Thursday, April 22, 2010

Andrew Weaver Strikes Back

Back in the Climategate's early days, before it was shown to be a crock drummed up by the right-wing noise machine, a number of MSM outlets thought they could print any lies they wanted about what Climate Scientists had said re the CRU hack and the subsequent controversies around the IPCC. In the UK this attitude resulted in Rosegate, and Leakegate. In Canada, naturally enough, the morally as well as financially bankrupt National Post was worst among offenders.

In the case of UVIC climatologist Andrew Weaver the NP said, among many, many other things, that Weaver had called for the resignation of IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri, when he had not.

But now, Mr. Weaver has indicated that he will strike back!

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - April 21, 2010) - University of Victoria Professor Andrew Weaver, the Canada Research Chair in Climate Modelling and Analysis, launched a lawsuit today in BC Supreme Court against three writers at The National Post (and the newspaper as a whole), over a series of unjustified libels based on grossly irresponsible falsehoods that have gone viral on the Internet.

First off, get 'em good, Mr. Weaver! And don't be gentle! With a few exceptions, the "journalists" at the Natty Post are godless, crud-eating vermin and the flaming death spiral that their profession is in, plus their paper's many, many unique management misteps, have rendered them starved of both ethics and lucre. Stomp 'em, baby! Stomp 'em! Help me realize my dream of sitting in a MacDonald's and beaning Jonathon Kay in the head with french-fries from the plastic clam-shell he just served me!

And, here's some possibly useful semi-legal advice, because The Post has already caved to this kind of thing before and because you note in your news release that your suit:

...also seeks an unprecedented Court order requiring the newspaper to assist Dr. Weaver in removing the defamatory National Post articles from the many other Internet sites where they have been re-posted.

Demand the copyright to the story they lied about you in!(*) Richard Warman, in his effort to fight the various slanders against him, has apparently been able to negotiate this from NP as part of their settlement. He has used his ownership of the slanderous piece to successfully demand that Free Dominon, for example, pull their version of it from their website on the basis of copyright law and, with much whining and complaining, FreeD have indicated that they will comply.

And remember: generally, when you sue the National Post, you win win. This guy even managed to wring a six-figure settlement out of them.

And, if you need donations to fund your suit, there's a Cdn $5 in my pocket! More if you can use my wife's points card!

Mr. Weaver's writ of summons can be found here.

H/t.

(*) They have done this already, and I missed it: see par. 72, h) and i) in the writ of summons.

12 comments:

Frank said...

AGW has been dealt a mortal blow in the mind of the public if not the religious faithful, but the flotsam and jetsam will be with us for years.

In honor of 'earth day' it is instructive to be reminded just how wrong climate science has been in the past. This prediction was prominent at the first earth day: “The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.”
• Kenneth Watt, Ecologist, earth day 1970

Gallahad said...

National Post = FAIL

Gallahad said...

Elroy Jetson,

Space Cadet.

Ti-Guy said...

I really do like the element in this case that seeks to get the liars to help remove their lies from the Internet and I really hope it's successful. A few more of those should send a clear signal to even moneyed agencies that simply writing a cheque won't be enough to undo the damages they've caused.

I also hadn't heard of Warman getting the copyright to the libellous article. That was inspired. Notice how compliant Free Dominion was? Absent that, I'm sure they'd just have given him the royal run-around with those fat mouths of theirs.

Unknown said...

It is instructive that a denidiot can't help reaffirming their own benightedness, even when they're just trying to change the topic.

http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/131047.pdf

buckets said...

I'm not sure that in fact FD has quite complied. Yes, they have now a version of the article that is half-quotes and half-paraphrase, but have done so in such a way to suggest that their remaining use may not in fact be in good faith.

Inquisitor said...

"In the case of UVIC climatologist Andrew Weaver the NP said, among many, many other things, that Weaver had called for the resignation of IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri, when he had not."


Hmmm ... It was reported in the Victoria Times Colonist on January 27, 2010 that

"Weaver said [IPCC Head] Pachauri should resign, not only for his recent failings but because he was a poor choice to lead the IPCC to begin with."

http://www.timescolonist.com/technology/UVic+scientist+calls+overhaul+United+Nations+panel+global+warming/2489576/story.html

This is a news report, not an opinion piece, and it is based largely on comments made by Dr. Weaver. Did the reporter get this all wrong? It seems unlikely.

bigcitylib said...

Inquisitor, the reporter got it wrong. Or at least, Weaver is on record as denying he said that. Follow the link in the main post.

Inquisitor said...

We don't know if the reporter, Richard Foot, got it wrong, but it seems unlikely. He also wrote that Weaver thought that Pachuari was from the start a poor choice to head the IPCC. Are we suppose to believe the reporter is making this up?

Weaver writes that the article doesn't accurately reflect his views. OK, fine. But note (a) he doesn't actually deny making the statement that Pachauri should resign, and (b) he never actually tells us what his views on Pachauri are. Notice also how he says nothing to defend Pachauri. The statement that he was a poor choice from the start is left to stand.

Weaver's response seems to me a carefully worded non-denial. He agrees that these are legitimate questions to ask about Pachauri, "but that does not mean that I am calling for the chair's resignation."

Fine, he's not 'calling' for his resignation. But that doesn't mean he thinks Pachauri should stay.

George McCrea said...

Wouldn't it be interesting Mr. Murphy if someone took your "tips to beat down the Conservative Menace" as a personal threat and sued you for inciting fear into an identifiable group and advocating violence. I can hear you commenting about free speech from here. Just another blog in a long list of free speech advocates who insist on free speech only if it reflects their own views.

Dan L. Johnson said...

It was mentioned in Nature.com today


http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2011/02/post_71.html

Dan L. Johnson said...

It was mentioned in Nature.com today


http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2011/02/post_71.html