Thursday, December 13, 2007

The Warrantless Blogtapping Program

BLOG UNDER SURVEILLANCE: Right Wing News
Issue: The banning of huckupchuck


I'm not going to harp on the issue, I just wanted to take this opportunity to note that I still haven't been forgotten and that the issue of my banning is still, after some 6 months have passed, on some people's minds. In RWN's regular, bi-weekly Q&A Friday, a commenter, rmiller, thought to pose the following question:

Mr. Hawkins...

I still think it is important to clarify, at least somewhat, why Huckupchuk is no longer posting here.
Care to do that?

Posted by rmiller
December 13, 2007 1:33 AM
All I can do is express my appreciation to rmiller for thinking to ask the question again so as to let Hawkins know that this is not forgotten. I don't think Hawkins will "care" to answer the question; but I am thankful that some people care enough to still ask the question. So, if you ever read this blog, rmiller, please accept my thanks.

4 comments:

Simulacre said...

Huck,
Hey Huck,

thanks for stopping by my blog the other day...I just got back from an American blitz tour (Canada, Mexico, Brazil, for business then back up to Costa Rica for some R&R)


did JH block your IP, or just your logon ID?

Huck said...

Hi, simulacre - As I said on your blog, it's good to see you writing again. Thanks for visiting mine.

In answer to your question, I think Hawkins did both. He banned my account with RWN and, for a long time, my office computer was unable to access RWN - so I think he banned my easily identifiable office IP address. I don't know when my office computer's IP number was taken off JH's ban list, but as of the past month or so, I can access RWN on my office computer now. That said, I've always been able to access RWN using my home internet service or using any other public internet service, so reading RWN has never been a problem; but my unique office computer IP address was banned for a long time.

My "huckupchuck" account at RWN is still banned. I guess I could set up another account under a different name, but why would I do something like that if the blog owner really does not want me there? I may have been a pesky thorn in Hawkins' side, but short-circuiting his ban in that way would really be trollish behavior, and I don't fashion myself as that kind of person. So, I've only been a reader of RWN since my banning, and have used my own blog to comment occasionally on what Hawkins posts at RWN.

Huck said...

PS: Simulacre, what did you think of your tour of Latin America? As someone whose life is dedicated to the study of the region, I'm always curious to hear other impressions.

Simulacre said...

Latin America was great! Dealing with Mexican businessmen is always a bit frustrating until you get used to it and it was made more so by my lack of time. I only had three days in to negotiate a deal with a steel supplier -Barely enough time to get it done!

Brazil was beautiful as always. I was in Santos, so it's a bit dirty and very industrial, but the Ocean is still amazing and the beaches (that I could see from the high rise I was in) were amazing. Weather sucked, but overall, I enjoyed my time there and will likely be doing more business with them in the future.

Costa Rica is still one of my favorite spots in the world...I only wish I was a better surfer 'cause Jaco Beach has some of the most amazing waves I've ever seen! Staying there was great, the only problem was with some pesky thieves who kept hitting up the bungalows where I was staying. They were relatively inept thieves who ended up stealing from the poor cleaning lady who was cleaning my room...lame - I hope they get caught!