Joseph Cannon has now reposted his fuck-you-goodbye posting as "The "used blog" thing, reposted." He says, "Due to technical problems (and my own bloody incompetence) the "used blog" post was accidentally deleted." The original comments were deleted. Perhaps an interested Rigorous Intuition reader would like to mirror the Cannonfire blog and its archives before Joseph shoves it off a cliff in a fit of pique.
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2006/12/ ... osted.html
Joseph, since you have RI on your blogroll, and mention it often, I'm going to assume that you are at least an occasional poster here under a pseudonym. I'll assume that you are reading this, and not write as if I'm talking about you behind your back.
I'm very concerned, Joseph, about the way this issue is affecting you. So far it is only reflected in your controlled demolition postings -- postings on other subjects such as Litvinenko, Halliburton don't sound like you are close to a break-down. But the way you are over-reacting about this is disturbing.
Your blog is a superlative one. You are capable of deeper understanding than most sources of mainstream news, and have the ability to put facts together in a way that makes the whole far more cohesive than the sum of its parts. You've shown no problem handling nuance. You have readers who check in daily to see what you have to say, readers who appreciate you.
But with this latest series of explosive diatribes about controlled demolition and its advocates, you lose all sense of proportion and coherence.
You say you are "quitting" your blog because "the readers turn my stomach." Not just some vocal minority of readers -- evidently all of us need to be bitchslapped and manipulated.
If you are getting death threats, for heavens sake give the IP numbers to the police, instead of complaining on a blog. I've seen the public responses to your CD rants, and few of them struck me as any further over the line than yours were. You yourself issued a "bring it on" type challenge, and it is hardly suprising that your more pugnacious readers decided to take you at your word. When you are so disrespectful to your readers, you set the tone for the responses.
Here's a rule of thumb I've found works pretty consistantly. It helps me to not get drowned in disappointment over the flaws of my fellow humans, and lets me chalk up a certain proportion of human misbehavior to the sad fact of human nature:
Ten percent of any group are assholes. That includes not only people I don't agree with on all levels, but also includes those who share my religion, politics, or other cohorts.
If you truly think everything you have done is a waste of time, don't bother to turn the blog over to some stranger. Just turn and walk away without the whining.
If you've lost "at least two long-time friends" over this, consider whether this might be more about you than it is about them. Or about those of your readers who feel that this is an unhealthy response on your part, that indicates you are brittle and far more angry than the situation calls for, and heading for the break-down lane.
If you don't like the comments you get,
turn the comments feature off. It's that simple.
If you don't like the way discussions about controlled demolition go,
don't have them. Establish boundaries about what you wish to have discussed on the blog, and what you don't wish to discuss there, and enforce them consistently, objectively and dispassionately.
Maybe you should take a break from the blog, and think about what's important. You've had pride in this blog for almost three years, and you should honor that. Many of us who read your blog don't agree with you on everything (though we don't publicly argue with you about our disagreements), but we generally value what you bring to the discussion and would like to see it continue. We just don't want the public tantrums.
And if only 10% of all groups are assholes, then I have had extraordinarily lousy luck, since for many years I seemed to be immersed in a milieu made up mostly of them 
