Geeze! That's the thanks I get for making Wizbang one of the biggest blogs out there.

You're welcome.

Well it is April 1st, so I'm going to hold out here a bit... It's your blog Kevin, so do what you want with it, but I have to say that a permanent vacation seems a bit Draconian. I enjoyed the discourse and think it's pretty important. Maybe I am missing something.

Kevin, Good call. Paul's was right to state that no scientific theory is sacrosanct however his understanding and criticism of evolution was at a grade school level. It's best not to shoot your mouth off about a subject of when you have no expertise. This was the first time I had checked wizbang since then and it would have been my last if I saw on more pointless post on the subject.

Does this mean that the subject of evolution is now something upon which we cannot comment? What happens if someone such as myself finds the quasi religious and rigid discomfort of evolutionists to be wryly humorous and fundamentally unscientific?

Kevin, I've read Wizbang for a while, and I agree with you. I don't think Paul's been adding anything lately.

Kevin read my mail to you at your gmail account.

I'm with Jeremy's lede... I'll hold out on this until beyond April 1st Day.

Gee, Paul was responsible for "making Wizbang one of the biggest blogs out there"?

I didn't know that.

It must be due to the fact that I stopped reading Wizbang because of Paul. The only reason I'm here now is because of a comment from Boyd at The Politburo Diktat.

So, will someone explain how Paul made "Wizbang one of the biggest blogs out there" as opposed to driving people away?

Jack you obviously have not been watching the statistics.

If it's true, I think it's unfortunate. Ignorance like Paul's should be put on public display, and then corrected. While he might not learn anything from the experience, some honestly curious people might. So, there's a potential net gain involved.

I say Kevin's got a lovely barrel and he should let the fish stay. Guns at the ready, everyone.

..................waiting for the punchline .............

Well, Alex sure has an inflated opinion of his importance. Maybe he should provide a list of demands for his occasional gracious presence among the lesser Wizbang readers.

This just stinks of hypocrisy, Kevin. You have put a great deal of time and effort into sneering dismissive posts about creationists and creation scientists (I accept evolution as fact) and now you want to shut off debate by demanding and enforcing censorship on a valued contributor to your blog.
Now we can see among our own people by what process the leftist free speech movement transformed into the speech code movement.

This is a shame, Kevin, but I understand that ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I actually enjoyed the debate; I disagreed with a lot of Paul's points, but I didn't take any of it personally. And I actually thought his "Quantifying Science" post was pretty good, until I got to the last two paragraphs. At that point I remembered Kevin's posting from last week and I thought "what has this got to do with anything"? It just didn't follow from the preceding material and it was unnecessarily provocative. Using language like that makes one come across as the very thing that one is supposed to be protesting -- people who are so damn sure that their own opinion is truth that they won't let any other subject be discussed until the room is empty.

Several years ago, I moderated a mailing list dedicated to discussion of Indy-car racing. For those who don't know, there has been a sea change in the way Indy racing is run since 1995; there were a lot of politics and an awful lot of hurt feelings that occurred. Now, my mailing list admittedly took a particualr side (I started the list as a forum for that side because the other side blocked them from being able to create a new Usenet group), but I always wanted participants to keep in mind that the other side might have a good point now and then, and not to get too dogmatic. There were arguments, sure. But the only person I ever banned was the one guy who was so damn sure he was right that at one point he sent the list 400 posts in one hour, and I had to stop the list sever for a while to clean up the mess. At that point, it became clear that he didn't want discussion -- what he wanted was for his opinion to be the only one heard, and he was determined to shut down the communication channel if necessary to make sure no one else could get a word in. He actually had previously succeeded in getting another mailing list killed using this tactic. That isn't speech; it's jamming. There is a difference.

Hmmm. I don't discount a Paul-is-dead scheme. But, if this is real, I have one position: I feel strongly both ways. Seriously, if property rights go, everything we have as a free society goes. If you built it and own it, it's yours to do with as you see fit. Absent some sort of agreeemnt to the contrary, this means Kevin's blog is Kevin's blog, and nobody else's.

But I also didn't mind Paul. If occasionally I thought he belabored the evolution argument (and it is a faith, just as surely as Christianity, and just as contemptuous of competition as other religions can be), I skimmed or skipped it, because there was always something else I found to interest me.

Something feels petty and small about this. I support your right to do near about anything you want with your page, have who you want and what you want. But that doesn't mean I am powerless.

So I'm gpong to go on a Wizbang hiatus myself, and see if I miss hitting it and it's links from two to six times a day. I don't know who's in the right or wrong here, or if it matters. But I don't think I'll be a part of it. Maybe I'll see you later. Maybe not. Maybe this is Paul's sign to go solo.

Fools like Andy are going to be sad after this day is over.

Jay Tea is our ever popular essayist, and Paul adds bite to our political coverage. As a team we work well together, so unless the two of them strike out on their own they've got a home here as Permanent Guest Bloggers.

-from the Wizbang "about" section

Paul, you are correct, I do not watch the statistics for weblogs that I find to spew intolerance and hatefulness to anyone who disagrees with them, which is why I want an explanantion as to how the posts by you, Paul specifically, increased the readership here.

