the beneficiary, through its own virtues, of two unprecedented historical features. Those being the only peaceful transition of dominant power from one empire to another (British-to-American following World War 2) and that America's rise was the fastest ever, having taken place over the course of what amounts to just three lifetimes.
Black also had cogent and non-partisan praise for Canadian governance, saying that over the last dozen years, through both Liberal and Conservative administrations, Canada has been the best governed nation in the world.
At 81, former federal Progressive Conservative Finance Minister and current Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland John Crosbie has lost none of his humour and wit. About Black's profundities, he quipped, "Conrad's had three and a half years to think about what he's going to say." Most of Crosbie's talk recounted amusing anecdotes from his many years in politics, such as the time a feminist researcher asked for a list of federal judges broken down by sex. Crosbie's reply was that he didn't know how many judges had been broken down by sex, but he did know some who had drinking problems. He also spent quite a bit of time telling Newfie jokes to the gathering, my favorite of which is the following:
A Newfie who just moved to Toronto are driving down the Don Valley Parkway with their empty U-Haul they just unloaded. A guy at the side of the road waves them down and the Newfie pulls over next to his broken down truck. The guy tells him, "My truck conked out and I have a truckload of penguins I have to get to the zoo, but now with the time I lost I won't be able to see my girlfriend tonight. You look like honest; I'l give you five hundred dollars if you take the penguins to the zoo for me." The Newfie agreed, loaded the dozen penguins into the U-Haul and drove off with them.
That night the truck driver is out with his girlfriend walking down Yonge Street when he sees the Newfie herding the dozen penguins down the street ahead of him. He runs up to them and shouts, "what's going on!? You said you were going to take these penguins to the zoo for me! I gave you five hundred bucks !"
The Newfie responded, "I know. I took 'em to the zoo and I had three hundred bucks left over, so now I'm takin' 'em to the movies."
Popular author and radio host Mark Steyn spoke about subjects he addresses frequently, America's decline and the potentially devastating consequences of the astronomical national debt. With his usual wit and command of terrifying data, Steyn delivered a message that would make the most optimistic believer in western democracy shrink in gloom. He railed against an American government that is "looting the future to pay for the present" and "can spend everything and do nothing." He exprssed outrage that while spending 41% of the entire world's military budget, America has a Commander-in Chief unwilling to use it when it's needed, like the terrorist attack on the US Mission in Bengazi.
One of the absurd ironies that Steyn pointed out is that the while the United States pays enough in interest on its debt to them to finance the entire Chinese armed forces, America's government continues to donate foreign aid to China, to improve their factories. All this while American jobs continue to be lost to those American subsidized factories in The People's Republic.
Steyn's famous humour and perspective, Black's gravitas and knowledge, and Crosbie's wisdom and insight into government were the reasons just about everyone attended the Byron Talk. Virtually no one there had heard of Nigel Farage. He was the last speaker and as someone who has seen him (on video) perform in the European parliament, it was a pleasure to see the other people discover Britain's most exciting, witty, acerbic, and forthright politician since Winston Churchill.
He had Black wiping away tears of laughter when recounting his hilarious conflicts with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, whom Farage refers to as "Rumpy-pumpy." The danger of the current European Union structure is that it is undermining democracy. Indeed, leaders of the European Parliament has been livid in their condemnation of those countries who dared to hold elections to validate (or refute) their adherence to Euro-policies. Farage recounted how former European Council President Martin Schulz had said, on the possibility of Ireland's rejection of a European fiscal treaty that "we will not bow to populism." When Europe`s leaders define populism is the democratic will of a nation and they stand ready to oppose it, Farage`s fears are certainly justified. Particularly so when, as he noted, current British Prime Minister Cameron showed his willingness to defy populism by reneging on his promise to hold a similar referendum in England.
Farage`s excited, eloquent speech was punctuated with hilarious personal observations, such as that `the achievement gap opened up between Germany and France was made worse by the election of a total idiot as France`s President` and that Germany`s Chancellor `Angela Merkel in private is even more miserable than Angela Merkel looks in public.`
One of the solutions to the current crisis faced by western nations that Farage offered is that the Commonwealth countries, India, Canada, Australia, and so on, put a concerted effort to re-engage with each other but under a different name and structure than the old Commonwealth.
There was a lot to digest that night in the way of ideas and what was said portends of times ahead that if not managed properly, could lead to a decline from the greatest heights of human achievement. And if anyone says that decline is impossible, they should consider that the Romans at the height of their empire said the same thing.
