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It is the second day of The Mark Steyn Caribbean Cruise, and we have just departed the Bahamas to sail for Jamaica. I am often accused of having a bias toward His Majesty's Dominions, so I thought, rather than a song from the British West Indies, I would offer one from Mexico, where we shall be arriving later this week. To remind us that once in a while it wasn't just Coronavirus, drugs and child sex-slavers coming across America's southern border, here's the most successful song by Mexico's first successful female composer: Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado... Not ringing any...

Tomorrow the Mark Steyn Caribbean Cruise sets sail from Florida through the British West Indies to Mexico. To be honest, between the University of Vermont Medical Center and the District of Columbia Superior Court, I haven't felt entirely safe in the United States in recent months, so I shall breathe a sigh of relief once we're in international waters. Meanwhile, Dr Russ Jackson explains it all: Ever noticed how right-wingers who claim they are 'the victim of a political witch hunt' are among the most horrible, cruel, selfish, deliberately offensive, pompous, condescending, divisive, bigoted, pig-ignorant attention-seeking ideologically extreme lying sociopaths...

~For much of my adult life I have been writing about US election years - mainly because the US is the only country that has an "election year", as opposed to the six weeks that Britain and most of the Commonwealth require for an election campaign. But this is quite the weirdest primary season in American history: On the Republican side, a year ago Trump had the support of 45 per cent of GOP voters; now he's at 75 per cent, climbing to eighty. The caucuses and primaries are of less consequence than the indictments. Nevertheless, for Nikki's donors, a...

Most coverage of Friday's verdict from a Manhattan courthouse has focused on the $350 million plus that rogue judge Arthur F Engoron has demanded Trump cough up - for a "crime" which has no known victims and no identifiable proceeds. Confiscating (with interest) close to half-a-billion dollars for no good reason is certainly unusual, even by the standards of US "justice". But that's not what caught my eye about Arthur F Wankeron's judgment. The truly striking passage was this (page 90, just before the sign-off): The Court hereby enjoins Donald Trump and the Trump Organization and its affiliates from applying...

Fani Willis, currently starring as Javert in the Fulton County dinner-theatre production of Les Magarables, took the stand yesterday. It was an arresting turn: FANI WILLIS: "Where's Belize? What continent? I'm not being funny. I don't know. I've been to Belize with him. I've been to The Bahamas with him. I've been to Aruba with him. Don't embarrass me. I'm not sure what continents those are on." pic.twitter.com/Cs1sGFT5je — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 15, 2024 Well, you can't really blame someone in Georgia for not knowing the Bahamas are in Antarctica. On the other hand, Florida is a contiguous state......

As many of you know, late on Thursday a Washington, DC jury found that a) plaintiff Michael E Mann had suffered no actual damages from Steyn's National Review post; but b) ordered defendant Steyn to pay him one million dollars anyway. Late on Friday, the otherwise lethargic District of Columbia Superior Court entered the jury's verdict in final judgment. What happens now? Well, in the next few weeks, there will be certain "renewed" motions from defendants that one is obliged to do, although they are highly unlikely to find favor with Judge Irving. After that, the case will be appealed...

~For the last month, even as his trial has chuntered along in America's diseased and depraved capital city, Mark has maintained Sundays as an oasis. So he has continued to celebrate, as he has done for almost two decades at this time each week, the great enduring love songs of the last century - because the fundamental things apply even as the decades roll by in the dank septic tank of DC "justice". So, on this Sunday before St Valentine's Day, here is the all-time great Valentine love song - as featured on one of Mark's Serenade Radio shows, here...

Happy Groundhog Day. I'm a fan of the Harold Ramis movie, and I especially treasure its cute little musical joke right at the very end. Bill Murray's weatherman leaves his Punxsutawney bed-and-breakfast and yes, at last it's the morning after Groundhog Day. And, as he and Andie MacDowell take off down the street (about 2-30 below), Nat King Cole sings: What a day this has been What a rare mood I'm in... What a day this has been – over and over and over. The song is "Almost Like Being In Love", written for Brigadoon, a musical about a Scottish...

In the old days, American newspapers dispatched court reporters to cover trials for what they were: legal proceedings. Today, they don't send any reporters to court, but get their "climate correspondent" or "environment reporter" to file a story about "attacks on scientists" - even though, in this case, the "scientist" is the plaintiff. Into this wasteland of groupthink hackery came everyone's favourite Irish double-act, Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, with an innovative and energetic format: Sit in court all day soaking up the atmosphere and the corridor conspiracies, and get a cast of professional actors to re-enact all the best...

Conservative pundit and radio host Mark Steyn has been ordered by a jury to pay a former Penn State professor and "climate scientist" $1 million in damages in a defamation lawsuit about blog posts, published in 2012, criticizing the professor's work. via AP:The jury in Superior Court of the District of Columbia found that [think tank fellow Rand] Simberg and Steyn made false statements, awarding Mann $1 in compensatory damages from each writer. It awarded punitive damages of $1,000 from Simberg and $1 million from Steyn, after finding that the pair made their statements with “maliciousness, spite, ill will, vengeance...

