I’m dismayed to see this, but not at all surprised. People (like Jeff, like me) who own businesses and are self employed while trying to raise family have it tough in this economy. If I didn’t have guest posters, and help with moderation, I couldn’t keep WUWT alive. I also understand Jeff’s frustrations with unruly posters. My only saving grace is that I had 25 years experience in TV news dealing with the public and the inevitable emotional BS that comes with highly charged debate.
Jeff has made a powerful contribution to the climate discussion, the most important of which is the publishing of a solid rebuttal of the Steig et al paper which used mangled Mannian math to smear warming on the Antarctic peninsula all over the continent, giving a false impression of continent wide warming. Even Steig himself agrees with the rebuttal.
Let’s not forget the pivotal role TAV played in Climategate as well.
Please take a moment to wish Jeff well, and to thank him for his contribution here.
Jeff, the door at WUWT is always open to you. I give my sincerest wishes for health, happiness, and success to you and to your family. Enjoy your retirement.
– Anthony Watts
Here is his post:
Posted by Jeff Id on January 21, 2011
Update:
There is a lot more I could say about this group of people who have read and commented here. I know of very few unmoderated blogs which have been able to maintain such a civil tone through such controversial subjects. That says a lot about the quality of this group. Of all things, I think that is what makes tAV special. The world is a rough place and when I sat down one sunny Saturday morning to start this blog just over two years ago, I expected very little. In the end, tAV contributed more to the discussion on a truly global scale than I had ever imagined.
I may be back after some time off but it is better to let readers know where I’m at.
Best regards to all.
============================================
On the SOP thread we got into too heated a discussion. I’ve had more than my fair share of the public lately and don’t know when tAV will be back.
Of all the elements of the periodic table stupididium is the most abundant. The idiots pushed me over the edge tonight. I’ve had well enough of people who think they know — well anything — yet don’t have a clue. The blog has been very much entertaining and I’ve appreciated the technical contributors very thoroughly. I may continue someday in coming years but at this point… I’m done.
I’ve spent two years of my life in climate science, digging fairly deeply – I think you’ll agree. My conclusion is that those who believe they know believe for unknowable reasons. This includes BOTH sides. In what I believe is the rarest of cases, the middle ground is the correct ground and that is where the climate battle lies.
I don’t know if I will post again here, it has been fun though. Thanks to all who have been supportive and thanks to the guests.
Jeff Condon
Jeff, I echo what TonyB said over at tAV. Please call me if you ever come to the UK.
Sorry to see / hear it. Didn’t participate there as much as I ought, but there is only one of me and I can only be spread so thin… which brings me to understanding ‘where he is comming from’.
I’ve had folks berate me because their first post ever sat 3 hours in a moderation queue (when I was asleep and just waking up). I’ve had folks assert that I must be every sort of evil under the sun because I didn’t give them an open microphone (after giving them the same clear evidence to the same question 3 times…), I’ve had endless folks assert that I must be a brain-dead-idiot as I did not agree with them or was doing something other than what they thought right (and that attitude is no respecter of “sides” of the debate…) and I’ve sat up for 4 hours composing a well thought out and researched reply to someone tossing a “you idiot” bomb only to have the response be “That was too long so I didn’t read it and you are still an idiot” and from others at the same time “Nice posting but you left out {laundry list} that proves you are an idiot” along with “Great posting but you left out {laundry list} that proves you are a genius.”
After a while, it does get wearing.
For anyone wondering what it’s like, in mild frustration one night (while preparing to dump some rants that belonged in the SPAM queue and some that perhaps did not…) I made a posting examining the life of a BlogMeister…
http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/carping-comments/
I’m still not sure that in the end it is “worth it”.
After a while you start to contemplate what you could do with an extra 5 or 6 hours a day … go skiing, make some money, cook a nice dinner, live in peace, read a good book… heck, even ‘mow the lawn’ can start to look good (though for me it’s “work in the garden” that keeps calling…)
The simple fact is that being an unpaid volunteer (and slander about Oil Money to the contrary, that’s pretty much what the Skeptic side is made of) eventually drains you of your volunteer spirit … and you start to think about passing the torch to others… or just taking a week on the beach in Hawaii without a moderation queue in your face.
So I understand.
But that doesn’t make it any better.
So “Hail and fare well” and may the wind be always at your back.
