Right Wing News Banning Update

So, I am finally returned back home from my trip to Mexico and I go to the office this morning for the first time in a long time. I fire up my computer and get to work -- and there was a lot of it (work) waiting for me. So it wasn't until my afternoon break when I decided to see what Hawkins was up to for today.

But, lo and behold, my workstation computer is forbidden access to Right Wing News! I had to chuckle. Apparently, I guess Hawkins must have first tried to ban the IP address of my workstation computer from accessing RWN just before I went to Mexico. Only I wasn't aware of it because I wasn't using my workstation computer once the IP address was banned until today. I mean, I can't even read RWN from my workstation computer now! How 'bout 'dem apples!?!

I find it humorous because, obviously, I have access to the internet via other IP addresses. And in the days of pretty much universal wireless access in coffee shops and other public spaces, not to mention internet cafes and other public workstations with internet access, this method of banning is almost useless.

So, I guess because banning one IP address didn't work, Hawkins simply terminated my entire account at RWN. Oh, well...

I still really am dumbfounded as to what I might have said or done to elicit such a hostile reaction and all-out internet guerrilla warfare from Hawkins. I mean, really, all he would have had to do was to ask me not to post anymore, and I would have respected his request. But to try to prevent me from even reading his blog? That's going a bit far, don't you think?

Now, maybe there's another reason to explain why I am forbidden to access Hawkins' site from my workstation computer. But I can't fathom what it could be. I thought: hmmmm, maybe some malicious virus had infested my workstation computer and it was sending out "comment spam," so he shut off communication with my workstation computer IP address. I don't know much about these things, but this thought did cross my mind. But I doubt this is the reason, because why then would Hawkins shut down my registered account at RWN, thus making it impossible for me to post comments via any other IP address? Now that I think about it, maybe Hawkins thought my continued posting even after having my workstation IP address cut off was my attempt to circumvent his ban, and thus he shut down my entire account. Who knows? But you would think that he would at least send me an email warning me, or informing me that I've been banned, or something. But I got nothing.

Now as for other possible explanations for why I can't access RWN from my workstation computer, I've gone through them all. But none of them holds up as possible. For instance, I can pretty much access any other site on the internet from my workstation computer, so it can't be that my employer is restricting access to Hawkins' website. And the fact that other computers in my office that have unique IP addresses can access RWN seems to indicate that the problem is uniquely connected to my workstation computer's IP address. I have no choice but to assume that Hawkins just banned my workstation computer's IP address on his end.

Why is Hawkins going to such extremes here? It baffles me. I mean, if Hawkins is really that put out by me, I wish he would just have the cojones to say it. And as I said before, if he had just simply asked me to stop posting on his site, I would have stopped. Sheesh!