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ElephantTail 
October 14, 2017 at 12:32 pm
Sorry to hear that, Mike…just as I was about return to this gathering…:)
That was also part of the reason I checked out for a while, it helped me reground myself in real life…
Please don’t shut it down, there is an infinite realm between the two extremes… take a break and return reset.
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October 14, 2017 at 12:56 pm
Well, this is a shock and a loss.
There are so many places to visit on the web, but none quite like this one.
I am sure you are making a good decision for yourself. But you and this blog will be missed.
Good luck.
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October 14, 2017 at 9:17 pm
Mike, I will miss you!
Rather than stopping completely, limit yourself to one post per week and one session per week for answering comments.
For others who comment on Mike’s blog may I suggest these alternatives:-
Craig Murray, Radley Balko & The Intercept.
Regards Carl.
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October 14, 2017 at 9:23 pm
I forgot one, Juan Cole’s Thoughts On The Middle East”
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October 15, 2017 at 10:12 am
Balance in life is important. Now you know how many rich people feel because they worked 80-100 hours/week to make their dreams a reality. Or how sometimes you chase a dream and work as hard as you can and it doesn’t work out.
That is America for you, you have the ability to pursue your happiness but there is no guarantee of success.
I would say you presented your position with fealty to the ideals you hold, your voice will be missed and I hope you are able to mend your fences. Thank you for many interesting and thought provoking articles. I have agreed on a few things, not many I admit, but a few.
May you live to be 120 and die in the arms of the one you hold most dear.
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October 16, 2017 at 7:53 am
Thank you for your extraordinary efforts.
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October 23, 2017 at 1:41 am
Mike,
You did lots of good work. Many thanks.
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October 24, 2017 at 10:54 pm
Mike,
You’re an excellent writer who speaks from the heart. I hope everything works out for you.
Pete
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October 26, 2017 at 6:30 pm
Mike even though I didn’t comment much,i still checked in on the sight.I know you will accept your new role in life of living for yourself and those close to you.As you say “RESIST” the fight we are fighting now is changing everyday and it takes its toll on everyone.The truth and only the truth will really set us free.Godspeed Mike.
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November 17, 2017 at 1:53 pm
Mike,
I was on the phone with James and you happened to come up in the conversation so I checked out your latest post and found this. As someone who was with you for most of that 8 year journey of blogging, I’m very glad I did.
A lot has happened since we spoke a little over two years ago, but it sounds like you are taking the same advice you gave me then and living in the moment. I’m glad that you are determined to live your life to the fullest and I’m sure you have a great adventure ahead of you. I also know that, whatever you’ve done, you are a good man and I’m proud to call you a friend. You have my phone number and email — I’d be happy to hear from you anytime, but if our paths don’t cross again, thanks for everything, it’s been an honor and a privilege to be associated with you.
As one final comment regarding the events that led to the creation of this blog, I’d like to say that my biggest regret is that I didn’t see Gene’s behavior towards you as indicative of who he was — an illusion that was shattered when I became his target. I wish that I had made it clear that I stood by you unequivocally and had severed all ties to Gene if he wouldn’t acknowledge that what he did was wrong. Professionally, I don’t ever want to be associated with someone who thinks deleting information is the right thing to do and personally I think his actions were reprehensible.
It also hasn’t escaped my notice that Gene probably used his association with me to help him try to convince you to go to bat for him with Professor Turley when he wanted to be a guest blogger. If so, sorry about that. My bad.
I can’t even begin to explain how my life has changed in the last six months, but I want to share a little story that I think you will find interesting. As you might recall, a couple of days before we spoke in the Fall of 2015, I had found out that my heritage includes 43% Eastern European Jewish ancestry, but I had no idea which side that was on. There have been some developments since…
The first time I talked to my mother was the day of her mother’s unveiling. My grandmother died at age 103 in 2016. Mom told me that her 3 aunts and her grandmother had all lived into their 90s as well. Even more remarkable, all five of them had gone to Auschwitz in 1939 (my maternal grandfather — who was apparently a communist — escaped Poland to Russia and got to spend the war in a gulag instead). In fact, my great-grandmother was probably the oldest survivor or Auschwitz.