Perhaps we’ll see you again when the winds turn and the trades send you home again…
After spending hours every night fighting morons on AOL’s discussion boards in the late 90’s I realized that most of the arguments were tedious and repetive. That’s when I started limiting myself mostly to satirical comments. I still check your blog and WUWT every day to stay current on events. I will miss your blog but I know what it’s like to get tired of the arguments.
Good luck with whatever you do and thank you for your efforts. I am an engineer but much of the science is a long way above my level of education. However, being from the Great White North, an interest in climate is a necessary part of life and engineering. Whether it has to do with cold temperature steel or the depth of frost penetration in soil or Heating/Cooling Degree Days or the design of a water or sewage treatment plant – or farming – climate/weather is important.
Where others see problems, I often see benefits – all I have to do is look at Statistics Canada crop production information to see that things are getting better, not worse.
Your insights have been most helpful and like you, I am firmly entrenched in the Middle Ground … where I think most people likely are. Yup, it is warmer than 1960, but not as warm as the late 40’s, there is more CO2 but I don’t know if that is good or bad. I am too old to know if I will be around to see temperatures drop “again” but I have been around to know that my “micro-climate” was both warmer and cooler in the past.
Thanks to you and others of your ilk for keeping me educated.
One last thing – my mother-in-law was a Grammar Teacher – and maybe you did this on purpose but she had a thing for this:
You said: “Don’t comment if you haven’t looked at the data. Now I don’t follow that perfectly, but I do pretty good.” It should be: “I do pretty well.”
That said: “I wish you well!”
Wayne Delbeke, P.Eng.
Faraway, Alberta, Canada
Shoot, I meant to put a winky at the end:
You said: “Don’t comment if you haven’t looked at the data. Now I don’t follow that perfectly, but I do pretty good.” It should be: “I do pretty well.” 😉
Good Luck.
I’m sorry. I didn’t ask to be contrary. The sign off seemed to imply that climate blog hostility might have REALLY run amok, so I was curious.
My best wishes to Jeff Id. Really.
… and to Anthony, you have my utmost respect.
PS – I had to fight with the computer programs I use today, so I DO understand.
True scientists are a class act.
Much gratitude and well wishes to Jeff. I run my own realist blogs, for nothing, at huge expense and time, and I can fully appreciate his decision.
At the same time, it irks me deeply. The Alarmist Movement is so deep-pocketed it defies the imagination. Over $100 billion has been spent perping the Greatest Hoax in History, and that’s just in “science” grants. Possibly a $trillion or more has been funneled into various Enron-type scams, all extracted in one way or another from taxpayers and ratepayers.
The motley crew of Climate Realists are virtually unfunded, battling a mega-money colossus bare-handed.
And that’s just the Climate Hoax. Look at the myriad other enviro hoaxes from Let It Burn forest fires to phony endangered species to ozone holes to umpteen “Save the Earth” mendacities designed to steal property, wealth, and freedom.
The odds are stacked against us like the Empire State Building next to a doll house.
We need serious funding, not just nickles and dimes (although please don’t stop sending those in). As environmental realists we also need to stand united, despite our different focus areas and (mostly petty) internal squabbles.
Jeff, I wish you all the best. Your contribution to rebutting faulty math & AGW findings has been invaluable. My thanks for all the work that you have done. Richvs
Sad. I thought this would happen first.
I can’t find the “SOP” thread. Neither tAV or WUWT contains a link to the heated discussion that pushed Jeff over the edge enough to call it quits.
OP means original post in net lingo. But what does SOP mean?
I subscribe to tAV feed and will definitely miss Jeff. Thanks for offering his the opportunity to guest post here. I’ll be looking forward to it.
Wasn’t it tAV where the Climategate news first broke? That was definitely a pivotal moment, marking a historic sea change making climate the most controversial area of science for our era.
Thanks, Jeff!
I have a different take on internet anonymity and the climate debate.
Kevin Trenberth and memes of the Post-Climategate Period
Jeff: Of all the elements of the periodic table stupididium is the most abundant.
This applies to WUWT as well. One possible answer is tighter moderation.
[Reply: Should we moderate out stupid?☺ ~dbs, mod.]
Let me reiterate my deep sadness at the closing of the tAV. The quality of the scholarship that I devoured, especially concerning the Steig paper, is first-class. I give my best wishes to Jeff and hope that he will find the desire to share his very valuable contributions with us once again.
What they did to JefId is called “isolate and intimidate”. It’s an old political trick.