Of course, I'm just a blogger and a commenter, and not even a "right-winger" but instead a centrist that isn't interested in tearing things apart but instead holding them together, so no one "owes" me any explanation, but a remark such as the one made, that is, "Geeze! That's the thanks I get for making Wizbang one of the biggest blogs out there," a professional researcher in the semiconductor industry such as myself feels the statement merits more of an explanation than merely standing alone after Kevin's announcement.

Damn us people who want data to prove unequivocable statements...

andy:

If it's true, I think it's unfortunate. Ignorance like Paul's should be put on public display, and then corrected.

All right dude. Maybe you should come down off of your high horse a little.

Y2K I saw the same thing but check the site credits. I emailed paul at his old address and it did not bounce but I did not get a reply either.

I think that's sad. Paul added a little balance to the blog's otherwise secular flavor.

You are welcome to blog with me any time Paul - tho' I'm just an amoeba in the blogolutionary ladder.

Jack,

If you had been around you would know the answer to your question.

I've been at the leading edge of making this a major blog. Was I alone? No. Would the results have ben the same without me? Not in a million years.

I am automatically suspicious of any major announcements made at any blog on April Fool's Day...

I'm thinking joke as well. This follows way too closely on the heels of the "delink quietly" article to be the real deal.

Either that, or Kevin was so pissed off that he took leave of all his senses.

But yeah, I expect that later today Paul, Kevin, the Commissar, that Andy guy and countless others will all let out a collective HA HA GOT YOU and then we'll all be annoyed. Amused, but annoyed.

You know what are neat? Hyperlinks. When I submitted the above, I meant to do this: "delink quietly".

Kevin:

I don't agree with your tactics here, at all. First of all you came down with your big judgement that the whole creation/evolution debate is boring, even though a fairly large number of people had been following it. Bad call.

You can claim that you dont give a damn about the subject, and judging by your fairly pedantic posts with photos of "chicks" and the usual conservative talking points, well, your opinion of what is interesting doesnt appeal to me personally. Your commentary on the whole Shiavo ordeal was about as predictable and "boring" as one can get.

Paul may have been a pain in the ass at times, but I cant say that he was boring. I may have disagreed with him, and his tactics at times, but he did draw a certain amount of interest. I found the subejcts pretty worthwhile. Just because he pisses people off doesnt mean that he should be axed...hell you showed a great deal of praise for the passing of Hunter S. Thompson, and if he wasnt pissing people off he wasn't doing his job. Sometimes creating a stir is a good thing.

The current stance you are taking as the all powerful editor god figure type, well it reeks of pettiness (as some others have noted) and above all, censorship. Way to go.

and if this is an april fools joke my opinions about your posts still stand, FYI.

>Paul may have been a pain in the ass at times, but I cant say that he was boring.

Maybe they can put that on my headstone. Thanks area. I sent Kev a long mail. We'll see.

This has to be an April Fool's joke. But if it's real, it's also fun to watch, in a weird, painful way.

RE: Jeremy Chrysler's post (April 1, 2005 02:56 PM)
Well it is April 1st, so I'm going to hold out here a bit...

Jeremy Chrysler - the sharp knife in this drawer. Very observant. We'll see if you get dulled in the next ~8'08".

Paul,

If you indeed become relegated to mere mortal status, I appreciate your efforts. I may or may not agree with you but I recognize the tremendous amount of effort required to keep up such a frenzied pace. Now sit back, drink a beer (or tea), and enjoy your newly re-acquired free time. Or start a blog and give it all back. Cheers!

well.... if you are getting rid of him I'll take him over at Bittersweet that way I can still read one of my fav bloggers and one of my fav blogs without taking sides ;)

signed,

so hoping this is an April fools joke!!

What's the difference between an April Fool's prank and a publicity stunt?

Timing.

(There is NOTHING wrong with either an April Fool's prank or a publicity stunt, not inherently. In either case, they can be lame or they can be exquisite depending entirely on how they're executed.)

For the record, Paul, if you get the boot, I'll give you a free temporary blog on my TypePad account. The address would be something like shapeofdays.typepad.com/blahblahblah, but you wouldn't have to pay for it, and you wouldn't have to put up with advertising or any such crap.

Fools like Andy are going to be sad after this day is over.

Eric, do work on your reading comprehension.

I said "If it's true..." and the proceeded to make a case for allowing Paul to stay.

Paul:

Maybe they can put that on my headstone.

Headstone my ass...you're not dead. Fuckit, keep writing regardless.

AnonymousDrivel:

If you indeed become relegated to mere mortal status, I appreciate your efforts. I may or may not agree with you but I recognize the tremendous amount of effort required to keep up such a frenzied pace.

well said.

All right dude. Maybe you should come down off of your high horse a little.

No high horse here. There are plenty of topics about which I will happily admit ignorance to a greater or lesser degree.

I'm sure Paul knows a lot about many things (we all do). Evolution just doesn't appear to be one of them.

andy:

I said "If it's true..." and the proceeded to make a case for allowing Paul to stay.

Bullshit...you were taking the opportunity to make one more jab at the guy and you know it.