I always marvel at the scientist-government conspiracy theories the more wacky members of the climate denial machine toss around so confidently.
How do they fit this into their world view?
In papers sent to UVA April 23, Cuccinelli’s office commands the university to produce a sweeping swath of documents relating to Mann’s receipt of nearly half a million dollars in state grant-funded climate research conducted while Mann– now director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State– was at UVA between 1999 and 2005.
…
Among the documents Cuccinelli demands are any and all emailed or written correspondence between or relating to Mann and more than 40 climate scientists, documents supporting any of five applications for the $484,875 in grants, and evidence of any documents that no longer exist along with proof of why, when, and how they were destroyed or disappeared.
$484,875 over six years. Wow, big money, no wonder he sold his soul. (And shared it with his institution, lab, assistants and collaborators and his equipment suppliers.)
Of course this is not the first instance of government harrassment Mann has endured.
So, seriously, how does that square with the idea of a collusion between government and scientists to manufacture a cash-cow scare story?
A Few Things Illconsidered 
There’s a fishing expedition if I ever saw one. The AG has no idea what he’s looking for, so he’ll just ask for every document ever, in case there’s something there.
Sounds like the guy has aspirations to higher office, and is feeding some constituent group.
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If he has competence, the simplest way to give him proper nightmares is to give him all the data…
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Well, what did you expect? They know they can’t beat the data, they failed to make the stolen emails work for them, but they have all the money and influence they need. So they go after the scientists’ work time now.
Can’t make ’em say what you wanna hear? Make ’em shut up by smothering them in legal work.
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It is a sad day for science and scientists when honest and decent ones are victimized in this way. All the dishonest ones can say what they want, which is known to be dishonest and fraudulent, but no one censures them.
No wonder intelligent students are choosing not to go into science these days.
This is a time when we need more and better scientists to help solve some of the problems the right wing corporate environmental defilers have caused.
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Cuccinelli gets a two-fer with this move. He gets more street cred as the right-wingiest statewide politician in Virginia (no mean feat), and he gets payback from UVa, which he will massively inconvenience, for the humiliation he suffered when our governor reversed Cuccinelli’s attempt to remove university policies against anti-gay job discrimination after outcry from the universities and particularly from UVa’s president.
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carrot eater | April 30, 2010 12:36 PM
It’s not just the published/written stuff. Its “things” including handwritten notes:
2. As used herein, the words “document” or “documents” mean the original and any copies of any written, printed, typed, electronic, or graphic matter of any kind or nature, however
produced or reproduced, any book, pamphlet, brochure, periodical, newspaper, letter, correspondence, memoranda, notice, facsimile, e-mail, manual, press release, telegram, report, study, handwritten note, working paper, chart, paper, graph, index, tape, data sheet, data processing
card, or any other written, recorded, transcribed, punched, taped, filmed or graphic matter now in your possession, custody or control.
and remember this applies:
2. If any document requested was, but is no longer in your possession, subject to your control, or in existence, state for each such document:
(a) the type of document;
(b) whether it is missing, lost, has been destroyed, or has been transferred to the possession, custody, or control of other persons;
(c) the circumstances surrounding, and the authorization for, the disposition described in (b) above;
(d) the date or approximate date of the disposition described in (b) above;
(e) the identity of all persons having knowledge of the circumstances described in (c) above; and
(f) the identity of all persons having knowledge of the document’s contents.
All those post-it notes and rough pads, paid for out of the grant, were written on – where are they? what is the policy for destroying this evidence? Did x, y and z see the document before you trashed it? who were they? Where ar they now? Were they ever members of the communist party?
Unbelievable, this is not a witch hunt, it is a witch lynching and worse!
Mike
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Here is an example of the “base” that Cuccinelli is playing to:
(from http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/archives/13189#comment-71621 )
Russ Walsh says:
May 1, 2010 at 12:55 AM
Mann’s just the beginning. The list needs to include Gore, Suzuki (The Canadian enviro @&^*!!! who said that anyone who didn’t believe in manmade global warming should be jailed), members of the media, NASA’s Hanson. The list is too long for this space! These people attacked us, and its time to clean up. Had it not been for Climategate and Lord Christopher Monckton we’d all be enslaved in one world global government thru the Copenhagen Treaty they STILL trying to ram through. Leftists are the most deviant, lying, deceitful, bullying gang of thugs you’ll ever meet.
Now, that is some *serious* tinfoil-hat s**t!
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Carrot Eater,
They are either a century behind, or just cut and pasted a bunch of boilerplate. Eli has not used punched tape since before Mann was born.
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Cuccinelli and the AG office need to be flooded with FOIA requests …
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I would like to email Cuccinelli or the Governor of Virginia about this witch hunt. As a Canadian I amnot too sure which of them is the appropriate official for the purpose.
I would suggest that everyone who is concerned about it should do the same. Posting comments of annoyance will not put an end to this harassment of scientists and I think it is time to let these officious deniers know that they are not going to get away with it.
Can anyone provide the email address?
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This appears to be a reincarnation of “MacCarthyism”. How much money will be wasted by the AG and the UVA (a public university) in this attack on someone who has been gone for about five years. This seems to be the opposite of tea bag philosophy.
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You can look this up for yourself. Google awaits.
http://www.oag.state.va.us/Cuccinelli/AG_Bio.html
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The troglodytes over at WTFWT are having a field day over this. I imagine they’re giddy with expectation. These are the kinds of folks with the tar and feathers. It’s really disturbing to see so many utterly ignorant idiots that are behind this blatant witch-hunt.
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It appears that I cannot email – at least from the official site. It accepts only American addresses.
I will just have to practise the forgotten art.
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> or any other … punched … matter now in your
> possession, custody or control.
They want all the little ‘chads’ that were punched out of the tapes, and cards, and 3-ring-binder holepunches too, right?
This might actually benefit the univesity; likely they’ve got several rooms full of old paper they ought to have thrown out years ago and never got around to. Pity the machines for reading the media are long gone.
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Clearly Mann should have archived working readers for any and all media his work or work he cited did use or may have used.
What is he hiding??
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Posted by Coby:
“Clearly Mann should have archived working readers for any and all media his work or work he cited did use or may have used.
What is he hiding??”
I wonder what we’d find if we had unlimited access to all of Cuccinelli’s private emails and letters? What juicy naughtiness is he hiding that the public needs to read about?
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Robert, you obviously haven’t been paying attention. The dirt on Cuccinelli is that he’s got the hots for 200-year-old dominant chicks with bare breasts, and he’s been bitten, but bad, by the denial bug.
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