Government intrusion into our most basic rights was the meat and potatoes of the buffet of opinions, oratory, evangelizing and musical theatre presented by Mark Steyn and friends last night at his Steynamite show at the Toronto Convention Centre.
Readers of the National Post know that its columnist and editor Jonathan Kay is witty and insightful, but his introduction of Steyn was a reminder of his comedic gifts. And comedy was the medium through which the clarion call for defense of free speech was delivered throughout the two hours of the event. That indeed was Kay's explanation for Steyn's ability to convey his blunt, controversial and necessarily insensitive messages to the public - that rare ability to make people laugh while hearing about matters both serious and disturbing.
Sun TV's Krista Ericson and Michael Coren added to the levity with their interpretive dance gestures spoofing Ericson's infamous contentious interview with Canadian performance artist Margie Gillis prior to Steyn taking the stage.
The large hall was filled to near capacity with Steyn fans and they got everything they came for and more. Steyn, a native born Torontonian (like Omar Khadr, as he pointed out) had the audience simultaneously outraged and guffawing at local, national and international government abuses of individual rights through so-called Human Rights mechanisms. He spoke of the kangaroo courts that subjected hapless citizens to years of turmoil and exorbitant legal costs over frivolous cases. One of the most egregious examples he gave was of the St. Catherine's health club owner who was brought before the Ontario Human Rights Commission because he wouldn't let a pre-op transsexual woman, meaning he/she still had a penis, use the woman's changing room. Even more outrageous was the case of an Ontario Bar owner who was brought before a the Human Rights Commission for not allowing a customer to smoke medical marijuana in the bar, while at the same time being told by the Liquor Licensing Board that he would lose his license if he did allow it.
Steyn's scatter-gun attacks on censors, social engineers, totalitarians and hypocrites inside the government and out hit an array of targets including "Hatefinder General" Richard Warman, Muslim wife beaters, Sharia law proponents, and those who practice genital mutilation along with their stupid western enablers. Among the additional victims of Steyn's ire were the Immigration form required for travelers entering the United States, the ridiculous gang of hypocritical misfits called Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, and plenty of others.
The essential point of Steyn's sermon, delivered both as a lecture and in song parodies, was that by trying to make society more "civil" through restriction of free speech and free thought and the loss of individual property rights, the medicine is 1000 times worse than the disease.
The message he
delivers, particularly in the ironic and thought-provoking way he
presents it, is one that is critical for the generation coming of age
in Canada and the west to hear.
And that's where the dilemma of Mark Steyn lies. There's a great moment in the TV cartoon series Family Guy where Peter Griffin shows up at a party riding an elephant and says to his wife, "Hey look, Lois, here are the two symbols of the Republican party, an elephant and an overweight, middle-aged white guy who's afraid of change."
Looking around at the audience at Steynamite, I didn't see any elephants. But it was also clear that Steyn and his cohorts spent an evening preaching to the converted. The people most in need of the message weren't there to hear it.
Another dilemma that Steyn presents is the way that some of his admirers interpret him. One of his core messages is that while racism is bad, but depriving people of their ability to express any
thought, even a deplorable one, goes against the fundamental principles
of individual liberty which provide the bedrock of western civilization. Unfortunately, a few too many of Steyn's audience seem to be under the impression that being needlessly racist is somehow striking a blow for free expression.
One of the most important points of the night came up during the brief question and answer session at the end. A woman asked what people can do in their daily lives to protect the freedoms that are government is consistently eroding. The answer that Steyn and Michael Coren provided was an interesting one. They noted that even if governments change, social engineers in our civil service and education bureaucracies are so deeply immersed that acting to reform them is extremely difficult. Deprivation of liberty is something that has become embedded in our culture, and so we have to act to change culture so that popular attitudes and eventually laws will follow.
That presents a massive challenge. But with great talents like Steyn and others tackling it, this challenge may yet be overcome.
My all-time favorite podcast is a tribute to one of the greatest film composers by a man who is known primarily as a cantankerous political and social commentator. Mark Steyn and guests like David Arnold and Tim Rice provided a remarkably entertaining, informative retrospective and commentary on the works of John Barry, who wrote the music for most of the James Bond films and other classics like The Lion in Winter, Born Free and many more.
Music, as far as I know, is not on the agenda for Steynamite tomorrow at the Toronto Convention Centre, where Steyn will do what he's known for best - talk about the decline and fall of western civilization. Steyn will be joined by Sun TV host and author Michael Coren for a strictly non-musical duet of straight-up, politically incorrect talk which is ironically billed as "Mark Steyn violates your human rights."