At one point, my great-grandmother was in a death line (I don’t know if it was the ovens or the gas chambers) and one of her daughters told a guard that “that man over there” wants her. Since the man she was referring to was Josef Mengele, the guard let her mother out of the line. Just thought you might like to know that bit about our shared heritage.
I had thought that finding out I had Jewish DNA made the Shoah seem more personal. I guess it was a bit more personal than I thought. In any case, I now have the one thing that you need above all else if you want to be Jewish — a Jewish mother. I’m still getting used to it (as you might imagine), but it is wonderful to have a mother again.
Anyway, I’m also at the beginning of a new adventure — I’m trying to effectively cure cancer — and I’ve got a mountain of work to do to make that happen as well as a whole new bunch of family to integrate into my life and a boatload of more mundane problems and I couldn’t be happier. I hope you have your own set of problems that make you at least as happy.
Mazel Tov!
Sincerely,
Kevin/Slarti/David*
* The name my biological parents gave me.
Everyone else,
I greatly enjoyed reading and participating with you on this blog before life started happening to me a little too hard to keep up. I think that civil and thoughtful dialogue is vital to our future and this blog has been a great example in showing how that is possible even on the internet. My sincere thanks to all of you for all you’ve done.
Knowing how important this place (and others) has been to me, I have a suggestion for anyone looking for another place for dialogue: The Fogbow. It started as an anti-birther political forum, but has become host to good discussion on a wide range of topics. Most of the members tend towards the left, but there are several well-respected members who are definitely on the right.
As is true of any online group with diverse opinions sometimes things get a little testy, but it is a good bunch of people and, like everything else, a work in progress. Of late, I’ve been trying to convince them of the importance of honest and sincere dialogue with people with whom we disagree (like Trump voters), so if anyone wants to express a contrary opinion, I think it would add to this discussion and be welcomed by many, myself among them.
Anyway, if you choose to join then your first three posts are moderated, after which you may post freely. The Fogbow is a much larger community, but it is also very close knit with dozens of meetups and smaller get-togethers (and at least one marriage) of members. I am proud to be a part of this community and would be proud if any of you joined too.
Hope to see you all around the Fogbow or elsewhere on the internet!
Here’s a link to the main index of the Fogbow:
http://thefogbow.com/forum/index.php
And here’s a link to my crosspost of this comment on my thread:
http://thefogbow.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7529&p=933365#p933365
Bron,
Let’s keep in touch — I’ll send you an email in the next couple of days.
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November 18, 2017 at 4:35 pm
So long, Mike. Sorry I had to step away myself; family duties (health and financial problems, not my own) and business issues limited my idle time. Good luck.
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November 19, 2017 at 1:09 pm
MoreMozart,
I would like to stay in touch. I had your email address at one point (I got it from FFS for Mike along with some others), but didn’t use it since you didn’t give it to me. I can be reached at “first name”@”last name”.net (note spelling of last name) — anyone else who would like to stay in touch is welcome to email me as well.
I would also like to say that your comment you didn’t believe that I would be successful because I was working with Gene turned out to be absolutely correct (with plenty of warning signs I missed before your remark and plenty more I didn’t after). Your remarks made me ask myself if they were true, and, in doing so, I became aware that the evidence agreed with you. Which allowed me to stay ahead of things, if only barely. Thank you.
While you were right and I would prefer to never even think of Gene again, what I went thorough at his hands was a powerful learning experience that forced me to grow in ways I couldn’t even have imagined before. So I’ve got that going for me.
I’ve come out of the whole kerfuffle with a plan to help pharmaceutical companies develop drugs that make chemotherapy and radiation more effective in treating cancer. Both Eli Lilly and Oracle have shown interest in that plan, and although I don’t currently have any contact with either, I am currently working on the infrastructure to demonstrate my plan is credible to those or similar companies. There is a lot more to this, as you’d expect, and I’d love to share it with you and get your thoughts and advice.
Anyway, thanks and hope to hear from you soon!
Kevin Kesseler
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December 30, 2017 at 6:56 pm
Happy New Year,Mike!
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May 7, 2018 at 5:44 pm
As usual, I’m once again the last guy to know what’s going on. I’ve enjoyed checking in with your blog from time to time and our exchanges on RIL in earlier years. Best wishes to you and your family, Mike.
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