As many of you already know, a Washington, DC jury today found the Defendants (Mark Steyn and Rand Simberg) liable for defamatory speech and reckless disregard of provable facts. Putting aside the monetary damages, the real damage done by this case is to every American who still believes in the First Amendment. The precedent set today, and as alluded to by Justice Alito when the case was petitioned before the U.S. Supreme Court, means that disagreement and/or criticism of a matter of public policy — the founding principle of this country — is now in doubt. And should you choose...

[Tweets excerpted]: The judge is going over the verdict form question by question Simberg - defamatory? Lead Juror: Yes Provably false: Yes Simberg's statement false: Yes Simberg knew it was false: Yes Mann suffered injury: Yes Simberg Verdict Compensatory Damages: $1 Punitive Damages: $1000.00 Steyn's verdict Defamatory statements: Yes Provably False: Yes False Statements: Yes Published With Knowledge Of Falsity: Yes Entertaining serious doubts: Yes Reckless Disregard Mann Suffered Injury: Yes Compensatory Damages: $1 Punitive Damages: $1,000,000.00

On Wednesday, late in the day at 4pm Deep State Standard Time, Mann vs Simberg and Steyn finally went to the jury, and they retired to deliberate. So now we await their verdict - as, on this same day just a few blocks away, President Trump awaits the decision of a supposedly "conservative" Supreme Court on whether he can be permitted to appear on the ballot. I am exhausted by what passes for "justice" in America, and I expect he feels the same. In my case, the last phase of the trial - closing arguments - began yesterday after lunch:...

Michael Mann is not a victim. That was the theme of Mark's closing today in court. The judge began the day by reading the jury instructions and the afternoon was devoted to closing arguments. First up was the Plaintiff's counsel. Then Victoria Weatherford on behalf of Rand Simberg. And then Mark. The Plaintiff then got 15 minutes to rebut the Defenses' closing before the jury began its deliberations. By this point, any one of Mark's readers could write the Plaintiff's closing. Mann was severely wronged... his life was terrible... That Mark and Rand are guilty of actual malice and knowingly...

Today, after twelve years of procedural bollocks and four weeks of trail, Mann vs Simberg and Steyn will supposedly be going to the jury. We shall see. Mark has not been well this week, but he hopes to be sufficiently healthy to deliver his closing argument. Our friends Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer will be there of course, as they have been every day - unlike slipshod outlets such as NPR, for whom court reports do not involve actually sending a reporter to court, or The Washington Post, who dispatched their "climate reporter" to cover a trial. The poor lad...

Let's recap where the case stands as we enter the final days of the (Climate) Trial of the Century. Michael Mann sued Rand Simberg and Mark Steyn in 2012 for defamation after the "statements at issue" were published. The case then languished in the DC court system for 12 years. It has cost the Defendants millions in legal fees — not to mention the immeasurable physical toll to Mark and Rand. Now, in court, the onus is on the Plaintiff to prove the Defendants acted with malice and that there was harm incurred due to the blog posts. So, has...

Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer are back with their dramatised reconstruction of Mann vs Simberg and Steyn, now installed in a far grander courtroom - 132 - at the District of Columbia Superior Court. Day Twelve began with Judge Irving unleashing what US legal scholars call a can of jurisprudential whupp-ass on the Plaintiff: Plaintiff's presentation of the case at times seemed a bit disjointed. And, yes, there were many evidentiary objections, but they were ground -- there were grounds for them... It seemed that there was very … … intended to go back with the jury during deliberations, figures...

There was a reason that Dante consigned hypocrites to one of the deepest, darkest reaches of hell in the Inferno. Hypocrites and hypocrisy writ large have, throughout history, caused more damage than almost all others. They believe they have carte blanche to do or say whatever they want — for fame, money, power, name the vice — but those same rules don't apply to their own lives. History has tried to educate the present with the thousands upon thousands of essays, books, and profiles dedicated to the subject, but those who have the most to gain ignore the wise counsel...

In the meantime, here are Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer with their dramatised reconstruction of the most recent events. In this episode, Dr Judith Curry takes the stand - a woman sorely traduced by the misogynist pig Michael E Mann, who spread false rumors that she was a slut who slept her way to the top. Simply click below: Mark is played by the Australian actor Thomas Bromhead, who in America is one of the voices of the Geico Gecko and also Rocket in I Got a Rocket, and in the UK and elsewhere is perhaps best known for the...

The Mann v. Steyn trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia is now in the middle of its third week. For more background on the case, see my post from a few days ago here. I have been watching some substantial chunks of the trial on the court’s livestream, although unfortunately several other matters have prevented me from watching the entirety. Today at the lunch break, the plaintiff Michael Mann concluded the presentation of his case. The technical term is that the plaintiff “rested.” So I thought a short update would be timely. Because I haven’t seen...