The irony being that such talk isn't a violation, but an assertion of human rights, those being the most basic rights of free speech and free thought, which Canada's political and social elites have been eroding for the last 35 years.
You can still get tickets for Steynamite through this link. Do it now, before what you hear there does become a Canadian thought crime!
The Tea Party again may be ahead of the Republican establishment and its far-right mavens. Despite the recent bemoaning on the conservative shortcomings of Newt Gingrich from the likes of Mark Steyn and Ann Coulter of how Gingrich doesn't represent Tea Party ideology, the former Speaker of the House has the actual Tea Party endorsement.
There seems to be fear among the prognosticators of hyper-conservatism that Gingrich may be soft on abortion, immigration, global warming and a slew of their other issues. They've even voiced the fear that the Reaganite who ushered balanced budgets and welfare reform through Congress may actually be a closet progressive.
That's just the kind of short-sightedness and self-absorbed shallow thinking that could hand Barack Obama a second term.
The Tea Party outlook may have its many failings. Any movement that has had love affairs with candidates who are as unelectable as Sarah Palin and Christine "I am not a witch" O'Donnell has some obvious shortcomings. But as a young movement whose core issue is the reduction of government spending and taxes, it has shown the capacity to learn and evolve and unlike its self-proclaimed proponents, understands that whomever ends up winning the Republican primaries will be running for President of the United States, not President of the Tea Party.
Disaffected Democrats along with independents put off by Obama's mishandling of the economy and foreign affairs will have to be won over by the Republican nominee. Mitt Romney isn't that guy. Romney is the Republicans' Al Gore, an unlikeable, unnatural stiff that couldn't win a national election on his own. A hard-right social conservative who appeals to the core concerns of the Palin Republicans could alienate swing voters more than enough for the eloquent, intelligent sitting president to be able to overcome his present unpopularity.
For all their Newt-bashing, the GOP right-wingers haven't been able to come up with a viable alternative to him, and they should be thinking of that basic fact before they open their mouths or put finger to keyboard (or pen to paper as a previous generation would say). There are no better choices in the current slew. Paul is crazy, Bachman is inept, Santorum is a non-starter, and Huntsman has a lot of the right qualities except for the most essential; he hasn't been able to get anyone to be interested in him.
Newt's performance in the weeks leading up to the Iowa Caucuses have proved he still has the sharpness and the capability to lead and to attract new converts. He should not have to win over the people he should already have in his corner.
Gingrich may not be the dream candidate of the far right, but he's the best hope they have for a Republican to beat Obama next November. So to the Coulters and Steyns who are griping loudly enough to potentially hurt the Republicans' best shot at the White House, the advice I'd offer would be from Stephen Stills' classic song; if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.
Norman Finkelstein, the former De Paul University professor who is known primarily for his obsessive hatred of Israel, is the modern anti-Semite's favorite Jew. He appeals to both neo-Nazis for his sinister criticisms of Jewish remembrance of the Holocaust, and to Islamists for his efforts to de-legitimize the Jewish state.
He possesses Naomi Klein's gift for distorting isolated, anomalous pieces of information into conspiratorial, overarching theories. But unlike Klein, Finkelstein has a reputation for a comprehensive, indeed compulsive need for factual accuracy, even if his interpretation of fact is sometimes suggestive of a mental disorder.
However recently, he seems to have even lost that one vaguely redeeming component of his credibility.
Finlelstein has the habit of posting stories to his website, prefaced by his own acerbic comments.
Recently, Finkelstein posted a report of a talk with the noted author and commentator Mark Steyn in Toronto, with the notation, "Jewish writer warns of Third…or is it Fifth?…or maybe its the Seventh?…Holocaust!"
It would appear that in Finkelstein's mind, the notion that concerns about contemporary anti-Semitism could only be a by-product of some sort of hysterical thinking on the part of a Jew.
Except, Steyn, a best-selling author, syndicated columnist, and frequent host of one of America's most popular radio talk-shows is an Anglican who was baptized as a Catholic.
In his rush to attribute all the evils of the world to Jews, Finkelstein's intemperance got the better of him. Speaking of intemperance, Finkelstein is sounding more and more like Mel Gibson did a few years ago. At least Mel had the reasonable excuse of being plastered out of his mind on tequila and had the decency to apologize. The humourless Finkelstein doesn't have that to fall back on.
Mark Steyn did a wonderful pair of audio programs on the music of film composer John Barry.
Steyn's guests include Don Black, who wrote the lyrics for Bond theme songs Goldfinger and Thunderball, Tim Rice, who was the lyricist for Jesus Christ Superstar and David Arnold, who wrote the music for Independence Day.