Jeff , I have been a fairly regular “lurker” at your site an I am going to miss it, thank you for the time and effort you put in, and may a fair wind fill your sails on whatever heading you choose to sail in the future.
Well, you own perhaps the strangest capitalization convention on the internet… Thanks so much for tAV, it was my most-watched blog while you, RyanO, and others were DEEP into the Steig reconstruction. I found it fascinating beyond belief, and by reading your progress every night, I think I might have actually followed the logic there once in a while. Despite my inability to do matrix algebra in my head. I’m sure relieved you guys can do it, your contribution has been a real eye opener on how science SHOULD be done, and how involved the details and arguments can get. What also impressed me is how gracefully and tactfully you built upon the work of a new-found colleague, Eric Steig. When so many others find it convenient to make accusations and trash an opponent, however heated the argument might get, or how uncooperative the subject author might be, you guys held the high ground on integrity throughout. Impressive indeed, and the results speak for themselves. Great Job, Jeff, your contributions will not be forgotten. Take a break and get back to us, please!…. Mike S.
Alan Bates says
——-
And why? Because they have your (I’m UK) tax dollars to keep them going! (Sorry if I sound bitter …)
——-
Well Mosher also said to check your facts before adding comments. Do you have evidence that your claim us true?
Mike D. says
———
Over $100 billion has been spent perping the Greatest Hoax in History, and that’s just in “science” grants.
———
Prove it. Looks like a made up number to me.
Leif Svalgaard says:
January 21, 2011 at 6:44 pm
If it means reading fewer comments (or better, less time responding), it would have aspects of being a good thing.
OTOH, I see tAV, climateaudit, chiefio, etc, as as more higher level science than WUWT, which I see as what you’d get if you had a TV Met create this blog. Basically something that doesn’t teach to the level of the least common denominator, but offers something where they can learn about a wide range of subjects.
Livingston & Penn’s work on sunspot fading was a natural topic for being brought to the world here.
One reason I hang around here is to try to help out with the teaching aspects, and I’m glad that there are others who seem to do the same.
Back to the question – The US Constitution doesn’t ban stupid. Let them come and we’ll try to teach. Even if it doesn’t work on them, others will appreciate the effort.
REPLY: That said, I am going to implement a tighter moderation policy, because in reality, angry anonymous people really just don’t warrant much attention. My moderation staff is getting worn down with the sheer bandwidth. Remember our recent 500,000th comment? Now it’s about that plus 21,000, so I think it’s time to add a notch filter. – Anthony
Cold Temperatures? Hot temperatures? I do not think that there are such animals! I have heard of high, low, dropping, stable, and rising temperatures, but I do not think that temperatures have colour!
From one Jeff to another, Salut!
Jeff,
Congrats on representing rational/enlightened thought/expression as well as almost anyone could! Now you can pick and choose – enjoy your freedom while exercising the need to debate and contribute.
Much gratitude for your approach.
Golly gosh. A notch filter to exclude stupidity, insults ans the like. Dat some amazing piece of engineering. Do tell us how it is done.
No Anthony the truth is this has become the No.1 because it is a fair mix between complex technical discussion and simple explanation: and odd and amusing curiosities by way of light relief.
In short it has got the balance right: unlike much of the failing MSM or the highly political, partisan or technical blogs.
That is why today the great men of science, as they imagine themselves to be, cannot ignore you and now come here to explain: or not as the case might be.
That is a remarkable triumph you know, just a couple of years ago the same persons, if genuine scientists would be afraid for their careers to say anything here: or if of another persuasion would have cursed you as some kind of practitioner of the dark arts unworthy of their attention.
Yet now they somehow feel they have to justify themselves here: and what a triumph that is.
The trolls are always with us, and persistent as is their nature, although they are usually fairly polite on here.
I appreciate the mods have to deal with difficult posters but that is what true moderation is for: unlike censorship.
My advice, for what it is worth, is that you have a winning formula, so you don’t change it beyond minor tweaks to see what might appeal to the readers.
Hot thoughts, especially in this superfast electronic world when action is but a keypress away, are often best left to cool upon reflection.
Kindest Regards
Anthony & mods,
Playing with trolls can be selectively entertaining, but having to constantly play with them makes it unproductive work.
Troll or not, I think civility can be the fair criteria for moderation.
I do think anonymity often enables immunity for those who show irresponsible disregard of common civility.
Leif & Jeff Id,
Regarding stupididium, isn’t that the element that occurs after the element biasidium but before enlighteninium?
John