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.

[SVPete]

Operation Fakeout: Leftist Hotlines Send Protesters to Biker Bars — Surprise, No ICE, Just Laughs

https://twitchy.com/justmindy/2026/01/23/ice-hotline-biker-bar-n2424276

The account 'Blue Lives Matter' has been working very hard to fight back against the Left, specifically the Leftists following ICE agents around and making their jobs very difficult. They started by having retired law enforcement and military drive around and appear to be ICE. Then, the Leftists follow the decoys and leave the real agents alone to do their job. Recently, they came up with this new plan.
...
Leftists started publishing phone numbers people could call and report 'ICE activity'. When activity was reported, a whole bunch of protestors would descend and harass the ICE officers. 'Blue Lives Matter' decided to use those hotlines against them and reported ICE activity at some interesting places ... biker bars. They claimed ICE officers were inside drinking beer. Leftists had a big surprise when they showed up. That's hilarious.

Maybe in SF they could false-report to bath houses and lesbian bars.

[SVPete]

Kash Patel Is Kicking Out FBI Agents Linked to Anti-Trump Lawfare.

https://thenationalpulse.com/2026/01/23/kash-patel-is-ousting-fbi-agents-linked-to-anti-trump-lawfare/

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel has ordered the removal of a number of senior figures at the bureau who were either involved in or helped spearhead politically motivated actions against President Donald J. Trump. It is believed that senior field office leaders in Atlanta and New Orleans, as well as the acting assistant director overseeing the New York field office, were among those removed. Several of the agents have already filed lawsuits to attempt to prevent their removal.

Additionally, as many as six agents in Miami, Florida, were reportedly forced out due to their involvement in the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, which included authorization to use deadly force. Other agents removed were tied to the Biden-era Arctic Frost scandal, a corrupt investigation overseen by former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault and, subsequently, by special counsel Jack Smith.

News of the firings follows Jack Smith testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. He was pressed on several instances of overreach, including the subpoenaing of phone toll records pertaining to then House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was bizarrely considered a flight risk.

On Thursday, Smith admitted that he expects to be indicted for his role in Arctic Frost, and was unable to explain why his investigative team considered McCarthy—who was the newly elected House Speaker—to be a possible risk for fleeing the country.

[SVPete]

What Is the UN Register of Conventional Arms?
UNROCA is a so-called “voluntary” United Nations registry where participating countries report information about weapons transfers, including categories of conventional arms and, in many cases, small arms and light weapons.
Finally: Trump Pulls the US Out of United Nations’ International Gun Registry Scheme

https://www.shootingnewsweekly.com/gun-rights/finally-trump-pulls-us-out-of-united-nations-international-gun-registry-scheme/

President Donald Trump just delivered a long-overdue message to the global gun confiscation cartel: America is not taking orders from the United Nations.

In a major move for national sovereignty and Second Amendment freedom, the Trump administration has formally withdrawn the United States from the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, a UN-run reporting system that gun rights advocates have warned for years is part of the international bureaucracy’s long game to pressure nations into “standardized” gun restrictions.

What Is the UN Register of Conventional Arms?
UNROCA is a so-called “voluntary” United Nations registry where participating countries report information about weapons transfers, including categories of conventional arms and, in many cases, small arms and light weapons.

Supporters claim it promotes “transparency.”

But gun owners know how this game works.

Transparency is always the excuse and control is always the goal. Because once international bureaucrats start collecting data, they don’t stop at tracking tanks and fighter jets.

Supporters claim it promotes “transparency.”

But gun owners know how this game works.

Transparency is always the excuse and control is always the goal. Because once international bureaucrats start collecting data, they don’t stop at tracking tanks and fighter jets.[/quote]

Camel's nose ... whacked ...

[SVPete]

Arizona AG Kris Mayes wildly suggests residents can shoot masked ICE agents under state’s self-defense laws: ‘Recipe for disaster’

https://nypost.com/2026/01/22/us-news/arizona-ag-wildly-suggests-residents-can-shoot-masked-ice-agents-under-states-self-defense-laws/

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes wildly suggested that residents can open fire on masked ICE agents if they feel their life is in danger under the state’s self-defense laws.

The Democrat, in a sit-down with 12 News anchor Brahm Resnik, warned that Arizona’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows citizens to use deadly force if they believe they’re in imminent danger, could become a “recipe for disaster” if protesters clash with immigration officers.

“It’s kind of a recipe for disaster because you have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and masks,” Mayes said in the Monday interview, calling ICE “very poorly trained.”

“And we have a Stand Your Ground law that says that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger and you’re in your house or your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.”

Resisting arrest is not self-defense.