Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 1/23

[SVPete]

Real Mann of Science™ Ordered to Settle His Markers With Mark and Rand

https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2026/01/22/real-mann-of-science-ordered-to-settle-his-markers-with-mark-and-rand-n3811135

I have been following the Mark Steyn v Real Mann of Science™ abomination of a defamation trial for two years here, and the twists and turns have been astonishing. A trial, mind you, that disgracefully had been twelve years in the making.

For one, it reinforced what a craven lot of cowards the National Review Online is, that they jettisoned Steyn from their own defense. That left him and Rand Simberg to tough it out against the most litigious, thin-skinned, egotistical pissant in all of Climate Cult Science™.

But that's ancient history. The NRO eventually prevailed against Mann, who has finally given up the ghost in that quarter.

We told him to get lost. We let him know we would never take down the post, since it was First Amendment–protected speech, and a lawsuit against us would inevitably fail.

Sure enough, Mann has finally dropped any claims against us after wasting God knows how much money from his (presumed) financial backers, and Mark Steyn’s post on how Mann’s famous hockey stick graph is intellectually bogus and wrong is still right here for your reading pleasure.

Mann boasted that he would destroy us, and we are still here, alive and thriving, while he is slinking away in humiliation.

[SVPete]

ICE and Urban Legends

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/01/ice-and-urban-legends.php

I gave an interview to a reporter from the New York Times today on–what else?–immigration enforcement in Minnesota. I told him, among other things, that there has been a series of myths or lies about alleged outrages committed by ICE locally. In each case, the story has been debunked, but only after it has been spread far and wide. The truth never catches up.

The latest instance is the tale of the five year old boy who was “arrested” by ICE. This story has not just gone national, it has become international news. Thus, the front page of the London Times carried this headline:



This is the first paragraph of the Times story:



The story is a lie. What actually happened is that ICE agents were in the process of apprehending an illegal alien; when the illegal immigrant saw the agents coming, he fled and abandoned his five year old son. What were the agents supposed to do, leave the poor kid to freeze to death on the sidewalk? (A very real possibility.) No: they briefly took him into protective custody.

After the initial lie that the boy was “arrested” or “seized,” there were follow-up claims, all of which proved to be false. You can read the actual facts here.(link)
...
One of the Left’s most absurd urban legends about ICE in Minneapolis was the claim, widely asserted and believed by many despite its facial improbability, that ICE was raiding schools. The genesis of the claim was an incident where ICE agents were pursuing an illegal who fled to an area near a school, where he was apprehended. That was it. No kids present, let alone an ICE raid on school children. But the rumor was enough to cause the Minneapolis School District to cancel all classes.